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BERSIH 2.0: CATALYST FOR A NEW AND PROGRESSIVE MALAYSIA
Malaysians must be a herd of wild cattle and raging bulls
Local Authorities Blacklisting Ops with RTD a fraud against the public?
The Fourth Challenge of Vision 2020, butchered
Lawyers for Liberty interviews on Australian media

BERSIH 2.0: CATALYST FOR A NEW AND PROGRESSIVE MALAYSIA

Posted: 17 Jun 2011 11:05 PM PDT

KEADILAN is alarmed at the blatant antagonism shown by authorities towards the peaceful BERSIH rally planned on 9 July 2011. Strong statements bordering threats made by the highest echelon of the Home Ministry speak volume of Barisan Nasional's zero tolerance policy towards freedom of speech and the right to assemble.

There is a much bigger and fundamental issue relating to BERSIH rally beyond the question of constitutional right for freedom of speech and the right to assemble. At the heart of BERSIH is the most pertinent issue that will determine whether or not we can progress as a society in tandem with rakyat's expectation. BERSIH is about the integrity of our electoral system; the absence of which will continue to hamper any efforts to uplift our society economically and socially.

Barisan Nasional's attitude that promises economic growth without the accompanying accountability and political integrity will continue to erode rakyat's confidence in our national system. The ability and right of a citizen to elect a party of his choice independently and without manipulation is central to the political integrity that the rakyat now demands loudly of any political parties in Malaysia.

Therefore, KEADILAN considers BERSIH rally as a necessity to provide the early catalyst to our society to embrace progressiveness. BERSIH rally will be a test to its proponents and detractors – a test of resolve to gauge how important is electoral integrity for the former; and a test of tolerance and openness for the latter.

Therefore, it is incumbent upon the organiser and participants of the rally to avoid any confrontation and not to be tricked by any provocation attempts to create chaos. I ask that the planning for the rally must take into account measures to quickly reduce tensions if there is a provocation. The onus is also on the participants to equip themselves with adequate knowledge on crowd control and safety precautions before joining the rally.

On the part of the authorities, we continue to hope that they will reciprocate the organiser's offer to work together to ensure a smooth and peaceful rally. PDRM must ensure the safety of the participants first and take action professionally on any attempts to provoke or create chaos by any parties.

The BERSIH rally can be a new milestone in our country's march towards a fully functioning democracy. The yearning for greater accountability in our electoral system is a permanent feature of our society; so it is best to manage it with reasons and level-headedness. In this context, our society does not need further provocative statements and threats issued at BERSIH rally organisers and participants. It is more matured for the groups opposed to the rally to respect the right of a sizeable voice in our society to gather and express their views, just as the same right has been exercised over and over again by these few Umno-linked groups previously.

KEADILAN has committed fully to the cause of improving our electoral system since its inception. BERSIH rally is the paragon of the cause and as such, KEADILAN will ensure our members to come in large numbers and join the expected hundreds of thousands of Malaysians in Kuala Lumpur on 9 July 2011.

For a start, KEADILAN has started to test our own mobilisation capacity this weekend in conjunction with our National Election Convention, throughout which the instruction for big mobilisation to our members will feature prominently.

I ask a similar openness and a little compassion from the authorities. By providing the proverbial safety valve in allowing BERSIH rally to proceed peacefully, this will hasten our society's maturity to manage differing views and opinions. Such maturity is key to unlocking our society's potential in future years.

DR WAN AZIZAH ISMAIL
President
KEADILAN

Malaysians must be a herd of wild cattle and raging bulls

Posted: 17 Jun 2011 06:21 PM PDT

Seriously, the question is when was the last time that such a gathering of the masses did run amok and wild posing a threat to national security? When?

By J. D. Lovrenciear

The planned Bersih 2.0 rally is indeed becoming a historical sensation with each passing day.

A citizens' peaceful assembly and march for clean and fair elections as guaranteed by the nation's Constitution and an act sanctioned globally as a tenet of true democracy and civil liberties, is suddenly becoming a phenomenal issue involving various quarters. In fact it is being made out to appear even nightmarish.

The repeated warnings cite 'threat to national security' with reference to the announced rally. The Home Minister is convinced that it is too dangerous to have a mammoth rally of citizens parading peacefully to present their Memorandum to the nation's Ruler conveying their concerns, fears, hopes and aspirations for free and fair election that will only serve in the nation and Ruler's best interest.

The long arm of the law is being courted to admonish that since no permits have been issued, any such assembly will be deemed illegal. And that the draconic laws of the nation will take effect. If scores of thousands have to be detained under the ISA, so be it. And this has to be done in the best interest of national security.

To confuse the announced Bersih 2.0 rally further, other quarters too now want to march the streets to express their own collective version of democracy and party politico-rights.

And to add to the tempo of rising fears, UMNO Youth too want to throw in their fair share for a fight for democracy and as correctly enshrined in the Constitution with regards to the right to assembly they will march – do or die. Only twist is they will not agree nor relate with Bersih 2.0.

And then you also have someone willing to do a jihad on the same day because what Bersih 2.0 stands for is against or undermines the very teachings of his faith.

So what do we all make out of all these?

One thing for sure, Malaysians must be a herd of wild cattle and raging bulls when they get to the streets in large numbers. It seems – from all the fears, concerns and arguments put forward by those opposed to the Bersih 2.0 rally, the citizens are riot prone and cannot be allowed to come together in large numbers. And if they do, the police will not be capable of controlling these wild cattle and raging bulls.

Wow! What a strange set of species we Malaysians must be. Perhaps that is why we are also often labelled to the world as a 'truly unique' nation by our promotional manager leaders.

Seriously, the question is when was the last time that such a gathering of the masses did run amok and wild posing a threat to national security? When?

May 13, 1969? That was not a citizens' march for clean and fair elections. It was a political party coup that set up race against race, was it not? Or have we decided to again re-write history?

During the Merdeka declaration and celebration in 1957, tens of thousands convened in Kuala Lumpur. The humble policeman then in his kaki uniform and simple baton and with little schooling, was able to ensure there was order and security maintained.

Today, some quarters seem to suggest that the sophisticated PDRM in their battle trained, fighting fit disposition may not be able to ensure that safety and security for the citizens, can be provided. And as such, to avert anything going wrong the march must not be allowed.

Now that is a shame. How can we belittle our men in blue? Have they not far surpassed their antiquated counterparts of the kaki-brown outfits? If they cannot even ensure a safe environment for their own citizens who want to march peacefully, can you imagine what a mayhem it would be if the millions of illegal immigrants assembled at KLCC?

The government must not fear its own shadow. Least, it must trust its own citizens. After all Bersih 2.0 is not about waging war against the BN government. It is about the very nation's interest which the BN government has claimed to be caring for these past five over decades.

It is all about hope.

And "hope is that thing inside us that insists … that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it." (Barrack Obama, 2008).

Unless of course, if the government believes that Malaysians are all like wild cattle and raging bulls. Period.

Local Authorities Blacklisting Ops with RTD a fraud against the public?

Posted: 17 Jun 2011 06:16 PM PDT

By Frustrated

Sitting in a coffee shop discussing headlines in various news media that the Road Transport Department is ready to help local governments with unpaid traffic related compound fines by blacklisting defaulters, I wondered aloud and asked my regular kopi kakis why road users should be so recalcitrant.

The consensus came as a shock. The reason why road users refuse to pay traffic compounds issued by the local authorities, according to my regular kopi kakis is simple: Unlike police traffic summonses, they regard the traffic tickets issued as a fraud against road users!

What these road users have suspected for quite some time is that Local Authorities such as DBKL, MPPJ and MPAJ regard traffic fines and compounds to be an important source of revenue to them. This is borne out by the fact that DBKL alone claims to have RM160 Million in unpaid fines. If we add in the paid compounds and fines, the figure must be staggering! Add in all the Local Authorities in the country and the figure runs into more than half a billion ringgit, which in turn will burgeon into billions of ringgit when we add in the paid portion of their traffic compounds and fines!

It is an observed fact that these Authorities approve shop lot planning with car park to shop ratios that invariably will ensure that the car parks provided will ALWAYS be grossly insufficient for the public. This can be borne out by taking a casual drive to any part of town or housing estate with shop lots in Kuala Lumpur or Petaling Jaya or any city in the country. You can drive around for the car park lots again and again and in all likelihood will not find a proper vacant lot as the planning department has ensured that the car park to shop lot ratio is insufficient. What makes it worse is that these Local Authorities carry out car park delineation exercises from time to time, removing a sizable portion of available parking lots. What this is tantamount to is that the Local Authorities are in effect, encouraging the commission of a parking offense and worse, is committing a fraud against the public!

When I ponder the actions of the Tunisian street hawker, Mohamed Bouazizi who was so depressed by constant harassment by his local City Hall officials who had time and again confiscated his hawker stall, that he set himself on fire, lighting a fuse that sparked a region wide revolutionary explosion that toppled Tunisian strongman President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and also President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, I can't help but think that it is precisely such actions that destroys the legitimacy of Local Governments and governments by extension, in the eyes of the people.

In the circumstances, I call upon the government to require all Local Authorities and their planning departments to ensure that car parks are made available according to a fair and equitable ratio before they are able to impose compounds and fines. All previous compounds and fines should be extinguished until a fair and equitable ratio is established and a just solution is found.

The Fourth Challenge of Vision 2020, butchered

Posted: 17 Jun 2011 06:12 PM PDT

With two decades under the bridge and hardly a decade to the grandeur goal of Year 2020, we witness how far we have drifted from the much acclaimed Wawasan's nine challenges.

By J. D. Lovrenciear

In 1991 the then prime minister of Malaysia launched Vision 2020. The nine challenges spelt out in this vision that promised to propel Malaysia onto the platform of the developed world seized the nation with fervent hope comparable perhaps to the spirit that marched the nation to Merdeka in 1957.

Today, after almost two decades, we witness how that same political party that served the Tun Dr Mahathir has placed Vision 2020 in a precarious dilemma. With two decades under the bridge and hardly a decade to the grandeur goal of Year 2020, we witness how far we have drifted from the much acclaimed Wawasan's nine challenges.

One of the nine challenges which we cannot deny butchering mercilessly and incessantly is the fourth challenge.

For the millions who do not even recall any of the nine challenges, the fourth challenge is about "establishing a fully moral and ethical society, whose citizens are strong in religious and spiritual values and imbued with the highest of ethical standards" (Malaysia: The Way Forward, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, February, 1991).

Let us take a quick cursory tour of the all too familiar episodes these past several years:

We have witnessed the ugly Sodomy I that split people along religious, moral and ethical values.

We witnessed 'cow head' marches; the Bible stamping (or defacing as how the rakyat have come to regard the incident); the outcries for race and religion-based blood at UMNO's Assembly; the re-instatement of sex-tainted politicians within BN while crusading against others; and many more incidents that echoed the desecration of moral and ethical principles synonymous of a civilized society.

Today we are still struggling under the strangulating Sodomy II accompanied by a free-fall of porn tapes flooding the country without any restrain or punitive action.

Today the battle cry for political power is one that is based on the dangerous boundaries of race and religion. And money politics is the standard operating procedure.

The fourth challenge of Vision 2020 is demanding the establishment of a 'strong and fully moral and ethical society'. But going by the numerous cases of corruption that are being dragged slowly through the hallways of justice or still waiting outside the very fences of justice, raises more questions than providing answers.

So many individuals within the corridors of power and wealth have brazenly continued their plundering antics without any cares for this fourth challenge that was chiseled by the same government two decades ago.

Just look at the way a top public servant drove up in his Rolls Royce to cast his vote recently. Just look at the way we are hearing of how politicians are spending huge sums of money. How about the eyeball-popping amount of money being splurged to renovate one's home? What about the still missing link of having C4-ed a foreign national and having her entry-egress immigration records vanish?

Illicit sex and corruption - the very enemy of an ethical and fully moral society has taken its root, thereby butchering one of Malaysia's nine challenges originally designed to seeing the nation rise to ride the big waves of developed status.

And we are till this day continuing with more sleaze, sins of sex, corruption, flimsy accounting of national expenditure, and what have you.

Even the Bersih 2.0 rally which in essence is all about propping-up and propelling the fourth challenge of Vision 2020 is instead being resisted and arm-twisted with all kinds of jeopardizing threats.

Meanwhile, if you took a tour of PAS controlled territories, for example, you see a different picture. Every effort is being taken to strengthen the morals and ethics within the society - its followers and leaders. The most recent transformational and quantum leap creation of a moderate PAS and the successful establishment of its 'Welfare State' principle of governance are to be noted.

Visiting a PAS managed State will give one a first-hand appreciation of how citizens live respectfully of each other's religious and spiritual values. You never get to hear of 'cow head' marches; discrimination and copyright issues in the use of the name of God; peddling of sex-porn videos to discredit anyone; etc.

BN should re-appraise itself. Rather than take a defensive position with retaliation, it serves well for serious reflection. Sincere accountability in a transparent manner with a generous sprinkling of humility and admissibility can serve BN better. Even the very principle architect of our nation's Wawasan till this day is of no help either especially with his cynical and divisive and deeply entrenched responses in the media.

The question that matters is: Since it was the BN government that originated the Vision 2020 and spelt out so crystal clearly the nine challenges for every Malaysian, why is it today, that same BN is butchering the very challenges especially the fourth of the nine benchmarks of a developed nationhood?

Or has Vision 2020 been dumped?

Lawyers for Liberty interviews on Australian media

Posted: 17 Jun 2011 06:07 PM PDT

Lawyers for Liberty

In the last few days, LFL has been interviewed several times by ABC Radio and SBS Australia regarding the Malaysian-Australian refugee swap deal.

BRENDAN TREMBATH: The Australian Government is under renewed attack today over its plan to send 800 unprocessed asylum seekers to Malaysia.

The Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has indicated today she'll push to amend the Migration Act. If she succeeds the Federal Government will have to gain Parliament's permission before sending asylum seekers to a third country.

The so-called Malaysian solution has angered human rights groups and refugee advocates. They say that because Malaysia is not a signatory to the refugee convention, asylum seekers have no legal status in the country and are vulnerable to exploitation, arbitrary arrest and trafficking.

Renuka Balasubramaniam is a director with Lawyers for Liberty in Malaysia. She's in Sydney for the 2011 Refugee Convention at the University of New South Wales. She explained to me why she opposes the Government's plan.

RENUKA BALASUBRAMANIAM: Malaysia has not signed on to the refugee convention and therefore it has no international legal obligations and rather it thinks it has no international legal obligations to provide any kind of protection to asylum seekers or registered refugees.

There is an arrangement between UNHCR and the Malaysian government to render a sort of protection in the sense that they will not be deported so long as they have been granted status by UNHCR and then the Malaysia government cooperates with the UNHCR to ensure their resettlement.

But apart from that there really aren't any other protections. There is no right to work. There is no medical care, no insurance or social security.

BRENDAN TREMBATH: So these people are effectively in limbo. Who looks after them then?

RENUKA BALASUBRAMANIAM: They try to eke out a living by making ends meet with whatever work they can get. But given the fact that most Malaysian employers are fully aware that they do not have work permits they're susceptible to exploitation.

Very often we have cases of refugees who have worked and not been paid, who have suffered injuries or death while at work and not found any kind of redress. They are constantly victims of extortion by not just the authorities but also members of the public or criminals.

For those who get arrested post-detention in immigration detention camps due to the fact that they usually do not have the means to pay for their deportation, they will be sent to the Thai border.

And at the Thai border there have been cases of human trafficking. And the way it works is that those who cannot afford to pay for their own releases have to work to pay off their so-called debt and are sometimes sold to brothels.

BRENDAN TREMBATH: What concerns do you have about the Australian arrangement with Malaysia given that Malaysia has not ratified the refugee convention and the people who end up in Malaysia are undocumented workers?

RENUKA BALASUBRAMANIAM: The biggest concern would be the fact that number one Malaysia has no legally binding obligations. And then there's Malaysia's history to look at.

Malaysia has on numerous occasions given assurances to civil society in Malaysia that for example the refugees would be given the right to work or that they would not be prosecuted for illegal entry or that they would be protected from corporal punishment which is discretionary for those convicted of illegal entry.

But none of these assurances have been delivered on. And there's a very good reason for that. There is no administrative or regulatory infrastructure that might enable the Malaysian government to deliver on those assurances.

And this is our greatest concern. Regardless of any arrangement or assurance that they might give to the Australian Government, short of a major revamp in the way that Malaysia looks at migration and the Immigration Act - I might add that the Immigration Act currently is more than 40 years old.

So short of these major structural changes to laws and policies I just don't see how the government would be able to live up to its agreement to Australia.

http://www.sbs.com.au/podcasts/Podcasts/radionews/episode/173841/Malaysian-human-rights-promises-questioned

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/connectasia/stories/201106/s3246640.htm

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/breakfast/stories/2011/3245127.htm

Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

Sabtu, 18 Jun 2011

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

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