Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Anwar: Not Lembah Pantai-bound, but certain on Permatang Pauh
- Ibrahim Ali called up by cops
- Batu Caves temple claims they’re being punished for protesting
- Xavier points finger at Public Complaints Bureau
- Burn the Bible, and you burn the church
- Perkasa says it has no role in Sunday’s Bible burning
- ‘Enough with the warnings, haul up Ibrahim’
- Penang goes all out to stop ‘fiery’ festival
- Abbas rejects Malaysian PM visit to Gaza saying it divides Palestine
- PM explains Gaza visit
- Under fire, Perkasa says bible-burning threat meant to prevent violence
- 'The Act of Killing' and Indonesia's Dark Past Nobody Talks About
| Anwar: Not Lembah Pantai-bound, but certain on Permatang Pauh Posted: 23 Jan 2013 03:23 PM PST
(The Malaysian Insider) - Denying plans to swap constituencies with daughter Nurul Izzah, PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim nevertheless conceded that he was not guaranteed to contest in his Permatang Pauh stronghold. The opposition leader was responding to rumours that he may instead run for the Lembah Pantai federal seat now occupied by Nurul Izzah, who is expected to face stiff challenge there from Umno's Federal Territories and Urban Well-being Minister Datuk Raja Nong Chik Zainal Abidin. "Why Lembah Pantai? I wasn't informed of this," he was quoted as saying in a Sinar Harian report, adding that Nurul Izzah will berate him if he decides to contest her seat. "God willing I will contest, but most probably there will be requests for me to consider contesting in one or two other seats," Anwar told Malay-language daily yesterday. Anwar held Permatang Pauh from 1982 until 1999, when he was convicted and jailed for corruption. The conviction was subsequently overturned. His wife, PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, contested and held the seat during his absence, before making way for Anwar in 2008. Election 2013 must be called by April 27, after which Parliament will automatically be dissolved and polls initiated.
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| Posted: 23 Jan 2013 03:08 PM PST
(The Malay Mail) - Penang police have called up Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali over his Bible-burning remark and will call him again to record a statement in two days time. Ibrahim confirmed in a short text message to The Malay Mail that the police were following up on a police report lodged against him. Perkasa secretary-general Syed Hasan Syed Ali also DAP can 'go ahead' to obtain a court order to comple the attorney-general to act against Ibrahim over his statement calling for Muslims to 'seize and burn' copies of the Bible which contained the word 'Allah' or other Arabic words. He was responding to a report in The Malay Mail yesterday in which the DAP national chairman Karpal Singh gave the attorney-general two weeks to act against Ibrahim. However, Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail had said police must investigate actual incidences of Bible0burning in order for any action to be taken. "It is their (DAP's) right to proceed with such actions. As a lawyer, he (Karpal) should be patient and should be aware of how such procedures are," said Syed Hasan. "If indeed Karpal is so concerned about such things, why doesn't he address other issues that may disrupt the nation's harmony such as with Patrick Teoh's remarks on Facebook, or the spreading of hatred by other religions towards Malays?" Syed Hasan was referring to Teoh's FB which ridiculed the Muslims, after which he posted an apology.
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| Batu Caves temple claims they’re being punished for protesting Posted: 23 Jan 2013 03:03 PM PST
(The Star) - The Batu Caves temple committee claims it is being victimised by the Selangor government for staging a protest against the construction of a condominium near the limestone cave site last year. Sri Maha Mariamman Devasathanam committee chairman Datuk R. Nadarajah alleged the state government, through the Selayang Munici-pal Council (MPS), had made bizarre requests, including asking for a building plan of the iconic staircase that leads into the main cave. "After we protested against the condominium, MPS sent us a barrage of letters, and one of them was to dispute the safety of the staircase. "The staircase has been around since the 1930s. Millions of people have been going up and down it and there has never been a problem. "And now they want a building plan for the staircase?'' Nadarajah said here yesterday. He alleged the state government was also punishing him by scrapping his plans for an Indian cultural centre as well as made him face a lot of bureaucracy over the Batu Caves cable car project. Nadarajah claimed the development order for the cable car was approved on Dec 31 last year, but MPS was asking for the building plan again. "That will take us another year of waiting. People are already asking about the cable car,'' he said. The cable car project was announ-ced in 2011 and was expected to be completed in 2012. He reiterated that the problems began after he started speaking againt the condominium project. "I protested and they are now coming after me,'' alleged Nadarajah. Nadarajah had led a protest against the 29-storey condominium project, located just 120m next to the Lord Murugan statue, in October last year, saying the development was too close to the limestone hills. He added that he would be revealing more next week as well as showing the letters from MPS.
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| Xavier points finger at Public Complaints Bureau Posted: 23 Jan 2013 02:55 PM PST
(The Star) - Selangor executive councillor Dr Xavier Jayakumar has alleged that the Public Complaints Bureau is responsible for the issuance of notice to the Sri Maha Mariamman temple in Pekan Bangi Lama, Selangor, to tone down the excessive noise. He said the bureau directed the Kajang Municipal Council (MPKj) to issue the summons to the temple in February last year and on Jan 8. "The bureau had directed the council to go ahead with the summons," he said. But bureau director-general Mahani Tan Abdullah denied that it had instructed MPKj to act against the temple. "My department has no authority to instruct a local council to issue summonses," she said. She said the bureau had received a complaint from a resident in Pekan Bangi Lama, who claimed that the problem of loud noise from the temple persisted despite lodging a complaint to MPKj. "We sent a letter to MPKj enquiring about the complaint made by the resident," she said. The temple was first issued a notice on Feb 17 last year and another notice was issued on Jan 8 which directed them to reduce the noise level and cease all religious activities after 6pm. MPKj has rescinded the notice. MIC Youth chief T. Mohan said Dr Xavier was attempting to shift the blame to others. "The bureau does not have the authority to dictate terms. It is very clear that the MPKj acted on their own," he said, adding that Dr Xavier should release the letter from the bureau so that everyone will know the truth. PKR Kapar MP S. Manikavasagam said Dr Xavier's statement was ridiculous as there is a directive that all issues related to places of worship had to be referred to the state government first. "The 22 councils in the state come under the purview of the state government and is he (Dr Xavier) implying that they are taking orders from the Federal Government," he said.
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| Burn the Bible, and you burn the church Posted: 23 Jan 2013 02:48 PM PST Pentecostal Churches of Malaysia representative Bishop Robert Judah Paul also expresses resentment against Perkasa chief's Bible burning plan. Priscillla Prasena, FMT Perkasa's plan to burn the Malay edition of the Bible, which carries the word "Allah" to refer to God, is equivalent to burning churches, the Pentecostal Churches of Malaysia representative Robert Judah Paul said today. "Burning the Bible is equivalent to burning churches and the churches have every right to bring it to their highest authority. Churches which are linked to international non-governmental organisations will seek the international voices to air their grievances… and this would reflect badly on the country," he told FMT in an interview. He said Pentecostal Christians will stand by the Catholics in protecting their religious rights if it comes to that. "Churches are united and we strongly feel it is a political move rather than a social threat," he said. Recently, Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali announced that the organisation will seek out Malay Bibles which carries the word "Allah" and burn them. This caused a furore among Christians in the country. While the issue is more religious in nature, politicians have not missed the bandwagon, especially with the general election just around the corner. About 9% of the country's 29.1 million population are Christians, practising various denominations of Christianity. "Ibrahim made a wrong statement which incites anger and hatred among Malaysians. We, as Christians are against the statement and totally abhor what he said," he added. Robert said if Ibrahim proceeds with the burning of the Malay Bibles, the Churches will initiate legal proceedings against him. He said there are various reasons why the Malay Bible was being targeted by the ultra-Malay group. "The Sikh holy book also refers to God as Allah while some Hindu scriptures also do the same. Why target just Malay Bibles? I feel that it is because Christianity is the closest to Islam. Maybe they see Christianity as a threat to Islam. "Christians will take to the street if our voices are not heard legally. Ibrahim and whoever are behind him are very narrow-minded and are not looking at the bigger picture", he added.
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| Perkasa says it has no role in Sunday’s Bible burning Posted: 23 Jan 2013 02:44 PM PST It denies knowledge of Pasukan Bertindak Anti Bible Bahasa Melayu. Anisah Shukry, FMT Perkasa today distanced itself from this Sunday's Bible burning in Butterworth, saying it had no knowledge of the group behind it. "Perkasa knows nothing of the group that intends to burn Bibles this Jan 27. That is not Perkasa's programme," Perkasa secretary-general Syed Hasan Syed Ali told FMT. The programme, planned by a group calling itself Pasukan Bertindak Anti Bible Bahasa Melayu, comes hot on the heels of Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali's controversial call for Jawi-scripted Malay Bibles with the word "Allah" to be burned. The previously unknown group refers to Sunday's programme as a "festival". Its flyer reads: "Our children and grandchildren will end up being apostates if you want to wait for our impotent government to act. "To Muslims who have copies of al-Kitab, bring them over to make our Bible-burning session merrier." Commenting on this, Syed Hasan said: "Perkasa will leave this so-called Malay Bible-burning event to the police." Syed Hasan also said Perkasa was worried that physical clashes would erupt over news reports of the alleged distribution of Jawi-scripted Bibles containing the word "Allah" to Muslim pupils in Penang. "For the record," he added, "Perkasa's online membership has surged dramatically in the past three days." He claimed he had received many phone calls over the alleged distribution of the controversial Bibles and said this was why his group was stern against those attempting to proselytize among Muslims. But Penang police chief Abdul Rahim Hanafi told national news agency Bernama that all the Bibles were in the English language and did not contain the word "Allah".
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| ‘Enough with the warnings, haul up Ibrahim’ Posted: 23 Jan 2013 02:41 PM PST MIC Youth wants stern action against Perkasa chief, Ibrahim Ali, who has called on Muslims to burn the Al-Kitab. K Pragalath, FMT MIC Youth has urged Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein to stop pussy-footing around the contentious call by Perkasa chief, Ibrahim Ali, to burn the Malay Bible and instead take immediate action against him. "MIC Youth wants Hishammuddin to take action against Ibrahim. "Ibrahim's irresponsible action of inciting hatred against another religion can lead to this nation's instability," said the party's Youth secretary, C Sivarraajh. He was reacting to Ibrahim who urged Muslims to burn Malay Bibles known as the Al-Kitab which bore the term"Allah". Ibrahim, who is also Pasir Mas MP, made the call on Saturday in reaction to reports that the Al-Kitab is being distributed to Muslim schoolchildren. He said this at a Perkasa convention held in Penang. Following that call, DAP chairman Karpal Singh and a group of individuals have lodged police reports. Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail, meanwhile, told FMT that action will be taken only after the law had been breached. Describing Ibrahim's call as "outrageous", Sivarraajh said that it is time Ibrahim is brought to book since he has raised racial and religious sensitivities in the past. "Even though he has been warned many times, but he's still walking the same way and using the same old tune which made other people hate him," said Sivarraajh. In a related development, a little known group called Pasukan Bertindak Anti Bible Bahasa Melayu (Anti-Malay-Bible Action Force), urged Muslims to join in the "Malay Bible burning festivities" on Jan 27 in Penang.
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| Penang goes all out to stop ‘fiery’ festival Posted: 23 Jan 2013 02:38 PM PST The chief minister has asked the state police chief and the Seberang Perai Municipal Council to take action to stop the Bible-burning event. Athi Shankar, FMT Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng today gave an assurance that his administration will explore all ways and means to stop the Bible-burning festival from taking place in Butterworth on Jan 27. He said that such a shameful act, if allowed to take place, would not only disgrace Penang but also the country. "The state government will do all it can to ensure this vile and abhorrent act will not take place," Lim, who is also the Bagan MP, said in his blog posting. He also urged all peace loving Malaysians, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, to pray together for peace, harmony, religious respect and goodwill to prevail this Sunday. Early this week pamphlets were allegedly distributed by a little known group called Pasukan Bertindak Anti Bible Bahasa Melayu (Anti-Malay-Bible Action Force) urging Muslims to join in the Malay Bible burning festivities at the Dewan Ahmad Badawi's municipality field in Butterworth. Lim said he has issued a directive to Seberang Perai Municipal Council (MPSP) president Maimunah Mohd Shariff to bar anyone from entering into the field to burn Bibles or any other religious documents. He has also asked state police chief DCP Abdul Rahim Hanafi to take steps to stop the festival and ensure that the image and dignity of Penang is protected. Lim and the Christian Federation of Malaysia have also received the alleged pamphlets, which had emerged following Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali's call on Muslims to burn the Malay and Jawi versions of the Bibles containing the term "Allah" and other Islamic holy terms. Ibrahim, the Pasir Mas MP, made the call in wake of police reports lodged on alleged distribution of Bibles to Muslims pupils outside a school in Jelutong here early last week. At a press conference held after a Perkasa convention on "Economic and Education Transformation of Penang Malays" held at UiTM campus in Pematang Pauh last Saturday, Ibrahim called on Muslims to "seize and burn" such copies of the Bible if distributed to them. Police reports have been lodged against Ibrahim, the alleged distribution of the pamphlets and the alleged distribution of the Bibles to Muslims. Police have recorded statements from many people, including journalists, in connection with all three cases. Lim, the DAP secretary-general, also criticised Gerakan for joining hands with several federal government agencies to organise the Penang Run on Jan 28, which falls on Hindu grand festival, Thaipusam.
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| Abbas rejects Malaysian PM visit to Gaza saying it divides Palestine Posted: 23 Jan 2013 12:26 PM PST
(Al Arabiya News) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas denounced on Wednesday the Malaysian prime minister's recent visit to Gaza, saying that it "enhances division and does not serve the Palestinian interests," reported local news agency WAFA. "The Palestinian presidency announces its rejection and condemnation of the Malaysian prime minister's visit to Gaza," a statement said.Abbas's bureau called on the Malaysian government to provide "clarification," saying that Prime Minister Najib Razak called Abbas earlier and told him that Malaysia was going to provide humanitarian aid to the strip, and that he will meet a Palestinian delegation in Cairo afterwards. "[The visit] undermines Palestinian representation and reinforces the division and does not serve Palestinian interests," it continued. Read more at: http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2013/01/23/262086.html
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| Posted: 23 Jan 2013 12:24 PM PST
(The Star) - "Fatah was uneasy with my visit to Gaza but we explained to them that I had to make a stand to visit the area. The issue of the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza is something very close to Malaysian hearts," he said. Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said his visit to Gaza was a humanitarian gesture of solidarity with the plight of the people in the occupied territories and should not be misconstrued as an attempt to interfere in domestic Palestinian affairs. The Prime Minister said he had explained this to Palestine's WaqafMinister Mahmoud Habash in Cairo on Tuesday evening after returning from Gaza, following criticism over his visit by the Fatah faction of the Palestinian Authority (PA), which is opposed to its Hamas-led rivals who control Gaza. "My trip to Gaza was based on humanitarian grounds and to show our strong support for the struggle of the Palestinians. "It must not be misinterpreted as interfering with the internal affairs of Palestine but to show our concern to Palestinians especially during the eight days of violence committed by Israel in its attack in Gaza late last year," Najib told Malaysian reporters here yesterday before departing for Davos, Switzerland, where he is scheduled to attend the World Economic Forum. Hamas and Fatah have been in dispute since 2007, resulting in Gaza being controlled by Hamas and the West Bank, the other territory, which also makes up Palestine, under Fatah. Najib said besides conveying Malaysia's position to the Palestinian Minister, he had also contacted PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas by telephone on Monday night to explain the reasons for his Gaza visit before he went to the Palestinian territory the following day. "Fatah was uneasy with my visit to Gaza but we explained to them that I had to make a stand to visit the area. The issue of the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza is something very close to Malaysian hearts," he said. The Prime Minister said his original intention was to visit both Gaza and the West Bank. He explained that he was unable to go to the West Bank because unlike the Egyptian controlled border into Gaza, the entry points into the territory under Fatah were under the purview of Israel. He said Israel would have only allowed him entry if Malaysia accorded Israel official recognition, something that was against Malaysia's policy. Najib said his visit to Gaza and his meeting with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi also allowed him an opportunity to express Malaysia's support to the Egyptian initiative to bring Hamas and Fatah closer. The rival groups signed an agreement in May last year to discuss the aim of setting up a unity government in Palestine. "Hamas and Fatah need to set up a unity government as soon as possible for their common struggle to succeed. In all my meetings, I stressed the point repeatedly that accord between the West Bank and Gaza was a precondition for the Palestinians to achieve their goal," he said. On a separate matter, Najib expressed his condolences to the family of the Malaysian killed during the hostage drama in Algeria. "I sympathise with the family. This is something that can happen and is very hard to predict. I hope his family remains strong in facing this tragedy," he said. Najib said there had been discouraging reports about the fate of the second Malaysian hostage reported missing, adding that Wisma Putra was keeping a close watch on the developments.
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| Under fire, Perkasa says bible-burning threat meant to prevent violence Posted: 23 Jan 2013 12:18 PM PST
(The Malaysian Insider) - Despite facing heat for Datuk Ibrahim Ali's bible-burning remark, Malay rights group Perkasa have insisted their president's words were actually a "wake-up call" to prevent possible violence against distributors of bibles containing the word "Allah" and other Arabic scripts. The group's secretary-general, Syed Hassan Syed Ali, said Ibrahim has no problem facing the consequences of his remarks, including being questioned by the police due to the reports lodged against him. "To the Perkasa president, he is sure not worried about these reports... because the investigation will surely be based on truth and justice," he said in a statement sent to The Malaysian Insider. But Syed Hassan maintained that Ibrahim's statement was more to prevent possible physical violence and other untoward incidents, should these Malay-language bibles get into the hands of Muslim students. If this is seen by Muslims who view this as an attempt at apostasy, the Perkasa leader said violence could be used against the book's distributor. "I very much understand my president's statement because it is as a 'wake-up call' to all parties to prevent these untoward incidents. "This is what the president fears because then there would be a physical attack between those of different faiths... this is not good for the nation," he said. Syed Hassan also confirmed that Ibrahim has been contacted by the police over the reports lodged against the latter by several parties, including DAP chairman Karpal Singh. Investigations will commence in another day or two, he added. Karpal lodged the report on Tuesday in a bid to press Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail to kickstart an investigation against Ibrahim, who came under fire after making the remarks in Penang over the weekend. The fiery Malay rights leader had called on Muslims to burn Malay language bibles that contain the words "Allah" and other religious Arabic scripts should it come into their possession. But when continuing his defence of Ibrahim's remarks here, Syed Hassan said that Perkasa has never in the past attacked Christianity. He said the group was merely protecting Islam and its position, as enshrined in the Federal Constitution, and this includes rejecting those who insult the religion and who try to spread their own faiths to Muslims. "Before this, all other races lived in peace. But today, simply because there are parties using this for political expediency, they are willing to flare the sentiments of others," he said. Read more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/under-fire-perkasa-says-bible-burning-threat-meant-to-prevent-violence/
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| 'The Act of Killing' and Indonesia's Dark Past Nobody Talks About Posted: 23 Jan 2013 12:01 PM PST
In the gangsters' role as the political bosses of North Sumatra (a province of 14 million people) they have continued to celebrate themselves as heroes, reminding the public of their role in the massacres, while continuing to threaten the survivors Рand they have done so even as governors, senators, members of parliament, and, in the case of one prominent veteran of the 1965-66 genocide, as the perversely named, "Deputy Minister of Law and Human Rights". DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT By Joshua Oppenheimer Beginnings In February 2004, I filmed a former death squad leader demonstrate how, in less than three months, he and his fellow killers slaughtered 10,500 alleged 'communists' in a single clearing by a river in North Sumatra. When he was finished with his explanation, he asked my sound recordist to take some snapshots of us together by the riverbank. He smiled broadly, gave a thumbs up in one photo, a victory sign in the next. Two months later, other photos, this time of American soldiers smiling and giving the thumbs up while torturing and humiliating Iraqi prisoners, appeared in the news (Errol Morris later revealed these photographs to be more complex than they at first appear). The most unsettling thing about these images is not the violence they document, but rather what they suggest to us about how their participants wanted, in that moment, to be seen. And how they thought, in that moment, they would want to remember themselves. Moreover, performing, acting, posing appear to be part of the procedures of humiliation. These photographs betray not so much the physical situation of abuse, but rather forensic evidence of the imagination involved in persecution. And they were very much in my mind when, one year later, I met Anwar Congo and the other leaders of Indonesia's Pancasila Youth paramilitary movement. Far away or close to home? The differences between the situations I was filming in Indonesia and other situations of mass persecution may at first seem obvious. Unlike in Rwanda, South Africa or Germany, in Indonesia there have been no truth and reconciliation commissions, no trials, no memorials for victims. Instead, ever since committing their atrocities, the perpetrators and their prot̩g̩s have run the country, insisting they be honoured as national heroes by a docile (and often terrified) public. But is this situation really so exceptional? At home (in the USA), the champions of torture, disappearance, and indefinite detention were in the highest positions of political power and, at the same time, busily tending to their legacy as the heroic saviours of western civilisation. That such narratives would be believed (despite all evidence to the contrary) suggests a failure of our collective imagination, while simultaneously revealing the power of storytelling in shaping how we see. And that Anwar and his friends so admired American movies, American music, American clothing Рall of this made the echoes more difficult to ignore, transforming what I was filming into a nightmarish allegory. Filming with survivors When I began developing The Act of Killing in 2005, I had already been filming for three years with survivors of the 1965-66 massacres. I had lived for a year in a village of survivors in the plantation belt outside Medan. I had become very close to several of the families there. During that time, Christine Cynn and I collaborated with a fledgling plantation workers' union to make The Globalization Tapes, and began production on a forthcoming film about a family of survivors that begins to confront (with tremendous dignity and patience) the killers who murdered their son. Our efforts to record the survivors' experiences Рnever before expressed publicly Рtook place in the shadow of their torturers, as well as the executioners who murdered their relatives Рmen who, like Anwar Congo, would boast about what they did. Ironically, we faced the greatest danger when filming survivors. We'd encounter obstacle after obstacle. For instance, when we tried to film a scene in which former political prisoners rehearsed a Javanese ballad about their time in the concentration camps (describing how they provided forced labour for a British-owned plantation, and how every night some of their friends would be handed over to the death squads to be killed), we were interrupted by police seeking to arrest us. At other times, the management of London-Sumatra plantations interrupted the film's shooting, "honouring" us by "inviting" us to a meeting at plantation headquarters. Or the village mayor would arrive with a military escort to tell us we didn't have permission to film. Or an "NGO" focused on "rehabilitation for the victims of the 1965-66 killings" would turn up and declare that "this is our turf Рthe villagers here have paid us to protect them." (When we later visited the NGO's office, we discovered that the head of the NGO was none other than the area's leading killer Рand a friend of Anwar Congo's Рand the NGO's staff seemed to be military intelligence officers.) Not only did we feel unsafe filming the survivors, we worried for their safety. And the survivors couldn't answer the question of how the killings were perpetrated. Boastful killers But the killers were more than willing to help and, when we filmed them boastfully describing their crimes against humanity, we met no resistance whatsoever. All doors were open. Local police would offer to escort us to sites of mass killing, saluting or engaging the killers in jocular banter, depending on their relationship and the killer's rank. Military officers would even task soldiers with keeping curious onlookers at a distance, so that our sound recording wouldn't be disturbed. This bizarre situation was my second starting point for making The Act of Killing. And the question in mind was this: what does it mean to live in, and be governed by, a regime whose power rests on the performance of mass murder and its boastful public recounting, even as it intimidates survivors into silence. Again, there seemed to be a profound failure of the imagination. Within Indonesia more generally, such openness about the killings might be exceptional. But in North Sumatra, it is standard operating procedure. For there, the army recruited its death squads from the ranks of gangsters. Gangsters' power derives from being feared, and so the thugs ruling North Sumatra have trumpeted their role in the genocide ever since, framing it as heroic struggle, while all the time taking care to include grisly details that inspire a constant and undiminished disquiet, unease, even terror of possible recurrence. (In East Java and in Bali, the death squads were recruited from religious groups, while in Central Java and elsewhere they were members of the Indonesian special forces. Unlike gangsters, those groups' power is not necessarily based on their being feared.) In the gangsters' role as the political bosses of North Sumatra (a province of 14 million people) they have continued to celebrate themselves as heroes, reminding the public of their role in the massacres, while continuing to threaten the survivors Рand they have done so even as governors, senators, members of parliament, and, in the case of one prominent veteran of the 1965-66 genocide, as the perversely named, "Deputy Minister of Law and Human Rights". Read more at: http://theactofkilling.com/?page_id=52 ---------------------------------------- 'The Act of Killing' and Indonesia's Dark Past Nobody Talks About I was 10 minutes late when I quietly sneaked in to a room crammed with people sitting tightly to their chairs. Their eyes fixed to the screen. I have been to many independent film screenings, but this one was not like any other. There was no sign whatsoever to indicate that there's a film screening inside. It was meant to be clandestine due to the nature of the film, entitled "The Act of Killing," an award-winning documentary by British-based American filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer. Instead of the orthodox way of making documentary by combining interviews and footage, Oppenheimer creatively re-enacted what Anwar did in the past and shot them in the film. Anwar starred and acted in a film where he re-enacted all his mischievous deeds. It's like making a documentary about Adolf Hitler and asked Der Fuhrer to act as himself in a staged scene. |
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