SP THOUGHTS: December 2007

It's another 4 days before Christmas. Did some Christmas shopping at 1U yesterday. Didn't buy everything we were supposed to buy. May need to go to Mid-Valley tomorrow. Sometimes this can be a chore. Is buying gifts, exchanging gifts, attending dinners, open houses or church services all there is to Christmas? Frankly, I'm not really in the mood to celebrate this year because there is so much to mourn. Then again, isn't Christmas about hope. Hope for whom? To us middle class Christians or to those who are oppressed or marginalized?

I would like to share a passage from J.I. Packer's classic 'Knowing God'. No one can unpack deep theological truths like Packer does. Here's from a passage from the chapter 'God Incarnate'

We talk glibly about the 'Christmas Spirit', rarely meaning more by this than sentimental jollity on a family basis. But what we have said makes it clear that the phrase should in fact carry a tremendous weight of meaning. It ought to mean the reproducing in human lives of the temper of him who for our sakes became poor at the first Christmas. And the Christmas spirit itself ought to be the mark of every Christian all the year round.

It is our shame and disgrace today that so many Christians - I will be more specific: so many of the soundest and most orthodox Christians - go through this world in the spirit of the priest and the Levite in our Lord's parable, seeing human needs all around them, but (after a pious wish, and perhaps a prayer, that God might meet those needs) averting their eyes, and passing by on the other side. That is not the Christmas spirit. Nor is it the spirit of those Christians - alas, they are many - whose ambition in life seems limited to building a nice middle-class home, and making nice middle-class friends, bringing up their children in nice middle-class ways, and who leave the sub-middle-class sections of the community, Christian or non-Christian to get on by themselves.

The Christmas spirit does not shine out in the Christian snob. For the Christmas spirit is the spirit of those who like their Master, live their whole lives on the principle of making themselves poor - spending , and being spent - to enrich their fellow humans, giving time, trouble, care and concern, to do good to others - and not just their own friends - whatever way there seems need.

There are not as many who show this spirit as there should be. If God in mercy revives us, one of the things he will do will be to work more of this spirit in our hearts and lives. If we desire spiritual quickening for ourselves individually, one step we should take is to seek to cultivate this spirit. 'You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.' (2 Cor 8:9). 'Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus' (Phil 2:5)

Reading Packer again, makes me feel that the Hindraf 5 especially the 4 lawyers have more of the Christmas spirit in them than many Christians and modeled Jesus' incarnational ministry better than most of us. With their education and status, they have already succeeded in breaking free from the poverty trap that most of their fellow Indians are in. Yet instead of trying to become another VK Lingam, they chose to become 'poor' and fight for their community to the extent of now losing their freedom.

Hopefully, this Christmas, those of us who are Christians can pause for a while in the midst of celebration and feasting, how we can by our lives extend peace and goodwill to all men especially to those who are poor and marginalized

I was trying to write something about the above. But just read 2 excellent articles and one 2 days ago that I think more or less articulated what is in my heart. So I don' think I need to waste time articulating them myself and I don't think I could do it better than them

Its hard to listen to the people while you gas them in the face.

By Farish A. Noor

Once in a blue moon, in the developing world there appears that rare sort of politician who claims that he wants to listen to the people and take them into account. Of course the sighting of these rare characters is greeted with some degree of elation and relief, a bit like witnessing a lunar eclipse or winning a small lottery: For the developing world is replete with arm-wielding, thug-hugging, testosterone-driven macho-types who often preach their gospel of governance with a club in one hand and the other poised on the trigger.

We have seen this sort of nasty governance in many a developing country: The riot police in South Korea used to have a smiley face on their riot shields, just to add insult to injury when they shot off their tear gas cannisters at point blank range. Indonesian security forces during the time of Suharto used to chat pleasantly with the locals over a cup of tea before they sent in bulldozers to flatten entire villages. Why, even the death squads of Saddam Hussein used to send a bill and invoice to the families of those whose members had been kidnapped and murdered at night.

But there is also that other type of soft authoritarian despot that many of us in the developing world are familiar with by now: These are the more media-savvy types who can at least tie a tie around their necks, feel comfortable in a suit, quote from a novel offhand, and smile at you. Then
they do things like place their citizens under detention without trial, have them arrested at dawn while they are asleep in their homes, manipulate the media and control every branch of the government from the legislature to the judiciary.

Looking at the developments in Malaysia of late, one might come to the conclusion that that is precisely the sort of soft authoritarianism that has come to roost. Over the past month the capital of Kuala Lumpur witnessed at least two mammoth demonstrations in a country where the national pastime seems to be shopping: The first was a march organised by the coalition of NGOs called ‘BERSIH’, that called for free and fair elections. The second was a large march organised by the Malaysian Hindu Action Rights Force (HINDRAF) that highlighted the plight of the millions of Malaysian Hindus who remain at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder in the country.

As expected, the Malaysian government’s reaction was to demonise the demonstrators, block the roads, call in the riot police and have the demonstrators arrested, chased and tear-gassed in the streets of the capital. Images of Malaysian citizens being doused by water sprays and gassed appeared instantaneously across the world courtesy of Youtube.com and other internet sites, and the happy fiction of Malaysia being the land of peace and plenty sank accordingly…

But what is most worrisome is the epistemic and cognitive dissonance between the actions of the state and its rhetoric. The administration of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi came to power on a huge mandate and riding on the promise that it would not only clean up the Malaysian political system but also initiate a series of reforms and listen to the people.

Now the last point is terribly important for many Malaysians have always felt that their opinions were of little worth in the eyes of the powers-that-be. The previous administration of Dr Mahathir Mohamad did little to cast any suspicions that it was remotely democratic, and Dr Mahathir even went as far as proclaim his own deep misgivings of democracy and reform. Badawi, on the other hand, tapped into the frustrations of the Malaysians and promised them an outlet by stating that he would take them into account and listen to them. But what has been the result?

It could be argued that the two massive demonstrations witnessed in the streets of Kuala Lumpur were precisely instances of public communication. One doesn’t have to be a scholar of semantics or semiotics to see that expressions of public distrust and anger in the public domain is a case of public communication at its most explicit. These were instances of Malaysians saying to the government and to Badawi in particular: “You promised us reforms, but you have not delivered. Now we are excercising our fundamental right to complain.”

But the complaints of the Malaysians were stiffled and silenced by the police sirens and the popping of tear gas cannisters in the streets. Its difficult for any leader to listen to the people when he is gassing them at the same time. Its equally difficult for there to be any meaningful dialogue between the state and the population when the latter are demonised as anarchists, unpatriotic trouble-makers, foreign agents, etc as soon as they show the slightest signs of protest.

So what gives? Prime Minister Badawi had appealed to the Malaysian public to give him time, feedback and support. The demonstration of frustration and the demand for reform happen to be precisely the sort of feedback he needs at the moment, one could argue. Yet Badawi’s reaction on the eve of the Bersih demonstration was to threaten the demonstrators with arrest and to state bluntly that he will not be challenged. Is this the real face of the benevolent administration that came to the power on the promise that the leader would listen to the Malaysian public, and which asked Malaysians to ‘work with me, and not for me’?

The developing world is facing numerous structural, institutional and social-normative challenges at the moment. Yet the pace of globalisation will not falter nor rest, and it is imperative that developing countries and their governments adapt to the realities of our times, living as we do in a
globalised world where the images of riot police shooting and beating demonstrators – as recently happened in Burma – will be on the internet in minutes, if not seconds. Yet developing countries like Burma and Malaysia, as well as Zimbabwe and many others, continue to labour under regimes that have not only lost touch but have been left so far behind. Yet another thuggist James Bond villian for a leader the developing world does not need. And that’s what the people are saying in the streets while they are being gassed by their benevolent, smiling leaders.

Where to, Pak Lah?

Kim Quek

Who in his wildest dream would have imagined Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s (Pak Lah) promised land of reforms pledged in the last election in 2004 could so dramatically degenerated into a virtual police state on the eve of the next election?

Yes, the ridiculous spectacle of arrest of opposition party and civic leaders (who only wanted to present a petition) in a Parliament house that was completely sealed off by police road blocks in the absence of any threats of attacks is indeed one that exudes the image of a police state.

This spectacle was rendered even more ridiculous when the petition was a noble mission to persuade the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional (BN) from rushing through a wanton alteration of the Constitution for political expediency – amending Article 114 of the Constitution to extend the retirement age of the chairman of election commission (EC) from 65 to 66, so as to enable the discredited and pro-BN chairman Rashid Rahman (due for mandatory retirement at 65 on Dec 31) to helm the coming election.

On the same day of these arrests, Dec 11, the headquarters of main opposition party PAS was cordoned off by police so as to prevent leaders of the party from going to Parliament House to present the petition. Where on earth can you find a democratic country indulging in such high-handed acts of contempt of democratic principles and such uninhibited abuse of police force? What a big slap on the face of the Prime Minister, who only days before shamelessly declared to the world through an article in the Asian Wall Street Journal (Dec 7) what glorious democracy Malaysia had been practicing!

FRANTIC REPRESSION

To get a further view of the state of repression this country has descended to, I will list briefly relevant events that took place recently, in reversed chronologic order:

Dec 11: Arrests in Parliament and cordoning of PAS headquarters as stated above.

Dec 9: International human rights day. Arrest of Bar Council human rights committee chairman for preventing government officials from removing a human rights banner in the premises of the Bar Council. Arrest of lawyers and activists who were walking in a small group toward the Bar Council premises in celebration of International human rights day, after the Bar Council had cancelled its annual human rights walk under pressure from the government.

Dec 9: Scores of activists including opposition party leaders were arrested in different parts of the country for participating in the Nov 10 rally organized by BERSIH – a movement supported by opposition parties and NGOs to campaign for free and fair elections.

Nov 25: Hindra rally of 30,000 in the streets of Kuala Lumpur to protest against marginalization of ethnic Indians due to racial discrimination under the “New Economic Policy” (NEP). The demonstrators were brutally suppressed with endless volley of tear gas canisters, chemically laced water cannons and beating with batons by police. Subsequently 31 ethnic Indians were arrested and charged for attempted murder for wounding a policeman; and leaders of Hindra - an ethnic Indian rights movement - were arrested and charged.

Nov 10: BERSIH rally of 40,000 in Kuala Lumpur to present a petition to the King requesting for electoral reforms. The marchers were confronted by police blockades and chased around by riot squats using tear gas, chemically laced water cannons and batons.

In an apparent attempt to exonerate himself from accusation of reckless repression, Pak Lah said in a speech on Dec 10: “If the choice is between public safety and public freedom, I do not hesitate to say here that public safety will always win.” He alluded to demonstrators as law-breakers who threatened public safety and vowed to apply the dreaded Internal Security Act if necessary.

But what blatant lies these assertions are, when there is not a shred of evidence to indicate there has been any intent, act or weaponry of violence on the part of participants throughout these assemblies. In fact these protesters should be commended for having exhibited exemplary conduct of discipline and self-restraints, particularly when subjected to harsh treatment from the police. There was no violent clash, safe in the Batu Cave temple incident in the early hours of Dec 25 when large crowd of Hindu worshippers and participants were locked in and subjected to endless attacks of tear gas and water canons.

REBUKE FROM SUHAKAM

In a statement in apparent rebuttal to the Prime Minister’s wild accusation of “threats to public safety”, the Chairman of Suhakam, which is Malaysia’s Human Rights Commission, said:

“The possibility of public disorder should be based on evidence, not speculation or imagination.

“Suhakam regrets the government had ignored its repeated call to repeal the law requiring permits for public assemblies and processions. In London you can hold peaceful assemblies and the police are around to prevent public disorder. But here a group needs a permit even to present a memorandum.

“Suhakam wants Section 27 of the Police Act 1967 (which requires a police permit for an assembly of more than three) repealed, because it goes against the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and appears to be inconsistent with the spirit of the Federal Constitution.” (Star Dec 12).

A Suhakam statement further said:

“Currently, it appears that arrests and prosecutions are selective and seemingly biased. Suhakam calls on the authorities to respect and uphold the law and to implement it equally as guaranteed by Article 8 of the Federal Constitution. Suhakam regrets that many of its recommendations remain unheeded, and this has not enhanced our national human rights status.” (Malaysiakini Dec 12)

It should be clear from the foregoing who the villains are in these shameful episodes of trampling of the people’s constitutional rights.

PARANOID REFLEXES?

Why would Pak Lah and his cabinet resort to such dastardly acts that have put Malaysia to shame? I venture to suggest two main reasons.

FIRST, Abdullah’s government has been rocked by endless series of mega scandals of corruption and abuse of power since early this year. These included the grisly Mongolian murder with links to top political hierarchy; dubious commissions that run into hundreds of millions paid in respect of purchases of submarines and fighter jets respectively; the almost simultaneous investigations of the top three crime-busters – deputy minister of home security, inspector general of police and former anti-corruption agency chief; the inflated spending of RM 4.6 billion to create a “Ghost Town” in Port Klang; the inflated RM 6.75 billion naval vessel contract that ran foul; the auditor general’s report that reveals pervasive corruption in the millions that run right across the full spectrum of the entire government; and the recent Lingam video clip that exposes judicial rot of the worst kind.

Any of the above scandals would have dealt a fatal blow to any democratic country, but in Malaysia, thanks to collusion of local press and TV, these are largely hidden from the masses. However, with increasing influence exerted by critics through a growing Internet, the government is beginning to feel the heat of critical public opinion. Needless to say, the regime’s popular support will change in inverse proportion to the spread of public knowledge of the ruling coalition’s incompetence and corruption.

Economic hardships caused by spiraling inflation in an uncompetitive economy help to fester growing dissatisfaction against a leadership that is increasingly exposed as one which feathers its own nests through abuses of the NEP. The latter is supposed to be an affirmative policy but has been illegitimately hijacked by UMNO to enrich its elites in the name of helping the Malay race. These abuses, built on racial discriminations, have in turn heightened resentment among minority races as well as accentuating class conflicts due to widening disparity of wealth. To cling to power, UMNO has to depend on a manipulated electoral system as pillar to its political hegemony. This is why it is so determined to retain current EC chairman Rashid Rahman’s service, to the extent of amending the social contract of the founding fathers of this country – the Constitution.

And so, when tens of thousands of people threaten to amass in the streets to demand for fair elections (by BERSIH) or protest against racial marginalization (by Hindra), UMNO has reasons to feel panicky. What if these crowds swell to over a hundred thousand? What if news of the evil deeds of the regime spread like wild fire through word of mouth among the disgruntled masses? As UMNO’s popularity wanes, would it implode in the midst of worsening internal power struggle? Or would it be deserted by its racial hangers-on who have been scrounging on UMNO’s power, but whose roles as champions of their own racial groups are increasingly untenable in the light of UMNO’s recent surge in racial arrogance and dominance under the competitive influence of Pak Lah’s ambitious son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin?

These nagging thoughts are fair assumptions, judging from the paranoid displayed by UMNO in clamping down so recklessly and insanely on any public expression of dissent.

SECOND, Pak Lah seemed to have been emboldened by the favourable findings of a recent opinion poll commissioned by the UMNO owned New Straits Times, judging from his recent smugness at the poll results and the sudden tightening of the police noose on the opposition of late. The spin doctors and sycophants who have insulated him from the real world might have convinced him that it is safe and timely to strike as hard a blow as possible against the opponents irrespective of what the Constitution prescribes, given the supposed unswerving support of the people.

CAUTION TO PAK LAH

A word of caution for Pak Lah here. Since when is opinion poll in a highly repressed state like Malaysia taken seriously? Democracies like US or Australia which practices exemplary democracy can rely on opinion poll to predict electoral outcome to the nearest percent or two. But haven’t we noticed that opinion polls on political support are rarely conducted in countries in Africa, middle east, the former Soviet Union and large parts of Asia? Why? It is simply because the people there have been so repressed that few would feel at ease to give honest answers openly, especially those answers deemed unfavourable to the ruling power. The same goes with Malaysia, where long entrenched political culture of submission under threats and inherent fear of punitive consequences will preclude any meaningful results from such an opinion poll. Taking this into consideration, it is safe to assume that there will be a large margin of error in favour of the ruling power, if at all such a poll is conducted.

A case in point was the opinion poll conducted by the Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research in 2004 when Pak Lah won a sweeping electoral victory. Though his popularity rating then was found to be 91% by Merdeka Centre, his coalition BN could only garner 64% of the popular votes. Projecting this trend onto his present popularity rating at, say 70%, that could mean he may only garner 49% of the popular votes for BN, a prospect not at all comfortable for the mighty and haughty UMNO/BN.

Regardless what the true level of Pak Lah’s popular support is, he will be well advised to stand on the right side of history by honouring his oath of allegiance to the country and the Constitution. For any betrayal of his oath of allegiance, such as the rampant violation of the constitutional rights of the people as is being committed now may bring misfortune to himself and his party in due course, as truth will eventually triumph. By then, his name will be defiled in eternity.

The last piece is by Tony Pua - Incredulity

Pak Lah, you have betrayed the trust of the people. I had plenty of faith in you when you first took over the prime ministership of this country. As I've blogged before, I had hope. Even when I lost faith in your leadership, I had thought that you were a pious and sincere person who lacked the necessary skills as a leader.

I'm sad to say that I was dead wrong. Clearly, many will tell me now that I'm such a terrible judge of character. Not only is our current prime minister a sleeping, absent, incompetent prime minister, his personal integrity and his sincerity in creating a better Malaysia is clearly in doubt.

When the Parliament, the symbol of people's democracy, where its members are themselves elected by the people, becomes a 'forbidden palace' to the people who want their grouses heard, it is the ultimate mockery of "democracy".

You would have read it here in Malaysiakini, where all roads to Parliament are blocked, preventing the people from handing their petition to the people who claim to represent them. Worse, Pak Lah ordered the leaders of BERSIH, the very people asking for clean and fair elections, arrested for attempting to hand the petition to the Parliament.

Pak Lah, you have declared in your BN mouthpiece, The Star, that you have ordered the arrests because "public safety above all". Pak Lah, do you bloody think that we are 3 year old kids? Are you trying to tell us that the rakyat, armed only with a few sheets of paper, approaching the Parliament on the edge of the city, is threatening the safety of Malaysians?

Pak Lah, please stop telling lies to our fellow Malaysians. You lied to the world when you declared that your cabinet comprised of 50% non-Malays.

Pak Lah, you promised us a less corrupt nation when you took over. Instead, we are more corrupt than ever, dropping a spot in international rankings for each year of your reign to 43rd this year.

Pak Lah, you also promised no more mega-bailouts, yet this year, you approved the biggest bailout ever in the history of Malaysia, attempting to rescue the unrescuable Port Klang Free Zone project with RM6.7 billion. And yet, the culprits for the fiasco has not been brought to book.

Pak Lah, you promised and boasted of greater press freedom, but interference in the mainstream media has never been more apparent! Malaysia crashed to its lowest ever press freedom ranking at 124th!

Pak Lah, most of all, you told us you wanted to hear the truth, no matter how much it hurts, but instead, you had your Minister of Misinformation, Datuk Zainuddin Maidin, tell the press editors that he'll only listen to Barisan Nasional component parties and not the media or the public. What's worse, there was never a denial that the instruction came from you!

Pak Lah, you said you were a Prime Minister for all Malaysians, but you declared Malaysia an Islamic state and concurred with your deputy, Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak that Malaysia was "never, never a secular state", a clear-cut defiance of the Federal Constitution, and discriminating against Malaysians' fundamental right to freedom of religion.

Pak Lah, you have clearly lost control of your administration. You have only demonstrated your utter incompetence, your lies and hypocrisy. Now, not only have I lost faith in your leadership, I have also lost faith in your integrity and piety.

Pak Lah, you are rubbish and you are a absolute disgrace to the nation.