ISA - Abolish or Amend

Last night I attended a forum on ISA, ‘Diantara Mansuh & Pinda’(Between Abolish or Amend). The panelists were Ambiga, the Bar Council Chairlady, Tian Chua, MP for Batu, Syed Ibrahim, the chairperson of GMI (Gerakan Mansuh ISA – Abolish ISA Movement) and Norlaila Othman, wife of an ISA detainee for 6 years whose detention was extended for another 2 years a few days ago.

The program started off with the simple launching of a book written by Norlaila with 2 other ladies, ‘Dunia Tanpa Suami’ (World Without Husband).

Basically, the question posed last night was should the ISA be repealed or should it just be amended to make it more humane as advocated by some parties within the Government.

Ambiga started off with the legal background of the ISA and concluded that the ISA should be abolished as it goes against the rule of law. The very basis of ISA i.e. detention without trial is incompatible with the rule of law which requires that a person should only be deprived of his freedom after being convicted for a crime following the due process of the law. The due process of the law will require the prosecution to furnish evidence for convicting the accused and for accused to defend himself in open court. She gave the example of the Hindraf 5 where they were accused of terrorism even though not a single shred of evidence was produced. There were sufficient provisions in the Penal Code to convict a person up to 30 years for terrorist activities. Why then were they not charged?

Tian Chua gave an interesting argument for the ISA to be abolished, one that I’ve not heard before. He said the ISA and other preventive detention legislations will only perpetuate the inefficiency of our police force and hence increase the crime rate. This is because they don’t have to do any investigations before they arrest people under these preventive detention laws and from the experiences of many former ISA detainees, the purpose of their interrogation is not to elicit evidence but to break them down or turn them over. So our police will continue to have poor investigation skills. That is why sometime ago, some judges ticked the police off for their shoddy investigative work and they have no choice by to acquit some of the accuseds.

Tian Chua added that everyone knows that even though the Government has used the ISA against its political opponents, it was futile as people would continue to oppose. He being an ex-ISA detainee is a good example. So are many of the Opposition leaders today. So the ISA is also ineffective when used mala fide.

Syed Ibrahim said that basically there are 3 responses to the ISA. Abolish it. Retain it or Amend it. He showed us some of the statements made by some politicians. It was most interesting to note that Rais Yatim criticised the ISA in his doctoral thesis during his time in the Opposition but defended it when he joined back UMNO and became a Cabinet Minister. So much for academic integrity. We were also told that people were arrested under the ISA for various reasons e.g. cloning of handphones to counterfeiting moneys. Whatever the reasons, there are always sufficient provisions in our criminal legislation to convict these people if there were evidence. Evidently, the police or the Government has none.

Norlaila shared her heart rending experience as a wife of a ISA detainee. She was one tough lady and was able to control her emotions until the end despite the fact that her husband was told that his detention was extended for another two years a few days ago. There was no reason given for the extension. All her hopes of reuniting with her husband just a week ago was completed dashed. She shared how the Special Branch threatened her to stop her from her anti-ISA campaign telling her that if she persist, her husband will never be free. She said that she will continue her struggle after receiving blessings from her husband and reasoned that those wives who choose to remain silent, their husbands also were not free. So the decision to extend her husband detention cannot be due to her anti-ISA activities. The hardest part for a wife of an ISA detainee is when the children asked, ‘Where is daddy?’ or ‘When is daddy coming back?’.

All the panelist and I think everyone in the conference room agreed that the ISA has to be abolished. It can never be amended to make it more humane. As Lim Guan Eng pointed out, that is like trying to make Satan good.

Someone asked during the short Q & A time whether if Pakatan Rakyat were to come into power, they will be committed in abolishing the ISA. Tian Chua, as a representative of the PR gave the assurance that, there is no doubt that the ISA will be abolished together with other laws which are incompatible with a civil society.

Not long ago a colleague spotted me wearing the anti-ISA badge and scornfully said that he believe Anwar will never abolish the ISA if he comes into power. Well, maybe given a choice he may not want to. But after 8 March 2008, he has no choice. He wouldn’t last very long if he refuses to listen to the voice of the rakyat.

Come let us make our voice heard on 28th March 2008. Come to the anti-ISA Rally at Stadium Malawati, Shah Alam. For more info, click here

An Immoral Law and An Immoral Government

Years ago I learned in jurisprudence that you can't equate law with morality. E.g. some may consider abortion and prostitution to be immoral but there are countries which have legalized them. On the other hand jaywalking may be amoral but you may be fined for so doing. Well, for someone who nearly flunked jurisprudence, I'm going to argue here that there are such laws which are immoral. Those laws are the ones which violate our basic human rights. And the consequence is not limited to the individual whose rights are violated but very often it extend to that individual's family.

Today is Father's day. Yet in our midst there are children whose fathers cannot be with them today because their rights were violated and are currently incarcerated in Kamunting. The psychological and emotional damage done to these children may be irreparable. Read the account of the wife of T Vasanthakumar, one of the Hindraf 5.

Who is responsible? The immoral Government that is keeping the immoral law in our statute book and does not intend to review it let alone abolish it. The same immoral Government which feel threatened by a group of children intending to give teddy bears to our fountain of justice, our king.

In the case of YB Manoharan, this immoral Government does not only deprives the YB's children of fatherly love, but also deprive the thousands of citizens in Kota Alam Shah of their representative. What kind of democracy is this?

As long as the ISA remains the law in this land, freedom is illusory. Freedom from fear. This immoral law not only deprives us of our right to defend ourself in an open court, but its more sinister nature is to strike fear in us. Fear in being fully human. A law that dehumanizes is not merely immoral but evil.

There is a forum this Tuesday on the ISA organized by GMI (Gerakan Mansuhkan ISA) & the Bar Council's Human Rights Committee. For more info click here. I understand there is going to be rally later this month in Shah Alam also.

Many many years ago a trade that dehumanized, slavery was made illegal through the effort of one man and small group of like-minded individuals. Now I'm sure based on the turnout last week at the candlelight vigil at Kamunting, we have thousands who think the ISA should be cosigned to history. Well, I think not only the ISA but the present Government too must go.

We shall overcome!

The first thing we do, let's kill all the economists!

If you have been reading what people say about the recent fuel hike, you'll notice that most economists are in favour of the Govt's move. They feel that the eventual removal of subsidies is beneficial to us in the long term and subsidies are no longer sustainable. Though some feel the increase has been too drastic, others applauded the PM for doing a brave thing.

I wonder how many of these economists are struggling just to make ends meet even before the fuel hike. I'm sure they are affected like everybody else but I doubt they will really feel the pain. Honestly, I won't too because I hardly spend more than RM200 on petrol every month. Even then, that is being paid by my company. I may have to do away with a few luxuries if I want to maintain my current rate of saving and be financially free when I retire. But to really suffer, no. But I know a large segment of the rakyat will. A large segment which doesn't even own a car and hence will not benefit from the RM625 rebate. This is because everything else will go up.

Economic theories are only as good as the Government we get. For nearly 3 decades we have an irresponsible Govt. One that is corrupted. One that has treated the wealth of our nation as though it belongs to their grandfathers. One that is truly incompetent. Only trying to think of measures after the event. (I have very little confidence over whatever measure this incompetent Govt is going to take.) One that lied to its people. We were promised a better transportation system with the RM4 billion saved on the last fuel hike. Nothing materialized.

It's has been a while since I've been so angry. As I said earlier, not that I'm going to be adversely affected. I'm angry because I know many are going to be in dire straits whilst some who caused it will continue with their opulent lifestyle.

No wonder economics is a dismal science.

The only bright spot this dismal week was I sold my Tenaga shares after holding it for just over a month. The realized profit should be enough to cover my electricity bill for the next 6 months based on the new tariff.