(Ethnic) Politics:Election'08

[GWR]

Asian Sentinel comments on a book that is on the point of being banned:

http://www.asiasentinel.com/images/stories/smoothgallery/may13book.jpg

Digging up Malaysia’s Racial Past
Philip Bowring
16 May 2007
A new book presents the view that 1969 race riots were instigated by ambitious Malay politicians. Now it seems the book will be banned by the government.

Thirty-eight years on, the traumatic ethnic riots of May 13, 1969 in Malaysia remain as much a subject of official censorship as the events of June 4, 1989 in China. Now a new book by a Malaysian Chinese academic is on the point of being officially banned for suggesting that May 13 was the occasion for what amounted to a coup against the independence leader and Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman by his United Malays National Organisation colleagues who were pushing pro-Malay policies. Officials of Malaysia’s Internal Security Ministry Tuesday confiscated 10 copies of the book from a Kuala Lumpur bookstore, advising the store not to sell it as it may be banned. According to a letter issued by ministry officials, the book is suspected of being an “undesirable publication.”

What happened on May 13 remains highly relevant to UMNO’s position as the leader of the Barisan National, the alliance of race-based parties that has ruled the country since independence 50 years ago.

“Declassified Documents on the Malaysian riots of 1969” by Dr. Kua Kia Soong, the principal of New Era College, is based not directly on Malaysian sources but on now-open British documents held at the Public Records Office in Kew Gardens, near London. These consist of contemporary British diplomatic and intelligence reports which suggest that the riots were not spontaneous acts of communal violence, as is constantly alleged by UMNO, but were fanned by Malay elements, with support from the army and police, wanting to discredit the accommodating prime minister and impose a much more rigorous Malay agenda. One British document concluded that the goal was to “formalize Malay dominance, sideline the Chinese and shelve Tunku.”

The official Malaysian government version of events was that the riots were sparked by opposition parties “infiltrated by communist insurgents” following huge opposition gains in the election. Although the UMNO-led Alliance, the predecessor of the Barisan National, retained an overall majority, it lost its two thirds majority and its control of Selangor state was threatened. Certainly there was much celebrating among the mainly Chinese opposition parties at the election result, which angered Malay politicians who sensed their political dominance was under threat.

By the time the riots were over, official figures said 196 people had been killed, 6,000 made homeless and more than 700 buildings destroyed or damaged.

Non-Malays in particular have long believed that though there was violence on both sides, it was a mostly one-sided affair with some Malay politicians, notably Selangor Chief Minister Harun Idris, encouraging mobs to attack Chinese areas and that the security forces initially did little to prevent violence. This is largely confirmed by contemporary reports such as those of Far Eastern Economic Review correspondent Bob Reece.

Kua’s thesis suggests that there was a grander political design behind the episode, which from the beginning was intended to create a new political agenda and new leadership. He attributes this to a younger Malay group dissatisfied with the aristocratic, pro-British the Tunku.

In any event, the Tunku effectively stepped aside as emergency powers to rule by decree were (temporarily) placed in the hands of a National Operations Council headed by his deputy Tun Abdul Razak – father of current deputy prime minister Najib Abdul Razak. The Tunku remained prime minister until September 1970 but had little authority any more. In 1971 he also stepped down as president of UMNO after virulent criticism by the Malay “Young Turks,” headed by Mahathir Mohamad, the future Prime Minister. The same year the government enunciated the New Economic Policy and began aggressive affirmative action programs to advance the economic and educational level of Malays.

However, while the consequences of May 13 may be clear, there are disagreements about Kua’s thesis even among those who attribute the riots to Malay politicians. For example, Dr Syed Husin Ali also a respected academic and deputy head of the opposition Keadilan Party, has suggested that while some UMNO figures used the events as an opportunity to sideline the Tunku and set out a pro-Malay agenda, it was not planned as such.

In other words, Razak and others took advantage of the situation which arose after the election and the appearance of Malay mobs to grab the reins of power from the Tunku, with whom they were dissatisfied, but that it was not premeditated. Syed also takes issue with Kua’s view that they represented an aspirant Malay capitalist class when most had traditional and feudal links.

Bookstores have been advised not to sell Kua’s book and a formal ban looks likely on the grounds that it will stir up racial animosities, which it could well do in the short run. However, from a broader perspective it is hard to see how a multi-racial, multi-religious Malaysia can flourish if events such as May 13 can only be discussed in private, while the public is fed a distorted official version in order to sustain the legitimacy of UMNO politicians.

[jules]

The above news report still amplified the culture of book banning we have had since independence. To be telling schoolchildren and parents that we ban books is not conveying a smart message for our smart schools. Why not tell these children to think and think freely and to read and read voraciously? Why use the schools to promote the message of active ignorance?

Active ignorance

In our history, one of the most famous books banned was of course The Malay Dilemma by a medical doctor from Titi Gajah, Kedah. The author later became Malaysia's fourth prime minister, staying in power for 22 years. We banned Kassim Ahmad, Othman Ali, Karen Armstrong, and many work of national and international authors who proposed new line of thinking about society. We ban good movies on the Malaysian early political experience that tries to enrich our youth with a radical perspective of this nation and its narration.

We were even afraid of our respectable social scientist Dr. Lim Teck Ghee's Asli findings on the New Economic Policy, written with such a refreshing and constructivist perspective. Through the repressive Internal Security Act, we jailed out intellectuals – without trial – people like Lim Kit Siang, Dr Syed Husin Ali, Kassim Ahmad, Dr Chandra Muzaffar, and many others who lived their lives presenting alternative viewpoints for a better Malaysian future. We have installed a government of active ignorance, interested in the advancement of poor understanding of human development. We continue to live a national life of contradiction.

We prefer to glorify leaders of Mat Rempits and make our youth stoned glued to 100 television channels, useless programmes such as Akademi Fantasia, and soap operas that mainly sell useless products to housewives. These do not increase the value to the nation's collective intelligence. Reading good books does.

As we move towards a "Biotech" nation, send the first Malay Muslim astronaut into space, drop 10 Mat Rempits form the sky in the North Pole, we ban a book that could have explained all the three events of cultural contradictions I mentioned.

What's still wrong with us?

What's wrong with those who are thinking of possibly calling for the ban? Can't they read and analyze and write their own rebuttal of the historical account of May 13, 1969?

If an American youth in his 20s can do a good documentary "Loose Change" to rebut the Bush Regime's "official view" of 9/11, why can't the government do as such? Why stop others from reading about another interpretation of history? What kind of standard of intellectual rigour helped elect those senators who called for the ban?

I thought, "senators", like the Romans and the Greeks were supposed to be scholarly as inspired by Cicero and Socrates? I thought we elect politicians because we think they are profound scholars such as Kung Fu'Tze, Lao Tzu, Krishnamurthi, Za'ba, W.S. Rendra, Syed Hussein Alattas, and Jose Rizal.

What is wrong with this country? I thought we are more mentally advanced than the many a war-torn nation that summarily execute journalists and truth-tellers? I thought this is the year 2007 and that we have declared to produce tens of thousands of those with PhDs

Why not encourage each other to read the book first and write a review of it – we will be respected. If one's command of the English Language is poor, take time to improve it before deciding to become a representative of the people in a world in which the rakyat will continue to challenge politicians on intellectual and moral grounds.

The power of the bloggers is showing us that politicians need to work harder to become more intelligent in their decision-making. Look at how many corruption cases are beginning to get attended to in this otherwise "Sleepy Hollow" country called Malaysia? Look at how many "Rip Van Winkles" among the politicians are beginning to wake up from their siesta and slumber in some Malaysian Catskills Mountains of upstate New York and scrambling to explain why they need to be more accountable. We elect them and we want them to behave.

Instead of spending long hours at country clubs and golf courses, read and read and improve your ability to analyze whatever "controversial" books published. Don't ban the May 13 book if you don't understand!

Talk about controversial issues

We must remove the clauses that prohibit us from talking about so-called controversial issues. We are an intelligent nation expecting to live in a more intelligent environment. We must banish unintelligent leaders who are still living with a May 13, 1969 frame of mind. From whom do these prohibitions and banning serve?

We must allow as many writers and scholars as possible to write critical analyses of issues that affect our lives – from the role of the Communist Party in fighting fro Independence and the root cause of the May 13 1969 riots to the by-election of Ijok and the cognitive inabilities of rude, vulgar, racists and sexist politicians who continue to be given the power to define Malaysian parliamentary culture.

We are letting this beautiful country move aimlessly in an euphoric state of pseudo-intellectualism when we can do more that ban books, witch-hunt our university students, silence our academicians, criminalise our intellectuals, shy away from inter-faith dialogues, angry at newer findings on the ownership in the NEP, forced our university administrators to police our students, spew vulgarities in our August house, allow Ministers to make unintelligent statements on responsible and socially-conscious bloggers, and countless other acts that are stopping our nation from thinking and organising collective action on radical change.

We need to be serious about becoming a nation of better thinkers. We need to remove the hurdles. This will require the rakyat to demand that we remove leaders in politics, academia, social services, public education and all sectors that are anti-intellectual.

We need a new brand of leaders who will move this nation forward and create a new republic of virtue, morality, peace and justice for all races.

In the case of the book, it is time the Ministry of Information and Ministry of Internal Security each have a website to publish review of books instead of using their power to ban what it has not properly understood. This will be a more respectable thing to do. This will launch the two ministries into the Space Age – from the Age of Dinosaur. From the year 1957 to year 2007.



by Dr Azly Rahman

[GWR]

:mad: November 25, 2007 00:44 AM
Smart Communities Can Counter Anti-Govt Groups

KLANG, Nov 24 (Bernama) -- Smart communities can act as intermediaries between the society and government by reducing the influence of irresponsible groups out to poison the people's minds.

"We want to ensure that government policies are explained to the people accurately and quickly. This is important as we approach Vision 2020 and Glorious Malaysia by 2057," Parliamentary Secretary to the Information Ministry Noriah Kasnon said when launching the Bandar Klang Anjung Bestari Smart Community here today.

The Cabinet has allocated RM16,000 for each smart community of which RM4,000 will go towards management and administration while the remaining RM12,000 will be used for activities.

On the Anjung Bestari (Smart Verandah), Noriah said it should be made into a mini information centre to serve the needs of local residents.

"They can place brochures, leaflets and others on education, youth bodies or activities by non-governmental organisations (NGOs)," she added.

-- BERNAMA :mad:
Non-specific link:
http://www.bernama.com.my/

[GWR]

Media gagged over another rally
23 November 2007
Source: Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA)

Malaysian's Internal Security Ministry has instructed the local press to refrain from reporting about a banned rally in the capital Kuala Lumpur on 25 November 2007, which is seeking the Queen of England's help in a class-action suit against Her Majesty's government.

At least one newsroom received the order from a ministry official through telephone on 22 November, an industry source who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal told the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ), a SEAPA partner based in Kuala Lumpur.

A similar gag order was issued over another rally held on 10 November, which saw thousands of Malaysians in a rare exercise of their right to assembly, to petition Malaysia's Supreme Monarch for free and fair elections.

The press may well be compelled to obey the order again, bound as it is by the licensing conditions stipulated in the 1987 Printing Presses and Publications Act. The government, however, appeared not to have learnt anything from the previous restriction which resulted in the mainstream media showing up poorly in the eyes of the thousands who were at the rally, and compared against the many reports, photographs and videos found in blogs and websites.

Ten thousand citizens of Indian ethnicity had been expected to gather on 25 November to submit a memorandum to the British High Commission, to support a class-action suit against Her Majesty's Government for bringing Indians to Malaya (as Malaysia was called during British rule) two centuries ago as indentured labourers and for failing to incorporate their rights in the country's road to independence.

The suit was filed in September by the Hindu Rights Action Force (HINDRAF), which is organising the rally to petition the Queen of England to appoint a Queen's Counsel to represent the Indians. They are seeking a quantum of RM14 trillion (approx. US$4 trillion) or US$2 million for each citizen of Indian ethnicity.

In a déjà vu of the 10 November rally, the government is pulling out all stops to prevent people from attending the HINDRAF rally, rejecting their application and the subsequent appeal for a gathering permit and setting up roadblocks to seal off the city. Various top-ranking leaders and enforcement officers stressed the illegality of the rally.

On 23 November, police arrested three key figures of HINDRAF, lawyers P. Uthayakumar, Ganapathy Rao and P. Waythamoorthy. They were charged at the Klang Sessions Court under the 1948 Sedition Act, a much-abused antiquated law that allows a broad definition of sedition, an offence punishable by a three-year prison sentence or a fine of RM5,000 (approx. US$1,487), or both. All were granted bail of RM800 each (approx. US$237) and released the same day, except for Waythamoorty, who is refusing to post bail in protest of what he termed the government's misuse of the police service.

Earlier, police had gone to Uthayakumar's house to serve him a rare restraining order under Section 98 of the Criminal Procedure Code--applicable to urgent cases of nuisance, and effective for seven days from the date of issuance--banning him and all HINDRAF supporters from attending the rally, reports independent web-based daily "Malaysiakini". However, the organisers have vowed to go ahead with their plans.

Police also raided the offices of Uthayakumar and Waythamoorthy on 19 November to search for an allegedly seditious booklet entitled "50 years of Violations of the Federal Constitution by the Malaysian Government".

On 12 August, around 2,000 HINDRAF supporters gathered at the administrative capital Putrajaya to deliver a memorandum to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to protest their continued marginalisation in the country dominated by the ethnic Malays who form half of the 24 million population. Indians form approximately seven percent; the Chinese, 23 percent; and various indigenous groups, 11 percent.

http://www.seapabkk.org/

[GWR]

It's almost always a complete waste of time quoting the Malaysian media on alternative political viewpoints in their own country. Just about everything I read in the Malaysian media yesterday was taking a pro-government standpoint.

The following is featured frontpage [ http://www.2bangkok.com ]today. It's at times like these when one is inclined to reflect that there isn't really a single healthy democracy in the whole region - and no prospect of one either:

Malaysia's police fire tear gas. water cannons on ethnic Indian demonstrators

14 hours ago

KUALA LUMPUR. Malaysia - Police used tear gas and water cannons Sunday to crush a banned rally by more than 10.000 ethnic minority Indians - a rare street clash that exposed Muslim Malaysia's deep racial divisions.

Slogan-shouting protesters hurled water bottles and stones at police. who chased them through streets surrounding the famous Petronas Twin Towers and doused them repeatedly with tear gas and chemical-laced water for more than eight hours. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Witnesses saw people being beaten and dragged into trucks by police. Shoes and broken flower pots littered the scene after protesters scattered to hide in hotels and shops. Organizers said hundreds of people were detained by the time the protesters dispersed.

The rally - rooted in complaints that the ethnic Malay Muslim-dominated government discriminates against minorities - was the largest protest in at least a decade involving ethnic Indians. the country's second-biggest minority after the Chinese and the most underprivileged.

"This gathering is unprecedented." said protest leader P. Uthayakumar. "This is a community that can no longer tolerate discrimination."

It was the second such street protest in Kuala Lumpur this month. A Nov. 10 rally that drew thousands of people demanding electoral reforms was also broken up with similar force. but lasted only a few hours.

Street demonstrations are extremely rare in multiethnic Malaysia. which prides itself on its communal and political stability. The two protests indicate that Malaysians are becoming bolder about venting their frustrations publicly against a political system that concentrates power and influence in the hands of the Malay ruling elite.

Sunday's rally was meant to support a US$4 trillion lawsuit filed in London in August by the Hindu Rights Action Force. a Malaysian rights group. demanding that Britain compensate Malaysian Indians for bringing their ancestors to the country as "indentured laborers" and exploiting them.

Ethnic Indians say discrimination continued after Malaysia's independence in 1957 because of an affirmative action policy favoring Malays. who form about 60 per cent of the country's 27 million people. Ethnic Chinese. who comprise a quarter of the population. have similar complaints.

Activists say more than two-thirds of ethnic Indians. who constitute about eight per cent of the population. live in poverty. with many trapped in a cycle of alcoholism and crime.

Samy Vellu. the government's top ethnic Indian politician. denounced Sunday's protest as "an opposition ploy to smear the government's image."

"We do not support street demonstrations." Samy said in a statement. "We have been working within the system to resolve the problems faced by the Indian community."

On Sunday. thousands of ethnic Indians - some of whom carried pictures of India's independence leader Mohandas K. Gandhi and banners that read "We want our rights" - gathered before dawn near the Petronas towers.

Thousands more massed in Batu Caves. a Hindu temple in a limestone cave on the city's outskirts. hoping to join the others in a march to the British High Commission.

Police had obtained an unprecedented court order prohibiting the public from rallying. On Friday. three of the Hindu group's leaders were arrested and charged with sedition.

Kuala Lumpur police Chief Zulhasnan Najib Baharudin declined to say how many people were arrested Sunday.

"We're still doing our work." Zulhasnan told The Associated Press. "This is necessary for law and order."

Malaysia has maintained racial peace since 1969. when some 200 people were killed in riots sparked by Malay frustration over the economic clout of Chinese. The violence spurred the creation of programs that give Malays privileges in government jobs. contracts and education.

http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5iPHMx5avMl9MzlRr7cl9bRmPnUag

See also:
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=iGn&resnum=0&ie=ISO-8859-1&tab=wn&ncl=1124048150
http://www.malaysiakini.com/

[jpatokal]

Looks like the demo was a bit too large to ignore completely, as the New Straits Jacket does have a front page report on it:

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Monday/Frontpage/2093710/Article/index_html

Although it's ever so subtly spun in favor of the government:

Police were forced to charge when ranks of protesters became unruly and started throwing rocks and bottles at Federal Reserve Unit personnel. ...

The drama started at 2am when the Batu Caves temple committee reported to police that demonstrators had forced open temple gates and damaged property there. ...

The protesters were spoiling for a fight and had no intention of submitting the memorandum to the British High Commission.

And there's occasional cognitive dissonance even in the official version of the story:
Some of them carried the Jalur Gemilang, pictures of Mahatma Gandhi and banners that read "Queen, Please Save Malaysian Indians" and "Hope To Respect Our Humble Rights". ...

At one point, in front of City Square along Jalan Tun Razak, the protesters simply sat on the road when the water cannon were trained on them.

Sitting down on a road? How unruly! Let's all pity those poor, poor police who were positively forced to charge and blast with water cannons when confronted with such a sight... :mad:

[GWR]

The harsh reaction by Kuala Lumpur’s police Sunday to a protest organized by the Hindu Action Force, a pressure group established to further the cause of Malaysia’s 2 million Indians, turns the spotlight on the country’s third largest ethnic group and the problems it has faced for decades.

Tensions have been inflamed recently with the accelerated destruction of Hindu temples by the government. Although many have been built without permits on government land, they have been in place for decades. Three have been bulldozed this year to make way for road construction and a housing development and another three are due for demolition over the next few months.

The Kuala Lumpur police set up road blocks for three days in advance of the demonstration and charged the group’s leaders with sedition. As they had on Nov. 10 against the pressure group Bersih calling for election reform, the police confronted an estimated 10,000 Indian demonstrators with water cannon and tear gas. Some police were armed with submachine guns, weapons they rarely carry openly, as helicopters hovered overhead.

This demonstration was notably more aggressive than the Nov. 10 one, which was multiracial and led not only by Bersih, a good-government organization, but three opposition parties. Defying an order that the protest was illegal, the protesters Sunday, many of them swinging motorcycle helmets as weapons, threw cans and bottles. Disobeying an order to disperse, they gathered outside the city’s gleaming Petronas Towers, with police chasing them down side streets. Scores also gathered at the huge, Batu Caves north of Kuala Lumpur, which is filled with Hindu statues and other objects of worship.

The Hindu Action Force, three of whose leaders were arrested Friday and charged with sedition in advance of the protests, sought to present a petition to the British High Commission asking Queen Elizabeth to appoint a Queen’s Counsel to represent the Indian community. Hundreds of police from Malaysia’s Federal Reserve Unit and the General Operations Force were stationed in the vicinity of the British High Commission in an effort to thwart their progress. In August, the group filed a US$4 trillion class-action suit against the British government in London, asking compensation for being brought to the rubber plantations.

At issue in the protest is the odd niche that Indians, some 7 to 8 percent of the population, occupy in Malaysian society. Brought to what was then British Malaya to work in rubber plantations, they occupy the bottom rung of modern society at the same time their numbers are over-represented in medicine, the law, civil service, the police and information technology. Ananda Krishnan (worth $4.6 billion in Forbes' list of Malaysian billionaires), of Sri Lankan descent, is the second richest tycoon in Malaysia. He owns pay TV operator Astro All Asia Networks and telecom major Maxis, among other businesses. Tony Fernandes, CEO of Air Asia, is one of Malaysia's most successful entrepreneurs. Born in Kuala Lumpur of Indian descent, Fernandes revolutionized budget air travel in Asia and has been called the "Asian Branson."

The Indians’ presence in Malaysia, however, is much more complicated than that. Migration started in the second half of the 19th century when the British brought Tamils and Telugus from the south of India as indentured laborers, primarily to work on rubber plantations, rail lines and the ports. A second wave, mostly from Northern India, came to man the police force and become civil servants. That included Tamils from Sri Lanka and Indians from Kerala – including the father of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who has always been somewhat coy about his Indian roots. Yet a third stream came as traders, Anjum writes.

Yet another wave of Indian migration arrived starting in the 1970s, according to Anjum. In particular, as Mahathir pushed the dream of Malaysia as an IT hub, they were sought after to develop the country’s information technology base, with Malaysia formally signing a Memorandum of Understanding with India for manpower recruitment on a contract basis in 2007. Today, Malaysia’s overseas Indian population is the largest outside the United States.

But outside the legions of professionals, the rubber and palm oil plantations of Malaysia’s interior are still home to some of the poorest residents of the country, their health stunted by malnutrition and their lives marked by lack of upward mobility. In 2000, Time Magazine reported that Indians had the lowest share of the nation's corporate wealth: 1.5%, compared to 19.4% for Malays and 38.5% for Chinese. The highest rate of suicide of any community is among Indians. Gangsterism and violent crime is largely associated with Indians. Some 15% of the Indians in the capital are squatters.”

While some blame Malaysia’s racial policies as the barrier to Indian social wellbeing, with Malays betting on the country’s affirmative action policy and the Chinese being formidable in commerce and business, others blame the Indians themselves. The Malaysian Indian Congress, the ethnic-based party that represents the Indian minority in the ruling coalition, is widely looked upon as ineffective if not corrupt.

Race is the big divide in Malaysia. During his 20 years as prime minister, Mahathir sought to uplift Malays, guaranteeing them a large share of business opportunities. The Chinese, the biggest minority, were supposed to lose their disproportionate share of the country's economy. But the real losers were Indians. Due to their colonial legacy, they are generally seen as providers of cheap labor in plantations and construction sites, their political and social mobility has been thwarted.

Amarjit Kaur, professor of Economic History, at the University of New England in Australia, attributes this partly to caste distinctions. She writes in The Encyclopedia of Indian Diaspora: "The underperformance of the Indian working class may be attributed to the fact that Indian workers were drawn from the less favored caste groups. Thus they continue to be weighed down by the low self-esteem that usually characterizes members of groups belonging to the lower castes and is worsened by lack of the interaction between the well-off and the less well-off Indians.... The marginalization of working-class Indians is reflected in their poor performance in business, equity ownership and employment in professional sectors and the civil service. The disadvantaged position of the majority in the Indian community has contributed to a sense of dispossession and disadvantage among many Indians in Malaysia."

Sarala Sukumaran, 40, a Malaysian Indian entrepreneur who runs an IT firm, says: ""I know many Indian families who want to get out of Malaysia. There are two main reasons behind the backwardness of Indians. One is that we are a minority here, and two, the politicians who represent us do not promote our cause."

Sukumaran is a third generation Malaysian Indian. Her grandparents came to Malaysia in the 1930s to work in the plantations in Penang.

“I feel that we are not aggressive enough as a community in terms of unleashing our entrepreneurial potential. That's why our evolution has been very slow. Comparatively, look at the Tamils from Sri Lanka,” she said. “They have a more close-knit community feeling, they help uplift each other and they are certainly doing much better than the Indians."

After the racial riots of May 1969, Malaysian leaders emphasized the establishment of a united nation and a national culture transcending ethnic identities. The dominant culture in this set-up is Malay with some elements from other cultures supporting it.

Even some new Indians, want to get out. "Being non-bumiputras in Malaysia, we can never settle down here," says Nishant Upadhyay, 30, an instructional designer. "We know that getting a permanent residency is next to impossible so we are looking at opportunities in countries like Singapore and Australia where we can easily settle down and start a family."

Many Indian IT professionals have still not gotten over the mistreatment of 300 Indian citizens in March 2003 in Kuala Lumpur, which was widely reported in the Indian press. Security agencies reportedly interrogated them rudely in a search for illegal immigrants, but all the Indians possessed valid residency documents. Subsequently Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, then the deputy prime minister, apologized for the incident.

But there are frequent reports of abuse of Indian workers and Bumiputra politics disadvantage Indians in education and work opportunities. Local university seats and scholarships are awarded under a racial quota system, and even after getting a degree, many say that discrimination is commonplace. Indian doctors, for instance, complain that they are often excluded from lists of approved doctors whom civil servants or company employees can patronize.

The conversion of rubber plantations to housing estates and golf courses also has displaced plantation workers who have drifted to urban centers. As a result, urban Indian ghettos have emerged and crime has escalated.

Many Indians blame government policies for their backwardness, a charge rejected by mainstream politicians. Says Malaysian politician Shahrir Abdul Samad: "The Indian community problems are more than just equity. Most of their problems are social problems, such as gangsterism. I admit Indians are among the poorest in this country, but their participation and achievements in many other fields are amazing."

Indian Malaysians discover themselves in a bind. Most have resigned themselves to their plight while discontent simmers within the community. But how long can Malaysia afford to allow 8 percent of its population to feel alienated?


http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=900&Itemid=31

[GWR]

http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=989&Itemid=34

Malaysian Yumpies Just Wanna Have Fun
Bored with politics: UMNO is sooo... last century

Helmi Ghaffar sits at a table at Chinos, a smart bistro near Malaysia's gigantic Petronas twin spires. A Heineken in front of him, he wears a white Ralph Lauren button-down shirt, Calvin Klein blue jeans, Gucci loafers and is oozing Armani cologne. Across from him, his girlfriend, Zubaidah Hashim, is nursing a glass of red wine in the afternoon sun. Clad in a shocking pink tank top and white MNG hot pants, she rummages through her little Louis Vuitton bag. "It's time to upgrade my mobile phone," she says.

Helmi and Zubaidah are new young, urban, Malay professionals—yumpies for lack of a better word. They represent a problem for Malaysia's leading ethnic party and leader of the ruling coalition United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), but perhaps a promise for the country itself. They regard UMNO and politics itself as irrelevant.

This is the generation that grew up in a booming economy, watching YouTube and listening to Britney Spears and Korean pop. They skateboard, rollerblade and even ice-skate. The 60-year-old atrocities under the Japanese occupation of World War II, the Communist insurgency of the 50s and the race riots of the 60s that haunted their parents and grandparents are simply words in their history texts. The New Economic Policy, an affirmative action program put in place to benefit ethnic Malays after bloody 1969 anti-Chinese race riots, has been successful to an extent. Today, despite the fact that inequalities exist, different ethnic groups are better represented in the professions. Nonetheless, the emerging Malay middle class feels short-changed by the NEP as it is universally known.

"I just want to earn more money. Even with my degree, I couldn't find an office job," says 22-year-old Suraya Hamzah, another ethnic Malay, who graduated with an engineering degree from the US last year. Now she is making ends meet with a medley of odd jobs, including working as a waitress and operating her own food stall. "I'm lucky I've relatives in KL (the capital, Kuala Lumpur) and they drive me around. If not, I'm not sure how I'll survive." Asked about her thoughts of Malay supremacy, she said, "I feel so embarrassed."

In the National Youth Survey conducted by the Merdeka Center last August, Malaysia’s young people are most concerned about the economy (31 percent) and social problems (25 percent). On a personal level, career (33 percent), family (20 percent) and education (11 percent) are most important. They regard the most important election issues as the state of the economy (28 percent), government commitment to its promises (20 percent), the education system (15 percent) and ethnic peace and relations (14 percent).

UMNO’s preoccupations rank far below these issues. Only 4 percent and 2 percent respectively say the implementation of programs to assist Malays and the primacy of Malays are their most important election issues. Race and religion also linger on the bottom rungs.

Significantly, this doesn’t appear to be a well-to-do, urban, middle-class phenomenon. Of 1,508 respondents, 59 per cent were ethnic Malays, 60 percent described themselves as Muslims and 52 percent were from rural areas. Seventy-three percent were aged 20 to 30 and 72 percent had monthly household incomes below RM3,000. The low income levels probably corresponded to formal education levels – 51 percent had secondary education, 27 per cent had gained diplomas and only 17 percent held advanced degrees.

Most Malays seem to share the same values as their counterparts from other races. The only difference may be that Islamic religious authorities regularly snoop into their private lives. The state's morality police are notorious for their "khalwat" raids. Close proximity between men and women is an offence under Islamic syariah law, which only applies to Muslims. The religious police regularly raid "immoral" nightclubs or break down doors to arrest couples having sex.

This state-sponsored suppression, however, doesn’t seem to slow down the march of Malaysia’s young towards hedonism. Pornographic sites featuring girls in tudungs, or head scarves, and traditional Islamic women’s wear can be found via a Google search on "tudung girls sex.” The youth also often turn to the relative safety of the outdoors – oil palm or rubber estates, secondary forests and even fields of very long lalang, a type of grass – for sex undetected by the authorities’ prying eyes.

"I don't believe in organized religion. I don't believe in Islam. I want to be free to think what I want to think. Instead of trying to catch us for our ‘sins,’ the government should focus on the economy," says a 28-year-old ethnic Malay who has lived abroad for more than 10 years.

Since 1998, the Malay political arena has changed with the emergence of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (People’s Justice Party), which started when former deputy premier and finance minister Anwar Ibrahim was dismissed on charges of sexual perversion and corruption that were widely viewed as trumped up. Prior to the party’s emergence, UMNO only had to hold the fundamentalist Parti Islam se-Malaysia, or PAS. Secular-oriented Malays really had no political alternative.

Unlike PAS, the multiracial Keadilan espouses democratic principles including the rule of law and freedom of speech and proposes to replace the NEP affirmative action program with an income-based poverty eradication program.

Caught between PAS's Islamic morality and Keadilans's liberal democratic ideology, UMNO wants to make itself relevant to the young, but it is not doing a very good job of it. while Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has formulated what he calls a moderate Islam Hadhari (Civilisation Islam) as a framework for a civil society which is "fair to all races,” party stalwarts indulge themselves in fiery racial rhetoric. This only upsets the ethnic Chinese, who make up nearly a quarter of the population, but, if the national youth survey is accurate, it is also alienating young Malays.

[GWR]

ELECTION 2008: Rantau Panjang still a 'cowboy town' after 25 years
By : Ridzwan Abdullah

RANTAU PANJANG: A huge PAS banner at the roundabout just after the famous Salor bridge carries a smiling picture of Rantau Panjang MP Abdul Fatah Harun, with a simple quote:
Eh ... Abe Tah (Eh look...it's Brother Fatah).

Similar banners line the roads all the way to Rantau Panjang, a town many Malaysians visit for its fake branded goods.

But there's more to Rantau Panjang than just counterfeit goods.

Folks here have deep links to the Thai border town of Golok, located just 300m away, in the predominantly Muslim Narathiwat province. [Mod: See also thread on Sungai Golok and its role in the Malaysian General Election. http://www.angkor.com/2bangkok/2bangkok/forum/showthread.php?t=2925&highlight=sungai+golok+polls ]

Rantau Panjang is a quiet town that only gets busy with the weekend and school holiday shopping crowds. But underneath its simplicity, there's a dark and dangerous side.

Many here are either directly or indirectly involved in smuggling as a means of making a living.

Along with it comes the occasional gang warfare, drug deals, shootings and car chases.

"It's an open secret. Some of the people here will not be able to survive if it stops," said a retired enforcement officer, who only wished to be referred to as Abe Mat.

Small wonder then why Menteri Besar Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat was totally against a proposal by federal authorities, three years ago, to fence up the border area all the way from Jeli to Tumpat.

"It will cripple the local economy. There are no jobs here, so this is how they survive," said Abe Mat, pointing out how the locals here have become self-sufficient.

But beneath their gedebeh (thug-like) appearance, the people here are friendly, and extremely religious.

Kak Jah, a 35-year-old trader, said Rantau Panjang had not seen much change.

"It's still the same old cowboy town like 25 years before. Maybe it's time to move on," she said when asked if the people were ready for changes.

Which is exactly what Rantau Panjang BN candidate, Mohd Afandi Yusoff, has in mind for the people here.

Afandi, popularly known among the locals as Ustad Pendi, wants to convince the people that religion and development can go hand in hand.

"Rantau Panjang has suffered long enough under PAS rule largely because the people here have been left to fend for themselves. I want to rid this place of its notorious image and provide the people with opportunities."

Afandi's religious personality is a plus point for BN, which had all along been expecting Abdul Fatah to contest again.

However, Abdul Fatah, a three-term MP, was switched to the Bukit Tuku seat.

State Muslimat chief Siti Zailah Yusoff was brought in to replace him in Rantau Panjang.

Joining the fray is independent candidate, Isma Airfath Hasanudin, who is not expected to make any impact.

Whether Fatah's derogatory remark in Parliament last year in which he blamed divorced women for being gatal (promiscuous) had anything to do with the party's decision to drop him and field a woman candidate is anybody's guess.

Nevertheless, the battle for Rantau Panjang has taken an interesting twist as both Afandi and Siti Zailah have religious teaching backgrounds, come from the same village, and share the same last name.

People here have already dubbed it the "Ustaz vs Ustazah" contest, with both candidates claiming their extended network of family and friends in the area will work to their advantage.

When asked on her pledges for the folks of Rantau Panjang, Siti Zailah preferred to talk more about national issues.

She stressed that by endorsing her candidacy for a parliamentary seat, the Pas leadership was recognising the role played by the Muslimat wing, but sees no problems in reaching out to the male voters as well.

But Fatah's incumbency may be Siti Zailah's bane. Kak Jah, the trader, claims she has never laid eyes on Fatah.

Perhaps, Eh ...Abe Tah could be interpreted in a whole different context; introducing himself through his posters to his constituents, some of whom have never seen him even though he is their parliamentary representative.
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Thursday/National/2171766/Article/index_html

[jpatokal]

Odds are you've already heard the news unless you're living under a rock, but Malaysia's ruling party UMNO and its coalition Barisan National got their asses kicked in the elections on Saturday:

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iNR9R9NrEEBG7-VqvtwdO0t8bpfQ

With just 51.2% of the popular vote, BN lost the states of Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor, and did not manage to grab back already opposition-ruled Kelantan. Capital Kuala Lumpur has no state representatives, but 11 of its 12 parliamentary seats also went to the opposition.

To the government's infinite credit, it appears to have accepted the result, with no major vote-rigging on the day itself (although the playing field certainly was heavily titled in the BN's favor), much less any declarations of emergency law. This is all absolutely momentous for Malaysia, where in 40 years the opposition has never had more than two states, and some of the many ramifications are listed here:

http://thestar.com.my/columnists/story.asp?file=/2008/3/10/columnists/reflectingonthelaw/20596374&sec=Reflecting%20On%20The%20Law

Of additional interest is that fact that, of the BN's remaining 140 seats, 41 are in the hands of the political parties of Sabah and Sarawak, which have a rather different political culture from the mainland. It's entirely conceivable that some or all of them will switch to the opposition coalition by the next election or even before then, making the BN's majority slim indeed and giving the opposition a very realistic chance of grabbing power.

So three cheers for Malaysian democracy -- now if we'd only see something similar in Singapore...

[GWR]

Malaysians win a chance at meaningful democratic reform
12 March 2008
Source: Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA)

The following is a 12 March 2008 SEAPA media statement:

The stunning setback to Malaysia's ruling coalition in the country's recent national elections underscores the people's demand for political and democratic reforms, and the need for greater openness in the Southeast Asian country.

It was the failure of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to deliver on promises for good governance, accountability, and an end to corruption that tarnished his administration and severely damaged his coalition; and it was the lack of openness, the absence of free expression and press freedom, and the stifling of independent media in Malaysia that never really gave those promises any chance to be credible or legitimate from the very start.

Ironically, it was Abdullah's authoritarian predecessor, Mahathir Mohamad, who said it best: "The problem is we (the ruling coalition) have become so arrogant. We suppress any opinion that we do not like and begin to believe in our own reports, which are not actually consistent with what is happening in the country."

Although the incumbent government was returned to power, its popular vote was slashed to just over 51 percent, with the opposition also gaining greater representation in Parliament and capturing five out of 13 state seats.

The former information minister Zainuddin Maidin, who was among the major parliamentary casualties in the ruling coalition, had infamously exhorted the mainstream media not to tell the prime minister the truth, especially that which is unpalatable to the ruling government. Had the heavily controlled media been allowed to serve the truth instead of government propaganda, the ruling government may have been able to gauge the real sentiments of the people, address their concerns adequately and be spared the embarrassing backlash it is facing now.

There were clear signs of growing public dissent in the months prior to the election. Civil society groups took to the streets to show their unhappiness with a range of issues that are exacerbated by the lack of democratic freedoms. Such protests - the events themselves, their basis, and the subsequent clampdowns - were also not fairly covered by the traditional mainstream media, increasing public dissatisfaction at the lack of democratic spaces.

To be sure, the repressive environment, rationalised by supposed concerns for racial anxieties and potentials for ethnic and religious riots, is a legacy of Mahathir more than anybody else's, but it was the ruling coalition's revelling and contentment in the face of that legacy that was their collective undoing. The Malaysian leaders' unwillingness to accept criticism, engage in debate, encourage genuine civil participation, and indeed foster greater tolerance through greater openness, is what has long rendered Malaysia's political foundations unstable and in desperate need of reform.

Hopefully, the message of the last elections is loud and clear and hopefully, the opportunity for reform will now be exploited to the fullest.

As has been demonstrated, avoiding and hiding the truth is a disservice not only to the public but also the government. SEAPA hopes that Malaysia's new elected leaders, at both state and federal levels, will move for an enabling environment for free expression, and calls on civil society to continue engaging with the authorities to abolish restrictive laws such as the Printing Presses and Publications Act, the Official Secrets Act and the Sedition Act.

Malaysians want more democracy, more openness, more space for open debate, press freedom, and free expression. Without these, any promises of good governance and reform will ring hollow and incredible.

Issued by:
Roby Alampay
Executive Director

-------------------

ABOUT SEAPA

The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) is a coalition of press freedom advocacy groups from Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. Established in November 1998, the network aims to unite independent journalists and press-related organisations in the region into a force for the protection and promotion of press freedom and free expression in Southeast Asia. SEAPA is composed of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (Indonesia), the Jakarta-based Institute for the Study of the Free Flow of Information (ISAI), the Manila-based Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, and the Thai Journalists Association.

Contact us at: seapa@seapabkk.org, or call (662) 243 5579.
http://www.seapabkk.org/