We can do better
November 29, 2009
I’m not going to say anything in this post, but just link you to a post similarly titled at the Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia website.
You’ll agree, I’m sure, that the SABM post says it all.
Free & Equal – Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia Forum
November 28, 2009
The year 2009 is the International Year of Reconciliation. It aims to promote the concept of reconciliation worldwide.
In conjunction with the United Nations’ declaration that 2009 is The International Year of Reconciliation with “Unity in Diversity” as the theme, the Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia initiative will be holding a forum at Rumah Anak Bangsa Malaysia, 66 Lorong Setiabistari 1 Bukit Damansara, Kuala Lumpur, on Saturday 5th December, 2009 from 2.00pm to 6.00pm.
Uplifting the way of life of the marginalized and reconciling them with mainstream society is essential in order for all to be free and equal.
Resolving human conflicts, working towards reconciliation and restoring peace and harmony would bring about a better Malaysia for one and all.
The event will address these issues and the programme will include a talk, field trip reports, a narration by FoodNotBombs on how the homeless are helped, and a screening of “The Imam and The Pastor” with accompanying discussion by members of Nur Damai.
Please RSVP by 1st Dec 09 (Tuesday).
Email – events@sayaanakbangsamalaysia.net
Farida – 016-2095 818
Hasbee – 017-332 5424
Rumah Anak Bangsa Malaysia – 03-2095 0435
The passing of a true, blue, anak Bangsa Malaysia
November 19, 2009
I got to know Patrick Wong through RPK.
Although I did not have the chance to get to know him really well, I knew enough to know that he was a staunch supporter of the numerous efforts to bring about the necessary changes in our country in the hope that, one day, we would truly be a free people.
I received the sad news that in the early hours of this morning, intruders entered Patrick’s home and inflicted such horrific injuries that finally proved to be fatal.
Patrick has passed on.
The wake will be held at:
9, Lorong Kemaris 1
Bukit Bandaraya
59100 Kuala Lumpur
Human beings, all born free and equal
November 9, 2009
Is it not within the grand scheme of the Divine that you and I were intended to be as free and as equal as the next two persons in New York?
Sure, the dynamics of international politics and the unequal location and distribution of natural resources favouring some over others has resulted in inequalities prevailing between individuals in different parts of Planet Earth.
Surely, though, within the boundaries of this, our nation-state that has come to be known as Malaysia, we, her inhabitants, must all be equal?
No?
Share your thoughts with us at the Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia Youth Workshop & Forum in Penang on Sunday, 15th November, 2009. For details, go HERE and HERE.
22 No-to-ISA vigilers go to trial tomorrow
November 9, 2009
9th November, last year, a weekly anti-ISA candlelight vigil across the road from the Amcorp Mall was to also commemorate the first anniversary of the historic BERSIH rally of 10th November, 2007.
Like the vigils that had gone on for several weeks before, this was also intended to be just as peaceful.
That night, though, the police were having none of this although in previous weeks, the vigils had proceeded in their presence, albeit in plainclothes.
Those who were at the Amcorp mall that night, having first sung the Negaraku, proceeded to disperse at about 9.30pm.
Some of those who dispersed made their way to the vicinity of the Dewan Sivik where an unplanned vigil was about to take place except that, whilst those who were present were singing, once again, the Negaraku, and without any prior order to disperse, police charged in and arrested many of those who were present, even as some started to leave the vicinity.
If you’ve forgotten the incident that night, or are hearing of it for the first time now, you can read more about that night HERE.
22 of those arrested that night were charged with an offence or offences under the Police Act, 1967, either with failing to adhere to an order to disperse or with unlawful assembly. I cannot recall the precise charge.
The trial starts tomorrow at the PJ Sessions Courtand, I am informed, is scheduled to run for three consecutive days.
I have a hearing in the KL High Court tomorrow and might not be able to be there tomorrow.
If you can, I am sure it would be comforting for the 22 if you could make it to the courts over the next three days to show solidarity with these vigilers.
Youth For Change Voters Registration Drive
November 5, 2009
A frequently cited statistic from 2006 stated that 70% of the 4.7 million Malaysians yet to register as voters are aged between 21 and 35 years. At the same time, the young people of the Klang Valley are becoming increasingly concerned about social and political issues, from the environment to education, human rights to personal safety.
Registering to vote is an important step to entering adulthood and taking responsibility for the society in which we live in. Unfortunately, voter registration is usually a dull and boring affair, making it easier for the young to brush their duty aside.
The Youth For Change Carnival aims to change that. With performances by top Malaysian independent musicians such as Bittersweet, Couple, Seven Collar T-Shirt, Liyana Fizi, Robot Asmara, Reza Salleh, Ika and many more, the Youth For Change Carnival aims to draw in thousands of youths from around the Klang Valley. At the carnival, those who have yet to register to vote will be able to do so easily at attractively designed booths, while standing a chance to win numerous prizes as well as freebies.
In addition to live music, the Youth For Change Carnival will also feature a mini flea market showcasing creative fashion and art by young designers. As part of the day’s festivities, short films made by young Malaysian filmmakers will be screened, including the popular 15Malaysia shorts that have been a hit on the Internet. Popular young actors, musicians, artists and bloggers will also be meeting their fans at the carnival.
Above all, the aim of the Youth For Change Carnival is to bring the young people of the Klang Valley together to enjoy fun, healthy and creative day that will also leave them empowered. The purpose might be to attract the young to register to vote, but we plan to do it with music, movies and fashion, not politics.
- Creative Mart
- Art Exhibition
- Lucky Draw
Date : 13th November, 2009
Time : 3.00pm
Venue : Bar Council Auditorium
Speakers : Professor Aziz Bari, Dr. Azmi Shahrom, Hj. Sulaiman Abdullah, Professor Shad Faruqi and Malik Imtiaz
For more information, please see here:
http://www.malaysianbar.org.my/constitutional_law_committee/ or contact Ms Lim Ka Ea at kaea@malaysianbar.org.my (Tel No. 03-20317103).
_________________________________________________
In March, 2009, the Bar Council formed its Constitutional Law Committee (“ConstiLC”) to promote constitutional awareness and constitutionalism, as part of the Bar’s already wide-ranging initiatives in society.
The ConstiLC comprises lawyers, academics, students, media personnel and activists. Its “Vision and Mission”, contained in its two-year Blueprint (2009-2011), is to:-
- raise awareness of, and educate, the Rakyat on the nature and contents of the Federal Constitution;
- encourage debate on, and the acceptance of, constitutionalism in national governance and in our social structure;
- document and respond to constitutional issues that arise;
- discuss and critique constitutional issues as and when they arise, and where necessary, offer our view;
- promote the inculcation of the study of the Federal Constitution in the secondary and tertiary education curriculum;
- conduct research and discussions on matters relating to the Federal or State Constitutions and where necessary, make recommendations for constitutional reform;
- assist and advice the Bar Council on constitutional matters.
MyConstitution Campaign (“Kempen PerlembagaanKu”)
Recognising the need to educate Malaysians on the role, function and content of the Federal Constitution, the focal initiative of the ConstiLC’s work is to conduct a first ever nationwide educational and awareness campaign – “MyConstitution Campaign” or “Kempen PerlembagaanKu”.
As part of the 2-year Campaign, the ConstiLC will, among others:-
- publish a series of pocket-sized, “The Rakyat Guides” booklets on key topics in the Federal Constitution;
- produce a series of “Public Service Advertisements” on different themes of the Federal Constitution; and
- host a series of awareness-raising and interest-building programmes on the Constitution through symposiums, dialogues, forums and lectures.
The goals the ConstiLC seeks to achieve include:-
- increased public awareness and understanding of the purpose, nature and content of the Constitution, specifically of the relationship of one institution of government with another, between the federation and its individual states, between the citizen and the State and between one citizen and another;
- recognition and acceptance of the role and importance of constitutionalism in national governance and in the social structure;
- promotion of the study of the Constitution amongst youths and young adults.
The ConstiLC aims to bring the message of the Campaign to at least 6 million households in the Peninsular, and in Sabah and Sarawak. We also hope to work with the Federal Government, State Governments, private and corporate sectors, academic institutions, NGOs and media organisations on this Campaign, always emphasising the collective ownership of the Constitution.
Zorro’s date with the cops
November 4, 2009
I got there late.
Round about 3.20pm, Ashok accompanied Zorro into the building to meet DSP Mahfuz.
We were all out by about 4.45pm.
Cops wanted to ask Zorro questions about a posting last year that featured an image of what looked like the PDRM logo altered with the super-imposition of an image of a dog.
They are investigating what they perceive to be a possible offence under section 4 (1) (c) of the Sedition Act.
Zorro and friends are right now putting away beers like there is no tomorrow.
This post is just to let you all know our friend is OK.
Reaching out to beyond the converted and the like-minded
November 4, 2009
Some of you have taken exception to the ‘Malay Malaysian bring along a non-Malay Malaysian friend, non-Malay Malaysian bring along a Malay Malaysian friend’ requirement to get an invitation to the Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia forum in Penang on 15th November. If you’ve missed that announcement on this blog, you can read about it HERE.
I’m going to try and explain here the rationale for that stipulation.
The first, and in my view, the most important message that the SABM roadshow carries is that we are all, first and foremost, born as equal citizens of planet Earth, and, in the context of this nation-state called Malaysia, we, anak-anak Bangsa Malaysia, are all equal citizens.
Now, try to recall the standard adverse stance taken whenever the proposition that all citizens of Malaysia are equal is advanced by any quarter in public space.
Is not “Jangan cabar ketuanan Melayu” or “Jangan cabar hak-hak keistimewaan Melayu” the ugly response that we have grown accustomed to hear?
Who by?
UMNO and its legion of racist, bigoted NGOs.
No, not BN. The other BN component parties just hide in the shadows every time UMNO and its racist sloganeers go ballistic at the slightest mention of equality of citizenship.
Now, no prizes for guessing correctly who are the targets of UMNO and their race supremacist sidekicks.
We all know who they are.
Some of those targeted need no persuasion to incline to that race supremacist stance. They are themselves racists and bigots, to begin with, and beyond redemption. Thankfully, my experience on the ground leaves me convinced that these are but a small number, in comparison to the whole. I’ll call these the no-hopers.
And then there are others within the target group who are much too enlightened to fall prey to this racist call. The likes of Zaid Ibrahim, Malik Imtiaz and Dr. Azmi Sharom come to mind, to just name a few. These few speak up and are heard. Others, for a variety of reasons, mostly fear, sadly remain silent.
I am convinced that the majority within the target group are decent people, with the same concerns and aspirations of every other citizen of this nation. Most, though, may not have access to news sources other than the mainstream media, particularly Utusan and BH, which serve as the conduit to take the racist, hate messages of UMNO and their cohorts into the homes, the hearts and the minds of this majority within the target group. Decent as the people within this majority are, we should not be at all surprised if they are adversely impacted by this constant bombardment that rights guaranteed to them are under siege.
Let’s call the majority of the target group “VORS“, which stands for ‘Victims Of Racist Sloganeering”, for ease of reference.
How do we, you and I and every other anak Bangsa Malaysia who cares where this nation is headed, begin to try and undo the damage that UMNO and their hate-mongers inflict on VORS?
Speaking for myself, I truly believe that it is the responsibility of every right-thinking anak Bangsa Malaysia to reach out to every individual in VORS whom he or she knows and make every effort to undo the evil that UMNO and their racist NGOs inflict on race relations in our country.
Enter the SABM roadshow effort.
When the SABM roadshow hits Penang and the other cities and towns in the weeks and months to come, we want to take the message of equality to every single anak Bangsa Malaysia out there.
We want to meet everyone.
Except, perhaps, the no-hopers that I wrote about earlier, whose sole purpose for attending, more often than not, is to disrupt the forum.
Even if you are already sold on the idea that we are all of one race, the human race, and equal citizens of this nation, we still would like to meet you.
There’s much that we want to share with you through the forum.
Besides, my experience has been that many good people, for so long remaining silent in the face of injustice inflicted on others, derive encouragement and strength in meeting other like-minded people at forums like the one SABM is organising and discovering that there are others too who care and that they are not alone.
And yet, my friends and I in the SABM coregroup realise that we must prioritise.
Our resources are scarce, and hence we must optimise every opportunity we get to deliver this message beyond the converted and the like-minded.
The last thing we want is to preach this message of ‘One People, One Nation’ to a hall full of like-minded people.
It is my hope that with the stipulated ‘Malay Malaysian bring along a non-Malay Malaysian friend, non-Malay Malaysian bring along a Malay Malaysian friend’ requirement to get an invitation to the SABM forum, there is every likelihood that the forum will not end up as nothing more than a fellowship of the like-minded.
It also increases the odds on our being able to keep out the disruptive no-hopers that I spoke of and, with a bit of luck, help us unearth some budding ‘Malik Imtiaz’ out there who may now be emboldened to speak up at forthcoming forums.
How, you may well ask.
Let me illustrate the point with an imagined ‘Arumugam’.
Arumugam is your average, decent Penangite. He has no racist streak in him. He registers for the forum, also registering a Malay Malaysian friend, as we have asked. As Arumugam is no racist, it’s safe to assume, if not hope, that his friend, too, is not.
The converse, in theory at least, would also apply. A Malay Malaysian bringing along a non-Malay Malaysian friend gives us reason to hope that neither is an out and out racist, or no-hoper.
This, then, was the rationale for the stipulated requirement to get an invite to the forum.
The SABM coregroup is mindful that, like every other human endeavour, nothing is fool proof.
We can only try.
In stipulating the requirement in question, we had hoped that those of you who already share the aspiration of ‘One People, One Nation’ would help us to deliver our message to those who most need to hear it, by doing your part to get them into the forum hall.
Zorro’s date with the police tomorrow
November 3, 2009
Zorro called me about 6 o’clock this evening to say that he had been summoned to appear at the police commercial crime division near the Bank Negara train station tomorrow afternoon at 3pm.
Seems they want to question him on something that was posted on his blog. Don’t know what at this time
This old @*+% and I probably disagree on more things than that which we agree on.
One thing, though, that we share in common.
We will not tolerate any attempt by the authorities to silence the dissenting voices in civil society.
Ashok and I will accompany Zorro as his solicitors tomorrow when he attends at the police HQ.
Would be nice if the many of you who have urged Zorro by your comments on his blog to continue with his writings would make the time to be there to show solidarity with our friend in his hour of need.
