The Government insisted on using the politically tainted Janji Di tepati theme for Merdeka
Fine,
Rakyat insisted not to celebrate the day with the government.
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Rakyat must boycott Janji Di tepati as Merdeka theme
The Government insisted on using the politically tainted Janji Di tepati theme for Merdeka
Fine,
Rakyat insisted not to celebrate the day with the government.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
No more NST for Aliran!
P Ramakrishnan explains why Aliran has terminated its subscription to the New Straits Times.
As of today, Aliran has stopped subscribing to the New Straits Times.
It is a decision that was postponed several times because we felt we had to monitor the mainstream media’s coverage. But the one-sided reporting and the biased coverage have been hard to stomach; indeed it has upset thinking and caring Malaysians.
It does not mean we are now going to subscribe to The Star. We discontinued The Star and Utusan many years ago for the same reason. The Star’s reporting has been even worse than the NST. (But some might dispute this!) We shan’t even talk about Utusan…
Of late, both The Star’s and the NST’s coverage of the political situation has been nauseating. There is a commonality in blatantly misleading the public. Malaysians are misinformed, told to keep their eyes only on one side of the coin and kept in the dark about the other side.
The Opposition is deliberately denied space in their coverage. The Opposition is misquoted and words are added when they were not even uttered. Repeated and strenuous attempts by the Opposition to rebut misleading reporting are totally ignored, unfairly and unjustly.
Journalistic ethics and adherence to truth are no longer sacrosanct. They have gone with the wind. Spinning stories and inventing lies to distort the truth are no longer antithetical to respectable journalism.
According to the deputy chief editor of Utusan Malaysia, Mohd Zaini Hassan, such wanton disgraceful conduct is fine as long as the Opposition is targeted! He calls it spinning and not lying. It looks like it is a declared policy to support gutter journalism!
This reported admission of unethical journalism is revolting and reprehensible. Mohd Zaini made this remark at a forum on social media organised by Biro Tata Negara and the 1Malaysia Social Media Convention secretariat.
Genuine mass media practitioners practise their craft to get as close to the truth as possible. They should never be partisan politicians, but mass media practitioners – certainly never propagandists.
Appealing to the good sense of editors to uphold decency and morality is not going to make any difference. They will remain indifferent and continue to be tools of the Barisan Nasional, dishing out filth and dirt.
The question is, are we going to allow this flippant attitude to continue at our expense? It is only the people who can bring about change. It is only we who can bring back ethical journalism in the media, throw out gutter reporting once and for all, and stop this nationally detrimental exercise.
If we stop reading the mainstream media, their circulation will suffer. Once the advertisers know about the drop in circulation, they will stop advertising in these newspapers. Then, the owners will be hit hard where it hurts; the bottom-line will turn red due to the drop in revenue.
Editors will come to their senses. In the final analysis, it is the ringgit and sen that is dear to the owners and their editors – not the values or virtues of true journalism.
When this financial flow is cut off, they will have to sit up and behave as they ought to, by paying homage to truth and justice, and give us the respect we deserve as readers and advertisers.
Aliran has taken that first step to deny them the profits they never deserve as propagandists. Are you as readers and advertisers ready to follow suit? (Some readers may already have done so a long time ago.) Together, we can make a difference and turn this nation of ours into a beacon for truth and justice.
P Ramakrishnan, the immediate past president of Aliran, currently serves on the Aliran executive committee.
As of today, Aliran has stopped subscribing to the New Straits Times.
It is a decision that was postponed several times because we felt we had to monitor the mainstream media’s coverage. But the one-sided reporting and the biased coverage have been hard to stomach; indeed it has upset thinking and caring Malaysians.
It does not mean we are now going to subscribe to The Star. We discontinued The Star and Utusan many years ago for the same reason. The Star’s reporting has been even worse than the NST. (But some might dispute this!) We shan’t even talk about Utusan…
Of late, both The Star’s and the NST’s coverage of the political situation has been nauseating. There is a commonality in blatantly misleading the public. Malaysians are misinformed, told to keep their eyes only on one side of the coin and kept in the dark about the other side.
The Opposition is deliberately denied space in their coverage. The Opposition is misquoted and words are added when they were not even uttered. Repeated and strenuous attempts by the Opposition to rebut misleading reporting are totally ignored, unfairly and unjustly.
Journalistic ethics and adherence to truth are no longer sacrosanct. They have gone with the wind. Spinning stories and inventing lies to distort the truth are no longer antithetical to respectable journalism.
According to the deputy chief editor of Utusan Malaysia, Mohd Zaini Hassan, such wanton disgraceful conduct is fine as long as the Opposition is targeted! He calls it spinning and not lying. It looks like it is a declared policy to support gutter journalism!
This reported admission of unethical journalism is revolting and reprehensible. Mohd Zaini made this remark at a forum on social media organised by Biro Tata Negara and the 1Malaysia Social Media Convention secretariat.
Genuine mass media practitioners practise their craft to get as close to the truth as possible. They should never be partisan politicians, but mass media practitioners – certainly never propagandists.
Appealing to the good sense of editors to uphold decency and morality is not going to make any difference. They will remain indifferent and continue to be tools of the Barisan Nasional, dishing out filth and dirt.
The question is, are we going to allow this flippant attitude to continue at our expense? It is only the people who can bring about change. It is only we who can bring back ethical journalism in the media, throw out gutter reporting once and for all, and stop this nationally detrimental exercise.
If we stop reading the mainstream media, their circulation will suffer. Once the advertisers know about the drop in circulation, they will stop advertising in these newspapers. Then, the owners will be hit hard where it hurts; the bottom-line will turn red due to the drop in revenue.
Editors will come to their senses. In the final analysis, it is the ringgit and sen that is dear to the owners and their editors – not the values or virtues of true journalism.
When this financial flow is cut off, they will have to sit up and behave as they ought to, by paying homage to truth and justice, and give us the respect we deserve as readers and advertisers.
Aliran has taken that first step to deny them the profits they never deserve as propagandists. Are you as readers and advertisers ready to follow suit? (Some readers may already have done so a long time ago.) Together, we can make a difference and turn this nation of ours into a beacon for truth and justice.
P Ramakrishnan, the immediate past president of Aliran, currently serves on the Aliran executive committee.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Olympics Opening Ceremony: Lessons for Malaysia
By Niki Cheong - blog.nikicheong.com
Last night, I watched the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games for the second time, in the solitude of my room. I had a great time watching it with friends at their place for the first time on the actual night, and in general really enjoyed it. That night, I posted this updated on my Facebook account:
And I still loved it.
Problem was that I got rather emotional watching it the second time – there were many goosebump moments, and a couple of times, I started welling up. It wasn’t just because I thought Danny Boyle had included so many wonderful tributes and thoughts that made it so very British.
At those moments, I started wondering what our show would look like if Malaysia ever got the opportunity to host the Olympic Games (I know we held the Commonwealth Games in 1998, but no one ever talks about the CG’s opening ceremonies). I cringed at the thought.
Now, before you accuse me of being unpatriotic, I think one of the biggest reasons I feel this way is because of all the buzz about the Merdeka Day logo and song that has been recently released (although, apparently, the Gov’t has denied that it is the official logo).
Never mind that the logo is, to put it mildly, ugly as hell, I took great offense to the tagline (and also theme for this year’s Merdeka Day): “Janji ditepati” (which, translated, means “Promises fulfilled”). There is already lots of criticism that has pointed out that it is a propaganda-laced tagline, particularly by the ruling Barisan Nasional party just a few months ahead of the General Elections.
But even if we wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt, and assume that it wasn’t talking about BN’s promises, it really sadden me that for the first time in many years, our Merdeka Day theme, was not about the country or its people. All my life, my understanding of Merdeka Day is to celebrate our independence from colonialisation.
To add salt into the wound, the official song – also titled Janji Ditepati – was all about promises the Government has made and what it has given the people. The focus was on the the 1Malaysia schemes – from BR1m to SK1M to Kedai 1Malaysia. Worse still, the song suggests that it was time for Malaysians to “pay back” – I don’t know about you, but hasn’t it always been the responsibility of the Government to take care of its people … especially when we’re all paying taxes?
But even all that didn’t get to me as much as a couple of the videos that have been created by some people (I can’t seem to find an official video, which makes me believe that it either doesn’t exist or hasn’t been released yet). I was extremely troubled by the representation of Malaysians in one of the videos (a friend suggested the video was more about 1Bangsa than 1Malaysia). The second one had images of “multi-racial” Malaysia that we have all become familiar with, yet they were mostly forced, posed photographs. The photos used from live events, unfortunately, showed how polarised we have become as a country.
Now, I understand that these two videos doesn’t necessarily reflect the Government’s official stand on the issue (although, it’s doing itself no favours in allowing these videos to circulate without an official one which is less troubling) but that these are the sort of mentality that some Malaysians have is, to me, extremely sad.
What do all these have to do with the Olympic Games opening ceremony?
Well, it’s just that I started thinking about how we would portray ourselves as a country to the world. Over the years, many attempts have been made to make our mark. The KLCC Twin Towers is still a global icon and shows that we are not just any other developing country. Our “moderate Muslim” policy has shown how we are (were?) more progressive than some other countries out there. Our national cars, world class facilities and more have shown that we have all the makings of a truly developed country.
Where, though, do we stand in history and culture? What stories will we tell if we get a stage like the opening ceremony of an event the scale of the Olympic Games?
Are we going to maintain the forced image of Malaysian multi-culturalism by portraying a few people of different races standing together smiling? Or do we stick to our long tradition of symbolism and maintain that we need to use the Tiger stripes at every sporting event (even if the rest of the world thinks it’s hideous)? What about the usual stereotype of food – is that our only way of showing our different cultures?
How do we show the diversity in our culture and tradition that really stems from the unique multi-culturalism that forms our social fabric? Or our unique history, well documented in Sejarah Melayu and the history of Malacca, one of the most important trading ports in Asian history?
Will we recognise the kapitan Yap Ah Loy? Or our war hero Sybil Karthigesu? Will we make the effort to distinguish the story of Hang Tuah and his friends between history and myth? How will we reflect the various “pelat” of Bahasa Malaysia in our many states, and will we recognise the orang asli as well as the natives of Sabah and Sarawak? What about the Chitty community? Can we tell people the difference between a peranakan and a Baba/Nyonya? How do our Serani communities fit in?
What about our dying Wayang Kulit and Mak Yong? Do we dare remember the time when rock dominated the Malaysian mediascape, when they were banned from television for having long hair yet we had music stars dubbed the queen (Ella) and princess of rock (Shima)? How about that famous stripper Rose Chan?
I ask because I feel all these (and much more that I haven’t mentioned, and don’t know about) are part of our culture and history – even if they are only understood, appreciated and familiar to certain segments of our community. The problem is, we seem to have forgotten about most of these, or have left them behind.
Granted, compared to Britain, our country is still very young. But if you look at how far we’ve come in a short 55 years, you’d be forgiven if you were frustrated that we haven’t truly figured out our identity as a nation and as countrymen.
I’m only 32 years old but in over three decades, I have seen how a strong, united country is quickly unravelling. It wasn’t that long ago that the late Yasmin Ahmad captured so beautifully our diversity. Yet, and sadly, these days, we are left to ponder if there is place for pluralism in our country.
Most of Britain – even the detractors – came together and celebrated the success of the opening ceremony that everyone felt was truly British.
What is it going to take for us all to come together as well?
In his review of the ceremony, famed Chinese artist Ai Weiwei said:
Because I truly believe that we’re better than that.
Last night, I watched the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games for the second time, in the solitude of my room. I had a great time watching it with friends at their place for the first time on the actual night, and in general really enjoyed it. That night, I posted this updated on my Facebook account:
I admit that I’m a sucker for all Olympic Opening Ceremonies but today’s was special. It was patchy as a production, didn’t necessarily like the video/live action stuff, but can Danny Boyle tell a story. The underlying narrative was genius and hats off to him for giving so much credit to those who would never usually get attention – from the NHS to the miners, construction workers who built the stadium to the seven young athletes who lit the gorgeous cauldron. Amazing.I watched it again because I was still reeling from the show the night before. Plus, having spent the better part of the day reading commentaries and reviews about the event, I realised that there were so many little things I missed. Watching it alone again, and being able to listen to all the commentary, it really did feel like I was watching a different show.
And I still loved it.
Problem was that I got rather emotional watching it the second time – there were many goosebump moments, and a couple of times, I started welling up. It wasn’t just because I thought Danny Boyle had included so many wonderful tributes and thoughts that made it so very British.
At those moments, I started wondering what our show would look like if Malaysia ever got the opportunity to host the Olympic Games (I know we held the Commonwealth Games in 1998, but no one ever talks about the CG’s opening ceremonies). I cringed at the thought.
Now, before you accuse me of being unpatriotic, I think one of the biggest reasons I feel this way is because of all the buzz about the Merdeka Day logo and song that has been recently released (although, apparently, the Gov’t has denied that it is the official logo).
Never mind that the logo is, to put it mildly, ugly as hell, I took great offense to the tagline (and also theme for this year’s Merdeka Day): “Janji ditepati” (which, translated, means “Promises fulfilled”). There is already lots of criticism that has pointed out that it is a propaganda-laced tagline, particularly by the ruling Barisan Nasional party just a few months ahead of the General Elections.
But even if we wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt, and assume that it wasn’t talking about BN’s promises, it really sadden me that for the first time in many years, our Merdeka Day theme, was not about the country or its people. All my life, my understanding of Merdeka Day is to celebrate our independence from colonialisation.
To add salt into the wound, the official song – also titled Janji Ditepati – was all about promises the Government has made and what it has given the people. The focus was on the the 1Malaysia schemes – from BR1m to SK1M to Kedai 1Malaysia. Worse still, the song suggests that it was time for Malaysians to “pay back” – I don’t know about you, but hasn’t it always been the responsibility of the Government to take care of its people … especially when we’re all paying taxes?
But even all that didn’t get to me as much as a couple of the videos that have been created by some people (I can’t seem to find an official video, which makes me believe that it either doesn’t exist or hasn’t been released yet). I was extremely troubled by the representation of Malaysians in one of the videos (a friend suggested the video was more about 1Bangsa than 1Malaysia). The second one had images of “multi-racial” Malaysia that we have all become familiar with, yet they were mostly forced, posed photographs. The photos used from live events, unfortunately, showed how polarised we have become as a country.
Now, I understand that these two videos doesn’t necessarily reflect the Government’s official stand on the issue (although, it’s doing itself no favours in allowing these videos to circulate without an official one which is less troubling) but that these are the sort of mentality that some Malaysians have is, to me, extremely sad.
What do all these have to do with the Olympic Games opening ceremony?
Well, it’s just that I started thinking about how we would portray ourselves as a country to the world. Over the years, many attempts have been made to make our mark. The KLCC Twin Towers is still a global icon and shows that we are not just any other developing country. Our “moderate Muslim” policy has shown how we are (were?) more progressive than some other countries out there. Our national cars, world class facilities and more have shown that we have all the makings of a truly developed country.
Where, though, do we stand in history and culture? What stories will we tell if we get a stage like the opening ceremony of an event the scale of the Olympic Games?
Are we going to maintain the forced image of Malaysian multi-culturalism by portraying a few people of different races standing together smiling? Or do we stick to our long tradition of symbolism and maintain that we need to use the Tiger stripes at every sporting event (even if the rest of the world thinks it’s hideous)? What about the usual stereotype of food – is that our only way of showing our different cultures?
How do we show the diversity in our culture and tradition that really stems from the unique multi-culturalism that forms our social fabric? Or our unique history, well documented in Sejarah Melayu and the history of Malacca, one of the most important trading ports in Asian history?
Will we recognise the kapitan Yap Ah Loy? Or our war hero Sybil Karthigesu? Will we make the effort to distinguish the story of Hang Tuah and his friends between history and myth? How will we reflect the various “pelat” of Bahasa Malaysia in our many states, and will we recognise the orang asli as well as the natives of Sabah and Sarawak? What about the Chitty community? Can we tell people the difference between a peranakan and a Baba/Nyonya? How do our Serani communities fit in?
What about our dying Wayang Kulit and Mak Yong? Do we dare remember the time when rock dominated the Malaysian mediascape, when they were banned from television for having long hair yet we had music stars dubbed the queen (Ella) and princess of rock (Shima)? How about that famous stripper Rose Chan?
I ask because I feel all these (and much more that I haven’t mentioned, and don’t know about) are part of our culture and history – even if they are only understood, appreciated and familiar to certain segments of our community. The problem is, we seem to have forgotten about most of these, or have left them behind.
Granted, compared to Britain, our country is still very young. But if you look at how far we’ve come in a short 55 years, you’d be forgiven if you were frustrated that we haven’t truly figured out our identity as a nation and as countrymen.
I’m only 32 years old but in over three decades, I have seen how a strong, united country is quickly unravelling. It wasn’t that long ago that the late Yasmin Ahmad captured so beautifully our diversity. Yet, and sadly, these days, we are left to ponder if there is place for pluralism in our country.
Most of Britain – even the detractors – came together and celebrated the success of the opening ceremony that everyone felt was truly British.
What is it going to take for us all to come together as well?
In his review of the ceremony, famed Chinese artist Ai Weiwei said:
“There were historical elements in the Beijing opening ceremony, but the difference is that this was about individuals and humanity and true feelings; their passion, their hope, their struggle. That came through in their confidence and joy. It’s really about a civil society. Ours only reflected the party’s nationalism. It wasn’t a natural reflection of China.”It may be a pessimistic view but the opening ceremony that I have in my head that Malaysia would throw could probably be described the same way he did of his own country. If we don’t want that to happen, we need to take it into our own hands and demand the changes now.
Because I truly believe that we’re better than that.
Are We Celebrating Barisan Nasional Day?
By Kee Thuan Chye | Malaysian Digest
BARISAN Nasional (BN) has already started campaigning for the general election – even though it has not yet been called – and the Election Commission (EC) is doing nothing about it.
What’s more, BN is campaigning on a large scale and everyone can see it. It has done this by unabashedly hijacking the National Day celebrations and using it to promote its own propaganda.
The theme for the celebrations is Janji Ditepati (Promises Fulfilled) which does not sound at all like a National Day theme. It instead speaks for BN, which desperately wants to tell the rakyat that it is a government that delivers.
The National Day theme song is glaringly partisan – but for BN, not for the country. Also entitled ‘Janji Ditepati’, it highlights BN’s latest initiatives and hints that it’s time for the rakyat to show its gratitude to BN.
Look at some of the lyrics:
Janji sudah ditepati, Kini masa balas budi.
(Promises have been fulfilled, Now it’s time to return the favor.)
This is crass; it’s really asking the people to vote for BN. This is outright “I’ve helped you, now you help me”.
But why should it be for the rakyat to balas budi? BN was voted in to serve the rakyat. Why must the rakyat be grateful for that? In fact, if anyone should balas budi, it should be BN.
The song, however, is not about the rakyat. And the chorus that follows proves it:
Janji siapa? Janji kita. Janji apa? Janji Satu Malaysia.
(Whose promises? Our promises. What promises? The promises of One Malaysia.)
The song is clearly about BN. The “kita” in it refers to BN. And the mention of “Satu Malaysia” obviously connotes the slogan of the BN Government.
The worst is yet to come, in the final verse:
Ini janji kita, BR1M Satu Malaysia. Ini janji Satu Malaysia, terima Satu Malaysia. Kata kita dikota, Klinik Satu Malaysia. Janji kita ditepati, Kedai Satu Malaysia.
(This is our promise, BR1M One Malaysia. This is the promise of One Malaysia, accept One Malaysia. We have kept our word, Klinik Satu Malaysia. We have fulfilled our promise, Kedai Satu Malaysia.)
The BR1M 500-ringgit handout to households earning less than RM3,000 a month is mentioned. The 1Malaysia clinics set up to offer cheap medical services are mentioned. The Kedai 1Malaysia set up to offer lower prices for basic necessities is mentioned. What is this if not BN trumpeting its populist attempts to win the electorate’s votes?
These are lyrics for a song? If not for the fact that they are so crude and cheap, we should be rolling on the floor roaring with laughter.
How can such shameless propaganda be the stuff of our National Day theme song? It is even totally without style and subtlety. Not to mention substance.
Real songwriters would wince at hearing such lyrics. These are not lyrics, these are slogans.
The song is not celebrating National Day. It’s celebrating Barisan Nasional Day!
And it’s no wonder that the person who wrote this doggerel is Information, Communications and Culture Minister Rais Yatim. Not only is he not a real songwriter; he is also caught in a time warp. Even Nazi propaganda had better style than this.
Rais is out of his depth. He is in the wrong mode. Perhaps he could write the lyrics for BN’s elegy.
Our National Day has never been so blatantly perverted. That National Day is for promoting the country, not the government, is something any Malaysian should know, most of all BN. There is a clear distinction between “government” and “country”, so let’s make sure we get it right.
National Day is for consolidating unity among the people, taking stock of where we have come to as a people, instilling a sense of pride in the country. It is not for instilling gratitude for the ruling party and fishing for votes.
Deputy Education Minister Mohd Puad Zarkashi, however, doesn’t think that Janji Ditepati means janji BN. He gives it a bizarre twist: “It can be interpreted as ‘the people’s promise’ to maintain peace, stability, tolerance, unity and harmony.” What is this illogical rubbish? The onus is not on the people to do all that; it’s the Government’s responsibility. Why is he a deputy minister when he can’t even spin it right?
Obviously, BN has sunk to an all-time low in its desperation to cling on to power.
By right, the EC, as a supposedly independent body, should make a report against BN for transgressing election regulations. It is very clear that the campaign period permitted by law can start only from nomination day. As it is, the general election has not even been called.
And surely the fact that BN is exploiting for its own campaign something as wide-reaching and large-scale as National Day celebrations is not only unfair but criminal, even if such exploitation may not fall under the Election Offences Act 1954.
What BN could be hauled up for can be found in Part III of the Act that relates to corrupt practices. Article 10 covers the offence of giving or promising voters money, gifts, etc, to influence their vote. Isn’t BN influencing voters with its boast of promises fulfilled and its call for the people to “balas budi”? Aren’t BR1M, Klinik 1Malaysia and Kedai 1Malaysia among the money and gifts that BN has been giving to ensure a return of favours?
However you look at it, isn’t that pork barrelling, and if so, isn’t BN culpable for it?
If the EC won’t do anything, then the rakyat must consider this question: If a party entrusted with governing the country would hijack an event that is important to Malaysians for its own selfish purpose, how should the rakyat treat that party come the day of reckoning?
Oh, by the way, in case the EC hasn’t noticed, Janji Ditepati is also BN’s election campaign slogan. But then again, perhaps the EC considers that a mere coincidence.
Kee Thuan Chye is the author of the bestselling book No More Bullshit, Please, We’re All Malaysians, now available in major bookstores. The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the writer.
BARISAN Nasional (BN) has already started campaigning for the general election – even though it has not yet been called – and the Election Commission (EC) is doing nothing about it.
What’s more, BN is campaigning on a large scale and everyone can see it. It has done this by unabashedly hijacking the National Day celebrations and using it to promote its own propaganda.
The theme for the celebrations is Janji Ditepati (Promises Fulfilled) which does not sound at all like a National Day theme. It instead speaks for BN, which desperately wants to tell the rakyat that it is a government that delivers.
The National Day theme song is glaringly partisan – but for BN, not for the country. Also entitled ‘Janji Ditepati’, it highlights BN’s latest initiatives and hints that it’s time for the rakyat to show its gratitude to BN.
Look at some of the lyrics:
Janji sudah ditepati, Kini masa balas budi.
(Promises have been fulfilled, Now it’s time to return the favor.)
This is crass; it’s really asking the people to vote for BN. This is outright “I’ve helped you, now you help me”.
But why should it be for the rakyat to balas budi? BN was voted in to serve the rakyat. Why must the rakyat be grateful for that? In fact, if anyone should balas budi, it should be BN.
The song, however, is not about the rakyat. And the chorus that follows proves it:
Janji siapa? Janji kita. Janji apa? Janji Satu Malaysia.
(Whose promises? Our promises. What promises? The promises of One Malaysia.)
The song is clearly about BN. The “kita” in it refers to BN. And the mention of “Satu Malaysia” obviously connotes the slogan of the BN Government.
The worst is yet to come, in the final verse:
Ini janji kita, BR1M Satu Malaysia. Ini janji Satu Malaysia, terima Satu Malaysia. Kata kita dikota, Klinik Satu Malaysia. Janji kita ditepati, Kedai Satu Malaysia.
(This is our promise, BR1M One Malaysia. This is the promise of One Malaysia, accept One Malaysia. We have kept our word, Klinik Satu Malaysia. We have fulfilled our promise, Kedai Satu Malaysia.)
The BR1M 500-ringgit handout to households earning less than RM3,000 a month is mentioned. The 1Malaysia clinics set up to offer cheap medical services are mentioned. The Kedai 1Malaysia set up to offer lower prices for basic necessities is mentioned. What is this if not BN trumpeting its populist attempts to win the electorate’s votes?
These are lyrics for a song? If not for the fact that they are so crude and cheap, we should be rolling on the floor roaring with laughter.
How can such shameless propaganda be the stuff of our National Day theme song? It is even totally without style and subtlety. Not to mention substance.
Real songwriters would wince at hearing such lyrics. These are not lyrics, these are slogans.
The song is not celebrating National Day. It’s celebrating Barisan Nasional Day!
And it’s no wonder that the person who wrote this doggerel is Information, Communications and Culture Minister Rais Yatim. Not only is he not a real songwriter; he is also caught in a time warp. Even Nazi propaganda had better style than this.
Rais is out of his depth. He is in the wrong mode. Perhaps he could write the lyrics for BN’s elegy.
Our National Day has never been so blatantly perverted. That National Day is for promoting the country, not the government, is something any Malaysian should know, most of all BN. There is a clear distinction between “government” and “country”, so let’s make sure we get it right.
National Day is for consolidating unity among the people, taking stock of where we have come to as a people, instilling a sense of pride in the country. It is not for instilling gratitude for the ruling party and fishing for votes.
Deputy Education Minister Mohd Puad Zarkashi, however, doesn’t think that Janji Ditepati means janji BN. He gives it a bizarre twist: “It can be interpreted as ‘the people’s promise’ to maintain peace, stability, tolerance, unity and harmony.” What is this illogical rubbish? The onus is not on the people to do all that; it’s the Government’s responsibility. Why is he a deputy minister when he can’t even spin it right?
Obviously, BN has sunk to an all-time low in its desperation to cling on to power.
By right, the EC, as a supposedly independent body, should make a report against BN for transgressing election regulations. It is very clear that the campaign period permitted by law can start only from nomination day. As it is, the general election has not even been called.
And surely the fact that BN is exploiting for its own campaign something as wide-reaching and large-scale as National Day celebrations is not only unfair but criminal, even if such exploitation may not fall under the Election Offences Act 1954.
What BN could be hauled up for can be found in Part III of the Act that relates to corrupt practices. Article 10 covers the offence of giving or promising voters money, gifts, etc, to influence their vote. Isn’t BN influencing voters with its boast of promises fulfilled and its call for the people to “balas budi”? Aren’t BR1M, Klinik 1Malaysia and Kedai 1Malaysia among the money and gifts that BN has been giving to ensure a return of favours?
However you look at it, isn’t that pork barrelling, and if so, isn’t BN culpable for it?
If the EC won’t do anything, then the rakyat must consider this question: If a party entrusted with governing the country would hijack an event that is important to Malaysians for its own selfish purpose, how should the rakyat treat that party come the day of reckoning?
Oh, by the way, in case the EC hasn’t noticed, Janji Ditepati is also BN’s election campaign slogan. But then again, perhaps the EC considers that a mere coincidence.
Kee Thuan Chye is the author of the bestselling book No More Bullshit, Please, We’re All Malaysians, now available in major bookstores. The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the writer.
‘Do your worst, we will do our best’
By Kua Kia Soong | FMT
While the Registrar of Societies may now feign innocence regarding their selectivity in registering societies by questioning Suaram’s registration as a business, let me remind the young generation and those with short memories about our nation’s shortcomings relating to the freedom of association in our recent history.
As you know, ‘Operation Lalang’ was Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s autocracy at its worst when he arrested and detained more than a hundred innocent Malaysians without trial in October 1987.
Upon the release of the last Operation Lalang detainees in 1989, several of these detainees including my goodself and members of the Families Support Group formed this human rights organisation known as Suaram (Suara Rakyat Malaysia). Aware of the obstacles in registering a human rights society under the Registrar of Societies, Suaram registered as a business under the Registrar of Business.
At the time, another human rights organisation, Hakam had taken more than two years to be registered in 1989 even though it boasted two former prime ministers (Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Hussein Onn) as its patrons. It had tried unsuccessfully several times to register as a society in the eighties.
The Malaysian chapter of Amnesty International also tried unsuccessfully for five years to register as a society under the Societies Act. Two applications and an appeal to the Home Minister were also rejected.
Consequently, quite a number of NGOs decided that in order to carry out their services to society, they had no choice but to register as businesses.
So why is there a sudden interest in Suaram’s status after its 23 years’ existence? Is it coincidental that this has arisen out of our recent request to the French judicial system to pursue suspected commissions embroiled in the RM7 billion Scorpene submarine deals?
It is no secret
Given the difficulties created by the Societies Act, some non-governmental organisations, including Suaram decided to register as companies or businesses.
As the corporate gurus say, “If something is not working, do something else.” Or, as Deng Xiaoping famously said, “It does not matter if the cat is white or black, as long as it catches the mice.” The mice, in the case of NGOs, are defending human rights, democracy and social justice.
NGOs registering as companies were certainly not a secret. In fact, in early 1997 the government threatened to force all NGOs to register under the Societies Act. Nonetheless, registration as a company has not completely protected NGOs from harassment by the government, as the recent intrusion by the SSM into Suaram’s accounts has demonstrated.
In 1996, the Institut Pengajian Komuniti (IPK), an NGO taking up the issue of rights of indigenous peoples in Sarawak was de-registered by the Registrar of Business over a legal technicality.
The ROC’s Tenaganita fiasco
In 1997, the Registrar of Companies raided the offices of Tenaganita, the NGO that had exposed inhuman conditions in immigrant detention centres, and confiscated their documents.
Tenaganita and two directors were subsequently charged in court in March 1997 under the Companies Act for late filing of audited financial statements of 1994. And most unusual was the fact that the charges were prosecuted by a Deputy Prosecutor from the Attorney-General’s Chambers instead of the usual officers of the Registrar.
The charges were subsequently withdrawn on July 9, 1997 when it was pointed out in court that the Registrar had already compounded the offences and accepted payment of a fine through Tenaganita’s accountants.
Then on Sept 5, 1997, the Registrar again issued fresh charges against Tenaganita and two directors on minor technicalities. This time around, the Registrar refused to compound the alleged offences for a fine.
After Tenaganita mounted a legal challenge to the prosecutions alleging mala fide prosecution, the charges were withdrawn on Nov 25, 1997.
As you can see, NGOs in Malaysia have found themselves “between a ROC and a hard place…”
PSM’s Greek tragedy
Opposition political parties have fared no better. Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) only obtained its legal registration as a political party in 2008, 10 years after it first filed its application. The entire saga endured by PSM in its struggle to be registered reads like a Greek tragedy in modern Malaysia.
And of course, the Registrar of Societies can feign selective outrage yet again: “Wasn’t the Malaysian Indian United party (MIUP), whose founding leader is S Nallakaruppan swiftly registered in October 2007, just five months after he quit PKR in May 2007?”
“You mean the party that pledged to work closely with, and give its support to, the ruling BN coalition? Yes, we believe the ROS acted expeditiously on their application…”
Restrictions to the fundamental right to freedom of association are also imposed on trade union officials through the Trade Unions Act. Today, less than 10 per cent of Malaysian workers are unionised compared to more than 60 per cent at the time of Independence. What a transformation indeed!
Inspecting the good guys
We stress that the entire charade by the government to harass Suaram through a complaint by some nonentity in the public and CCM’s ‘routine’ inspection is political and uncalled for.
We do not even know if the complaint was made officially to the CCM. It would appear that the CCM is acting on every single complaint (offical or otherwise) from the public at a highly efficient rate.
We question if there is a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) within CCM that provides guidelines on receiving and acting on a complaint.
We also question whether or not the SOP requires the CCM to first verify the background of the complainant prior to receiving and acting on a complaint.
From the evidence in the Paris (Scorpene Scandal) Papers, one would have expected that the CCM would know its priorities and begin “routinely inspecting” the highly dubious activities and accounts of Perimekar Sdn Bhd and Terasasi Sdn Bhd, but have they?
Doing our best
Through 23 years of selfless work defending human rights in Malaysia, Suaram has established itself as the human rights centre of Malaysia. From Operation Lalang through the Reformasi period to the present day, many victims of state oppression have turned to Suaram for assistance in highlighting their plight.
The funding we get goes into nurturing young activists in human rights work. We employ a handful of dedicated young staff that has chosen this path of service in human rights work.
The elder members of the Suaram secretariat like me have always been non-staff volunteers in overseeing the running of the organisation.
Since 1989, Suaram has been the main coordinating secretariat for the Movement against the ISA and other detention without trial laws, the EO and the DDA. Our office serves as the refuge for those whose family members have been victims of state oppression. We send Urgent Appeals throughout the world whenever any detention or other violations of human rights happen.
Despite its small staff, Suaram publishes the only credible and detailed Malaysian Human Rights Report every year without fail and has been doing so since 1998. Such a report is an invaluable service to all the peoples of Malaysia irrespective of ethnicity, religion or creed.
Since its founding, Suaram has worked toward a healthy democratic movement in the country and we could well say that all the efforts by Suaram in the last 20 years have been instrumental in producing today’s two-front system and the political tsunami of 2008.
Throughout its existence over the last 20 years, Suaram staff and secretariat have been involved in human rights and environmental education, giving talks, organising seminars and providing training. Suaram has initiated campaigns against the Bakun dam and the Selangor dam to protect the interests of indigenous peoples, the environment and the interests of Malaysian tax payers.
We have also supported marginalised communities such as the urban settlers, estate communities and refugees when they have met eviction and state oppression.
Suaram has played a role in the “Stop the War Coalition” and has coordinated Anti-US demonstrations and protests against the US-led occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan and Israeli atrocities in Gaza in recent years.
Suaram also played a key role in the last important peace conference for East Timor in 1996 together with other NGOs. We have been part of the campaign for democracy in Burma.
In other words, Suaram has always been in the business of fighting for justice, equality, democracy and human rights in Malaysia and spoken out against imperialism and militarism in the rest of the world.
For our efforts, Suaram was awarded the Human Rights Award for 2011 by the country’s Human Rights Commission (Suhakam). The only dividends we have gained in this business over these 23 years are the appreciation of the victims of oppression and exploitation, nature lovers and Malaysian tax payers.
And to all our detractors and oppressors we can only say:
“Do your worst and we will do our best”.
Kua Kia Soong is Suaram adviser.
While the Registrar of Societies may now feign innocence regarding their selectivity in registering societies by questioning Suaram’s registration as a business, let me remind the young generation and those with short memories about our nation’s shortcomings relating to the freedom of association in our recent history.
As you know, ‘Operation Lalang’ was Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s autocracy at its worst when he arrested and detained more than a hundred innocent Malaysians without trial in October 1987.
Upon the release of the last Operation Lalang detainees in 1989, several of these detainees including my goodself and members of the Families Support Group formed this human rights organisation known as Suaram (Suara Rakyat Malaysia). Aware of the obstacles in registering a human rights society under the Registrar of Societies, Suaram registered as a business under the Registrar of Business.
At the time, another human rights organisation, Hakam had taken more than two years to be registered in 1989 even though it boasted two former prime ministers (Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Hussein Onn) as its patrons. It had tried unsuccessfully several times to register as a society in the eighties.
The Malaysian chapter of Amnesty International also tried unsuccessfully for five years to register as a society under the Societies Act. Two applications and an appeal to the Home Minister were also rejected.
Consequently, quite a number of NGOs decided that in order to carry out their services to society, they had no choice but to register as businesses.
So why is there a sudden interest in Suaram’s status after its 23 years’ existence? Is it coincidental that this has arisen out of our recent request to the French judicial system to pursue suspected commissions embroiled in the RM7 billion Scorpene submarine deals?
It is no secret
Given the difficulties created by the Societies Act, some non-governmental organisations, including Suaram decided to register as companies or businesses.
As the corporate gurus say, “If something is not working, do something else.” Or, as Deng Xiaoping famously said, “It does not matter if the cat is white or black, as long as it catches the mice.” The mice, in the case of NGOs, are defending human rights, democracy and social justice.
NGOs registering as companies were certainly not a secret. In fact, in early 1997 the government threatened to force all NGOs to register under the Societies Act. Nonetheless, registration as a company has not completely protected NGOs from harassment by the government, as the recent intrusion by the SSM into Suaram’s accounts has demonstrated.
In 1996, the Institut Pengajian Komuniti (IPK), an NGO taking up the issue of rights of indigenous peoples in Sarawak was de-registered by the Registrar of Business over a legal technicality.
The ROC’s Tenaganita fiasco
In 1997, the Registrar of Companies raided the offices of Tenaganita, the NGO that had exposed inhuman conditions in immigrant detention centres, and confiscated their documents.
Tenaganita and two directors were subsequently charged in court in March 1997 under the Companies Act for late filing of audited financial statements of 1994. And most unusual was the fact that the charges were prosecuted by a Deputy Prosecutor from the Attorney-General’s Chambers instead of the usual officers of the Registrar.
The charges were subsequently withdrawn on July 9, 1997 when it was pointed out in court that the Registrar had already compounded the offences and accepted payment of a fine through Tenaganita’s accountants.
Then on Sept 5, 1997, the Registrar again issued fresh charges against Tenaganita and two directors on minor technicalities. This time around, the Registrar refused to compound the alleged offences for a fine.
After Tenaganita mounted a legal challenge to the prosecutions alleging mala fide prosecution, the charges were withdrawn on Nov 25, 1997.
As you can see, NGOs in Malaysia have found themselves “between a ROC and a hard place…”
PSM’s Greek tragedy
Opposition political parties have fared no better. Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) only obtained its legal registration as a political party in 2008, 10 years after it first filed its application. The entire saga endured by PSM in its struggle to be registered reads like a Greek tragedy in modern Malaysia.
And of course, the Registrar of Societies can feign selective outrage yet again: “Wasn’t the Malaysian Indian United party (MIUP), whose founding leader is S Nallakaruppan swiftly registered in October 2007, just five months after he quit PKR in May 2007?”
“You mean the party that pledged to work closely with, and give its support to, the ruling BN coalition? Yes, we believe the ROS acted expeditiously on their application…”
Restrictions to the fundamental right to freedom of association are also imposed on trade union officials through the Trade Unions Act. Today, less than 10 per cent of Malaysian workers are unionised compared to more than 60 per cent at the time of Independence. What a transformation indeed!
Inspecting the good guys
We stress that the entire charade by the government to harass Suaram through a complaint by some nonentity in the public and CCM’s ‘routine’ inspection is political and uncalled for.
We do not even know if the complaint was made officially to the CCM. It would appear that the CCM is acting on every single complaint (offical or otherwise) from the public at a highly efficient rate.
We question if there is a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) within CCM that provides guidelines on receiving and acting on a complaint.
We also question whether or not the SOP requires the CCM to first verify the background of the complainant prior to receiving and acting on a complaint.
From the evidence in the Paris (Scorpene Scandal) Papers, one would have expected that the CCM would know its priorities and begin “routinely inspecting” the highly dubious activities and accounts of Perimekar Sdn Bhd and Terasasi Sdn Bhd, but have they?
Doing our best
Through 23 years of selfless work defending human rights in Malaysia, Suaram has established itself as the human rights centre of Malaysia. From Operation Lalang through the Reformasi period to the present day, many victims of state oppression have turned to Suaram for assistance in highlighting their plight.
The funding we get goes into nurturing young activists in human rights work. We employ a handful of dedicated young staff that has chosen this path of service in human rights work.
The elder members of the Suaram secretariat like me have always been non-staff volunteers in overseeing the running of the organisation.
Since 1989, Suaram has been the main coordinating secretariat for the Movement against the ISA and other detention without trial laws, the EO and the DDA. Our office serves as the refuge for those whose family members have been victims of state oppression. We send Urgent Appeals throughout the world whenever any detention or other violations of human rights happen.
Despite its small staff, Suaram publishes the only credible and detailed Malaysian Human Rights Report every year without fail and has been doing so since 1998. Such a report is an invaluable service to all the peoples of Malaysia irrespective of ethnicity, religion or creed.
Since its founding, Suaram has worked toward a healthy democratic movement in the country and we could well say that all the efforts by Suaram in the last 20 years have been instrumental in producing today’s two-front system and the political tsunami of 2008.
Throughout its existence over the last 20 years, Suaram staff and secretariat have been involved in human rights and environmental education, giving talks, organising seminars and providing training. Suaram has initiated campaigns against the Bakun dam and the Selangor dam to protect the interests of indigenous peoples, the environment and the interests of Malaysian tax payers.
We have also supported marginalised communities such as the urban settlers, estate communities and refugees when they have met eviction and state oppression.
Suaram has played a role in the “Stop the War Coalition” and has coordinated Anti-US demonstrations and protests against the US-led occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan and Israeli atrocities in Gaza in recent years.
Suaram also played a key role in the last important peace conference for East Timor in 1996 together with other NGOs. We have been part of the campaign for democracy in Burma.
In other words, Suaram has always been in the business of fighting for justice, equality, democracy and human rights in Malaysia and spoken out against imperialism and militarism in the rest of the world.
For our efforts, Suaram was awarded the Human Rights Award for 2011 by the country’s Human Rights Commission (Suhakam). The only dividends we have gained in this business over these 23 years are the appreciation of the victims of oppression and exploitation, nature lovers and Malaysian tax payers.
And to all our detractors and oppressors we can only say:
“Do your worst and we will do our best”.
Kua Kia Soong is Suaram adviser.
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