KUALA LUMPUR, Sunday, 19 October 2008 – “The Bar Council will keep up the deafening sound of objections against the ISA,” said Lim Chee Wee, the Secretary of the Bar Council, in his speech during the gathering to endorse the abolition of the Internal Security Act, 1960 held at the Kuala Lumpur Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH) today.
Also speaking at the gathering were Dato’ Bong Hon Liong, President of KLSCAH, Dr. Yap Sin Tian, Chairman of Dong Zong, Tan Sri Lim Gait Tong, President of the Federation of Chinese Assembly Hall (FECAM), Ong Chiow Chuan, President of Jiao Zong, Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh, Chaiman of Gerakan Mansuhkan ISA (GMI), Norlaila Othman, wife of ISA detainee Mat Sah Mohd Satray, Marina Lee Abdullah, wife of Raja Petra Kamarudin and Haris Ibrahim, lawyer and founder of the blog, The People’s Parliament.
Based on the record provided by GMI Secretariat Enalini Elumalai, this year alone GMI has organised over 30 events calling for abolition of the ISA. Today’s endorsement by various organisations from all over the country is seen as the beacon of hope for this draconian law to be abolished in very near future.
Lim Chee Wee in his speech also noted that endorsements are received from organisations, which comprise not only human rights activists, political parties on both sides of the spectrum and educationists, but even business people. If even business people whom are conservative are concerned about ISA, this goes to show how threatening the public as a whole find ISA, he explained. He also urged the Prime Minister to add repealing ISA as his fourth initiative to his three promised initiatives before he steps down.
Norlaila, also known as Kak Laila, stressed that the best way to recruit support is by word of mouth. Marina suggested GMI to hold this sort of gathering all over the country to increase the momentum.
Haris announced that The People’s Parliament has started “ISA Candlelight Vigil” last week and invited the audience to attend the second vigil tonight. “Let’s do it in every state and keep doing it until ISA is abolished,” he said.
The gathering which ended at about 1pm saw about 300 people from the various organisations in attendance, including the President of Pertubuhan Jamaah Islah Malaysia (JIM), Tn Hj Zaid Kamaruddin.
Also present were Brendan Siva, HR Dipendra and Richard Wee representing the Kuala Lumpur Bar, Syamsuriatina Ishak representing the Selangor Bar as well as the Bar Council Human Rights Committee and Amer Hamzah Arshad, Andy Yong, Fadiah Nadwa Fikri, Maria Soosai Raj and Seira Sacha Abu Bakar also from the Bar Council Human Rights Committee.
Noor Arianti Binti Osman
1 comment:
There is a difference between UMNO and Barisan Nasional. I want to make it clear that it is not the Barisan Nasional (BN) government, but the UMNO government. It is not the government, but UMNO. Barisan Nasional is a coalition of unequals, not equals. UMNO is the big brother in BN. Therefore UMNO must be held responsible; and more importantly, UMNO must not be allowed to hide behind the BN banner. UMNO is the enemy, not BN. UMNO is a racist party which has perfected the art of divide and rule. If moderate Malays, the natives of Sabah and Sarawak, and the Chinese and Indians unite, then they can vote UMNO out of office.
For decades UMNO has strengthened her position by destroying the independence of the judiciary. So much so that high officials and the Police can almost act with impunity.
I have come to the conclusion that the easy solution is to completely defeat UMNO in the next elections. We have to vote racist UMNO out of office. UMNO is bent on divide and rule, which has affected Malaysia badly. It is for the next generation of Malaysians to undo the damage done to Malaysia by UMNO. There is a dire need for moderate Malays at the political level. There is also a need for the natives of Sabah and Sarawak to form a third force to protect their own interests. Imagine how UMNO had dealt with Sabah; from a rich state, Sabah has been reduced to a poor state subservient to UMNO. There has to be an explanation. The only way is UMNO has to be voted out of office. The younger generation of Malaysians do not like racist politics and UMNO must be taught a lesson by the younger generation by voting UMNO out of office. Please vote for any party but UMNO/BN.
To my Sabah and Sarawak brothers and sisters I tell you that historically UMNO has always avoided a Royal Commission of Inquiry as much as possible many times. Historically, UMNO has misused the Internal Security Act numerous times. Any political party that is an accomplice to UMNO is also the enemy. Any political party that is a co-conspirator to UMNO is also the enemy. To my Sabah and Sarawak brothers and sisters I say that you should form a third force. A third force would require unity among Sabahans and Sarawakians.
We have to get into the habit of putting people in office through votes, and removing people from office through votes. Nobody should be allowed to topple the government. We have to institutionalize the multi-party political system, one person one vote, and an independent judiciary.
In the 2004 elections (11th General Election), the voters gave good support to Mr.Abdullah Badawi. But reforms did not come. Why? Probably because UMNO had done well in the elections. If UMNO had done well in the elections, then the election results tell UMNO that the voters are satisfied with the status quo. If the voters are satisfied with UMNO, then no reforms are necessary. In the 2008 elections (12th General Elections), UMNO did not do well, but she managed to win. UMNO did lose the 2/3 majority in the Parliament, but she did win, nevertheless. Will UMNO undertake reforms now? I would not be surprised if she did not. Why should she? UMNO is still the winner in the elections; and she can plan to rise and may even succeed to rise again. So, as long as she wins, she will never undertake the reforms. So, how do the voters get the reforms that they need? The voters will get the reforms when UMNO is completely defeated in the 13th General Elections. If UMNO wins zero seats in the next elections (13th General Elections), then some other party would have to rule Malaysia. Let us call it Party B. If UMNO is completely defeated in the next elections (13th General Elections), then Party B would rule Malaysia. Would Party B undertake reforms? If Party B does not undertake reforms, then voters would know what to do.
There is no doubt that UMNO has used gerrymandering to strengthen herself. If we removed gerrymandering from UMNO, then there would be a reduced UMNO. So the non-UMNO voters of Malaysia have good reasons to vote against UMNO.
It is possible that UMNO has used the Police Force to strengthen herself. The Police Force is required to be neutral. But is the Police Force neutral? I appeal to the Police Force to be neutral.
UMNO is a race based political party and also the big brother of BN. So, the complete defeat of UMNO in the next elections is the only way to get reforms. The complete defeat of UMNO in the next elections is the only way to get a new beginning.
UMNO is inclined to believe that Malaysians cannot do anything if they are in any way dissatisfied. The voters, however, have to send a strong message to UMNO that the voters can do something: the voters can vote.
So, the next step for Malaysians is to completely defeat UMNO/BN in the next elections.
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