PP3739/12/2000 ISSN 0127 - 5127 / RM3.00 / … for the past 20 years”. So ... In the 1992 UPSR...

Aliran Monthly 20(11/12)

PP3739/12/2000 ISSN 0127 - 5127 / RM3.00 / 2000:20(11/12)


the scandalous marginalisation ofthe Indian Malaysian, the planta-tion worker in particular, remainsa “damn spot” which the Govern-ment, the MIC and Samy cannoterase.

This, of course, has very much todo with the leadership of the In-dian community. Alas, there is noreason to believe, when one looksback at 20 years of Samy’s feudal-istic leadership and lordship, thatthe Indian Malaysian will seesunrise.

S. Samy Vellu is now into

n May last year, S. SamyVellu, president of theMalaysian Indian Con-gress (MIC) promised the

300,000-odd plantation workersin the country “a new sunrise”.

“The period of sunset willdiminish...when monthly wagescome into effect”. And the newhope was supposed to have beenrealised by the end of last year.

The year has ended, yet anotherpromise is broken, and the plan-tation worker is still unable to seelight.

Even if the Government were toannounce tomorrow an agreedmonthly wage, (after 50 years!)...

COVER STORY

Still AwaitingT h e “ N e w S u n r i s e ”Little has changed for Indian Malaysians in the20 years of Samy’s leadership of the MIC

by Martin Jalleh

IIIII

20 Years

his 21st year as president of theMIC. He wants us to know that the MIC is the second oldest po-litical party in the country, formed three months after UMNOin 1946.

He very proudly believes that theMIC “is the only party represent-ing the Indians in the country”(Sun, 14 Sept 2000) But for themajority of Indians in this coun-try, little has changed with theMIC, definitely very little withSamy.

Samy is adamant that the Indiancommunity “has benefited and


The Indian Community In Malaysia

In the run-up to last November’s Lunas by-election,the nation’s attention was drawn to the position ofthe Indian community in Malaysian politics. Thenomination of keADILan’s Saifuddin Nasution tochallenge the MIC’s candidate in a seat tradition-ally “reserved” for Indians was seen by some as aslight against Indian Malaysians.

The election result reveals that a majority of the In-dian voters in Lunas voted for the BN unlike theirMalay and Chinese counterparts.Some observershave concluded that “the Indians are a lost cause”in the struggle for reforms.

Aliran believes that all Malaysians, especially thelower class, are yearning for change. But not enougheffort has been made to reach out to them. A firststep is to understand their plight which demandsurgent action. In this issue AM looks behind thepromises made by Samy and the MIC and the hypeover alcoholism and gangsterism.

Martin Jalleh documents the lack of change for thepoor Indians under Samy’s 20-year tenure. Dr MNadarajah debunks the simplistic explanation thatTamil movies cause violence within the community.Rather, it’s marginalisation, he insists. SArutchelvan explores why the decades-old monthlywage issue hasn’t been resolved. Dr Yeoh Seng Guanlaments the passing of a squatter community andthe dispersal of its residents into high-rise “chicken-coops”.

But there have been significant, if small, break-throughs. Veerasenan reports a breakthrough in thestruggle of the Klebang residents against a devel-oper, while Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj informs us of an-other battle to rid the Sg Siput electoral rolls of phan-toms. Perhaps there’ll be change there in the 2004elections which might have far-reaching effects forthe Indian community in Malaysia.

C O N T E N T S

Printed by Angkatan Edaran Enterprise Sdn. Bhd. Lot 6, Jalan Tukang 16/4,Seksyen 16, 40000 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan.

EDITOR'S NOTE

COVER STORYCOVER STORYCOVER STORYCOVER STORYCOVER STORY••••• Still Awaiting The “New Sunrise”Still Awaiting The “New Sunrise”Still Awaiting The “New Sunrise”Still Awaiting The “New Sunrise”Still Awaiting The “New Sunrise” 22222

••••• Monthly WageMonthly WageMonthly WageMonthly WageMonthly Wage 99999

••••• Cause Of ViolenceCause Of ViolenceCause Of ViolenceCause Of ViolenceCause Of Violence 1 11 11 11 11 1

••••• Pioneers, SquattersPioneers, SquattersPioneers, SquattersPioneers, SquattersPioneers, Squatters

And Flat DwellersAnd Flat DwellersAnd Flat DwellersAnd Flat DwellersAnd Flat Dwellers 1 41 41 41 41 4

••••• Breakthrough In KlebangBreakthrough In KlebangBreakthrough In KlebangBreakthrough In KlebangBreakthrough In Klebang 1 61 61 61 61 6

FEATURESFEATURESFEATURESFEATURESFEATURES••••• Malay Unity : A Shift - Not A RiftMalay Unity : A Shift - Not A RiftMalay Unity : A Shift - Not A RiftMalay Unity : A Shift - Not A RiftMalay Unity : A Shift - Not A Rift 2 22 22 22 22 2

••••• Exorcising Phantom VotersExorcising Phantom VotersExorcising Phantom VotersExorcising Phantom VotersExorcising Phantom Voters 2 62 62 62 62 6

••••• Rape : Inadequate SentencingRape : Inadequate SentencingRape : Inadequate SentencingRape : Inadequate SentencingRape : Inadequate Sentencing

And Legal ProceduresAnd Legal ProceduresAnd Legal ProceduresAnd Legal ProceduresAnd Legal Procedures 2 92 92 92 92 9

••••• The Promise And Perils OfThe Promise And Perils OfThe Promise And Perils OfThe Promise And Perils OfThe Promise And Perils Of

Global Health, Inc.Global Health, Inc.Global Health, Inc.Global Health, Inc.Global Health, Inc. 3 53 53 53 53 5

••••• The Oslo Process Is DeadThe Oslo Process Is DeadThe Oslo Process Is DeadThe Oslo Process Is DeadThe Oslo Process Is Dead 3 73 73 73 73 7

••••• Justice In Double JeopardyJustice In Double JeopardyJustice In Double JeopardyJustice In Double JeopardyJustice In Double Jeopardy 4 04 04 04 04 0

REGULARSREGULARSREGULARSREGULARSREGULARS••••• Thinking AllowedThinking AllowedThinking AllowedThinking AllowedThinking Allowed 1 91 91 91 91 9

••••• Current ConcernsCurrent ConcernsCurrent ConcernsCurrent ConcernsCurrent Concerns 3 13 13 13 13 1

••••• LettersLettersLettersLettersLetters 3 23 23 23 23 2

OTHERSOTHERSOTHERSOTHERSOTHERS••••• Subscription FormSubscription FormSubscription FormSubscription FormSubscription Form 1 81 81 81 81 8

ALIRANALIRANALIRANALIRANALIRAN is a Reform Movement dedicated to is a Reform Movement dedicated to is a Reform Movement dedicated to is a Reform Movement dedicated to is a Reform Movement dedicated toJustice, Freedom & Solidarity and listed on theJustice, Freedom & Solidarity and listed on theJustice, Freedom & Solidarity and listed on theJustice, Freedom & Solidarity and listed on theJustice, Freedom & Solidarity and listed on theroster of the Economic and Social Council of theroster of the Economic and Social Council of theroster of the Economic and Social Council of theroster of the Economic and Social Council of theroster of the Economic and Social Council of theUnited Nations. Founded in 1977, Aliran welcomesUnited Nations. Founded in 1977, Aliran welcomesUnited Nations. Founded in 1977, Aliran welcomesUnited Nations. Founded in 1977, Aliran welcomesUnited Nations. Founded in 1977, Aliran welcomesall Malaysians above 21 to be members. Contactall Malaysians above 21 to be members. Contactall Malaysians above 21 to be members. Contactall Malaysians above 21 to be members. Contactall Malaysians above 21 to be members. Contactthe Hon. Secretary or visit our webpage.the Hon. Secretary or visit our webpage.the Hon. Secretary or visit our webpage.the Hon. Secretary or visit our webpage.the Hon. Secretary or visit our webpage.

Published byPublished byPublished byPublished byPublished by

Aliran Kesedaran Negara (ALIRAN)Aliran Kesedaran Negara (ALIRAN)Aliran Kesedaran Negara (ALIRAN)Aliran Kesedaran Negara (ALIRAN)Aliran Kesedaran Negara (ALIRAN)103, Medan Penaga, 11600 Jelutong,103, Medan Penaga, 11600 Jelutong,103, Medan Penaga, 11600 Jelutong,103, Medan Penaga, 11600 Jelutong,103, Medan Penaga, 11600 Jelutong,

Penang, Malaysia.Penang, Malaysia.Penang, Malaysia.Penang, Malaysia.Penang, Malaysia.

Tel : (04) 658 5251 Fax : (04) 658 5197Tel : (04) 658 5251 Fax : (04) 658 5197Tel : (04) 658 5251 Fax : (04) 658 5197Tel : (04) 658 5251 Fax : (04) 658 5197Tel : (04) 658 5251 Fax : (04) 658 5197

Homepage : http://www.malaysia.net/aliranHomepage : http://www.malaysia.net/aliranHomepage : http://www.malaysia.net/aliranHomepage : http://www.malaysia.net/aliranHomepage : http://www.malaysia.net/aliran


achieved from the country’s eco-nomic progress” (NST, 12 Nov2000). Yet, the resolutions of eachMIC General Assembly appar-ently have been the same witheach passing year...for the past 20years!

A delegate at last year’s 54th MICGeneral Assembly, stated: “Wepass the same or similar resolu-tions every year and memoran-dums have been presented to theauthorities, but we are not takenseriously.”

Even Samy does not take his claimthat the Indian Malaysian hasbenefited seriously. He contra-dicts himself ever so often. Whathe says has become a joke, a sadjoke.

Consider this, on Deepavali Daylast year Samy had urged the In-dians to ponder on the “abun-dant wealth provided by the Gov-ernment for the people”. Yet be-fore the 54th MIC General Assem-bly he had called on Indians tofree themselves from the “shack-les of poverty” (Star, 27 May 2000)!

Indians should not consider them-selves “third-class” citizens. Theyhave benefited much from thecountry’s progress (NST, 12 Nov2000). Yet months before, he hadspoken so emotionally of the needto correct “the imbalance of eq-uity participation” of the Indians!

According to Samy, the IndianMalaysian is equal to all othercitizens...yet he would when theoccasion suits him ramble, raveand roar about the “...uplifting (of)

the economic status of Indians”.

Samy had even declared at the54th MIC General Assembly that“the rubber industry workers havebeen neglected over the past 150years.”

“...and,” he would add, “...theMIC is committed to ensuring a dramatic and significant changein their lives in this century (NST,28 May 2000).

One hundred and fifty years ofneglect — yet Indians have “ben-efited”? Is this a joke? So wherehave the MIC and Samy been allthese years? It appears that SamyVellu and the MIC leaders haveno sense of shame.

“The primary responsibility of re-dressing social imbalancesamong the communities falls onthe Government’s shoulders” —such strong and brave words, es-pecially with the PM seated besidehim at the 54th MIC General As-sembly.

They remain mere words, and

words are all Samy has, as hebegs, bows, and bends before hispolitical Master — who neverfails to pat him on theshoulder...as the Indian plantationworker continues to bear the brunton his/her shoulders...

The evidence is so clear and com-pelling — whether it be in hous-ing, health, education or econom-ics... the Indian Malaysian, theplantation worker in particular,has been shortchanged.

During his term as MIC president,thousands of Indian plantation workers have been displaced fromtheir homes and from the landwhich they and their forefathershad cleared, toiled and lived on.

For their daring and dedication intransforming harsh jungles intoproductive rubber estates, theyhave been deprived of a home, inmany cases, to make way for thedevelopment of luxury homes.

For their long-service to their em-

A Sad Joke

Housing Woes


ess intended to break their resolvefor justice.

Sad to say too, many of the plan-tation workers are in their twilightyears. Some have served as longas 40 to 50 years. They have no-where to go, they know not an-other trade — “engines for Ma-laysia’s economic growth” (ac-cording to Samy), yet now dis-carded.

According to the 1998 Productiv-ity Report , estate workers playeda vital role in generating theRM15.8 billion or 11 per cent ofthe country’s revenue. For a peo-ple whose contribution to the economy has been so substantialsurely they deserve better.

At the 4th Selangor MIC conven-tion at the Dewan Jubilee in ShahAlam, Samy, with almost blurryeyes, “deplored the plight of thou-sands of displaced estate workersliving in squalor in dozens oflong-houses and squatter settle-ments all over Selangor” (Star, 14July 1997).

In an emotional two-hour speech,Samy said that the problem wasnot new as it was “a predicamentcommon for the past 20 years”. Sowhat has he and his party beendoing?

The situation was unacceptableespecially when “the SelangorGovernment had a policy to en-sure workers received low-costhousing and alternative employ-ment before approving re-develop-ment of estates” (NST, 14 July1997).

He could only lament: “We should

not be solving problems on an adhoc basis. We should find perma-nent solutions”.

Later when opening the FederalTerritory MIC Convention, Samyhad said that a special commit-tee would be set up in the Federalcapital to “look into the woes ofthe community”.

“I have directed Senator DatukV.K.K. Teagarajan (the FT MICchief) to set up a special commit-tee and gave him two months tocome up with the list of Indianswho are living in squatter areasand long-houses” (NST, 14 July1997).

Three years have passed. Yet at theMIC General Assembly last year, Samy cited the case of some 25,000Indian Malaysians still living insquatter houses! So what had the“special committee” done?

During a verbal clash in Parlia-ment in November last year overthe Opposition’s allegation thatthe Government was not givingproper consideration to the Indi-ans, MIC secretary-generalS.Sothinathan stood up to ask:“Do you think MIC is doing noth-ing?”

The answer, as they say, is blow-ing in the wind.

Till today, the Attorney-Gener-al's Chambers continues to de-lay expediting legislation mak-ing it mandatory for estateowners to provide housing forretrenched workers when con-verting or selling their land forcommercial development (Sun,11 Sept 2000).

ployers and for having contrib-uted to the growth of the nationaleconomy, they have been servedwith eviction orders or paid a pit-tance as compensation, ordragged into a tedious Court proc-


The marginalisation continues.

Whilst Chinese schools in thecountry have been making muchheadway in education, Tamilschools have lost their way.

In the 1992 UPSR examinations,eight out of 16 Tamil schools inthe Federal Territory recorded“zero passes” (Star, 2 May 1993).In March last year, it was reportedthat all the UPSR students in 22Tamil schools in Selangor, failedin all the subjects of the examina-tion(!) (Sun, 12 March 2000)

In September last year, Samy,whilst dismisaasing a gloomypicture painted of Tamil schools,said: “Who says all Tamil schoolsare gone. Even the blind will notsay such things” (Star, 23 Sept2000).

The following month, however,Samy revealed that about 200 ofthe 520 Tamil schools in the coun-try may have to close down due todevelopment, migration andchange of estate crops (Star, 30 Oct2000).

“The conditions of most of these(Tamil schools) are deplorable,and many lack basic necessitieslike libraries, tables and chairs(NST, 30 Oct 2000).”

Some time back, a survey by thePM’s Deprtment showed that onlythree out of 1,000 estate childrenmanaged to make it to the univer-sity (Star, 12 June 1993.)

As in previous assemblies, del-egates continued to raise theplight of Tamil schools at the 54th

MIC General Assembly in May2000. Education topped the par-ty’s list of resolutions (Sun, 29 May2000).

Samy provided his usual stere-otyped responses — he wouldraise their complaints with theCabinet, a study would be con-ducted, a special unit would beset up ....till the next General As-sembly...

Even in estate healthcare, the MICand its president have little ornothing to show. One does notneed to go very far back.

Five years ago, the MalaysianMedical Association (MMA) re-vealed that medical services inplantations had shown “no sig-nificant improvement over the lastsix years despite calls and recom-mendations by concerned bodiesincluding the MMA” (NST, 4 July1995).

According to S.Pakirisamy, Presi-dent of the Estate Hospital Assist-ants Association, who has had 40year’s experience in plantationservices, “health care was muchbetter in the 1950s”! (Star, 25 June1995).

In December 1996 , then HealthMinistry parliamentary secretaryM.Mahalingam announced thatthe Government intended to close42 out of the 50 estate hospitals inthe country “due to their deplor-able condition” (Star, 23 Dec 1996).

In 1997, the Cabinet directed theHealth Ministry to take over thehospitals and clinics “for only ayear” (!) (Star, 18 Aug 1997). Two

years later (1999), MMA presidentP.Krishnan was still lamentingover “the never-ending healthcareissues in estates” — which in hisopinion was due in part to “thelack of political will to solve theproblem”.

He added: “I cannot understandwhy none of the politicians aretaking the issue up.” (The Star, 24Oct 1999)

Every year on Deepavali, SamyVellu very symbolically feeds thePM with a piece of cake. Is thiswhy the economic cake of the In-dian Malaysians has been shrink-ing with each passing year?

What has Samy Vellu and the MICdone to improve the economicwell-being of the Indian commu-nity in Malaysia? The resolutionsof each passing year provide moreand more evidence of mismanage-ment, scandal and frustration.

Even if Indian Malaysians wereto ignore the Maika-Telekomshares scandal, they would stillbe left with the disastrous per-formance of Maika Holdings Bhdin 1998 and 1999.

Set up in 1982, Maika HoldingsBhd was an MIC investment ve-hicle meant to bring hope to the Indian Malaysians.

But it only brought them misery.Its soaring cumulative losseshave only brought nightmares tothe poor Indians who had in-vested whatever they had for a

Maika Holdings

H e a l t h c a r e Who Has Eaten MyC a k e ?

S c h o o l i n g


better tomorrow. Its pre-tax lossesfor 1997 were 22.63 million, for1998 35.79 million and for 1999 astaggering 44.35 million.

The losses, of course, reflectedvery poorly on Maika’s newly-ap-pointed Chief Executive who hap-pens to be the son of Samy Vellu.(The Star, 12 Dec 1999)

Chairman Dr K. Ampikaipakan, inhis statement in Maika’s AnnualReport thanked “our founder, Y.B.Dato’ Seri S. Samy Vellu, for hisuntiring assistance and guidance”!

The Annual Report containedpages of businesses within theGroup that had “faltered”,“ceased operations”, been “putup for sale” and of the company’s“negative growth”.

The Indian share in corporate eq-uity rose from 0.5 per cent to 1.5per cent during the last 30 yearsbut was extremely low comparedto the equity owned by theBumiputra and Chinese commu-nities (The Star, 28 May 2000).

The delegates’ resolutions re-flected how they really felt aboutthe way they were being treated.They urged the Government to:

• make it mandatory for firmsgoing for public listing to re-serve at least 5 per cent of theshares offered for the Indiancommunity;

• impose a condition to ensureIndians have a 5 per cent par-ticipation rate in all privatisedprojects;

• provide more job opportunitiesfor Indians in the Governmentsector.

Ask Komala Krishna Moorthy —Kapar MP, MIC’s InformationChief and a member of the Na-tional Economic ConsultativeCouncil II Economic Committee —and she will tell you that “a largenumber of Indian businessmenare not getting their share of busi-ness” (Star, 4 June 2000).

The PM had claimed during theGeneral Assembly (and thiswould later be repeated in Parlia-ment by Parliamentary Secretaryin the PM’s Department NohOmar) that the average monthlyincome of the Indian householdhas increased from RM304 in1970 to RM1,209 in 1990 andRM2,702 last year (NST, 28 May2000).

The figure is misleading, and issurely not the average income ofthe thousands of Indian planta-

tion workers.

P.Kanniyama, NUPW, SungalaEstate secretary tells of the plan-tation worker struggling to sur-vive: “What do you expect us todo with RM300 and less a month,we cannot support our families aseverything is expensive now...theplantation owners are makingmillions in profits but we havebeen neglected all thiswhile” (NST, 5 June 2000).

The PM had also announced thatthe Government had agreed inprinciple to monthly wages forestate workers, with only theamount to be determined. Thiswas the result of the hard work ofSamy, the PM had made sure tomention.

Samy chose to respond in poeticfashion: “The period of sunset

PopulationPopulationPopulationPopulationPopulation : 1.8 mil. or 8 per cent of 22 mil.Corporate WealthCorporate WealthCorporate WealthCorporate WealthCorporate Wealth : 1.5% compared to Malays 19.4%

& Chinese 18.5%Pop. of estate workersPop. of estate workersPop. of estate workersPop. of estate workersPop. of estate workers : 300,000 (About 40% are Indians)

CrimeCrimeCrimeCrimeCrime : • 40% of country's serious crimes by Indians• 38 Indian-based gangs with 1,500 active

members• 100% increase in Indian gangsters in three-

year period• Highest number detained under the Emer-

gency Ordinance and banished to SimpangRenggam Prison

Social woesSocial woesSocial woesSocial woesSocial woes : • 15% in KL are squatters• Highest suicide rate• 41% of vagrants & beggars• 20% of child abusers• 14% juvenile delinquents

The Indian Malaysian


will diminish and a new sunrisewill be visible in the life of the es-tate workers when monthly wagescome into effect. (NST, 28 May2000).

He would later add that “estateworkers could expect monthlywages before the end of the year”(Star, 28 May 2000).

“They don’t have to live hand-to-mouth. I was prepared to sacrificemy (Cabinet) position...I said if thiswas not successful, it is better forme to leave the Cabinet so the Cabi-net thought it’s better to sit anddiscuss.”

This was not the first time thatSamy had offered to resign. Tenyears ago, he had done the same.The Government had to interveneand force more than 300,000workers from prolonging a striketo protest against the worseningconditions in the estates.

Similar protests were held in1994, 1995 and 1996.

But Samy has always returned toKuala Lumpur...to his “Cabinet”to sit and discuss long-standing

issues that he would dramatisewhen things came to a dead-end.

Two months before the PM’smonthly-wage revelation, Hu-man Resources Minister FongChang Onn had in fact given theassurance that a permanent paysystem would be finalised byJuly 2000.

It is now February 2001. Yet, SamyVellu has nothing to show.

Five years ago, then Deputy HomeMinister Megat Junid had warnedthat there was an alarmingnumber of 1,000 Indian gangsnation-wide: “Not only gangster-ism but other social problems (in-volving Indians) are also on therise” (Star, 25 Sept 1995.) What hasSamy been doing since 1995?

About four years ago at the open-ing of a working meeting of MIC’sdivisional chairmen, Samy pre-sented a paper entitled “AnAgenda For Action: Overcoming So-cial Ills in the Malaysian Society, TheRole of the Malaysian Indian Con-

q

Disillusioned AndD y s f u n c t i o n a l

gress” (NST, 10 March 1997). What has the MIC been doingsince 1997?

Displaced, deprived anddisempowered — disillusionedby the empty and broken prom-ises of politicians like Samy Vellu— demoralised by the slow grind-ing wheels of justice — drownedin a vicious cycle of poverty andviolence — the poor Indians, es-pecially their young end up dys-functional in society. They arestudied and documented and mayeven one day be damned into ob-livion!.

Surely the grave social problemsthat plague the Indian communityare as old as the presidency ofSamy and the MIC. Yet his re-sponse is one of calling for morestudies and the setting up of taskforces.

Indian Malaysians cannot beblamed for feeling third-class oran underclass or outclassed —they have been led and misled bypathetic politicians who seem-ingly have neither shame nor scru-ples.

Perhaps the greatest “crime” ofthe majority of IndianMalaysians, plantation workersin particular, is having entrustedtheir lives and future into thehands of their leaders, who in re-turn, have handed them only hypeand hypocrisy instead of homeand hope, more suffering insteadof a new sunrise.

Martin Jalleh is a poet andMartin Jalleh is a poet andMartin Jalleh is a poet andMartin Jalleh is a poet andMartin Jalleh is a poet andsocial commentator based insocial commentator based insocial commentator based insocial commentator based insocial commentator based inPenang.Penang.Penang.Penang.Penang.


he issue of the plantationworkers’ monthly wageis rather simple and thereason why it is not be-

ing resolved is quite obvious. Theplantation industry has been veryconsistent in giving low wages aswell as maintaining the status-quo - the daily-rated wage system.Indeed, the issues concerning lowwages, housing, poor health andlack of education facilities are notanything new. There is recogni-tion of these shortcomings in everyFive-Year Malaysia Plan and inthe National Economic Plan. Butthe big question is: why hasn’t thegovernment resolved these issues?

The three main characters or play-ers in the plantation world areplantation labour, plantation capi-tal and the state. Let us now lookat the role of each player moreclosely.

The plantation work force in Ma-laysia has mostly been of south-ern Indian origin while non-In-dian Malaysian workers have attimes accounted for as much as40 percent of the total workforce.Recently, however, foreign labourfrom Bangladesh and from Indo-nesia have dominated theworkforce. Consequently, it is notsurprising that the Barisan

Nasional dominated by UMNO,which is Malay-based, andwherein the Chinese-based MCAplays second fiddle, has been lessthan sensitive to the plight of theplantation workers. It follows thatthe MIC has been the major partyhighlighting the problems theyface. In fact, it passes resolutionafter resolution every year, as if theproblems of the plantation work-ers is the sole purview of the In-dian community. In fact, the prob-lems concern workers of all eth-nic groups. However, due to iden-tification of the problem as oneconcerning only Indians, the plan-tation workers have been deniedprivileges otherwise offered toother rural communities such aspaddy farmers, FELDA settlers’etc.

Almost all plantation schools arestill not fully government-aided

while health facilities in the plan-tations remain woefully inad-equate. Indeed, poverty eradica-tion programmes have also beendenied to these communities ofpoor Malaysians. Instead, thegovernment argues that it is theresponsibility of the plantationowners to provide and to upgradethese facilities. Yet, no serious ac-tion has been taken against theseplantation companies who neglecttheir responsibility.

The biggest plantation companiestoday include Guthrie, GoldenHope Plantations, Highland andLowlands , KL Kepong and SimeDarby. Who are the major share-holders of these companies andwho controls these companies ?

Ironically the major shareholderof these companies is none other

COVER STORY

Why Hasn't This Issue Been Resolved?by S Arutchelvan

TTTTT

Plantation Labour

Monthly Wage

Plantation Capital


than the Malaysian government !Control of these companies is ex-erted through the government’sown Permodalan NasionalBerhad(PNB) and AmanahSaham Raya. Therefore the Statehas a very visible hand in thesewhole relationship. Datuk SamyVellu was correct when he statedthat the government ought to in-troduce monthly wages becausethe Government is the actualowner of these companies.

In fact, the State has no politicalwill to implement monthly wages.And it is not earnest in lobbyingor persuading the plantationowners to introduce monthlywage system. It is pertinent to re-call that the daily wage system isa system used by almost all agri-cultural companies in the world.This wage system is feudal inevery aspect and is just a few stepsahead of the slave reward system.

Yet this colonial wage system isstill practised in Malaysia and inother parts of the world. Not onlyis the system unjust. The workers,rather than the plantation own-ers, are made to bear the risksthreatening the industry

The struggle to replace this unfairsystem with a fairer one has beengoing on for ages in Malaysia, as

well as in other countriesl. A ma-jor strike over the issue occurredin Sri Lanka a few years ago. It istherefore an uphill task to bringdown this daily wage system andreplace it with a fairer system forthe workers. For if the daily wagesystem collapses in Malaysia,there will then develop pressuresin other parts of the global systemto similarly get rid of the system

Workers must be paid in accord-ance with the labour they pro-duce. However, in the plantationsector today, wages are deter-mined by external factors such asweather, the price of the commod-ity in the world market, and evenbark quality and the use of stimu-lants, all, over which the workershave no control whatsoever. It istotally disgusting that such anunjust and archaic wage systemis still practiced in our country in2001 .

Plantation capital’s argumentover the years has been the same.It’s about losing profit and losingcompetitive advantage with othercountries. In other words the ar-gument only points in one direc-tion, that is, the need for a cheaplabour policy in order to maintainMalaysia’s comparative advan-tage in the global system. In thismanner, whosoever pays labour

Same Old Excuse

the lowest wages is ultimately themost successful businessman. ThePlantation Workers Support Com-mittee has repeated many timesbefore that if the cost of success inthis industry is a cheap labourpolicy, then, we don’t need this in-dustry in the first place. Labourmust be respected and appreci-ated. If the Malaysian Govern-ment concludes that the only wayto save the plantation industry isby neglecting its workers, thenthere is no reason to sustain theindustry. Why glorify an indus-try which thrives on the people’smisery?

The Government cannot justify itscheap labour policy anymore. Itis inhumane and cruel. The reluc-tance to implement the monthlywage scheme only proves thatthere is no intention by the plan-tation companies to do so. Simi-larly there is no political will onthe part of the government to im-plement the scheme.

S.Arutchelvan works on hu-man rights issues in KL and isa member of the PlantationWorkers Support Committee.

The Stateq


pparently, the Tamil cin-ema from Madras, Indiais the cause of TamilMalaysians straying

away from the path of positivecommunity development. Solu-tion: Get rid of Tamil films.

The Consumers' Association ofPenang (CAP) has without doubtmade major contributions to pro-tecting the interest of Malaysianconsumers. But certainly it hasdone an unforgivable disserviceto the Tamil/Indian community.Possessing a huge cultural capi-tal and capable of influencingpopular opinion, CAP has pro-moted an argument that many, in-cluding the Malaysian govern-ment, like to parrot.

Are Tamil films the cause of Tamilanti-social behaviour? A NewStraits Times editorial (12 Septem-ber 2000) offers a view that is con-trary to what CAP likes to believe.The NST correctly observed thatthe characters in the films thatCAP, and others like CAP, love toattack - films like Thalapathi andNayagan by the sensitive and crea-tive Tamil filmmaker ManiRatnam - are really about poorpeople who have been forced into

situations that have led them toresort to violence. CAP seems ei-ther completely ignorant or eva-sive of complex Indian realities.

CAP offers selective support stud-ies as evidence of the connectionbetween media and violence. Forinstance, it refers to the US SenateCommittee on the Judiciary’sstudy, entitled Children, Violenceand the Media and issued in Sep-tember 1999. However, there ex-ist many studies that question thesimplistic connection made be-tween violence and the media. Inany case, CAP does not have thelast word on this matter. The re-lationship CAP is trying hard toestablish is really a contested one.There is simply no agreement onit. Instead CAP seems to make amoralistic analysis, a claim thatimplies that all violence springsfrom similar causes or that all vio-lence has the same characteris-tics. That is a rather naive under-standing about violence or ag-gression in society.

By contrast a 1998 UNESCO glo-bal study on media violence sug-gests that “depending on the per-

sonality characteristics of the chil-dren, and depending on their eve-ryday-life experiences, media vio-lence satisfies different needs: Itcompensates one’s own frustra-tions and deficits in problemareas. It offers ̀ thrills’ for childrenin a less problematic environ-ment.” The study further sug-gested: “Probably more importantthan the media are the social andeconomic conditions in whichchildren grow up.” Television isan easy target for the concernabout violence in our society but amisleading one. We should nolonger waste time worrying aboutthis subject. Instead let us turn ourattention to the obvious majorcauses of violence, which includepoverty, racial conflict, drug abuse,and poor parenting.

Jonathan Freedman, a mediascholar observed in a 1996 articlethat: “... children in Canada andthe United States watch virtuallythe same television. Yet, the mur-der rate in Canada, and the rate ofviolence in general, is much lowerthan in the United States. Chil-dren in Japan watch probably themost violent, the most lurid andgraphic television in the world,and the rate of violent crime there

COVER STORY

Cause Of Violence:Marginalisation, Not Tamil MoviesSerious problems within the community stem from the state ofsocio-economic powerlessness it faces

by Dr M Nadarajah

AAAAA

Murder Rate Lower


is miniscule compared to Canadaand the United States.”

Melanie Brown, an Australianacademic stated, in a 1996 article,“Numerous research studiesidentify an association betweenexposure to violence in entertain-ment and violent behaviour, butdo not prove that exposure causesviolent behaviour. Rather, thereis a risk that exposure to mediaviolence will increase the likeli-hood of subsequent aggressive be-haviour. This risk can be in-creased or decreased by a largenumber of other factors.” Coun-ter studies can be quoted at length.

The more serious problem withCAP’s attack on Tamil cinema in-volves the logic of their mode ofargument: it starts from the media,not the individual or group s/hebelongs to. This reversal is reallythe problem with the “media ef-fects” model of explanation.

Essentially, the tendency is to startwith an explanation from the me-dia and make a flat and unsus-tainable connection to the indi-vidual. This kind of explanationis also highly psychological innature, ignoring consideration ofthe social environment. If an ex-planation starts from the indi-vidual-in-community perspective,then the tendency will be to lookat the social background, identityissues, race/ethnicity issues, gen-der issues, etc. In this cluster ofeffects, media would just be onecontributory factor.

A third group of people argue thatproblems of the Tamil/Indianpeople are really a result of theirsocio-economic and politicalmarginalisatiion.

From this perspective the Tamilsare a working-class minority com-munity, a community that hasbeen pushed from rural to urbanpoverty, from plantation worker tofactory hand, from living in anestate environment to living in asquatter area. Serious problemswithin the community stem fromthe state of socio-economic pow-erlessness it faces.

The Tamils/Indians are a poorminority community and povertyhas become an inter-generationalproblem, with poverty reproduc-ing poverty. Economic powerless-ness, the size of its population andpoor political foresight of the In-dian leadership have also led topolitical powerlessness.

Consequently, within the nationalcommunity, the Tamils do not havemuch bargaining power. TheTamil community and its prob-lems are hardly addressed seri-ously and systematically in thenational context. Perhaps the onlyproblem that constantly gets na-tional attention at present is theproblem of gangsterism. Even thisis addressed as a punitive strat-egy rather than a preventive one.As part of the preventive strategy,if there was one, one cannot over-look the importance of upgradingthe Tamil school system.

Powerlessness in the communityhas led to many difficulties. Forinstance, the Tamil Malaysianyouths’ educational and careeroptions are severely limited incomparison to the other commu-nities’. Tamil schools are facedwith serious problems affectingeducation of a poor minority com-munity. The presence or use ofTamil in the marketplace or pub-lic places is confined or limited toTamil/Indian areas.

The argument that the malaise ofthe Tamil Malaysians is causedby Tamil cinema and Tamilschools is shortsighted.

First, Tamils/Indians who arecritics of the Tamil school systemor the Tamil cinema seem to sug-gest that there is something inher-ently wrong with Tamil culture.Indirectly their criticisms suggestsevere reform, if not the completeremoval, of certain popular Tamilcultural forms and institutions.

Second, such a move, in the con-text of socio-economic and politi-cal powerlessness, directly con-tributes to a subtle assimilationagenda. Thus, for instance, with-out the proper institutionalisationof Tamil education or the promo-tion of an active educational sys-tem promoting multiculturalismand multicultural competence orthe production of popular Tamilentertainment forms, includingTamil cinema, the unfortunate di-rection of change would be theprogressive loss of Tamil identity.In this context, we might see forinstance a new phenomenon inMalaysia - dark brown-skinnedTamils taking on the behaviour ofor, portrayed as, “blacks”!

Third, we need to re-think our strat-egy of building a nationalMalaysian community. Is it by anassimilation agenda or by activelypromoting mother tongue educa-tion and/or multi-culturalism? Theglobal society, for instance, is con-cerned that many languages andmany linguistic communities areon the brink of extinction. Accord-ing to a recent study, the NationalGeographic Magazine observes,“half of the world’s 6,000 lan-guages will become extinct in the

Minority Community

Serious Implications


next century [and] 2,000 of the re-maining languages will be threat-ened during the century after that.”

In this context, we should try topreserve and to actively promotecultural diversity, not in terms of“museumising” it for the purposeof selling it to tourists but in liv-ing the diversity actively. Mothertongue education is not reallyanti-national if we can work outpractically how our children, intheir respective cultural streams,also go through national schooland cultural socialisation.

Four, there seems to be a carefulavoidance of the issues of govern-ance in a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society. Critics instead turntheir attention on the consequencesof bad and unsustainable govern-ance instead of addressing the is-sues of bad or ineffective govern-ance. Thus, the suggestion is “getrid of Tamil schools” instead ofasking “Why has it failed or whyisn't it doing well enough?” Thisis really punishing the victim.

The debate over the problem of theTamil/Indian Malaysian commu-nity will go on. I only hope thatthose in power, are able to influ-ence public opinion and to initi-ate popular action, evaluate thesituation carefully, and proposea line of thinking and action thatwill help to deal with the causesnot the symptoms of the problemsfaced by the community.

Dr M Nadarajah teachesDr M Nadarajah teachesDr M Nadarajah teachesDr M Nadarajah teachesDr M Nadarajah teachessociology and organisa-sociology and organisa-sociology and organisa-sociology and organisa-sociology and organisa-tion theory at Stamfordtion theory at Stamfordtion theory at Stamfordtion theory at Stamfordtion theory at StamfordCollege and is involved inCollege and is involved inCollege and is involved inCollege and is involved inCollege and is involved inactivities related to sus-activities related to sus-activities related to sus-activities related to sus-activities related to sus-tainable development andtainable development andtainable development andtainable development andtainable development andurbanisation.urbanisation.urbanisation.urbanisation.urbanisation.

q

The Hindu community inPenang would like to knowfrom the State Government andthe Penang State Hindu En-dowment Board the status ofthe construction of the Hinducrematorium on Penang Is-land.

The Hindus living on PenangIsland are fed up with thesetwo bodies, for causing somuch stress during the time offamily bereavement when theyare always worried whethertheir loved ones will get aproper cremation. This type ofsituation is quite common herebecause it is well known thatthe two existing crematoriumson the island belong to the Chi-nese community and thus pri-ority in this matter is given tothem. Sometimes the Hindushave to turn to the crematori-ums in the mainland such asin Berapit, or worse, keep thedeceased an extra day.

The answer to all this is in thehands of the State Governmentand the State Hindu Endow-ment Board. On behalf of thePenang Barisan Alternatif andthe Hindus in Penang, I wouldlike to know what has hap-pened to the second-hand in-cinerator which the Endow-ment Board purchased someyears back for more thanRM90,000). It is believed thatthe equipment which was pur-chased using public money isbeing left to rot at the BatuLancang cemetery. Its only pur-pose at the moment is to pro-vide a shed for hens and chicks.

The Penang Hindu Endow-

ment Board is believed to haveinherited land, property,buildings and funds since pre-independence days. What hashappened to all these endow-ments? It is a disgrace thatmany Indians, who reside inhigh-rise flats and apartmentshave to conduct Hindu funeralrites at the road side, car parksand under tents and sheds fortheir deceased loved ones be-cause they don’t have any fu-neral parlours to call theirown.

We, the Indians from theBarisan Alternatif and the gen-eral public, would also like toknow what has happened tothe buildings and sites for per-forming Hindu funeral rites,which were at one time locatedon the banks of the DhobyGhaut river at Jalan Air Itam.

Lastly, we would like to callupon the Penang Indian com-munity, Indian-based NGOs,social bodies and clubs not tofall prey to small donationsmade by politicians towardstemples and musical showsand to stop contributing forgarlands and dinners. We urgethat you focus on the funda-mental needs and wants of thecommunity at large. We wouldsay to the State Government:stop appointing dead woodand unprincipled politiciansto head the sub-committees inthe Board, particularly theCemetery Committee.

Gary G.V. NairChairman,

Parti Rakyat MalaysiaPenang

Hindu Crematorium


n the Malaysian pub-lic imagination, urban‘squatter colonies’generally conjure up

strong negative imageries. In-deed, the mass media routinelydescribe them as ‘eye-sores’,‘places of squalor’, ‘nests forcriminals’ , ‘ f ire-hazards’ ,‘death-traps’ and so forth. Usu-ally in the same breath, theyare portrayed as hindrances to‘development’ and ‘progress’,particularly so when they oc-cupy commercially lucrativespace in a rapidly shrinkingurban land bank.

Housing developers and pub-lic authorities typically labourto transform a haphazard con-gregation of wooden shacksinto a panorama of symmetri-cal modern housing structures.To achieve this end, as numer-ous well-documented casesthroughout Kuala Lumpur cityhave shown, developers andauthorities have characteristi-cally resorted to forced evic-tion and the destruction ofthese squatter colonies.

About 6 years ago, I com-menced fieldwork research ona Tamil-dominated squatter

COVER STORY

Pioneers, Squatters AndFlat Dwellers

IIIIIby Dr Yeoh Seng Guan

It was a daily challenge to maintaining one’s health and avoiding disease.

colony – Kampung X - situatedon the outskirts of KualaLumpur city. Then I had vague,unfounded notions of how my‘subjects of study’ made senseof their seemingly abject ma-terial conditions. Nor was I fa-miliar with the wider histori-cal legacies that had givenbirth to and shaped the legalcategory of ‘squatting’. Subse-quently, writing up my re-search after a year’s fieldworkwas an agonising and convo-luted experience.

The illegality of ‘squatting’,as we understand it today, isa comparatively recent his-torical invention. In the pre-colonial period, ‘proprietaryrights ’ over land took theform of human labour andwere not vested in abstracttitle deeds.

As long as one was able toshow evidence of continuousappropriation and occupation,the land was said to be ‘alive’(tanah hidup). Where occupa-tion and cultivation hadceased, the proprietary right ofthe occupant was understoodto have lapsed, and the landbecame ‘dead’ (tanah mati).

This manner of land acquisitionwas termed meneroka ormembuka tanah (‘to open upland’). When it was carried outon a larger scale, the termsmembuat negeri (‘to open up astate’) or berbuat negeri (‘to cre-ate a state’) were used.

Most of the older generationresidents of Kampung X origi-nated from rubber plantationsaround the country. They werethe direct descendents ofTamils shipped over from Brit-ish India to work as coolies inBritish Malaya. Many had de-cided to escape the bleaknessof plantation life and migrateto Kuala Lumpur in search ofthe proverbial better life in thecapital city.

When the earliest pioneers ar-rived at the locality some 30-40years ago, the terrain was in-hospitable. Decades of tin-min-ing activities had transformedthe locality into a vast tract ofbarren, nutrient-depleted andsandy wasteland. Some resi-dents even remember nicknam-ing the place, ‘The HighChapparal’ after a contempo-rary popular cowboy TV series.

Wooden Shacks AndModern Housing

Origins Of Squatting

Origins OfThe Squatters


It was a daily challenge tomaintaining one’s health andavoiding disease. Nearby dis-used stagnant pools providedbreeding grounds for hordesof mosquitoes while drinkingwater had to be obtained fromdeep wells. In the absence ofmains electricity supply, resi-dents relied on kerosene lampsand car batteries for nightlighting. Only years later werebasic amenities secured for thekampung.

Dwellings were erected withan assortment of scavengedand purchased building mate-rials. These houses were or-ganic in character, and had avariety of construction styles.As households grew in sizethrough births and marriages,and when financial circum-stances permitted, the housesunderwent incremental exten-sions and renovations. By thetime of my fieldwork, quite anumber of houses in KampungX had become modestly com-fortable dwelling abodes al-though they appeared to beramshackled to outsiders.

With the increase of Tamilhouseholds in the locality, vari-ous kinds of efforts were madeto create and foster a sem-blance of a cohesive and har-monious traditional Indian vil-lage community. The festivitiesof the local Hindu templethroughout the year became animportant part of this commu-nity-building activity.

But sustaining the communitywas also a constant uphill bat-

tle. Factional leadership dis-putes and inter-household ten-sions occasionally flared up,fuelled in part by the compet-ing patronage of aspiring main-stream politicians building ontheir vote bank. Moreover, thekampung acquired a notoriousreputation as groups of disen-franchised and disenchantedlocal youths became involvedin petty crime, drugs, and in-ter-gang clashes.

For years, the residents ofKampung X had watched ap-prehensively as ‘development’in the form of the modernhousing estate (the taman)crept closer to their doorstep.They had heard about the fateof other kampungs throughoutKuala Lumpur which had tomake way for commercial andresidential development. Thelocal authorities wanted tomake the city ‘squatter free’before the turn of the new mil-lennium.

Before I completed my field-work, Kampung X was demol-ished to make way for a mini-township that had a mix of up-market commercial, residentialand recreational facilities.Many of the residents affectedwere relocated to two-room,walk-up, low-cost flats whichwere purchased at a dis-counted price from the devel-oper. Others were moved tocompact interim housing calledrumah panjang (longhouses)situated elsewhere in the city.

Moving into these flats was a

mixed experience for KampungX’s residents. They had joinedthe ranks of the recipients ofmodern housing, and now en-joyed a status that the youngergeneration tended to be moreconcerned about. The stigmaof illegality lodged in ‘squat-ter houses’ was now a thing ofthe past.

Yet the spatial design of theflats made for less than idealdwelling places. The compactand inflexible spaces of 550-600square feet did not allow forany extensions and even mod-est-sized families had to live invery cramped conditions.Growing a range of medicinaland aromatic plants was nowimpossible. Elderly residentsseldom ventured out of theirflats as they found climbing themany flights of steps a strenu-ous experience. In the commonareas, reverberating noisesthat emanated from individualflats constantly jarred one’ssenses. Substandard buildingmaterials saw the building ag-ing faster than normal.

The frustrations and alienationof living in these dwellings –popularly nicknamed ‘pigeon-holes’ or ‘chicken-coops’ –were seen in various acts ofvandalism. Graffiti, uncommonin Kampung X before, beganappearing on staircase wallsand other public areas. Soon thecombination of apathy and ne-glect by flat residents and lo-cal authorities alike took a vis-ible toll on the building.

All in all, these scars bore mutetestimony to the ambiguities ofmodern urban living for the have-nots in Malaysian society.

Housing AndC o m m u n i t y

Then ComesD e v e l o p m e n t

Living In Flats

q


n November 2000, theAMZ Company finallyacquiesced to theKlebang residents’ de-

mands and agreed in writing to:

• Provide housing lots measur-ing 50 by 90 feet to each of the17 families still staying on theestate;

• Level the land and provideroads, drains, electricity andwater supply to all these hous-ing lots free of charge;

• Provide one acre of land for re-location of the two temples onthe estate, as well as RM50,000for the reconstruction of thetemples;

• Give monetary compensationequivalent to thrice the amountthat was first offered to theworkers when they were re-trenched in 1989.

This is certainly a sweet victoryfor the residents of Klebang Estatewho have been fighting for betterterms of compensation for the past11 years. It is also very welcomenews for the plantation commu-nity as a whole which, through-out the country, is facing retrench-ment and eviction because of cropconversion and developmentschemes. This is the first time inMalaysia that an estate commu-nity has been granted housing lotsas compensation for loss of hous-

COVER STORY

Breakthrough In KlebangResidents’ unity and perseverance wins the day in battle ofendurance with developer

by Veerasenan

IIIII

Aliran Monthly 1994 : 14(8) page 30


ing project at the end of 1999 theyfound that the residents ofKlebang estate refused to allowthem to start any work as AMZhad not yet settled the workers’problems. After failing in severalattempts to force their way into theland, and after wasting severalmonths, the AMZ decided to ac-cept the offer of Sivalingam, a sen-ior lawyer from KL to attempt anegotiated settlement. The termsmentioned above are the result ofthese negotiations brokered bySivalingam, who was quite sym-pathetic to the plight of the resi-dents.

Sadly, in Malaysia today, there aremany, many communities likeKlebang estate, and other estates,urban pioneer settlements, OrangAsli communities and Kayan andKenyah communities who are be-ing evicted to make way for de-velopment projects, dams and thelike. The vast majority of them arebullied out of their homes with-out fair compensation.

If it was possible to share withthem the news of the peoples’ vic-tory at Klebang, we would high-light three points:

• There is tremendous strengthin unity.

• The struggle for justice is a se-rious matter - for the past sixyears, the Klebang residentshave been meeting every weekto discuss their problems andto plan their follow-up actions.

• The Klebang residents weretenacious. They persevered al-though at times it seemed thattheir struggle was getting no-where.

Veerasenan belongs to Alaigal.

ing caused by the retrenchmentexercise.

However success did not comeeasily! The Klebang estate peo-ple’s problem began in 1989 whenthe AMZ company retrenchedthem and offered to pay them onlybetween RM1,000 and RM5,000per worker. Many workers ac-cepted this offer and moved outespecially after AMZ stoppedwater and electricity supply to theworkers’ quarters. Also, the StateNUPW had told them that thiswas all they could expect underthe law. However, 21 families hadnowhere else to go to and, there-fore, they had to stay on despitethe withdrawal of basic amenities.

They endured for five years and,in 1994, linked up with Alaigal(an NGO working with estate andurban pioneer communities). Let-ters were then sent to AMZ, theelected representatives as well asto relevant government officials.The silence was deafening. Fi-nally on 11 September 1994, the

Bullied Out OfTheir Homes

Klebang Estate residents decidedto hold a picket in front of theirestate to draw the attention of thepress to their plight. This peace-ful picket resulted in the arrest of21 people including several mem-bers of Alaigal. [See AliranMonthly 14(8) and 14(10) for moredetails]

The arrests, however, only servedto unite the community and givethem self-confidence. They man-aged to get Lembaga Air Perakwater supply, bought and oper-ated a second-hand generator, en-gaged a lawyer to stave off anAMZ attempt to obtain an evictionorder for the temples, started tui-tion classes for school-going chil-dren and organised monthlygotong-royongs to keep the estateclean. They also tried to engagethe AMZ in a discussion to re-solve their claims for proper com-pensation.

The AMZ refused to negotiate. Butwhen the AMZ finally decided toproceed with their plans to de-velop the land as a mixed hous-

q

Silence Was Deafening

Aliran Monthly 1994 : 14(10) page 16


“Libertyof thought

meansliberty

to communicateone's thought.”

AM 2000: 20(11/12)

Send this form andpayment to

ALIRAN DISTRIBUTIONBUREAU

103, MEDAN PENAGA,11600 JELUTONG,PENANG, MALAYSIA

Salvador de Madariage1886 - 1973

Spanish diplomat, writer, critic

Please send this gift subscription to :

Mr./Ms.

Address

SubscriptionSubscriptionSubscriptionSubscriptionSubscription 1 year1 year1 year1 year1 year AIRAIRAIRAIRAIRfor 11 issuesfor 11 issuesfor 11 issuesfor 11 issuesfor 11 issues 2 years2 years2 years2 years2 years SEASEASEASEASEA

I enclose money order / postal order / cheque for the above order

amounting to RM payable to Aliran.

This gift subscription is paid for and presented by:

Mr./Ms.

Address

Date Signature

ONE YEARONE YEARONE YEARONE YEARONE YEARRM25.00

S $ 2 8AIRAIRAIRAIRAIR

US$25US$28

US$30

SEASEASEASEASEAU S $ 2 1U S $ 2 1

U S $ 2 1

TWO YEARSTWO YEARSTWO YEARSTWO YEARSTWO YEARSRM50.00

S $ 5 0AIRAIRAIRAIRAIR

US$44US$50

US$54

SEASEASEASEASEAUS$38US$38

US$38

SUBSCRIPTION RATESCOUNTRYCOUNTRYCOUNTRYCOUNTRYCOUNTRYMALAYSIA

SINGAPORE & BRUNEI

ASIA & THE PACIFICEUROPE & EGYPT

AFRICA, NORTH AMERICA,SOUTH AMERICA, HAWAII

GIFT SUBSCRIPTIONORDER FORM

Mr./Ms.

Address

SubscriptionSubscriptionSubscriptionSubscriptionSubscription 1 year1 year1 year1 year1 year AIRAIRAIRAIRAIRfor 11 issuesfor 11 issuesfor 11 issuesfor 11 issuesfor 11 issues 2 years2 years2 years2 years2 years SEASEASEASEASEA

Donation for Aliran ..............................................Donation for Aliran ..............................................Donation for Aliran ..............................................Donation for Aliran ..............................................Donation for Aliran ..............................................

TOTAL Enclosed : Money Order / Postal Order / Cheque

(No. ) payable to Aliranpayable to Aliranpayable to Aliranpayable to Aliranpayable to Aliran

RM

RM

RM

ALIRAN MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION FORM

AM 2000: 20(11/12)

AM 2000: 20(11/12)

AM 2000: 20(11/12)

A GIFTof one publication

of your choiceif you subscribe to

AliranMonthly

N O W(Tick one)

PandanganALIRAN

The NEP:Development andAlternativeConsciousness


Haven’t you noticed? It’s true:Malaysian toilets have never beenquite the same since the Reformasimovement was unleashed. In pre-reformasi days, the graffiti in ourstinking public toilets tended toshowcase the predictable if un-mentionable “creativity” ofMalaysian “artists”. Replete withcolourful, vulgar language, these“works of art” invariably focusedon various romantic interests ac-companied by graphic illustra-tions, dengan unsur-unsur seks, tidaksesuai untuk tontonan orang ramai.

But since reformasi was un-leashed, we have been subjectedto an overdose of unsur-unsur (ele-ments, most of them unsavoury)of all kinds in the mainstream me-dia and in sodomy court trials; in-deed, the public toilet graffiti ofold seems almost boring and Vic-torian by comparison. We havealso had the unique if somewhatstomach-churning experience ofdigesting the novel “Sh**” andexpelling what we didn’t under-

stand.

How could any public toilet artisttop that? Perhaps this is whymany modern day graffiti artistshave graduated to reflect on themore serious political issues of theday, while doing their daily `busi-ness' - no doubt inspired by thestink around them, near and far.

In a prominent local university, for

instance, students have scrawledbitingly sharp, illuminating ex-changes on the reformasi move-ment on toilet doors and walls.Mahathir, Anwar, UMNO andPAS are popular subjects (useyour imagination, please). No li-bel laws to worry about here!

Students (I wonder if lecturers joinin as well) accuse each other ofbeing “prostitute” writers (penulispelacur) for their political masters,of wasting their time on politicsinstead of studying, of being ig-norant to the outside world.

This has really helped to createpolitical awareness in everydaylanguage in the least likely ofplaces - the tandas awam (publictoilets). And best of all no publish-ing permit is required for the graf-fiti (maybe one day we might needa permit to produce toilet paper?).

So, do you want to know how theordinary Malaysian thinks onweighty political issues? Just headfor your local public toilet, pinchyour nose and open your eyes…

Reformasi FlourishesIn Public Toilets

wasilahDIS1999


Another noticeable phenomenonis that some Malaysian familieshave been torn along politicallines ever since reformasi brokeout. It was probably the youngergeneration who were moststrongly pulled into the reformasimovement on the streets. In theprocess, many have exposed theirparents to the changes that aretaking place in Malaysian society.

The youth with their idealistic vi-sion of a more just, united societyseem more naturally drawn to thereformasi movement while theirparents have difficulty overcom-ing years of allegiance to UMNO– though more and more of them

are opening their eyes to what ishappening around them as lifebecomes more difficult for thelower income group.

The more orthodox UMNO loyal-ists must be tearing their hair outwondering what has happened tothe Malaysia of old, where every-thing was staid and predict-able…. and utterly boring. Theysee their children supportingtheir opposition and shake theirheads. What happens if theirspouses desert them for an oppos-ing political camp?

Sometimes, this can lead to politi-cal tension within a family but ifthere is acceptance of each other’sbeliefs then family harmony canstill prevail. Otherwise, this iswhat we will get:

No doubt, entire families havebeen split across the nation. Per-haps it is time for UMNO to or-ganise “Family Unity Talks” forfamilies broken along politicallines so that everybody can returnto UMNO and live happily everafter.

Recently, members of the Malaycommunity in Malaysia were cau-tioned by UMNO leaders and oth-ers that their unity is in jeopardy.And this, so goes the argument,could eventually pose a danger tothe survival of the Malays.

In a move that was portrayed bythe mainstream media as mag-nanimous, Mahathir reached outto the Malay-based oppositionparties, namely PAS andkeADILan, and proposed thatthey set aside their differences andtalk to one another. Unity talks,they called it.

Critics and cynics alike wondered:was this a way for UMNO to im-press upon the Malay public thatit always has the interests of theMalay community at heart? WasUMNO trying to give the impres-sion that it still has political cloutamong Malays and could still callthe shots? Or was UMNO simplytrying to emphasise its relevancein these changing times wheneverybody else is resorting tomultiethnic approaches to almostevery aspect of Malaysian life?

But really, is there “disunity”among Malays? Many observersbelieve that if there is really such“disunity”, it is because manyUMNO members have left theparty for the opposition PAS or

Q Q Q Q Q

Unity In Jeopardy?

When Papa VotesUMNO, And ChildrenS h o u t “ R e f o r m a s i ” …

wasilahDIS1999


parties organ-ised by the op-position the cor-rect way to winfriends and in-fluence people,let alone pro-mote unity.Equally revolt-ing is the waythis call for“Malay unity”is being orches-

trated particularly by the main-stream media. Many a time theygave you the feeling that the“Malay unity” was urgent andnecessary because of the “Chinesethreat”, viz Suqiu’s so-called ex-tremist demands. To create thisclimate of fear, you have a bunchof political have-beens andwannabes fanning ethnic senti-ments and bigotry. So at the endof the day, what is aimed at is re-ally an ethnic unity targetedagainst an imagined, external eth-nic threat.

Sounds heroic? In fact, it’s dema-goguery. The danger with suchunity claptrap is that the topleaders are the ones who wouldgain most, all in the name of “thecommunity”. The rest will stilllead their ordinary and oftendreadful lives. And of course,politics becomes even more po-larised, and the nation endan-gered.

As though things were not sick-ening enough, Singapore’s PrimeMinister had to open his bigmouth and claim that SingaporeMalays were better than those inMalaysia.

That was all that was required andalmost overnight, “champions” ofMalaysia’s Malays launched asalvo of verbal attacks on Goh,with a little bit of help from themainstream media. For example,photographs of successful Malayswere front-paged in the UtusanMalaysia to remind all and sun-dry that Melayu Boleh!

And for the race heroes, it wasnot only Suqiu which nowposed a threat. There loomed aneven larger “external threat”.And guess who would be in aposition to provide this muchneeded protection for theMalays? Tak kan UMNO hilangdi dunia.

Predictably, the MIC has taken thecue from UMNO and is nowreaching out to the fledgling IPF,in particular its leader Pandithan.Come join us, and unite the Indiancommunity so that its political,economic and cultural future willbe protected.

But Pandithan is no fool. Re-member, he now rides in aMercedes donated to him by theIPF members. He also reads themind of Samy very well. “Weused to be like brothers,” bothhave said of the other. HencePandithan has asked to see thenew MIC constitution first be-fore committing himself and hisIPF members to rejoining MIC.Apparently he wants to be as-sured that IPF leaders and mem-bers who had been expelled fromMIC are still eligible to run foroffice and to hold positions inMIC upon rejoining it. Is thisany way to treat one’s brother?

Q Q Q Q Q

Q Q Q Q Q

Home-grown MalaysAre Better

I Will Follow You

keADILan. Surely, this is politicalrealignment, not a problem of“disunity”. Unless, of course,one’s premise is that Malays mustalways side with UMNO, comewhat may. What then actuallyhappened in the recent past? Well,it is understood that the shockingmanner in which Anwar Ibrahimwas sacked by Mahathir leftmany Malays - indeed manyMalaysians - agape and aghast.Equally revolting was the way inwhich Anwar was tried in our lo-cal courts. Indeed, that episodereminded us of the expression,trial and error.

Malays are also “disunited” be-cause of the way the BN Federalgovernment has been mistreat-ing the states of Kelantan andTerengganu. Developmentfunds for these two PAS-ledstates have been channelledaway from the state governmentto the Pejabat PembangunanPersekutuan, the Federal Devel-opment Office. And in the caseof Terengganu, oil royalty,which had been enjoyed by theprevious BN state governmentwas abolished by the Federalgovernment. Now, that’s not agood basis to promote unity.

Neither is hindering political gath-erings or disallowing goodwill


he President of UMNODr. Mahathir Mohamadhas invited the Presi-dent of Parti Keadilan

Nasional (keADILan) and thePresident of Parti IslamSeMalaysia (PAS) totalks aimed at unitingthe Malays. The pro-government main-stream media —espe-cially Malay newspa-pers such as Utusan Ma-laysia — have got into afrenzy about Malayunity. The impressiongiven is that there is somuch excitement andenthusiasm in the landabout promoting theunity of the community.

Why is Mahathir pur-suing his agenda ofMalay unity with suchunrelenting vigour?Mahathir and some ofhis ministers and otheradvocates of Malayunity have, at various times,sought to explain why Malayunity talks are being proposed.Before we deal with these reasons,let’s try to understand what ex-actly they mean by Malay unity.

Within most ethnic communities,

there is always a certain sense oflatent unity, rooted in a commonlanguage, a common culture, andsometimes even a common reli-gion. Most of the factors that areresponsible for the emotional

bonding of a community arepresent among the Malays. Thestrongest bond, of course, comesfrom the fact that all Malays areMuslims.

Unity derived from these religio-cultural factors has never really

been a problem within the Malaycommunity. Though Mahathirand other UMNO leaders havesometimes complained aboutsome Muslims being branded askafir by other Muslims, there is no

evidence to suggestthat this is a wide-spread phenomenon.By and large theMalays have re-mained faithful totheir identity and areconscious of theirreligio-cultural unityas a people.

If this is the case, weask again what is theunity that Mahathirwants? It is politicalunity of the Malaysthat he seeks. Hewants the Malays tobe united in their sup-port of a particular po-litical party and, pre-sumably, a particularleader. We know what

party and which leader he has inmind. This, in a nutshell, is whatMahathir means by Malay unity.

He has argued that if the Malaysare not united politically, the oth-

POLITICS

Malay Unity:

A Shift - Not A SplitThe Malays are shifting their political allegianceto PAS and KeADILan

Taking Advantage

TTTTTby Dr Chandra Muzaffar

What is the unity thatMahathir wants?

Anwar: The catalyst that caused the dramatic erosion of Malay support.


ers, specifically the Chinese, willtake advantage of their allegeddisunity and start applying pres-sure upon the Malay-led govern-ment. He has in recent monthsgiven the example of the SuqiuAppeal.

Some of the issues that the Suqiuraised in its Appeal about theBumiputra-non-Bumiputra dis-tinction and about ethnic quotasare issues which sections of theChinese community have arguedagainst for the last 40 years, re-gardless of whether UMNO iselectorally strong or not.

Indeed, even before Merdeka, dur-ing the British colonial period,Tan Cheng Lock, once Presidentof the Malaysian Chinese Asso-ciation (MCA) had berated againstwhat he regarded as ‘Malay privi-leges’. Between 1955 and 1957,when proposals for the Malayan(as Malaysia was then known as)constitution were being discussedand debated, sections of the Chi-nese and Indian communities ex-pressed strong opposition to any‘special position’ for the Malays.

At that time, UMNO waselectorally powerful, havingscored a huge victory in the 1955Federal Election. In 1964, after theUMNO-led Alliance secured an-other massive triumph in the Gen-eral Election—it won 89 out of 104parliamentary seats—the Peo-ple’s Action Party (PAP) began its‘Malaysian Malaysia’ campaignwhich, in effect, questioned theBumiputra-non Bumiputra dis-tinction in public policy makingand demanded complete culturaland political equality among thecommunities.

The Democratic Action Party(DAP) continued the ‘Malaysian

Malaysia’ cam-paign with moreor less the sameobjectives for acouple of decadesafter that, thoughUMNO for mostof the time wasthe overwhelm-ingly dominantMalay party.Even in recentyears, between1990 and 1999,when UMNOwas still a potent force, leadersfrom the MCA and the GerakanRakyat Malaysia (Gerakan) hadat their conventions and seminarsexpressed grave misgivings aboutethnic quotas and Malay prefer-ential policies.

What all this means is that sec-tions of the Chinese communitywill continue to raise questionsabout Bumiputraism and theMalay special position. It has verylittle to do with whether UMNOis politically strong or weak. Formany Chinese, it is part of theirperennial quest for equality andjustice.

Some of the champions of Malayunity will be prepared to concedethat an overt or covert challengeto the Malay special position willalways be there but it is only astrong UMNO that will be able tothwart such a challenge. Is thistrue?

Since the 1971 Constitutionalamendments, no one, not even theMalaysian parliament, can abol-ish the special position of theMalays. It is a position that is pro-tected by the Conference of Rul-ers. Only the Malay Rulers, in

The Protector?

other words, can revoke Article153 and other Articles in theMalaysian Constitution pertain-ing to the position of the Malaysand Bumiputras of Sabah andSarawak. Since Article 153 andother such Articles also providefor the legitimate interests of theother communities, their interestsare also protected by the Rulers.

Similarly, Article 152 on the sta-tus of Malay as the sole officialand national language and theright to use and study other lan-guages, and those clauses in theConstitution on citizenship andon the position of the Rulers them-selves are also under the custodyof the Conference of Rulers. Itshould be clear from this that it isthe Conference of Rulers as theguardian of the entrenchedclauses in the Constitution—andnot UMNO—which protectsMalay interests and the interestsof the other communities.

The argument that a strongUMNO with total support fromthe Malay community is impor-tant for safeguarding special po-sition and the Malay language isflawed for yet another reason.Other political parties are alsocommitted to the entrenchedclauses in the Constitution. Both

UMNO retained only about 40 per cent of the Malay vote inthe Peninsula in the 1999 General Election.


PAS and the Gerakan Rakyat Ma-laysia (Gerakan) which was thenpart of the Opposition voted forthe Constitutional amendmentsof 1971.

Today all four BA parties supportwholeheartedly the basic provi-sions of the Constitution, includ-ing special position and theMalay language. This is spelt outin lucid terms in the BA CommonManifesto which lists out 11 fun-damental principles of the Con-stitution that have received theendorsement of the Coalition. Itis wrong therefore of UMNO toclaim that it is the only party ca-pable of protecting the Malay po-sition.

Indeed, the BA’s view of specialposition is a much more accuratereflection of what it was meant tobe when it was incorporated intothe Constitution in 1957. It is, inessence, an affirmative actionpolicy whose main purpose is toassist the deprived and disadvan-taged segment of the Malay com-munity. The motivating force be-hind special position is social jus-tice. It was never designed to be-stow special privileges upon any

particular community.

The BA holds fast to this princi-ple of justice which is why it isopposed to any attempt to use spe-cial position to enrich a smallcoterie of special Malays andBumiputras with special ties tothe ruling clique. For the vast ma-jority of Malays and Bumiputras,it is obvious that it is the BA ap-proach to special position, ratherthan the UMNO-BN abuse of it,which will serve their real inter-ests.

UMNO leaders sometimes resortto yet another spurious argumentto justify their thesis about Malayunity. They say that only if thereis a strong UMNO will there be aMalay core in the national leader-ship.

That there should be a Malay corewithin a multi-ethnic leadership,partly because of history andpartly because of demography, isa point which most Malaysiansreadily accept today. But that coreneed not come from UMNO.

Apart from the three factors men-tioned, there is a fourth reason

why the attemptby Mahathir andothers to projectUMNO as thesaviour of theMalays has verylittle validity to-day. In the courseof the last 30years, a tremen-dous transforma-tion has takenplace within theMalay commu-nity.

There is much less poverty withinthe community today; it has wit-nessed unparalleled social mobil-ity; the Malays are well repre-sented in the middle class; theMalay presence in the upper ech-elons of commerce, industry andthe professions is much greaterthan it ever was before; as a whole,the Malays are economically andsocially much stronger than theywere 3 decades ago. This trans-formation has been brought aboutmainly through mass education.Special position, and the NewEconomic Policy (NEP) whichgrew out of it, are also responsi-ble for the upliftment of the com-munity. Of course, there is still agreat deal to be done.

Nonetheless, the fact of the matteris that the Malays are much moresecure today than they were in thelate sixties. The community is con-scious of its own internal strength.It is aware of its achievements,and of the ability of its daughtersand sons. Because a certain psy-chological confidence permeatesthe community, not many Malaystoday see UMNO as their saviouror protector. They no longer buythat well-worn slogan Melayu ituUMNO; UMNO itu Melayu.

UMNO, to put it differently, hasbecome much less relevant to thelives of the Malays. The Mahathirleadership cannot accept this newreality.

This explains his clarion call tothe Malays to unite—unite behindhim and UMNO, of course. It is adesperate attempt to ensure thathe and UMNO remain relevant.It is an attempt to shore up hisposition and the position of the

The Motives

T r a n s f o r m a t i o n

BA's Position

Lunas state by-election exposed Mahathir as a political liability


party after its dismal showing inthe 1999 General Election.UMNO, there is no need to repeat,retained only about 40 per cent ofthe Malay vote in the Peninsula.The three by-elections held afterthe General Election in 2000 haveproven beyond doubt that UMNOhas failed to regain lost ground.In a situation where Mahathir’scredibility among the Malays is intatters, ‘Malay unity’ has becomea convenient tool to refurbish hisimage.

It is also an attempt to divert grow-ing criticism of the man withinUMNO and the Barisan Nasional.Since the ignominious BN defeatin the Lunas state by-election,more and more individuals withinUMNO and the other BN coalitionpartners are beginning to seeMahathir as a political liability.They want him to leave. ButMahathir thinks that in an ethni-cally conscious environment likeours, he can play the communalcard—Malay unity would havebeen a useful card to shuffle in thepast to preserve and even perpetu-ate his political power.

The Malay unity gambit may evenbe aimed at creating dissensionand disaffection within the oppo-sition ranks. Among PAS mem-bers and even leaders, any talk ofMalay unity via UMNO bringsback unpleasant memories of thetime PAS was UMNO’s juniorpartner in the BN coalition be-tween 1973 and 1978. This is whythe vast majority of PAS membersare averse to any talks withUMNO.

Likewise, keADILan leaders andmembers who have suffered agreat deal at the hands of thepresent UMNO leadership—theyhave been imprisoned, tortured,

harassed, dismissed from theirjobs—are in no mood to dialoguewith Dr. Mahathir and his hench-men. KeADILan also seesUMNO’s Malay unity venture asa cunning manoeuvre to sowdoubt and suspicion among itsnon-Malay members at a timewhen more and more Chinese arejoining the party.

It is because of some of the Machi-avellian motives behind theMalay unity proposal thatkeADILan, PAS and other BA par-ties have decided to send a sim-ple message to Mahathir. Insteadof polarizing society further alongethnic lines, Mahathir shouldconcentrate on finding out why heand UMNO have lost so muchMalay support in the last twoyears.

One does not have to be a politi-cal pundit to realise thatMahathir’s harsh, cruel and in-human treatment of AnwarIbrahim—humiliated in the me-dia; persecuted through the courtsystem; assaulted in prison—isthe catalyst that caused the dra-matic erosion of Malay support.Because Mahathir has misusedand abused the courts, the police,the media and UMNO, in order todestroy and demolish Anwar, allthese institutions and organisa-tions have also mortgaged theirintegrity and credibility.

And, as the Anwar episode un-folds, people are beginning tofathom the depth of the nation’smalaise. Elite corruption has be-come a cancer. The gap betweenthe have-a-lot and the have-a-lit-tle is widening at an alarmingrate. Bailing out ailing crony cor-porations with the people’s

Erosion Of Support

money is becoming a nationalhabit.

These are the nation’s ills whichdemand urgent remedies. Dr.Mahathir is not capable of ad-dressing them. He does not evenacknowledge that these are theroot causes of his and UMNO’sdeclining strength. Instead, hecontinues to resort to yesterday’scommunal rhetoric in order to sur-vive.

It is because Mahathir andUMNO-BN have failed to offersolutions to the nation’s ills, thatthe people are turning to PAS,keADILan and the other BA par-ties. This is why we maintain -contrary to what Mahathir alleges- that what is occurring now isnot a split within the Malay com-munity. The Malays are shiftingtheir political allegiance to PASand keADILan. In other words, itis a shift, not a split.

What is significant about this shiftis that the Malays and a segmentof the non-Malays are seeking suc-cour in another less communal,more multi-ethnic political ar-rangement. For that is what theBA is. PAS is a Malay based Is-lamic party, transcending ethnic-ity. KeADILan and Parti RakyatMalaysia (PRM) are multi-ethnicparties, with a Malay base. TheDAP is also a multi-ethnic partywith a non-Malay base. Collec-tively, the four parties represent adeparture from the ethnic partiesthat dominate the BN.

Who knows, by a strange twist ofirony, the outmoded Malay unityissue may well be the beginningof a momentous change inMalaysian politics.

A Shift, Not A Split

q


he Electoral Roll for thecountry is updated an-nually by the ElectionCommission (SPR). Vot-

ers who have died are taken off,and new eligible voters who havereached 21 are added to the list.The Election (Registration of Voters)Regulations 1971, which sets de-tailed guidelines for this updat-ing process, also sets out the pro-cedure for any voter who wishesto object to the inclusion of anyother voters in the Electoral Rollof his/her constituency.

The Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM)team in Sg Siput has been object-ing to the presence of several thou-sands of phantom voters in the SgSiput (U) electoral roll ever sincethe 1999 election campaign. (SeeTable 1). Until now, however, wehave not succeeded in getting theauthorities to take any form of ac-tion against these phantoms.

The PSM team therefore decidedto test the avenue granted by theRegistration of Voters Regulations.According to this legislation, ifany voter files an official objectionagainst the inclusion of a particu-lar person, the Election Commis-sion has to hold a Public Inquiry

to which the objector as well asthe person being objected to areinvited. The objector can make outa prima facie case for his objections,then the SPR will require the per-son being objected to, to give proofof his residential status.

The PSM filed objections to 382phantom voters through 20 sup-porters and members of the BA inSg Siput. However, we had to bat-tle with the Perak SPR all the way.Initially the SPR did not want torelease the objection forms to us.“Only one form per objector,” theysaid, “and you are not allowed tophotostat more forms!” We hadto complain to the SPR in KL justto be allowed to obtain sufficientforms to file the objections. ThenSPR Perak attempted to dismissall the objections filed by misrep-resenting the meaning of certainprovisions of the Registration ofVoters Regulations. Again we hadto send several letters to the SPR,and complain again to KL beforethe SPR Perak decided to hold aPublic Inquiry.

The Public Inquiry started on 12

October 2000 and exposed severalimportant matters. For example,six individuals who had beentransferred from Ipoh to Sg Siputappeared before the SPR Boardand testified that they were neverresidents in Sg Siput and that theycould not understand how theirnames had been transferred to theSg Siput rolls. They categoricallydenied having signed the formsrequired to transfer their votes toSg Siput. We had earlier obtainedcopies of the form used to transferseveral of these outside voters.

When we showed “her” form to alady whose name had been trans-ferred to Sg Siput without herknowledge, the SPR was shockedand embarrassed when she saidthat the signature on the form wasa forgery.

Several of the outside voters wereable to name the MIC official whothey suspected had transferredtheir names.

A few Sg Siput house-ownerscame and testified that the phan-

DEMOCRACY

Exorcising Phantom VotersDefending democracy by exposing electoral irregularities

by Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj

TTTTT

Only One FormPer Objector

S i g n a t u r eOn The Form

Was A Forgery

Several phantom voters were registered with addressesof houses that have not yet been built!


tom listed as “resident” in theirhouses were never ever there.

Several phantom voters were reg-istered with addresses of housesthat have not yet been built!

All in all it was a good expose,and the SPR was forced to acceptthat there has been a widespreadtransfer of outside voters into SgSiput electoral list.

The MIC bungled the handling ofthis Inquiry. Initially they sent intheir thugs to try and insult andharass us. When this did not de-ter us, five lawyers headed bySothinathan, the newly electedMP for Teluk Kemang, turned upto represent the phantoms.

These lawyers attempted to arguethat the evidence that we provideddid not meet the necessary re-quirements and thus the votersbeing objected to did not need toreply; they tried to stretch themeaning of “residence”; theytried to persuade the SPR that wehad to prove that the phantomhad no other residence in SgSiput; they ranted about how wewere depriving their clients oftheir democratic right to vote, etc.

However, when this line of attackfailed to stem the tide, and the SPRkept on ruling in our favour,Sothinathan lost his cool on 2 No-vember 2000, and threatened to“take the matter to the AG’sChambers” and led a walk-out ofthe MIC lawyers!

The SPR proceeded with thePublic Inquiry, and the final re-sults were as tabulated(See Ta-ble 2) . We had filed objectionsagainst 382 voters. We with-drew our objections against 43of them because we realised thatour evidence against themmight not be good enough, andwe did not want to make anymistakes. Of the 339 objectionsthat went through the hearing,we were right in saying that thevoters were not residing at theaddresses given in the SPR rollfor 330 of them – an accuracyrate of 98 per cent, which we arequite pleased with, given theconditions under which our in-vestigation into phantom voterswas carried out immediately af-ter the elections.

We are now waiting to see howthe SPR is going to proceed. ThePublic Inquiry has provided themwith very clear evidence of elec-toral fraud and forgery of signa-tures that was coordinated by theMIC in Perak.

As custodians of free and fairelections, the SPR is dutyboundto pursue the leads that haveemerged in the course of thisPublic Inquiry and continuewith the clean-up of the Sg Siputlist. 311 phantom voters havebeen transferred back to their ac-tual place of residence. That stillleaves some 5500 other phan-toms still on the rolls. However,going by history, it is likely thatthe SPR will slip back into itsstupor; in which case we willhave to think of ways to prodthem into action again.

The exposure of fraudulent prac-tices such as the massive registra-tion of phantom voters, is timeconsuming. However we believethat it has to be done if we wish todefend and preserve the meaning-ful practice of democracy in Ma-laysia.

It would be good if others alsopitch in and combat other dirtytricks and electoral irregularitiesthat occur during the elections.Intimidation of voters through themass media is one good example.The buying of votes by using pub-lic funds is another. Only if theseand other irregularities are ex-posed and challenged, can wehope to stem this undemocratictide and discourage these perpe-trators from carrying on withthese irregularities. Only then wecan prevent further erosion of ourdemocratic rights and make theelectoral process a meaningfulone.

We'll Take The MatterTo The AG ’ s C h a m b e r s

Defend And PreserveD e m o c r a c y

PSM member JeyakumarDevaraj, standing under aDAP/BA ticket, challengedincumbent Samy Vellu for theSg Siput parliamentary seatin the November 1999 gen-eral election. Despite losing,Jeya-kumar and his team con-tinue to run a Service Centrein Sg Siput and to raise pub-lic awareness of electoral ir-regularities. Jeya-kumar isalso a member of Aliran.

The MIC bungled the handling of this Inquiry.Initially they sent in their thugs to try and insult and harass us.

q


Area (No. of Voters Withdrawn* Transferred out of Retained in SS Retained in SSobjected to) Sg Siput but at a different at the same

address address

Plang Estate (99) 1 96 1 1

Tmn Tun 1 8 1 5 9 1 4 3Sambanthan (194)

Other Estates #(36) 5 29 2 0

Other Tamans @ (53) 1 9 2 7 2 5

Total (382) 4 3 3 1 1 1 9 9

Notes:# Kamiri (7), Wan Lim (4), Krudda (6), Dovenby (9), Sg Siput (10).@ Muhibbah (3), Tmn Heawood (18), Kg Kamuning (1), Lintang Rd (17), Kg Veerasamy (1), Tmn Okid (5).* Cases withdrawn before hearing started.

Table 2: Results Of The SPR Inquiry On Phantom VotersTable 2: Results Of The SPR Inquiry On Phantom VotersTable 2: Results Of The SPR Inquiry On Phantom VotersTable 2: Results Of The SPR Inquiry On Phantom VotersTable 2: Results Of The SPR Inquiry On Phantom Voters

DateDateDateDateDate Action takenAction takenAction takenAction takenAction taken ResultResultResultResultResult

2 5 / 1 1 / 9 9 PSM team meets Perak SPR director SPR director says he does notand asks him to set up check-points have the power to do so.for the two major routes leading into Advises us to file officialSg Siput on election day. complaints on polling day.

29/ 1 1/99 PSM polling agents file 100 official No action is taken by SPR.Objections using “Borang (Form) 11”. Perak SPR office not able to

locate these forms!

1 2 / 1 / 0 0 PSM together with BA Sg Siput The new SPR electoral rollsubmitted a Memorandum to the displayed in July 2000 stillSPR regarding electoral irregularities had all these 1,000 voters.in Sg Siput. A list of 1,000 phantoms SPR hadn’t yet stirred fromwas also submitted. its stupor!

8/2/00 The PSM filed an Election Petition After three days of discusfocusing mainly on the issue of -sion, the petition isphantom voters. dismissed on a triviality.

Table 1 : Actions Taken By PSM And Results There OfTable 1 : Actions Taken By PSM And Results There OfTable 1 : Actions Taken By PSM And Results There OfTable 1 : Actions Taken By PSM And Results There OfTable 1 : Actions Taken By PSM And Results There Of

311 phantom voters have been transferred back to theiractual place of residence


ape is highly under-re-ported in the country. Itis estimated that onlyone in every ten rape

cases is reported. Of these re-ported cases not all end up withconvictions in a court of law. Thesuccess rate of prosecuting forrape is apparently only 30% com-pared to 70% for the lesser chargeof sexual assault. It has been saidthat when the evidence in court isinsufficient to secure a convictionfor rape, the prosecution mayamend the charge to sexual as-sault rather than chance an acquit-tal (The Star, 11 June 1997). Thismeans that for the cases that domake it to court and a convictionis obtained, jail sentences varygreatly depending on the chargeand the discretion of the presid-ing judge.

For example, according to TheStar (4 January 2001), a grand-father was sentenced to two five-year jail terms (to run concur-rently) on two counts of rapingan underaged, mentally disad-vantaged girl. The 15-year-oldgirl subsequently gave birth to achild. The man is presently outon bail pending an appeal to theHigh Court.

Last year, a46-year-oldman wascharged under the Women andGirls Protection Act 1973, andjailed for four years and finedRM2,000 in default of six months’jail for the rape of an underagedmentally disadvantaged girl (TheStar, 26 October 2000). The offencetook place several times. This 12-year-old girl later had to undergoan abortion. A month later, a 28-year- old man was charged underSection 376 of the Penal Code andwas jailed for 14 years and or-dered to be whipped six times forraping his underaged 13-year-oldsister-in-law (The Star, 9.11.00).The offence also took place sev-eral times.

Why the discrepancies? Part of theproblem is that in Malaysia theprosecution uses two main laws.The more serious is where a per-son can be charged with rape un-der Section 376 of the Penal Code,which carries a jail term of up to20 years (minimum 5 years) andpossible whipping upon convic-tion. There is also a lesser chargeof sexual assault in the Penal

Code. And, to further complicatematters, there is a charge of ‘car-nal knowledge’ under the Womenand Girls Protection Act 1973.Here the rapist would get a muchreduced sentence: section 16 (1)(1)of this latter legislation providesfor a maximum jail term of 5 yearsor a RM 10,000 fine, or both, uponconviction.

In each case of rape, it is not thevictim who elects or pressescharges against the offender. Shecan only make a police report. It isentirely up to the Deputy PublicProsecutor assigned to the case.The basis of the decision to pros-ecute under the lesser charge isnot always clear, although theremay be two main factors. First isthe preference by the DPP to gaina conviction, which may be easierunder a lesser charge. Second isthe possibility that discriminationagainst the mentally or physicallydisadvantaged may lead the DPPto prefer charges for a lesser crime.

It is sincerely hoped the latter isnot the case. It is just not accept-able that a rapist can get off so

WOMEN

Rape: Inadequate SentencingAnd Legal ProceduresThere is a serious need to remove the arbitrariness anddiscrepancies in rape laws

by Dr Prema Devaraj

RRRRR

Two Main Laws


lightly under the Women andGirls Protection Act 1973 for rap-ing a person, more so if she isunderaged and mentally disad-vantaged. It would seem that thecrime is made doubly worse be-cause of the girl’s added vulner-ability (i.e. her youth and mentaldisability). So instead of a rapistgetting a more severe sentence forviolating an underage mentallydisadvantaged person, the rapistgets a lighter sentence. Why is itthat our legal system is unable toprotect and support the very peo-ple who need the protection andsupport the most?

In relation to the possible difficul-ties of getting a conviction undersection 376 of the Penal Code,there is already a vast amount ofdocumentation of the difficultiesa rape survivor faces in attempt-ing to bring her violator to justice.Unfortunately, there is the stillwidespread attitudinal problemthat blames rape survivors for therape. The crime itself may not beseen as ‘serious’. Those holdingthese prejudices may includejudges, police, hospital staff, wel-fare officers, politicians and oth-ers who are involved in the pro-tection of the rape survivor andthe prosecution of the rapist.

Then there is the issue of the kindof support and help given to rapesurvivors. There may still be in-sensitive questioning of the rapesurvivor when making the policereport or when seeking a medicalexamination. Further, if a suspectis apprehended, the rape survivorhas to directly identify the suspectfrom a line-up by tapping him onthe shoulder, as the use of one-

way mirrors is rare. In court, thevictim has to face the accused aswell as curious members of thepublic and will probably have torelive the trauma of the rape expe-rience while giving testimony andbeing cross-examined. Her pastsexual history and her moral char-acter may be discredited by thedefence lawyers, although the1989 amendments to the EvidenceAct Section 146 clearly states thatthis should not be allowed.

The rape survivor does not meetthe Public Prosecutor until the firstday in court; neither does she havea choice as to who will prosecuteon her behalf. This adds to thegeneral difficulty in terms of find-ing corroboration, as the rape sur-vivor’s testimony alone cannotconvict a person of rape. Therehave to be eyewitnesses, medicalevidence and other direct or indi-rect evidence in order to convictthe rapist. These may not alwaysbe easy to produce especially if therape is reported a few days later.All of these problems intensifywhen the rape survivor is veryyoung and mentally or physicallydisabled.

Recognition of these difficultiesshould not lead us to abandonprosecution under Section 376 ofthe Penal Code by using lessercharges and the Women and GirlsProtection Act. Rather, recognitionof the difficulties should lead to adetermined effort to ensure that allmeasures necessary to provideessential support for the rape sur-vivors and towards a successfulprosecution under Section 376 areundertaken with urgency. Theseneed to include changes to line-up identification parades, amend-

ments to the Evidence Act and afundamental change in public at-titudes to rape and rape survivors.It might be noted that the Womenand Girls Protection Act 1973 isin the process of being repealedbecause it is being integrated intoa new Child Bill. This gives theGovernment yet another chance toseriously review its relevance inrelation to rape cases. It is stronglyurged that, instead of merely re-peating it wholesale within theChild Bill, Section 16 (1)(1) of theWomen and Girls Protection Actshould be removed. Efforts in-stead should focus on strengthen-ing the potential use and successof the Penal Code.

By strengthening the system in or-der to support rape survivors andto bring rapists to proper account,present arbitrariness and discrep-ancies in charges will hopefullydiminish. In reviewing the lawson rape, other necessary changescan also be incorporated. For ex-ample, the definition of rape itselfneeds widening. It is presentlylimited to penile-vaginal penetra-tion. Women’s organisations, lo-cal and international, have calledfor a wider definition to includeother forms of sexual assault un-der rape, irrespective of the gen-der of the persons involved. In-deed, women’s organisations herehave been calling for many, manyyears for a wholesale review oflegislation and procedures andhave made many concrete sugges-tions for change. There has been alittle improvement, but not nearlyenough. It is high time that moreis done by those who have thepower to do it. Otherwise the arbi-trariness and discrepancies willcontinue and rapists will continueto escape proper sentencing fortheir crime. q

Prejudices AndI n s e n s i t i v i t y

Changes Needed


Aliran supports the general callby many organisations and par-ties in Malaysia, including UMNOYouth, for a meeting with Suqiuto resolve the 17-point appeal con-troversy that is raging across thenation threatening our fragileunity. This move hopefully willhelp to defuse the emotion-charged atmosphere and help torestore sanity and goodwill.

This is a classic example of howeasily unscrupulous people candistort the truth and disrupt ourharmony for selfish ends.

It is deeply regretted that the me-dia had not conducted itself re-sponsibly. It is a great pity thatthey opted for profits instead ofnailing the lie that was being ped-dled.

Why did they play up the issue ofspecial privileges as though it wasreally under threat and in immi-nent danger of being scraped?They kept the issue alive insteadof putting out the communal flame

that was being lit.

Dr Toh Kin Woon of Gerakan wasright in stating that "Suqiu’s de-mands did not touch on the aboli-tion of the special privileges ofbumiputras as alleged by somequarters . ”

And Dr Mahathir, the leader of theBarisan Nasional, the President ofUMNO and the Prime Minister ofMalaysia, had confirmed that“Suqiu had never explicitly statedthat it was demanding for theMalays to be stripped of their spe-cial status.”

In any case, when has a demandyielded anything? Demands havenever deprived anybody of any-thing unless the government givesin. Has the government given into the Suqiu’s so-called demands?

It is worth remembering that citi-zens have been demanding theabolition of the ISA for 40 yearsbut it is still here. For some timenow there have been vociferousdemands for Dr Mahathir to stepdown as Prime Minister but he isstill around.

Let good sense and truth prevailin the larger interest of the nationin the spirit of tolerance and good-will as we celebrate Christmas,Hari Raya and welcome the NewYear. Let’s leave behind the acri-mony and animosity of the pastas we enter the new millenniumwith renewed hope and determi-nation for a bright future.

P. RamakrishnanPresident

23 December 2000

We agree with Dr Mahathir that“learning the language (English)does not make a person less of anationalist.” The ordinaryMalaysian understands this. Butdo politicians understand this?

The politicians are the source ofall our problems. If the educationsystem is in a mess, it’s because ofthe politicians. If our very highstandard of English has hit rockbottom, it is because of the politi-cians.

When the switch to Bahasa Ma-laysia was made in the early1970s, rational voices pleadedthat Science and Mathematics betaught in English. This was shotdown. There was also the sug-gestion that English Literature betaught to preserve the standard ofEnglish. This was ignored.

BarisanNasional MPs must decidewhether they want to beMalaysians in the larger interest ofthe country or remain as petty poli-ticians for their narrow interest.

P. RamakrishnanPresident

29 December 2000

A record of A record of A record of A record of A record of Aliran'sAliran'sAliran'sAliran'sAliran's stand on current affairs. stand on current affairs. stand on current affairs. stand on current affairs. stand on current affairs.

Let Good SenseAnd Truth Prevail

To Be A MalaysianOr A Politician?


In 1957, Malaysia got its inde-pendence from the British butsadly political power was trans-ferred to a coalition of raciallybased political parties that con-tinue to be the dominant partiesin the ruling coalition, the BarisanNasional, until this day.

When political parties are raciallybased, their survival can only beassured by the continuous empha-sis on racial unity - and not multi-racialism or nationalism. Racialparties in Malaysia sadly con-tinue to call on its members tostand united - to defend and tofight for the rights of their particu-lar communities. That is all theycan do and must do for their con-tinued survival. They cannot al-low for the death of racial dis-crimination. They have to con-

tinue to propagate it by whatso-ever means, for if Malaysians be-gin to look at each other asMalaysians and not merely as“Malays’, ‘Chinese’, ‘Indians’,‘Kadazans’, etc - racial politicswill come to an end.

Instead, attempts have been madeto give a false perspective thatthese racial parties are in fact na-tionalistic parties. There can be noMalay nationalism or Chinesenationalism or Indian National-ism - there can only be aMalaysian nationalism.

Malaysians are now rejecting allforms of racial and religious poli-tics. This is evident by the fact thatin a country where the populationis over 22 million, only about 10%or less are members of racial par-ties.

In Malaysia, there are some par-

ties like the Gerakan, the DAP,Keadilan and Parti Rakyat Malay-sia which started off as multi-eth-nic parties. But sadly most are nolonger so. There are two reasonsfor this change. First, the mediahas gone out of its way to projectthe DAP and Gerakan as Chineseparties, and Keadilan and PartiRakyat Malaysia as Malay par-ties. The leaders (and members) ofthese parties have also ‘fallen intothis trap’ - by continuously elect-ing persons from particular eth-nic groupings as leaders. Leader-ship should not be based on racebut merit, capability and popularsupport. Non-racial oppositionparties and their members mustbe ready to take drastic steps suchas getting non-Malays to beKeadilan and Parti Rakyat lead-ers, or Malays as leaders of theDAP. Otherwise many Malaysianswill wonder if the BarisanAlternatif is merely another coali-tion of racial political parties, likethe BN.

Malaysians who believe in unity,justice and equality should standtogether to say “NO” to MalayUnity, to Chinese Unity, to IndianUnity, to Muslim Unity, to Chris-tian Unity, to Kadazan Unity andother narrow calls for unity . If wecannot do this we will continueto be distracted by the actions ofthe powerful minority who con-tinue to pillage the wealth of thenation for themselves, without anyreal concern for the good andwell-being of all Malaysians.

Concerned Citizenby e-mail

May I suggest that in the next is-sue you cover the issues of

Letters should be no more than 250 words and must includethe writer's name and address. Pseudonyms may be used. Sendletters to : Editor, ALIRAN MONTHLY, 103, Medan Penaga,11600 Penang, Malaysia or e-mail to : [email protected] expressed need not reflect those of Aliran.

Malay Unity:Diverting Attention

P r i v a t i s a t i o n


Mahathir’s failed privatizationprojects? The failings are aplenty,such as ‘renationalization’ ofIWK, Bakun, Proton, MAS,Intrakota, Putra, Star, amongstthose recently announced. Couldyou also re-publish your oldanalysis of the ‘piratisation’projects of essential services andthe adverse effects on consumers?

Zaedi Zolkafliby e-mail

The government has privatisedwater supply, electricity, telecom-munications, roads and high-ways and sewage disposal andthe beneficiaries of these privati-sation projects have been croniesof the ruling elite.

Privatisation is also a means forthe ruling elite and their friendsto remain in power even if theylose political power in the next elec-tions. After all, will an alternativegovernment be able to controlthese privatised entities? Will theybe able to compel these bodies toprovide water supply, electricityor even telephone lines, for exam-ple to rural areas? Probably not,because private companies, un-like state-controlled ones, have nomoral or other obligation to thepeople of Malaysia. Their primarymotive is simply to make profits.If the state controlled these utili-ties, the state would have the obli-gation and duty to provide allthese basic services to allMalaysians, despite the fact thatin some cases it may not be eco-nomically viable. But private en-tities have no such obligation.

It should also be noted that someof these privatised companies are

also selling shares and equity toforeign companies. Hence, even ifa new government takes over, it isincreasingly difficult to re-nation-alise these companies. And if thenew government tries to nation-alise or force these companies toprovide basic fundamental serv-ices to certain areas, they will findstrong opposition not only fromthese companies but also fromother foreign powers whose na-tionals control a stake in these util-ity companies.

It has happened elsewhere. InSouth Africa, the apartheid regimeprivatised a number of ‘goodies’in the country before handingover political power, leaving thenew government in the lurch. Andin Chile, of course, Allende wasdeposed by the private companiesand the super power of the USAgovernment whose nationals hadan interest in companies whichAllende was attempting to re-claim for the people of Chile.

Malaysians should stop the rotnow, before it is too late. We needto be aware that the governmentof the day seems to have its pri-mary interest in the welfare of therich and the big companies. Theyare not at all concerned with thewelfare of the poor masses.

One simple but clear example isthe fate of the motor-cycle lanesalong the Federal Highway. Theselanes were closed because of theLRT project and then stayedclosed for the building of the Mid-Valley Mega Mall. Why should thegovernment allow some to buildmega projects and make money,but do little to enhance the safetyof citizens?

We cannot wait until the next elec-tions. The people of Malaysia

must push for reforms now in allsectors of the Malaysian society.We must campaign against priva-tisation. We must push for the gov-ernment to be responsible for thewell-being of all its people.

CHPJ

Sebagai warganegara Malaysiadan “pemantau” terhadapakhbar Utusan Malaysia dan BeritaHarian, saya amat kesal danmarah dengan corak laporankedua-dua akhbar bahasaMelayu ini khususnya beritamengenai “Suqiu mengugurkantuntutan” pada hari ini (6 Jan2001).

Berdasarkan perbandingandengan laporan akhbar bahasaInggeris dan bahasa Cina sertakenyataan bersama Suqiu danPemuda UMNO, saya mendapatiperkataan yang digunakan ialah“mengenepikan” atau “set aside”tujuh tuntutan yang “sensitif”tetapi bukan “mengugurkan”atau “menarik balik”.

Nyatanya, laporan Utusan danBH mempunyai bias dan tidakprofesional, tambahan pulamungkin mempunyai udang disebalik batu.

Sebagai orang yang menceburidalam bidang kewartawanan,pemberita dan pengarang akhbarUtusan dan BH tidak patutmelakukan “kesilapan yang tidakpatut dilakukan itu”.

Untuk saudara dan saudari yangmenceburi bidang kewartawan-an, “mengenepikan” bermaknamembiarkan untuk sementara,

Beware OfP r i v a t i s a t i o n !

Biased AndU n p r o f e s s i o n a l


tetapi tidak bermakna perkara initidak akan timbul lagi. Sebalik-nya “mengugurkan” bermaknatidak meneruskan atau menge-luarkan sesuatu dari yang asal.

Oleh itu, perlu difahami Suqiutidak pernah menyatakan baha-wa perkara yang dianggap“sensitif” itu tidak akan diper-soalkan pada masa yang akandatang, malah ia telah mendapat“ratification” oleh lebih 2,000pertubuhan Cina. MalangnyaUtusan dan BH telah memberisatu gambaran yang “silap”kepada pembacanya khususnyamasyarakat orang Melayu.

Corak pemberitaan ini merupa-kan satu perkara yang amatmemalukan malah mempunyaipendirian yang bias. Sebagaiwartawan dan pengarang yangbertanggungjawab perkara iniperlu diperbetulkan.

“Pemantau” Utusan danBerita Harian

Penang

The Barisan Nasional claims thatreligion was used in the Lunas by-election. But the BN candidate,Anthonysamy lost not because hewas portrayed in a bishop’s attirein a photograph. He lost becausethe voters of Lunas did not believein the lies told by BN leaders.

Let me ask Dr Mahathir this:Didn’t BN manipulate religioussentiments to defeat TengkuRazaleigh in 1990? Didn’t the BNmake an issue of Razaleigh wear-ing Kadazan headgear, deliber-ately portarying the motif on theheadgear as a Christian cross,thus suggesting that Razaleigh

had sold out to Christians?

The BN leaders should look atthemselves before pointing fingersat others.

Congratulations to BA for a splen-did victory. Keep marching on fora multi-racial Malaysia.

M ThavanesanPort Klang

The recent raise for pensionersannounced in the recent budgetstill kept the lower level pension-ers well below the poverty line,and other pensioners scraping fora decent living. The PM a fewyears ago agreed to pay pension-ers their due according to actualyears of service rather than cap-ping it at 25 years as at presentbecause of financial considera-tion. The unions disputed this fi-nancial costs but never were seri-ous about helping the pensioners.

Why can’t the government affordit when they have been payingpensions in lump sums into se-lected banks every six months inadvance for the banks make pay-ments to pensioners monthly. Nointerest is paid by the banks forthe billions of ringgit paid to theselected banks in advance. Thisis rightly pensioners’ money andshould go to them. The hundredsof millions of ringgit in interestaccruing for the last 10 or moreyears should have been given topoor pensioners and not placedfor the benefit of the banks to sub-sidise their inefficiencies. Is thisnot an abuse of public funds?

Why have opposition parties not

raised this issue in parliament?Why have the unions not foughtthis issue?

Future PensionerPenang

Everytime a by-election takesplace the entire government ma-chinery is employed to build newroads, repair schools, dig newdrains, give out huge handouts,grant land titles and what not.

The government only offers mate-rial benefits and huge promisesthat are forgotten once the elec-tions are over. Since instant ben-efits are reaped by the Rakyat it isbetter to have by-elections ratherthan general elections.

KaruppanJohor Baru

Now, what are these two parties(MCA and MIC) going to do? MCAand MIC tried their level best tofool the Malaysian Chinese andMalaysian Indians by saying thatParty PAS is a fanatic, extremistparty. The people will suffershould PAS come to power. Butnow, UMNO is interested in hav-ing talks with PAS! Dr M evensays he will not object to PAS join-ing the BN.

What are you two going to donow? Still want to condemn PAS?Indeed, the MCA and MIC shouldbe prepared to condemn UMNOfor ‘backstabbing’ them.

J ApalasamyRaub

Lunas By-election

Banks PaidIn Lump Sum?

Have By Elections,Not General Elections

What WillMCA And MIC Do?


n 1992, the Institut JantungNegara (National HeartInstitute) was hived offfrom the Kuala Lumpur

hospital and corporatised as a fullygovernment-owned referral heartcentre. One of its explicit missionswas to provide high-quality cardio-thoracic and cardiological services atmedium cost to Malaysian citizens.

For non-civil servants, patientcharges at the corporatised IJN wouldbe increased from the hithertohighly-subsidised rates, and IJN staffwould be paid salaries markedlyabove the corresponding HealthMinistry scales.

The IJN, however, would continueto be subsidised by public funds al-though not to the extent of 90-95%as was commonly the case for theregular Health Ministry facilities.

The intention was that IJN shouldalso act as a price bulwark, i.e. afallback option which would serveas a competitive price check againststeep price increases in the privatesector. (It is for this reason also thatthe Citizens’ Health Initiative has re-peatedly emphasised that it is in theinterests of everyone to support thecontinuance of well-funded, compe-tent and credible healthcare providedby the public sector).

In the 9 December 2000 issue of theLancet (the UK’s leading medical jour-

nal), Dr Allyson Pollock, professorof health policy at University CollegeLondon pointed out that the ongo-ing World Trade Organisation(WTO) negotiations on the GeneralAgreement on Trade in Services(GATS) could very well lead to a situ-ation which “would outlaw the useof non-market mechanisms such ascross-subsidisation, universal riskpooling, solidarity, and public ac-countability in the design, funding,and delivery of public [sectorhealthcare] services, as being anti-competitive and restrictive to trade.The domestic policies of nationalgovernments [on healthcare] will besubject to WTO rules, and if declaredillegal, could lead to trade sanctionsunder the WTO disputes panel proc-ess”.

This is a major breach of solidarity inthe context of western Europeansocial democracy, and a remarkableencroachment of international traderegimes into an area traditionally atthe core of welfarist states, possiblythe most crucial aspect of an implicitsocial contract and therefore of re-gime legitimacy.

Given the medical and health tech-nologies currently available (and theassociated economics of healthcare),there exists no country that can relysolely on the market to deliver nec-essary health and medical care to thebulk of its citizenry. Even in that ar-chetype of free-market health care,

the United States, more than half ofnational healthcare expenditure isaccounted for by public spending —on Medicare (for the elderly), Med-icaid (for the poor), and on other fed-eral, state, county and city govern-ment health services.

Indeed, the market-driven UShealthcare system would collapsewithout this massive intervention toprop up economic demand forhealthcare services.

Massive social transfers and cross-subsidies in healthcare are thereforeunavoidable if any semblance of so-cial decency (and economic stabilityand political legitimacy) is to bemaintained. Professor Robert Evansof the University of British Colum-bia has demonstrated convincinglythat the affluent in most societieswould benefit from (and thereforeprefer) a free-market system withminimal taxation and social transfers,as opposed to universal access tohealthcare financed by progressivetaxation.

Hence, we note the retrogressiveneoliberal ethos of generous tax ex-emptions coupled with drastic cut-backs in social spending, at best alle-viated by “social safety nets” andcharitable initiatives. The inevitablescenario emerges: a polarised sys-tem of deluxe, five-star care for the

HEALTHCARE

The Promise And Perils OfGlobal Health, Inc.Five-Star treatment for the rich, underfunded services for thedestitute?

by Dr Chan Chee Khoon

IIIII

Social Decency


rich, and decimated, demoralised,and underfunded services for thedestitute.

At the recently concluded People’sHealth Assembly at GonoshathayaKendra, Bangladesh (December 4-8,2000), delegates concerned with theglobalising reach of market medicinecalled for an internationally co-ordinated campaign to removehealth-related services (broadly de-fined) from the dictates of the WTO-GATS regimes, .i.e. to reinstate thediscretion and jurisdiction for the or-ganisation and financing of healthcareback to national governments.

More generally, there was an emerg-ing consensus that the WTO’s over-riding concern for minimally re-stricted trade, often to the detrimentof health considerations (e.g. coun-try restrictions on imports of poten-tially hazardous commodities andprocesses) was unacceptable.

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamadhas rightly warned Malaysians andother Third World citizens about theperils of globalisation under duress,while subject to gross power imbal-ances. Malaysia, to our knowledgehas yet to make wide-ranging, mar-ket-opening commitments onhealthcare under the GATS regimes,at the moment confined to medicaland dental services, hospital services,and health insurance.

Extreme caution by our trade nego-tiators is absolutely essential at theWTO-GATS deliberations, especiallyin light of Professor Pollock’s furtherremarks that in the attempt to getaround the voluntary nature of coun-try commitments to specific servicesectors, “the regulatory reform proc-ess [currently underway in the WTO]consists of negotiations to makechanges to GATS [via] general or top-down provisions that apply auto-matically to all service sectors, eventhose where members have made no

specific commitments. The processhas been made possible by a man-date, otherwise known as the built-in agenda, already written into thetreaty”.

But even in the absence of WTO-GATS commitments, transnationalhealthcare entrepreneurs have notbeen idle. Foreign-based healthcareconsultants have been busily scout-ing out joint-venture opportunitiesemerging from the government’sprivatisation policy, and advising onpartnership deals with well-con-nected local counterparts — in hos-pital support services, pharmaceuti-cals, medical supplies and dispos-ables, telemedicine and medicalinformatics, medical insurance, man-aged care and HMOs among others.

(The Commercial Service of the USEmbassy in KL lists healthcare rightat the top of its “Best Prospect” Mar-kets for Malaysia for 2000. The eco-nomic intelligence units of the UK andAustralian High Commissions aresimilarly enthusiastic about emerg-ing healthcare markets with furtherprivatisation in Malaysia).

On 15 December 2000, The EdgeDaily (online business journal) re-ported that Aetna-ING, one of thelargest health insurers in Malaysia,had linked up with WorldCareHealth (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, theMalaysian subsidiary of US-basedWorldCare Consortium. WorldCareConsortium is a leading internationalplayer in telemedicine, operating aglobally distributed referral networkwith links to the Johns Hopkins Medi-cal Institutions, The London Clinic,Duke University Medical Center,Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Massa-chusetts General Hospital, Brigham& Women’s Hospital (Boston),Spaulding Rehabilitation Center, andthe Dana-Farber Cancer Institute(Harvard Medical School) amongothers.

This fusion of bulk purchasing power(insurers’ patient pools) with elec-

tronic referrals (tele-consultations,tele-imaging etc) to designatedhealthcare providers locally and glo-bally, i.e. an electronically-enabledfeeder network for patient referralswho are enrolled in healthcare plans(insurance, managed care, HMOs), isfor-profit managed care writ large,in the making, globalised with theaid of informational technologies.

Affluent healthcare consumerswould of course appreciate the facili-tated access to state-of-the-arthealthcare, but poorer patients facedwith cutbacks in social supports anda deteriorating public sector wouldinevitably end up in the bottom rungsof a multi-tier system.

But even so healthcare consumersshould be wary, as the same tensionsthat exist in managed care, betweencorporate profits versus patient wel-fare and good medical practice, willeventually emerge. For-profit man-aged care is the latest incarnation ofmedical insurance, a projection of theinsurers’ influence (as bulk purchaserof healthcare services) into fee set-ting and in extreme cases, even intoclinical judgement and prerogative,and treatment protocol.

Ultimately beholden more to share-holder interests, for-profit managedcare can be detrimental to patientwelfare and good medical practice,as when medically necessary care isall too often denied.

For-profit managed care has been avery unsatisfactory tool for discour-aging the wasteful use of medicalresources, and we should not repeatthe avoidable experiences of theUnited States with its disastrous reli-ance on profit-driven managedcare.q

Chan Chee Khoon is coordi-Chan Chee Khoon is coordi-Chan Chee Khoon is coordi-Chan Chee Khoon is coordi-Chan Chee Khoon is coordi-nator of the Citizen’snator of the Citizen’snator of the Citizen’snator of the Citizen’snator of the Citizen’sHealth Initiative.Health Initiative.Health Initiative.Health Initiative.Health Initiative.

Perils Of Globalisation


he Oslo peace process isdead. A new phase in thestruggle for a genuineand meaningful Pales-

tinian homeland has begun. Thisis not what Israel or the U.S. Gov-ernment will admit. They wouldlike to portray the current strife asthe failure of Mr. Yasser Arafat tocontrol the ‘violent’ elementswithin his jurisdiction which issupposed to have created a secu-rity crisis.

Worse, the U.S. and Israeli mediahave sought to pin primary re-sponsibility for the violence onthe Palestinians although it is thelatter who have suffered the over-whelming number of losses, al-most entirely civilian, mostlyyouth, in a military confrontationwhere one side uses air strikesand has massive superiority inartillery while the other side usesmostly bricks and stones andsometimes small arms. What isextraordinary is not just the na-ture of a media coverage whichclaims that the Palestinian Au-thority (PA) is deliberately “sacri-ficing” the lives of children andteenagers to “embarrass” Israelbut that such perversion of dis-course and reality can be widelybelieved in Israel, the West andelsewhere.

In reality what we have is not a

security crisis but a political one.The deliberate ambiguities andobfuscations of the Oslo Accordor Declaration of Principles (DoP)in 1993 have finally exacted theirprice. Most Governments includ-ing India’s welcomed those ac-cords. After all, the whole Pales-tinian issue had become terriblyirksome and a barrier to Indianpursuit of better relations with Is-rael and the U.S. If the Palestin-ian issue could finally disappearbehind some facade of a negoti-ated peace settlement so much thebetter.

Besides, if Mr. Arafat was amena-ble to the sell-out why shouldother Governments not welcomeit. Only a few intransigent soulslike Mr. Edward Said and the op-position to Mr. Arafat within thePalestinian Resistance (both in-side and outside Al Fatah) under-stood the Oslo Accords for whatthey really were and placed theirfaith in the determination andcourage of the Palestinian masseswhen judging that it could not andwould not work.

Mr. Arafat accepted the DoP be-cause after the comprehensive vic-tory of the U.S. in both the GulfWar and the Cold War he saw thisas the only way to salvage his ownposition and retain some limitedcredibility. He bartered away notonly diplomatic recognition of Is-rael but its permanent seizure of

78 per cent of the territory origi-nally mandated for Palestine inthe 1947 U.N. Partition Plan inreturn for a much truncated Pal-estinian state whose actual pow-ers and shape would still be un-certain and require further nego-tiations before being finalised.

Even the “two-state solution” hada more just form. This was obedi-ence to U.N. Resolutions 194 and242 respectively calling for theright of return of and compensa-tion to Palestinian refugees anddeclaring the inadmissibility ofall territories acquired by Israelthrough the 1967 war and subse-quent military advances, i.e. itsfull withdrawal from such ac-quired territories. The Oslo Ac-cords which made the U.S. theprincipal broker of the deal ig-nored the U.N. and these resolu-tions, that is, sought deliberatelyto legitimise Israel’s territorialgains and at the same time re-fused to assure the Palestiniansthat they would ever get a fullysovereign or territorially contigu-ous state.

The DoP left five vital issues un-resolved and hostage to the futurerelationship of forces which it wassafely assumed would favour Is-rael thus leading to greater con-cessions to it than for the desper-ate Arafat-led PLO. These were (1)

PALESTINE

The Oslo Process Is Dead

by Achin Vanaik

A new phase in the struggle for a genuineand meaningful Palestinian homeland has begun

TTTTT

From UN To US

5 Unresolved Issues


the status of East Jerusalem; (2) theright to return of Palestinian refu-gees; (3) the disposition of Israelisettlements which far from wind-ing down have systematically ex-panded since 1993; (4) the finalborders between Israel and thenew Palestinian state; (5) whethersuch a state would even enjoy fullsovereign powers such as theright to have its own armed forcesand complete freedom (independ-ence from Israel) in its foreign anddomestic policies.

In the meantime the PA wouldhave some municipal powers (butnot even full control over water)and act as the proxy police forceto guard over Palestinians on be-half of Israel. Jewish settlementswould remain and the PA-control-led territory would be criss-crossed by Israeli controlled areasand security forces.

When the October 2000 deadlinefor declaring a Palestinian stateneared not only did it prove im-possible to resolve these issues inany way which would have beenacceptable to the Palestinian peo-ple (despite Mr. Arafat’s willing-ness to go a long way down theroad with Israel) but there was thedeliberate provocation of the Is-raeli right-wing not willing to ac-cept even the shabby dynamic ofthe shameful Oslo deal. This tookthe shape of Mr. Ariel Sharon’svisit to al-Haram-al-Sharif on 28September.

Mr. Sharon, it should be remem-bered, was responsible for the1971 repression in the Gaza Strip.As Defence Minister in 1982 he ledthe Israeli invasion of southernLebanon and was indicted by anIsraeli tribunal for indirect re-sponsibility for the Shabra andShatila massacres of Palestinianrefugees. As Housing Minister in

the 1990s he promoted the aggres-sive construction drive of Israelisettlements in the West Bank andGaza. He is at the forefront of thecurrent effort to maintain for aslong as possible the effective colo-nisation of the Palestinian people.Mr. Arafat today has no choice butto go along with the basic senti-ment of the Palestinian peoplewhich will not accept theBantustanisation of their territoryor so comprehensive a betrayal oftheir aspirations. Mr. Arafat doesnot control all of Al Fatah muchof which will break from him com-pletely if he tries to restore the OsloAccords and link more closelywith the various Islamic groupswho are part of the new Intifadabut in even less control than AlFatah of the general swell of spon-taneous anger and resistance byyoung Palestinians mainly in the15 to 25 age group who have beenprepared to put their lives on theline in this remarkable struggle fora truly free Palestine.

Even if some peace is brokered bythe U.S. or a temporary peace ofbattle fatigue sets in on the Pales-tinian side, the Oslo deal is fin-ished. Even on the Israeli side,public opinion has greatly hard-ened and swung to the right. Anew election will probably see thestrengthening of the likes of Mr.Sharon.

Given the tragic history of theJews in the last century, the enor-mity of the crime of the Holocaust,Israel’s Jews more than anyoneelse should have been the mostsensitive to the crime and injus-tice perpetrated on the Palestin-ians. They could not be becauseof the fundamental contradictionthat has always lain at the heart

of the formation of Zionist Israel.To try and rectify the historicalinjustice done to Jews through thecreation of a Jewish homelandwresting territory away from apeople not themselves responsi-ble for that historical injustice hasitself been a deep injustice andtherefore no legitimate rectifica-tion at all.

This, Israel’s Jews and worldJewry (with rare exceptions) havenever been able to acknowledgefor how then could they see them-selves as history’s “oppressed”when they themselves have be-come “oppressors”! From thatoriginal blindness followed theinevitable moral slide. It becameso easy for the Israeli Governmentever since 1948 to support West-ern imperialism, the apartheid re-gime, South Vietnam, and in factany and every dictatorial regimethat was prepared to accept itsusurpation of Palestine and re-pression of its people.

We have come a long way since1948. The Palestinian Resistancemoved from rejecting Israel to pro-posing a non-Zionist and shareddemocratic, secular Palestine-Is-rael with equal rights for Arabsand Jews ‘solution’ to proposinga reasonably just and fair “two-state solution”. Israel, the U.S. anda world comity of nations withvery few exceptions have beencontent to witness the erosion ofall these efforts for any shabbycompromise that would allow theissue to permanently fade away.Only by their heroism and integ-rity have ordinary Palestiniansmade sure that what has hap-pened to them will not easily be-come another forgotten injusticeof history.

Source: The Hindu (India)7 December 2000

From Oppressed ToO p p r e s s o r s

q


what was honestly believed to beselective prosecutions.

He has not come clean why LimGuan Eng was prosecuted andRahim Thamby Chik was sparedin spite of the confession of anunder-aged girl claiming in opencourt that Rahim had had sex withher. He has not convinced us whyIrene Fernandez has to be chargedfor false publications while clear-ing Justice Idid for a similar of-fence, which had a far more pro-found implication on the entirejudiciary. Idid’s letter condemnedand implicated 12 judges by cit-ing 112 serious allegations of cor-ruption and malpractice. Mohtardid not and dared not prosecuteRaphael Pura for alleging thatlawyer V.K. Lingam wrote parts ofthe judgement of a judge in hisdefamation case.

Nobody believed Mohtar's impar-tiality when he prosecuted LimGuan Eng, Irene Fernandez andKarpal Singh for sedition; nobodyhad the slightest respect for hischambers when he pressedcharges against Zainur Zakariaand Manjit Singh for contempt.All these cases only confirmedthat the ugly hands of politicswere very pervasive in our systemof justice which was manipulatedas a political tool.

Mohtar’s very appointment seemsto suggest a political reward.When asked if he was surprisedby the appointment, he answered,“I have served the governmentand if my service is needed, I willaccept.” He did not say he hadserved the cause of justice but onlyserved the government which es-sentially meant the prime minis-

ter and the executive and that isvery significant.

He made Malaysians a laughingstock by having a soiled mattressdragged into court for 27 days; hebewildered Malaysians when hecould not state the exact date ofsodomy in Anwar’s trial and yetproceeded with his case.

Malaysians are asking what hashappened to the Maika Holdingsand the Perwaja cases; what hashappened to the numerous policereports made by Anwar allegingcorruption and abuse of power byDr. Mahathir; what has happenedto the several cases of shootingand killing by the police involv-ing a pregnant Indian womanand others; what has happenedto the Opposition police reportsalleging police brutality? All thesecases only confirmed the perverseselective prosecution practised byhim.

His very conduct had brought ir-reparable disrepute and damagenot only to his office but to the en-tire system of justice. Photographsof him holidaying with lawyerV.K. Lingam, which were circu-lated in the Internet, have raisedserious questions of ethics and in-tegrity. Many perceive this as scan-dalous and unbecoming conduct.

Mohtar's role and conduct in therecent high profile cases not onlyrevolted Malaysians but had out-raged the international legal com-munity and intelligent thinkingaround the world. With referenceto the Anuar Ibrahim trial, a mis-sion - appointed by four wellknown and highly respected in-ternational organisations for law-

JUSTICE IN DOUBLE JEOPARDY Continued from page 40

yers - concluded: “From our con-sideration of the case and the sur-rounding circumstances, we areof the view that the concernsraised in Malaysia and the inter-national community are fully jus-tified”.

Consequently Mohtar’s appoint-ment as a Federal Court judgegoes against the new CJ’s inten-tion to restore public confidencein the deeply wounded andscarred judiciary. If Mohtar hasthe interest of the judiciary andthe cause of justice at heart, heshould immediately resign. Thisact of his would go a long way inrestoring public confidence in thejudiciary

For Mohtar to continue to hold onto this prestigious position in spiteof the controversies surroundinghis earlier role as AG makes nosense. In fact it places justice indouble jeopardy.

We hold Dr Mahathir directly re-sponsible for this absurd situa-tion.

It is our Malaysian tragedy thatMahathir in his “couldn’t be both-ered” attitude, has gone againstthe national sentiment to rewardMohtar. What outragesMalaysians does not concernMahathir. He must have his way.However, Malaysians must real-ise that Mahathir is there becauseof our votes. This is an equallyabsurd situation. We must decidewhether he should continue to bethere and make a mockery of oursystem of justice.

Aliran Executive Committee26 January 2001


he appointment offormer Attorney-Gen-eral, Tan Sri MohtarAbdullah, as a Federal

Court judge, some three weeks af-ter his retirement from his office,has shattered whatever hope thatwas raised by the appointment ofTan Sri Mohamad DzaiddinAbdullah as the Chief Justice ofthe Federal Court.

Dzaiddin, through his honest ad-mission and appraisal of the sta-tus of the judiciary, promised, ashis priority, to restore public con-fidence in the judiciary and mendfences with the Bar so that thecourts would serve the cause ofjustice without fear or favour.

The fact that this new dawn heldout by Dzaiddin was dashed sosoon and so cruelly mocks us inour face that ordinary Malaysianshave no right to look forward toanything as far as the judiciary isconcerned.

It is difficult to reconcile howMohtar could be appointed as aFederal Court judge when he wasso bitterly embroiled in controver-sies that had undermined peo-ple’s confidence in our system ofjustice and tarnished the image ofthe judiciary. He had generated somuch acrimony and anger amongthe vast majority of Malaysians in

JUDICIARY

Justice In Double JeopardyHow could Mohtar be appointed as a Federal Court judge when he was sobitterly embroiled in controversies that had undermined people’s confidencein our system of justice and tarnished the image of the judiciary?

TTTTT

Continued on page 39Continued on page 39Continued on page 39Continued on page 39Continued on page 39

PP3739/12/2000 ISSN 0127 - 5127 / RM3.00 / … for the past 20 years”. So ... In the 1992 UPSR...

Documents

Transcript of PP3739/12/2000 ISSN 0127 - 5127 / RM3.00 / … for the past 20 years”. So ... In the 1992 UPSR...