Narratives@najahnasseri.org

Free RPK, Free Hindraf 5, Free All Detainees!

The Internal Security Act under Article 149 of the Malaysian Constitution permits the detention, at the discretion of the Home Minister, without charge or trial of any person in respect of whom the Home Minister was satisfied that such detention was necessary.

A week ago, we have witnessed yet again, the abuse of the ISA in the case of the detention of Raja Petra Kamarudin – Editor of Malaysia Today, Tan Hoon Cheng – Journalist, Sin Chew Jit Poh and Teresa Kok Suh Sim – Member of Parliament, Seputeh.

To demonstrate stand on the abolishment of the ISA and to show our solidarity and support with all ISA detainees and their families, we are organising a forum with invited speakers with details as follows:

Date: 23 Sep 2008 (Tue)
Time: 8:00 pm
Venue: KL & Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, Jln Maharajalela, Kuala Lumpur
Admission is Free; Bring Friends

The panel of Distinguished Speakers include:

* Lim Guan Eng, Penang Chief Minister, DAP MP Bagan, ADUN Air Itam
* Teresa Kok, Selangor State Exco, DAP MP Seputeh/ADUN Kinrara
* A. Sivanesan, Perak State Exco, DAP ADUN Sungkai
* Khalid Samad, PAS MP Shah Alam
* Nurul Izzah binti Anwar, PKR MP Lembah Pantai
* Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, Bar Council President
* Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh, Chairman of Gerakan Mansuhkan ISA (GMI)

Moderator: Teo Nie Ching, DAP MP Serdang

The wives of some of the current ISA detainees, Raja Petra Kamaruddin, M Manoharan (DAP ADUN Kota Alam Shah) and V Ganabathirao will be present and be given an opportunity to speak. We should all be there to give the all the moral support we can! Forward to all your friends!

Abolish ISA or Abolish BN!

On Raja Petra Kamaruddin’s ISA detention:

“They come to his cell and harass him at all hours of the day and night taking hourly turns having a video camera at all times. One time they brought a prayer mat and the Quran to his cell and just said so you don’t want this and took it away (while) recording all this.

“Sometimes they just come to the cell every half hour to peep into his cell with the loud clicking of the peep hole to keep him awake… They are interrogating him on all his articles and at this stage it is on his articles on Islam.

“They said he has no right to write about Islam because we (his family) don’t live like Muslims and they were not sure whether we prayed or not as how all good Muslims should,” expressed Marina.

On MP Teresa Kok’s detention:

After the visit, Ooi said Teresa was detained due to her involvement in the azan issue, a matter involving the Selangor Department of Islamic affairs (Jais), and the ‘Jawi’ (road signage) issue.

Ooi disclosed that Teresa was issued a notice yesterday stating that she would be detained an additional 28 days with effect from Sunday.

teresa kok parents meet bukit aman 150908 05The azan matter relates to accusations that Teresa was spearheading moves to prohibit or lower the volume of calls to prayers at mosques and suraus (community prayer halls) in Kota Damansara, Sri Serdang and Bandar Kinrara.

She has denied the accusations.

The ‘Jawi’ issue relates to her opposition to the Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s move to put up road signs of road and street names in Romanised Malay and the Arabic script (Jawi).

Teresa was among those who had campaigned for “muhibbah” road signs to include Tamil and Chinese characters along with the Romanised Malay. She argued that no many Malaysians understand Jawi.

teresa kok parents meet bukit aman 150908 pa mandy ooiOoi (left) said she was unsure what the Jais issue is about and that she would “have to go back and find out”.

It is believed, however, that it pertains to rumours – since then denied by the Selangor government – that it was considering to allocate 30 percent of Jais’ budget for the use of religious groups other than Islam.

Teresa has been accused by certain quarters of spearheading that proposal.

“These things (were raised) many, many months ago, but they’re digging these up now,” said Ooi.

She’s fighting back from behind bars: Kok lodges police report against ‘culprits’

For Muslims/Malays who were offended enough to think that the ISA was justified, take a moment to listen to this man:

ISA tidak diperlukan untuk bela ajaran Islam

Mufti Perlis, Dr Asri Zainul Abidin hari ini menegur tindakan kerajaan menggunakan Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri (ISA) dalam isu agama dan mengheret pengendali laman web Malaysia Today, Raja Petra Kamarudin dan Ahli Parlimen DAP Seputeh, Teresa Kok yang masih ditahan di bawah peruntukan akta itu.

Ketika ditemui di Damansara Kim sebentar tadi, Dr Asri berkata, Islam dibina dari hujah dan dasar yang jelas, dan Islam juga tidak memerlukan ISA untuk membela ajarannya.

“Jadi tidak ada alasan untuk menahan orang dengan tidak memberi peluang membela diri. Ini adalah satu tindakan yang salah. Sekiranya orang itu mempunyai kesalahan dari segi hukum agama, buktikan dari segi dalil-dalil agama.

“Cara kita tangkap orang guna ISA atas kesalahan agama tidak akan menghilangkan salahfaham terhadap Islam. Seharusnya diperjelaskan dulu apa kesalahan itu. Kalau misalnya orang itu menghina Islam atau menyeleweng, buktikan dulu berdasarkan Quran dan hadis.

“Perlu diperdengarkan pertuduhan itu kepada orang yang dituduh itu. Mungkin juga, ia hanya satu salah faham. Yang penting perdengarkan dulu hujahnya,” kata Mufti yang terkenal dengan kelantangannya mengeluarkan idea yang berani dan telus itu.

Kata Dr Asri lagi, “Islam bukan agama yang bacul. Perbuatan ISA kerana kesalahan agama seolah-olah menggambarkan orang Islam tidak mampu berhujah, terus tangkap orang. Mereka akan kata mereka benar kerana kita takut berhujah dengan dia.”

Aliran has published a list of known ISA detainees as of September 13,
2008.

So today was uneventful. Some of us may complain that much more drama was expected, but lucky for the country, we’re not the ones making the hard decisions. Right now, I choose to agree with this man:

“September 16 is not important in itself” said Thiagaran (left), aged 45, one of the 20,000-strong crowd who attended the Pakatan Rakyat rally on the eve of Malaysia Day last night.

“It is not just an end of what has been happening. It is more the beginning of change for many things!” he insisted.

I mean, consider this. The one thing that both sides of the fence can agree on is that there is nothing legally worse that the government can do to a private citizen than invoke the ISA on him/her. It is our country’s version of the ‘big red button’. So a little sound bite in today’s interview with our current prime minister gives me more cause to be concerned, and more reason to pray for a change:

“When asked if the police had informed him before they arrested three persons – blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin, Selangor exco Teresa Kok and journalist Tan Hoon Cheng – under the ISA last Friday, Abdullah replied no.

“But it’s okay if they don’t inform me,” he said.”

This after the flip-flop from the Home Minister on the same issue. So who’s really in charge of the country then?

Blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin, journalist Tan Hoon Cheng, and MP Teresa Kok were arrested yesterday under the ISA. Anyone who has been following recent events in all media and not limit themselves to reports from Utusan Malaysia would know that the use of the ISA in the three incidents reportedly instigated by these three detainees (two, now that Tan Hoon Cheng has been released – read the official line about why she was detained in the first place) is grossly disproportionate.

From Malaysiakini:

Kok not involved in azan petition, says mosque
Sep 13, 08 2:41pm

Masjid Kinrara, the mosque which is embroiled in an azan controversy, said DAP parliamentarian Teresa Kok was not involved in the petition to lower the volume of its loudspeakers.

According to Abdul Rahman Nasir (left), who is head of the mosque ommittee, Kok had never set foot in Masjid Kinrara to present the residents’ petition.

Kok, who is Selangor senior exco member, was arrested under the Internal Security Act yesterday ostensibly for her role in the controversy.

Former Selangor Menteri Besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo has earlier alleged that Kok, who is Kinrara state representative, of submitting the petition calling for the mosque to “tone down” the azan (the call to prayers).

Mohd Khir caused a stir when he was quoted as having warned the Pakatan Rakyat-led Selangor government against issuing directives against the use of loudspeakers by mosques and suraus (community prayer hall) for purposes of the azan.

“This matter has been allowed to proceed because DAP supporters have lately become big headed. Do not poke at the hornet’s nest lest you regret it forever,” he was quoted as saying.

Early this week, Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia has picked on Khir Toyo’s comment and highlighted the issue in one of its opinion column.

Kok has strenously denied organising any such petitions. Two days ago, Kota Raja MP Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud of PAS lodged a police report against Mohd Khir for misrepresenting the issue.

But Siti Mariah’s effort did not save Kok from being nabbed under the tough ISA law, which allows for detention without trial.

Furthermore, the residents who lodged the petition to begin with has come out to clarify that the petition was NOT to lower the volume of the loudspeakers for the azan, but for the hour-long ceramahs that are follow prayer times.

So we have various parties willingly coming out to provide evidence to refute Khir Toyo’s and subsequently, Utusan Malaysia’s report of the issue, and yet, they still took Teresa Kok away.

So when is a non-problem not a non-problem? When you have batu api who is hell-bent on making problems to cling on to power. Nationalist my foot.

And on RPK, I was told that the ‘offensive’ post was this one. So how does this insult Islam? I’d say it insults Islam Hadhari more than anything else. You know what they say, siapa yang makan cili, dia yang terasa pedasnya. At the end of the day, there are existing laws to deal with speech that certain segments of society may be offended with. Why use the ISA?

So what can we do?

1) Pray for peace.
2) Don’t forward rumours unchecked.
3) Pour your outrage into public forums like the MSMs, blogs, everywhere.
4) Show support where you can. Donate to groups fighting to abolish the ISA, the political parties you believe can make a difference. Attend vigils where possible.
5) Involve yourself by doing a bit of research – a lot of emotions have been stirred up by hearsay.

And for a context on how harmful Ahmad Ismail’s ‘squatter’ comment can be, yes, the same Ahmad Ismail who is free to roam about the country for his ‘roadshow’, read this: “Always a tiff on squatting”.

Auditor: Balkis never submitted accounts
Apr 28, 08 8:58pm

The external auditors appointed to go through and verify the accounts of the Wives of Selangor Assemblymen and MPs Welfare and Charity Organisation (Balkis) never received any documents from them for auditing last year.

In a statement issued today, chartered accountant Yee Choon Kong said Balkis failed to send in its financial records for last year including bank statements, official receipt books, payment vouchers, supporting documents, fixed deposit receipts, minutes of meetings, details of membership and subscription list.

“My firm, on a number of occasions, had called Balkis treasurer Suraimi Haji Sapuan to request them to send in (these documents) to our office to enable us to conduct the annual financial audit in respect of the financial year ending Dec 31, 2007.

“Our calls to the treasurer remain unanswered and thereby confirm that the financial statements of Balkis remain unaudited. Neither have I issued a signed audit report (for last year) nor have I finalised Balkis accounts before its funds were transferred,” he explained.

khir toyo 181207The Kuala Lumpur-based audit firm owned by Yee was rebutting former Selangor menteri besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo (left) claims that Balkis’s 2007 accounts had been audited and the organisation had the right to transfer its funds without an auditor’s approval under its constitution.

Read the rest here. MM talks more about it here.

And then there’s more centralisation of funds – from the SEDCs to Mara. There are two questions I would ask: the first and most obvious one is, why discriminate against Pakatan state governments on this matter too (remember the tourism fund fiasco?). The second one would be: one would assume that SEDC funds would be available for the economic development of the state in general, whereas Mara is an organisation whose aims is to develop Bumiputras (unless they have changed their mission statement recently). Upon checking, no, they haven’t:

Objektif: Menggalak, membimbing, melatih dan membantu Bumiputera, khususnya di luar bandar, supaya menyertai dengan aktif dalam kegiatan perdagangan dan perusahaan ke arah membentuk masyarakat usahawan Bumiputera yang berdaya tahan, profesional dan kukuh.

Okay, so what’s going on here?