This is some of my personal thoughts that could put me in a very dangerous position in Malaysia. Please have some moment to reflect on the oppressed expression of a tiny individual who seems helpless in acting in other ways to improve things.

Thursday, July 29, 2004

I've been thinking a lot about this...

There's a lot going on my mind these days. However, this one sticks like a leech hanging on dearly eating for his life. Steven Gan - Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Malaysiakini.com, said it well, " Malaysia is an illiberal democracy. We have freedom of speech, but no freedom after speech. We have freedom of movement, but no freedom of assembly. We have a plethora of publications, but no press freedom".

The escalating high cost of living aggravated by the unscrupulous business community, fear of retribution by the ruling government hindering people from saying their piece of mind, sad state of social and community services, capitalistic and materialistic chase of individuals making human beings less human etc. Oh, my, what happened to this place I call home.

The American have the First Ammendment, as we, Malaysian have the Part P of the Federal Constitution entitled "Fundamental Liberties". But do we really have those? At least the American have a website on Freedom of Speech in the U.S. We have none! Malaysians have no place to turn to.

Part P of the Malaysian Constitutions have these guaranteed:-
Article 5 - Life and Liberty of the Person.
Article 6 - Prohibition of Slavery and forced labour
Article 7 - Protection against retrospective criminal and repeated trials.
Article 8 - Equality.
Article 9 - Prohibition of Banishment and freedom of movement.
Article 10 - Freedom of speech, assembly and association.
Article 11 - Freedom of religion.
Article 12 - Right to education.
Article 13 - Right to property.

What about Suhakam? Other than some short press releases and colorful hand-outs, nothing else seems to have come out proper from this group of jokers. What else could you expect when it is being manned by people who are making their living on the ruling party's hand-out. As long as the ruling party is being led by the phantom and the living devil, my hope is as good as none.

Tommy Thomas, a leading constitutional lawyer in Malaysia, quoting from his own article ‘Human Rights in 21st Century Malaysia’, Insaf, The Journal of the Malaysian Bar, XXX, No. 2, June 2001, pp. 91 – 106; writing in Aliran online, a nice article titled 'Human Rights in 21st Century Malaysia'. This further compound my mind. Urghhhhh!

Here's some beautiful quotes that will send this people to Kamunting, if they are living in Malaysia at this time of the day.

So, what's next other that just having my grouses on this log? Well, other than praying that the Creater would help in improving things, I do hope for mankind to contribute as well. Right now, I just have no way to start. Every limb of my body seems to have paralysed.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home