Civil society ready for regime change in Malaysia
Wednesday, 2 January 2008
Baradan Kuppusamy
As the year draws to a close no solution is visible for Malaysia's worsening ethnic and religious divide, either from the political establishment led by an indecisive Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi nor a judiciary tainted by charges corruptions.
"People are disappointed, disgusted and alienated by the lack of direction and vision and the missing political will to make the tough decisions the country badly needs," said Steven Gan, political commentator and editor of Malaysiakini.com, an independent online news magazine.
"We enter 2008 on a very discordant and very uncertain note," he told IPS.
The year saw two major demonstrations that shook the country, revealing that behind the super highways and gleaming tall buildings that dot the urban areas lurks biting poverty, insecurity and deep alienation.
One protest by urban Malays, on Nov 10, demanded fraud-free elections and a rewriting of policies that presently favour the elite.
The second protest, on Nov 25, by ethnic Indians, a minority that forms eight percent of the population of 26 million, decried what is perceived as official marginalisation and exclusion from socio-economic development.
Instead of sympathy and a willingness to listen harsh police action was unleashed on the protestors, including use of the draconian Internal Security Act that provides for indefinite detention.
Five ethnic Indian leaders are now being held without trial, accused of having links with terrorist organizations such as Sri Lanka's separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) while over 100 others, of all races, have been charged with illegal assembly.
Many were imprisoned for weeks without trial and only released on bail after public anger spiked against the administration's misuse of judicial authority to incarcerate protestors.
Badawi has not offered no evidence to back charges of extremism or terrorism, though the action has been condemned by top opposition leaders. "The harsh police action is clearly intended to cow the public from protesting against government inefficiency and corruption and failure to solve the major problems the country faces," said top opposition leader Lim Kit Siang.
The country is at a crossroads," he told IPS. "There is rampant corruption, no accountability and major promises by Mr Abdullah are not fulfilled. The talk is there but the political will to make the necessary changes is missing."
Political Islam gained throughout the year at the expense of constitutionally guaranteed secular rights and is set to make a bigger impact in 2008 as the Islamisation of Malaysia's multi-ethnic society takes deeper root.
In June the country's highest court ruled that a Muslim cannot opt out of Islam, closing the doors on a tiny group of Muslims who want to convert out of conviction, marriage or migration.
In December the same court ruled that a Hindu woman cannot stop her estranged husband from converting their youngest son to Islam, adding another strain to the social fabric and heightening non-Muslims fears that majority Muslims were trampling on secular rights. The court held that since the husband has converted to Islam he is therefore governed by Islamic or Shariah law.
Conflicting family laws have become an emotional battleground among the country's multi-ethnic communities that may worsen in 2008 as several highly emotional cases come up for hearing.
It is not just Hindus and moderate Muslims who are upset over "creeping Islam" but also the long silent Christian community of 2.5 million adherents, mostly ethnic Indians and Chinese.
Christians have been ordered not to use the Arabic word "Allah" in their publications. One weekly magazine of the Catholic Church has been banned for that reason and many publications with the word were seized by the internal security ministry, headed by Badawi himself.
In a rare protest the church has filed a suit against the government to keep their right to call god "Allah" and to stop the government from seizing Christian text with the word.
More repression lies ahead in 2008, going by a new government policy to disallow any form of public protest and reverse Badawi's "sunshine" policies on dissent while taking power in November 2003.
Government controlled mainstream media is now being unashamedly used to prop up Badawi and the repression he has unleashed against pro-democracy activists and civil society movements.
"We expect the government to resort to more repression in 2008 because it is facing serious setbacks and would suffer badly in the upcoming a general election," said Yap Swee Seng, executive director of SUARAM, a prominent rights NGO. "The public mood is to vote for the opposition especially after the harsh police action against peaceful demonstrations," he told IPS.
The general elections in 2008 are expect to be rough with a shaken administration facing angry voters, unhappy with the lack of direction and political will to solve not just contentious issues but also ordinary problems like rampant crime, corruption and mismanagement of public resources.
Opposition icon Anwar Ibrahim has publicly urged Badawi to investigate the root causes of the country's malaise, from disrespect for human rights to a slowing economy and rising ethnic tension.
"Don't treat the bark when the roots need remedy," he told supporters at a recent opposition rally. "Show the leadership and vision, walk the talk."
That's exactly what Badawi has been struggling to get right for the best part of 2007 but with mixed results. On the political front he has not succeeded in closing the widening gap between the races. On the economic side foreign direct investment has slowed dramatically and his "regional growth corridors" for the north, east, and south of the country -- sold as the final solution to the economic malaise -- have not taken off in the way it was intended.
Badawi said last month he needs another five-year term to carry out all his plans to success but increasingly voters are not buying it.
"I know voting for the opposition is not going to solve the country's malaise but it will tell Mr Abdullah that we are unhappy with his administration," said Vincent Wong, a retired engineer at an opposition forum last week.
"We want to send him a message -- 2008 is when we do it," he said as the crowd of 800 people applauded.
IPS
As the year draws to a close no solution is visible for Malaysia's worsening ethnic and religious divide, either from the political establishment led by an indecisive Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi nor a judiciary tainted by charges corruptions.
"People are disappointed, disgusted and alienated by the lack of direction and vision and the missing political will to make the tough decisions the country badly needs," said Steven Gan, political commentator and editor of Malaysiakini.com, an independent online news magazine.
"We enter 2008 on a very discordant and very uncertain note," he told IPS.
The year saw two major demonstrations that shook the country, revealing that behind the super highways and gleaming tall buildings that dot the urban areas lurks biting poverty, insecurity and deep alienation.
One protest by urban Malays, on Nov 10, demanded fraud-free elections and a rewriting of policies that presently favour the elite.
The second protest, on Nov 25, by ethnic Indians, a minority that forms eight percent of the population of 26 million, decried what is perceived as official marginalisation and exclusion from socio-economic development.
Instead of sympathy and a willingness to listen harsh police action was unleashed on the protestors, including use of the draconian Internal Security Act that provides for indefinite detention.
Five ethnic Indian leaders are now being held without trial, accused of having links with terrorist organizations such as Sri Lanka's separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) while over 100 others, of all races, have been charged with illegal assembly.
Many were imprisoned for weeks without trial and only released on bail after public anger spiked against the administration's misuse of judicial authority to incarcerate protestors.
Badawi has not offered no evidence to back charges of extremism or terrorism, though the action has been condemned by top opposition leaders. "The harsh police action is clearly intended to cow the public from protesting against government inefficiency and corruption and failure to solve the major problems the country faces," said top opposition leader Lim Kit Siang.
The country is at a crossroads," he told IPS. "There is rampant corruption, no accountability and major promises by Mr Abdullah are not fulfilled. The talk is there but the political will to make the necessary changes is missing."
Political Islam gained throughout the year at the expense of constitutionally guaranteed secular rights and is set to make a bigger impact in 2008 as the Islamisation of Malaysia's multi-ethnic society takes deeper root.
In June the country's highest court ruled that a Muslim cannot opt out of Islam, closing the doors on a tiny group of Muslims who want to convert out of conviction, marriage or migration.
In December the same court ruled that a Hindu woman cannot stop her estranged husband from converting their youngest son to Islam, adding another strain to the social fabric and heightening non-Muslims fears that majority Muslims were trampling on secular rights. The court held that since the husband has converted to Islam he is therefore governed by Islamic or Shariah law.
Conflicting family laws have become an emotional battleground among the country's multi-ethnic communities that may worsen in 2008 as several highly emotional cases come up for hearing.
It is not just Hindus and moderate Muslims who are upset over "creeping Islam" but also the long silent Christian community of 2.5 million adherents, mostly ethnic Indians and Chinese.
Christians have been ordered not to use the Arabic word "Allah" in their publications. One weekly magazine of the Catholic Church has been banned for that reason and many publications with the word were seized by the internal security ministry, headed by Badawi himself.
In a rare protest the church has filed a suit against the government to keep their right to call god "Allah" and to stop the government from seizing Christian text with the word.
More repression lies ahead in 2008, going by a new government policy to disallow any form of public protest and reverse Badawi's "sunshine" policies on dissent while taking power in November 2003.
Government controlled mainstream media is now being unashamedly used to prop up Badawi and the repression he has unleashed against pro-democracy activists and civil society movements.
"We expect the government to resort to more repression in 2008 because it is facing serious setbacks and would suffer badly in the upcoming a general election," said Yap Swee Seng, executive director of SUARAM, a prominent rights NGO. "The public mood is to vote for the opposition especially after the harsh police action against peaceful demonstrations," he told IPS.
The general elections in 2008 are expect to be rough with a shaken administration facing angry voters, unhappy with the lack of direction and political will to solve not just contentious issues but also ordinary problems like rampant crime, corruption and mismanagement of public resources.
Opposition icon Anwar Ibrahim has publicly urged Badawi to investigate the root causes of the country's malaise, from disrespect for human rights to a slowing economy and rising ethnic tension.
"Don't treat the bark when the roots need remedy," he told supporters at a recent opposition rally. "Show the leadership and vision, walk the talk."
That's exactly what Badawi has been struggling to get right for the best part of 2007 but with mixed results. On the political front he has not succeeded in closing the widening gap between the races. On the economic side foreign direct investment has slowed dramatically and his "regional growth corridors" for the north, east, and south of the country -- sold as the final solution to the economic malaise -- have not taken off in the way it was intended.
Badawi said last month he needs another five-year term to carry out all his plans to success but increasingly voters are not buying it.
"I know voting for the opposition is not going to solve the country's malaise but it will tell Mr Abdullah that we are unhappy with his administration," said Vincent Wong, a retired engineer at an opposition forum last week.
"We want to send him a message -- 2008 is when we do it," he said as the crowd of 800 people applauded.
IPS