sedition……seditious…..senseless

The law was introduced by the British in 1948, the same year that the autonomous Federation of Malaya came into being, with the intent of curbing opposition to colonial rule (Wikipedia).

Section 4 of the Sedition Act specifies that anyone who “does or attempts to do, or makes any preparation to do, or conspires with any person to do” an act with seditious tendency, such as uttering seditious words, or printing, publishing or importing seditious literature, is guilty of sedition. It is also a crime to possess a seditious publication without a “lawful excuse”.

In 2006, the DAP, which had been a vocal opponent of the Sedition Act and the Internal Security Act (ISA), filed a police report against UMNO, whose annual general assembly had been noted for its heated rhetoric, with delegates making statements such as “Umno is willing to risk lives and bathe in blood to defend the race and religion. Don’t play with fire. If they (non-Malays) messed with our rights, we will mess with theirs.”

It is a real shame and most tragic that in the past 10 days since the 13GE results, there had been a spike of the most racist and seditious speeches by former holders of high public office like Mohd Noor and the former Director-General of Education and now Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) pro-chancellor Abdul Rahman Arshad who made the seditious call for the abolition of Chinese and Tamil vernacular schools (Lim Kit Siang’s online blog)

The Teja assemblyperson Chang Lih Kang claimed that, National Security Council (Perak) assistant secretary Abdul Rahim Abdul Karim had incited hatred against non-Malays in his opening speech at the Gopeng National Primary School Parent-Teacher Association’s AGM on March 24, 2012. “The Chinese and Indians were brought in by British colonists only as workers and they do not have the right to claim any privileges. Do not play with fire and do not challenge,” he had allegedly said.

Deputy public prosecutor Noorin Badarudin, in her written submission, said the provisions under Article 10 of the federal constitution were not an absolute right. “Parliament has the power to pass laws to restrict the right of the said freedom,” she said, adding that Uthayakumar was properly charged with an offence under a valid law. “The Sedition Act is an act which has been legislated by Parliament with the intention of protecting public order and security of the country,” she said…..(HRP blog)

Former Keadilan vice-president Marina Yusoff was fined RM5,000 today by the Butterworth Sessions Court after she was found guilty of making a “seditious” speech shortly before the 1999 general elections. She was accused of saying: “I would like to remind the Malays, the Chinese and the Indians, the cause of May 13 was Umno, it was Umno that began to kill the Chinese because Umno in Selangor had lost. (Malaysiakini.com)

In 1998, Lim Guan Eng (now Penang Chief Minister) was found guilty of sedition for accusing the Attorney-General of failing to properly handle a case involving the Melaka Chief Minister who had been charged with statutory rape of a schoolgirl. In 2003, the then deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi  openly said that those who opposed the change in educational policy of teaching science and mathematics in English would be charged with sedition.

In March 2006, a minister in the Prime Minister’s department threatened non-Muslims with the sedition charge if they make comments or write articles on Islam. In August 2007, a student studying abroad was threatened with the sedition charge for a six-minute rap video that portrayed socio-political realities of Malaysia. The Government said the video touched on racially-sensitive issues. In November, three members of a Hindu rights groups (HINDRAF) were arrested under the Sedition Act for planning a rally that called for Indians to submit a memorandum to the British High Commission.   May 8, blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin was arrested and charged with sedition over an article on a murder case implicating the then deputy prime minister. (NECF online)

“ARTICLE 19 fully supports Zunar in his efforts to seek damages from the Malaysian government. We recommend that the High Court sanction his wrongful arrest and detention and immediately lift the ban on all of his publications,” said Dr Agnes Callamard, ARTICLE 19 Executive Director. “Ahead of anticipated elections in Malaysia later this year, Zunar’ s case  calls into question the government’s commitment to bolster free speech,” continued Dr Callamard.

ARTICLE 19 is deeply concerned about the continued use of restrictive legislation to silence legitimate, creative forms of political expression in Malaysia. Zunar was initially arrested under the Sedition Act 1948, government officials later claimed that he had also violated the Printing Presses and Publications Act. Both offenses carry punishment of up to three years’ imprisonment and/or fines. (Refworld)

[ARTICLE 19 is an international human rights organisation which defends and promotes freedom of expression and freedom of information all over the world.]

Malaysia Daily Blog: According to a civil liberties lawyer, Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali’s speech on the Allah issue on Saturday was a hate speech and contravened the Penal Code and Sedition Act.On Saturday, Ibrahim had called upon Muslims to seize and burn copies of Bibles which contained the term “Allah” or other Arabic religious words.

“Muslims must unite to protect their religion. They must seize those Bibles, including the Malay editions, which contained the term Allah and other Arabic religious terms, and burn them.“This is the way to show our anger against disrespect to our sensitivity,” he told a press conference after delivering his presidential speech at a Perkasa convention held in UiTM campus in Permatang Pauh, Penang.

Associated Press KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) – Malaysian authorities detained three anti-government figures, charged a student activist with sedition and seized hundreds of opposition newspapers Thursday, raising political tensions after recent national elections triggered claims of fraud. Opposition activists have staged numerous peaceful demonstrations since the May 5 general elections, which the National Front coalition won with a weakened parliamentary majority. The activists insist the coalition, which has governed since 1957, retained power through bogus ballots and other irregularities, though Prime Minister Najib Razak and electoral authorities deny manipulating the results. (News9. com)

Arul: Defeat has rejuvenated PSM

Nation

by Meena Lakshana

FZ.COM/Izwan

FZGRAPHICS

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  Arutchelvan looks at the performance of PSM in GE13 as a positive sign for the future.

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  Arutchelvan is disappointed that the work done by PSM members over the past five years did not translate to votes.

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SEMENYIH (May 14): Despite a crushing defeat at the May 5 national polls, Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) is stronger than ever, with a growing support base of Chinese and Malay youths.

 

Now that polls fever has subsided, PSM secretary-general S Arutchelvan told fz.com, the growing support for the party has only emboldened them to work harder and shore up support from the young as well as leftist groups in the country eager to see the emergence of a third force in the country’s political landscape.

 

“PSM did not feel defeated, we feel rejuvenated. In the next one month, I will be going to Perlis and Malacca, where we have two new Malay groups who want to join PSM,” he said.

 

“There is a left Malay group in Kedah which also wants to join us. There are a lot of Chinese NGOs and young Chinese people very interested in the PSM ideology.

 

“They feel they cannot get a concrete ideology from Pakatan (Rakyat). They want something deeper,” he added.

 

He said talks have already begun over increasing the party’s branches in the areas it contested in previous elections.

 

“Our online membership registration shows that the highest number is among the Malays,” he added.

 

However, as Barisan Nasional (BN) is still in control of Putrajaya and the fight to remove the ruling coalition from the seat of power is still present, Arutchelvan is skeptical if the emergence of a third force in the current political scenario is warranted.

 

Losses and pains

 

PSM had defended its Sungai Siput parliamentary seat and Kota Damansara state seat in the 13th General Election.

 

The party had also decided to stand in the Semenyih and Jelapang state seats, which the party had previously contested in the 2008 General Election.

 

It only managed to retain its Sungai Siput Parliamentary and suffered crushing losses in the other seats. (See graphic below)

 

Arutchelvan said a meeting with party heads last Friday revealed that PSM’s losses were due to a mixture of factors, not solely because of multi-cornered fights in the state seats.

 

He said voters had chosen to disregard all the work that PSM had done in those constituencies in favour of Pakatan candidates.

 

“We have to acknowledge that the amount of work PSM carried out did not translate into votes,” he said.

 

“Our conclusion is that there was a general wave of people wanting to change the government that did not take into account the work done. All that mattered was Pakatan winning over BN,” he added.

 

He illustrated this with the experience in Jelapang, where PSM candidate M Sarasvathy stood against DAP’s Teh Hock Ke and MIC’s Mokan Supramaniam.

 

Sarasvathy had carried out work in the constituency for the past five years, after elected DAP representative Hee Yit Foong had ditched the party and became an independent.

 

Sarasvathy, also known to members as Saras, had stood in the 2008 general election as an independent candidate.

 

One of the projects she had worked on was the construction of a pedestrian bridge near the Pusing Secondary School in the constituency, as there were accidents involving schoolchildren after a highway was built near the school.

 

“Children could not cross the road; there were a lot of accidents and so on, at the highway. So Saras did a huge campaign to get an overhead bridge built. She had a signature drive, brought people to Kuala Lumpur and finally RM1.5 million was allocated for the bridge,” said Arutchelvan.

 

“So on election day, people had to cross that bridge to vote at the school. She only got 43 votes out of 1,500 people in that area.

 

“It was shocking for us. We always thought the work we had done would have brought us votes. It’s quite sad this happened,” he added.

 

In general, said Arutchelvan, the Malays and Indians did not overwhelmingly vote for PSM, even in Sungai Siput, where there was a straight fight.

 

“In Sungai Siput, the Malay and Indian votes decreased. So we feel this is an important indicator. While we talk about election fraud, the Malay votes and Indian votes did not overwhelmingly come to Pakatan.

 

“Even in Semenyih, the Malay votes did not increase, even for (PKR candidate) Hamidi (A Hasan). The Malay votes I got, including Hamidi’s, were as depressing as last election’s results.

 

“We cannot just ignore this, we have to work harder. We can’t just talk about election fraud,” he added.

 

On Pakatan’s performance in the May 5 polls, Arutchelvan said the coalition had grossly underestimated the impact of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib’s Razak’s handouts in rural areas.

 

“We thought it didn’t work but it did have an impact to a certain extent. So Pakatan’s pledges, while attractive, did not tangibly reach the people. BN were giving a lot of things,” he said.

 

“There was a sense of over-confidence and arrogance (in Pakatan). Some of them were already talking about ministerial positions and who would become menteri besar of Negeri Sembilan even though they hadn’t captured power.

 

“They were also not united, as indicated by the seven seats where they had multiple candidates. It would never have happened in BN,” he said.

 

He also said there is some truth to the Chinese tsunami as a lot of overseas Chinese Malaysians has returned to vote, although it is not the main reason for Pakatan’s failure to attain Putrajaya.

 

“The Pakatan machinery could not penetrate rural areas. PAS also did not perform that well in rural areas.

 

“But the real problem in the general election is gerrymandering, where a small constituency has one seat. That needs to be resolved,” he added.

 

The way forward

 

PSM is set to have its central committee meeting from June 28 to 30.

 

Among the issues on the main agenda for discussion is the party’s relationship with the Pakatan coalition, building its brand as a political party to improve its profile and recruiting young blood to its fold.

 

Arutchelvan said members have called for a review of PSM’s relationship with Pakatan, after coalition members PKR, PAS and DAP had ‘bullied’ PSM in the polls by placing its own candidates in the seats PSM was contesting.

 

“PSM is going to write a letter to PAS and (party president Datuk Seri Abdul) Hadi Awang over what their perception is of us. Also, we are not happy with what happened in Kota Damansara, because PKR was working with PAS in Kota Damansara,” he said.

 

PSM members had said PKR members were helping the campaign instigated by PAS Subang members in Kota Damansara, despite PAS secretary general Datuk Mustafa Ali’s orders for the party to cease all campaign efforts for its candidate Ridzuan Ismail after his withdrawal from the race.

 

Arutchelvan said PSM is friendly towards Pakatan in its struggle for change, and to show its commitment PSM member A Sivarajan and Arutchelvan would relinquish their posts as councillors in the Shah Alam City Council (MBSA) and Kajang Municipal Council (MPKj) respectively.

 

“We also want Pakatan to be committed in implementing local government elections. They also must ensure the coalition has a common logo in the next election,” he said.

 

Meanwhile, PSM is supporting election watchdog Bersih’s move to set up a people’s tribunal to investigate electoral fraud.

 

“There were cases of electoral fraud, but I’m not sure about the extent of it. I mean people were saying there were 100,000 foreigners. I don’t believe that unless they can give evidence.

 

“In Semenyih, I know of two cases where people wanted to vote, but found out that others had voted in their names already,” he added.

 

He also said PSM needs to market itself better to resonate with its growing support.

 

“The feedback we received from young people is that they feel we are very bad in marketing ourselves. They say that is our weakness.

 

“So in this coming Congress, we are going to discuss how to boost our membership. Currently, only very serious people are joining us because they think we are a serious party, very determined.”

 

Arutchelvan said the main challenge for the party now is to raise its profile.

 

“We have always been a grassroots-based party, close to the people. I think we have our own prominent people like (KS) Bawani. But the party does not believe in marketing individuals.

 

“Now, we have to make the branding attractive to young people. I don’t know how we are going to solve it,” he added.

 

Arul is the winnable candidate, says Wong Chin Huat (Mandarin version)

 

 

 

Arul is the winnable candidate, says Chin Huat

Wong Chin Huat is a Malaysian political scientist,  a political activist and a columnist. He is very supportive of Arul, the PSM candidate for N24 DUN Semenyih for the work Arul has done among the poor and marginalised as well as his contribution in fighting for democratic space in Malaysia since 20 years ago.

Today, 3 May 2013, Chin Huat hell also be giving his speech along with Dato Ambiga and many other activists such as Edmond Bon and Haris Ibrahim at the public forum organised by PSM. It’s the FINAL CALL to the Semenyih voters.

In his election forecast for Semenyih, Dr. Wong Chin Huat believes the results would be favorable to Arul.

Semenyih comprises of 52% Malay ethnic group, followed by 25% Chinese and the remaining 19% are Indians and other ethnic groups. His forecast is based on the fact that Arul is one of the well known leaders of PSM, who  frequently gets Tamil press attention   and he also has support from some MIC leaders. As such, his forecast that at-least 16% of the Indian vote will go to Arul and the remaining 3% will be shared by PKR and BN. 

Based on the assumption that Semenyih is a strong hold of UMNO, PSM and PKR is expected to win about 23% of the Malay vote. Arul’s leadership is well admired and he has supporters among the PR and Bersih leadership. Even, the vice-President of PAS, Mat Sabu, Bersih chairperson Ambiga, Pak Samad, Elizabeth Wong of PKR and Hamidi’s (PKR candidate) niece, Rara Osman have declared their support to Arul as the best candidate. Therefor, Chin Huat’s prediction is, Arul will have more Malay votes than Hamidi, which is about 13%.

His conclusion, Barisan Nasional to receive 35% votes combining 33% Malay  and 2% Indian and other ethnic group votes. Arul will get about 16% of the Indian and other ethnic group votes and adding 13% of Malay votes will give him a total of 29%. Meanwhile Hamidi with only 10% Malay votes and about 1% other ethnic votes will leave him far behind at 11%.

If 5% of the Chinese votes goes to BN, the remaining 20% will focus on voting Arul, which means Arul will win with 49% majority compare to 39% for BN. PSM has always been loyal to Pakatan Rakyat and they have even applied to join PR.

Arul has also pledged to the voters in Semenyih which carries 12 points“Aku Janji”  or My Promises, one of which is ‘will not join BN if I won the election’. The voters has the right to summon him in court if he fails to keep his promises. 

If the 20% Chinese votes focus on PKR, then PKR would get total of 31% votes. Nevertheless PKR cannot defeat BN that would have 39% votes. At the end, BN would win.

Voters in Semenyih are very lucky as they have one of the best and a winnable candidate to vote for.

Released by,
PSM Media Semenyih