IGP: It’s a crime to attend Marxism course Police will take action against members of the public who attend a course on Marxism organised by Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM), warned inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar.
“It’s not just the organisers, but participants who attend the (Marxism) course, which is against the law, will also have action taken against them by the police,” Khalid tweeted today.
Illegal? Show us in black-and-white, Marxism course organiser tells IGP
BY A. RUBAN
KUALA LUMPUR, Mar 2 ― Instead of tweeting about it, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar should issue a formal statement to convey what is wrong with holding a course on Marxism, its organiser said today.
Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) central committee member S. Arutchelvan said issuing statements through the microblogging platform was inappropriate as the organiser and the participants deserved to know what laws they were in danger of breaking.
“The police cannot ban an event through Twitter. He should use the proper procedure, like a notice or a letter,” Arutchelvan told Malay Mail Online when contacted for response to the IGP’s latest remark.
Khalid had previously tweeted that the police will act against the organiser if it went ahead with its crash course on Marxism March 20 at the Petaling Jaya Cultural Hall in Selangor.
Earlier today, he issued another warning, again through Twitter that it was against the law to even attend the course and the police would act against not just the organiser but participants too.
Arutchelvan said it was unfair for the police to issue a public statement banning the event without notice.
He added that a police officer had contacted him earlier today to arrange to record his statement on March 11 and made no mention of a ban or punitive measures if PSM proceeded with its Marxism course as scheduled.
“Let him give us something in black-and-white and then we will contemplate on taking legal action against the ban because I don’t see any laws that is being violated from organising the event,” he said.
Arutchelvan also questioned the rationale in banning the Marxism crash course when the subject was taught in schools and universities, and books about it were also readily available.
“What is he going to do next? Ban all books on Marxism at libraries also?” he asked.
He added that PSM’s course on Marxism was purely for educational purposes and had nothing to do with current political affairs in the country.
Marxism is the socioeconomic theory based on the teachings of German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, but is often conflated with the Marxism-Leninism political philosophy that is often tied to communist regimes.
Civil liberties lawyer Syahredzan Johan told Malay Mail Online that he was puzzled by the IGP’s Twitter remark that it was illegal for anyone to organiser or attend a course on Marxism in the country.
“I honestly cannot think of any laws a person can be prosecuted or punished for attending or organising a Marxism course.
“Or maybe the police would act on them by saying that the course promotes terrorism or something like that,” Syahredzan said when contacted for comment.
Khalid has promised stern action against anyone who takes part in the March 20 Marxism course, whether it is the organiser or participant.
In his warning today, he wrote in Malay: “Not just the organiser, participants who attend this course is going against the law and action will also be taken by @PDRMsia” but did not elaborate on which law they were in danger of breaking.
Contacted for clarification later, Khalid told Malay Mail Online in a brief WhatsApp text message to ask him again in a press conference.
IGP’s cold war mentality brings shame to Malaysia
The IGP’s assertion that PSM’s planned crash course on Marxism as an attempt to revive communism is an utter disgrace to the Malaysian Police as well as Malaysia in general.
DAPSY is against any efforts to revive communism, but the IGP’s shallow attempt at smearing healthy debate and discussion of Marxism as propagating communism and his order to shut down free thought – a clearly fascist practice – he himself has shown fascist tendencies.
In this age of rising and grave economic inequality, a diagnosis accurately hypothesised one and a half century ago by Marx, with more and more of his documented thoughts and predictions becoming reality, the counter Capitalistic thoughts of Marx should be debated and discussed.
The war of ideologies fell together with the Berlin Wall. The healthy and adversarial contestation of political ideas of governance between the left and the right is for Politicians and policy makers, and definitely not for the Police to play any part in.
The IGP needs to wake up from his cold-war mentality and return the reality of 2016, where forces from both the political left and the right must unite to fight extremism. As the head of the police, such ludicrous statements cannot and must not be tolerated.
I have just had a meeting with over 200 youths, representing more than 60 organisations from more than 50 countries; ALL who commented on the revelation of the Malaysian IGP’s senseless statement expressed astonishment and condemnations.
The IGP has no place to dictate to the people what political ideology to subscribe to. His assertion is clearly a political attack against PSM and proponents of the counter capitalistic movement; revealing his allegiance to the ruling regime whose very existence counts on the thriving of crony capitalism.
As president of IUSY, the world’s largest youth political organisation in the world, but first and foremost as the International Secretary of DAPSY Malaysia, I condemn the IGP’s feckless and reckless abuse of power in stifling Malaysian’s freedom of healthy political discourse. I call for his immediate resignation, and immediate withdrawal of such backwards and oppressive intentions and potential actions.
Howard Lee Chuan How
DAPSY INTERNATIONAL SECRETARY & SA FOR PASIR PINJI
Against law to attend Marxism course, IGP tells would-be participants
KUALA LUMPUR, March 2 — National police chief Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar warned Malaysians against attending a Marxism course organised by Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) later this month, saying it is against the law.
The inspector-general of police had previously promised to take action against the organiser if they went ahead with the planned course.
“Bukan shj Penganjur, Peserta yg hadir Kursus menyalahi Undang2 ini, akan turut diambil tindakan oleh @PDRMsia,” Khalid wrote in Malay on his official Twitter account @KBAB51.
[Translation: “Not just the organiser, participants who attend this course is going against the law and action will also be taken by @PDRMsia”.] However, it is unknown what law the organiser or participants would be violating by attending the course as the IGP did not elaborate.
Khalid had previously tweeted that the police will not allow the Marxism course scheduled for March 20 at the Petaling Jaya Cultural Hall in Selangor.
Marxism is the socioeconomic theory based on the teachings of German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, but is often conflated with the Marxism-Leninism political philosophy that is often tied to communist regimes.
Wan Saiful Wan Jan, chief executive of think tank Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs had previously chided the IGP for warning stern action against the organiser.
He said it was unacceptable to bar ideas or ideologies simply because authorities did not agree with or approve of them.
No go for PSM’s Marxism crash course
KUALA LUMPUR: Police will summon officials of Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) for questioning over a planned crash course on Marxism the party was organising next month.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said today police will not allow the course to be held as it can be seen to be an effort to revive communism.
“We will call up the organisers.” he said on Twitter.
PSM central committee member S. Arutchelvan who replied to Khalid’s tweet said his party was prepared to explain and give its cooperation to police.
“The truth is we have no intentions of reviving communism but only democratic socialism.” he said.
The eight-hour crash course called “Kursus Marxisme Kilat” and planned to be held on March 20 at the PJ Cultural Hall was advertised on PSM’s official website.
Aruchelvan said PSM is a registered political party that supports democracy.
He said police attempts to disallow the course to proceed was an attack on the freedom of speech and an attempt to divert attention from pressing issues faced by the country.
“The course is on (Karl) Marx’s criticism of capitalism, failures of communist countries and other related subjects. It is merely an educational session and these are thought in universities worldwide. The course is not to related or connected to the current state of affairs with Marxism or promote the ideology.” he told theSun.
Arutchelvan said in 2011, in a similar misunderstanding, six PSM members were arrested and detained for treason on suspicion of promoting communism.
He said subsequently the six members were freed and won a legal suit against the police for unlawful detention and were awarded RM200,000 in damages.
Will a critical thinking society ban a course on Marxism?
February 29, 2016
Instead of being hailed as the standard bearers of our Education Blueprint vision to develop the 21st century skills of critical and creative thinking, it seems PSM is being denigrated as the purveyors of subversive teachings.
COMMENT
By Kua Kia Soong
The Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025 claims to “develop 21st century skills such as critical and creative thinking” and further laments that our graduates lack critical thinking and communication skills.
How does this noble intention square with the latest pronouncement by the Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar that he wants to ban a course on Marxism organized by Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM)?
The revival of interest in Marxist analysis
Ever since that most catastrophic crisis of world capitalism in 2008, the revival in interest in Marxist analysis has seen the sales of Das Kapital, Marx’s masterful critique of political economy soar to unprecedented levels. Young people in the West are especially keen to know the source of the capitalist crisis as workers and other taxpayers have bailed out the banks to keep the capitalist system going amidst increasing debt, job insecurity and austerity measures.
Recently, as part of its ‘Masters of Money’ series the BBC looked at the ideas of John Maynard Keynes, Friedrich Hayek and finished by looking at the economic ideas of Karl Marx. The presenter thought there were important insights to be found in Marx, particularly his perspective on the inequality of capitalism and its instability. She also made the observation that Marx’s description of capitalism is truer now than when it was first made, noting the compulsive nature of the drive for profit within the capitalist system that is also the source of periodic crises.
Marx’s theory of surplus-value expounded in Das Capital is his most revolutionary contribution to economic science as well as the materialist interpretation of history. His discovery of the development trends of the capitalist mode of production also constitutes an exposition of recurrent crises of capitalist development.
Although Marxist analyses are now resurfacing in public dialogues about economy and society especially after perhaps capitalism’s worst crisis since the 1930s, Marx and Marxist thought have always been part of the essential curriculum of Social Science courses in the best universities of the world. This is the case in Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge as well as Moscow and Beijing universities. Marx with Weber and Durkheim were the main social thinkers in the Sociology courses at my university in Manchester where Marx and Engels lived and researched much of their analyses of the capitalist mode of production. When I was teaching Sociology at the National University of Singapore in 1978-79, Marx was also an essential part of the curriculum there. I cannot imagine our Malaysian universities banning Marxist thought and analysis from their curricula.
Thus the bright young thinkers in PSM should be congratulated for initiating the discussion of Marxism and the analysis of our challenging times. Instead of being hailed as the standard bearers of our Education Blueprint vision to develop the 21st century skills of critical and creative thinking, it seems they are being denigrated as the purveyors of subversive teachings.
Just as Einstein’s insight into gravitational waves has just been vindicated, let us not forget his well-known admonition that “no problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.” It would be the height of irony and an insult to the government’s Transformation Programme if the content of Malaysia’s Education Blueprint is going to be dictated by the Inspector-General of Police.
Kua Kia Soong is the advisor of SUARAM (Suara Rakyat Malaysia).
Don’t confuse Marxism with communism, IGP told
The inspector-general of police should not confuse Marxism with communism, as the main point of Marxist ideology is the criticism against capitalism, said Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) leader S. Arutchelvan. In a response to Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar’s claim that PSM was attempting to revive communist ideologies through a course on Marxism scheduled for next month, Arutchelvan said the course was open to the public and not held underground. “Among the main topics of the course is Marxism’s criticism on the capitalist system, and also discussions on the failure of iron-fisted communist countries.
“It will also discuss the new phenomenon in England and United States where Jeremy Corbyn from the Labour party and Bernie Sanders, the US Democrat candidate, are among those who supported the Marxist theory and its relevance to the world today,” Arutchelvan said. Khalid tweeted earlier today that the police will not allow the course on Marxism planned for next month and that the organisers will be called up. But Arutchelvan said the warning could be a ploy to divert the people’s attention from the main issues plaguing the country, especially the cracks in Umno and the worsening economy. “This again is an attack on our democratic rights and freedom of speech. “Malaysia’s history is full of scripts where the left wing is always victimised every time the country’s leadership is facing a crisis. “PSM will fight this wild allegation,” he said, adding that they would give their cooperation to the police if called up. Arutchelvan said that this was not the first time the party was branded with spreading communism, adding that in 2011, 6 of their members were detained for a month over the charge under the Emergency Ordinance. “They were all released without being charged. “PSM then sued the police for making the allegation and in the end, the government had to pay us RM200,000 in compensation after admitting to their mistake,” he said. The Kuala Lumpur High Court in October 2013 ordered the government to pay the six PSM members held RM200,000 in settlement of the lawsuit filed by them over false imprisonment and misfeasance. The six were detained on June 25, 2011 on charges of treason against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, and were released on July 2 when their remand period expired. They were again arrested under the (now repealed) Emergency Ordinance and freed 27 days later. In the March 23, 2012 suit, Sungai Siput MP Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj, M. Sukumaran, A. P. Letchumanan, Choo Chon Kai, M. Saraswathy and R. R. Sarat Babu had named 82 defendants, including IGP Khalid and his deputy, the government, the Home Ministry, the attorney-general, a deputy public prosecutor, as well as 60 police officers. – February 28, 2016.
Puan Nor Hazliza dari Kajang mempunyai 4 orang anak (berumur 1-8 tahun) dengan pendapatan bulanan kurang dari RM1,500 berkata bahwa sewa rumah telah meningkat, harga pampers, susu, ayam dan sebagainya sudah naik, tambang bas sekolah sudah naik – macamana kerajaan sanggup mencukai orang miskin macam saya? Selain BRIM, kerajaan harus kenalkan catuan makanan (food ration) untuk membolehkan keluarga miskin mendapat makanan asas percuma setiap bulan, katanya. Melihat keadaan rumah beliau yang hanya ada perkara asas seperti dapur, tilam dan peti sejuk yang masih belum habis dibayar hutang, langsung tak merungut. Cuma harapkan kerajaan lebih prihatin dengan golongan berpendapatan rendah.
Encik Lim Sue Goan telah menulis satu artikel (diterbitkan oleh Malay Mail online) mengenai jurang kaya miskin yang semakin besar di Malaysia. Beliau merujuk kepada 2 berita terkini yang dilaporkan iaitu:
Anjung Kiri 