CAN HE REFORM THE POLICE? - aliran.com · Aliran Monthly : Vol.25(5) Page 2 liran welcomes the...

Aliran Monthly : Vol.25(5)

PP3739/12/2005 ISSN 0127 - 5127 / RM4.00 / 2005:Vol.25No.5

CAN HE REFORMTHE POLICE?

CAN HE REFORMTHE POLICE?


liran welcomes the re-lease of the Report of theRoyal Commission toEnhance the Operation

and Management of the RoyalMalaysia Police on 16 May 2005.We congratulate the Commissionmembers for a job well done.

In its 433-page Report, the Com-mission headed by former ChiefJustice, Tun Mohamed DzaiddinAbdullah, has compiled a list ofcomplaints and identified manyof the critical problems that havecontributed towards a widely per-ceived deterioration in the per-formance of the Police. This per-ception, in turn, has resulted ineroding public confidence in thePolice. Many of these complaintsabout police high-handednesshad been voiced previously -through the lodging of police re-ports and/or via submissions toSuhakam - by individuals, groupsand organisations who had beenvictimized. The Bar Council, op-position parties and other criticshad also rallied to the support ofthese aggrieved individuals/groups.

Indeed, some of these complaintsare contained in Suhakam’s An-nual Reports, which unfortu-nately have not been deliberatedupon in Parliament. The main-stream media too have been reluc-tant to report on, let alone investi-gate them. Thus, many of thesecomplaints have not been high-

COVER STORY

Cakap tak serupa bikinIt is time to act, not to conduct more studies

AAAAA

Commission chairperson Dzaiddin


The cover story focuses on the Royal Commissionreport on the police. Aliran welcomes this unprec-edented report and proposes the immediate imple-mentation of the Independent Police Complaintsand Misconduct Commission. We also call for thesetting up of a ‘People’s Task Force’ to monitorwhether deadlines for the reform measures proposedby the Commission are kept.

Ramdas Tikamdas then delves into the nitty grittyof the report, highlighting some of the significantrecommendations as well as shortcomings. We alsocarry an NGO joint statement endorsed by 38 groupscalling for the government to carry out the recom-mendations promptly.

In our back cover story, Koon Yew Yin explains whythere is a dearth of Class A bumiputera contractors.There is no short cut to the top, he says; hard workand the right experience is required. Over in the cen-trefold, Tan Sooi Beng explores the world of OrangAsli music, in particular the Akar Umbi musical col-laboration, involving a ceremonial singer MakMinah Anggong and two non-Orang Asli musi-cians.

John Hilley dissects the doublespeak of the main-stream media. Check out his glossary of terms oftenused in the media and what they really mean. Mean-while, K Haridas responds to Johan Abdullah’s ear-lier piece on the proposed Inter-Religious Council,providing another perspective on the backgroundto the controversy.

Amer Hamzah Arshad highlights the plight of refu-gee children who lack meaningful protection andare denied their basic rights to education and health.Finally, Wong Soak Koon connects us to anothergroup whom we often take for granted - the taxi driv-ers in the capital - and looks at their everyday strug-gles to make ends meet.

C O N T E N T S

Printed by Percetakan Tujuh Lapan Enam Sdn. Bhd.No. 16, Lengkangan Brunei, 55100 Pudu, Kuala Lumpur.

EDITOR'S NOTE

COVER STORYCOVER STORYCOVER STORYCOVER STORYCOVER STORY••••• Cakap tak serupa bikinCakap tak serupa bikinCakap tak serupa bikinCakap tak serupa bikinCakap tak serupa bikin 22222

••••• The real testThe real testThe real testThe real testThe real test 66666

••••• Just do it - nowJust do it - nowJust do it - nowJust do it - nowJust do it - now 1 01 01 01 01 0

FEATURESFEATURESFEATURESFEATURESFEATURES••••• Malaysia's forgotten childrenMalaysia's forgotten childrenMalaysia's forgotten childrenMalaysia's forgotten childrenMalaysia's forgotten children 1 21 21 21 21 2

••••• City Cabs: Klang ValleyCity Cabs: Klang ValleyCity Cabs: Klang ValleyCity Cabs: Klang ValleyCity Cabs: Klang Valley 1 71 71 71 71 7

••••• Akar UmbiAkar UmbiAkar UmbiAkar UmbiAkar Umbi 1 91 91 91 91 9

••••• Homeless in our own homeland...Homeless in our own homeland...Homeless in our own homeland...Homeless in our own homeland...Homeless in our own homeland... 2 32 32 32 32 3

••••• Informed tolerationInformed tolerationInformed tolerationInformed tolerationInformed toleration 2 52 52 52 52 5

••••• Trust, understanding needed forTrust, understanding needed forTrust, understanding needed forTrust, understanding needed forTrust, understanding needed for

inter-religious councilinter-religious councilinter-religious councilinter-religious councilinter-religious council 2 82 82 82 82 8

••••• Media complicity and the economyMedia complicity and the economyMedia complicity and the economyMedia complicity and the economyMedia complicity and the economy

of double-speakof double-speakof double-speakof double-speakof double-speak 3 03 03 03 03 0

••••• Galloway v the US SenateGalloway v the US SenateGalloway v the US SenateGalloway v the US SenateGalloway v the US Senate 3 43 43 43 43 4

••••• Why are there so few successfulWhy are there so few successfulWhy are there so few successfulWhy are there so few successfulWhy are there so few successful

bumiputera contractors?bumiputera contractors?bumiputera contractors?bumiputera contractors?bumiputera contractors? 4 04 04 04 04 0

REGULARSREGULARSREGULARSREGULARSREGULARS••••• LettersLettersLettersLettersLetters 2 72 72 72 72 7

OTHERSOTHERSOTHERSOTHERSOTHERS••••• Subscription FormSubscription FormSubscription FormSubscription FormSubscription Form 2 42 42 42 42 4

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lighted or brought into the publicdomain previously.

Thanks to the setting up of theRoyal Commission by AbdullahBadawi in late 2004, shortly afterhis appointment as the new primeminister, these victims and sup-port groups have been given ahearing. They have had the oppor-tunity to voice their complaintsduring the Commission’s close-door hearings, resulting in theirinclusion in the Royal Commis-sion Report. Such a comprehen-sive listing of complaints againstthe guardians of law and order isunprecedented.

Apart from the complaints, theCommission has made 125 recom-mendations and proposed time-lines for their implementation.Some 80 per cent are to be imple-mented by 2006, many of themeven earlier. There were some glar-ing omissions though - the Reportfailed to focus on the allegedlyindiscriminate shootings of crimi-nal suspects; neither did it probe

the tragic and bloodyKampong Medan kill-ings nor call for the re-peal of the repressiveInternal Security Act(ISA).

That said, the Reportis a monumental andmost welcome initia-tive towards improv-ing the performanceof the Police, resolv-ing the problems ofpublic security, andrestoring confidencein our system of lawand order.

For Aliran - and formany other civil soci-

ety groups - the Commission’smost important recommendationis the setting up of an Independ-ent Police Complaints and Mis-conduct Commission to overseethe performance of the force. Ac-companying this recommenda-tion is a proposed bill that couldbe introduced in the next parlia-mentary session. We strongly rec-ommend that the Executive takethe necessary steps to do just that.

The Commission has outlined 10‘strategic thrusts’ to revitalise theforce. These may be grouped un-der four major areas. For Aliran,the three most critical areas are:1 ) launching a nationwide drive

against crime including up-grading investigative policing;

2) eradicating the menace of po-lice corruption; and

3) ensuring that the police com-ply with prescribed laws andhuman rights obligations in-cluding women’s and chil-dren’s rights.

The remaining thrusts can begrouped together in the fourtharea of modernising the force, im-proving the system of remunera-tion, enhancing human resourcemanagement, upgrading equip-ment and logistics, and providingbetter work premises and housing.

It is significant that we no longerhear or read in the dailies aboutthis monumental Report so soonafter its release. Indeed, publicdiscussion of the Report and its125 recommendations seemed tohave stopped within a week afterthe release of the Report.

On the first few days, all sectorsof society appeared to have wel-comed the Report and its findings.The prime minister himself calledupon the public to ‘accept the re-port in a positive manner.’ He an-nounced that Cabinet had ap-proved the formation of a taskforce - comprising senior officialsfrom the Public Services Depart-ment, the Treasury, Attorney-Gen-eral’s Chambers and the InternalSecurity Ministry - which he him-self would head. Its task wouldbe to decide on how best to carryout the 125 recommendations andto categorise them for immediate,medium and long-term implemen-tation. Some recommendations,he said, were already being imple-mented.

The deputy premier as well asother politicians – BN as well asthe Opposition - also praised thework of the Commission while theInspector-General of Police (IGP)described the Royal CommissionReport as ‘fair and balanced.’Most dailies carried ‘Specials’ onthe contents of the Report whiletheir top editors wrote commen-taries in support of the Commis-

Four main areas


implications of the Commission’srecommendations.’ This resultedin the reversal of several of theCommission’s major recommen-dations. Most notably, whereasthe Athi Nahappan Report hadcalled for the re-instatement of lo-cal government elections, the spe-cial committee recommended thatthese local elections, originallysuspended because of Confronta-tion with Indonesia in 1965, bedone away with!

The people must stand up to re-mind the prime minister of hispromise that the role of the taskforce is to study how to best im-plement the 125 recommenda-tions. The Police force deservesimproved housing, betterpremises, and better remunera-tion. But restoring public secu-rity, ensuring that that the lawis upheld and human rights re-spected, and eliminating policecorruption is of even greater ur-gency. The first step towardspolice reform would be the es-tablishment of the IndependentPolice Complaints and Miscon-duct Commission. Respectedcitizens including retiredjudges, officials, religious lead-ers and members of humanrights NGOs should be invitedto sit on this body.

Aliran proposes that civil societyorganisations also set up theirown ‘People’s Task Force’ tomonitor the one headed by thePM. Its principal task is to remindthe PM’s task force of the dead-lines and to get on with imple-mentation of the reforms. There isno need for further studies. Noneed even for more talk. It’s timeto act. Cakap tak serupa bikin!

sion’s findings. ‘It’s time to act,’one opined, capturing the moodof the mainstream media in thoseearly days.

Various members of the Com-mission also remarked that theyhad been shocked by some of thepublic complaints. But they alsoreminded the public that otherpolice personnel had displayedexemplary conduct and werefriendly and helpful to the pub-lic. The deputy chair of the Com-mission, former IGP Mohd HanifOmar, called for the setting upof ‘mini commissions or com-mittees’ to study and find waysto implement thoroughly theCommission’s recommenda-tions.

Perhaps it was the focus on cor-ruption - in particular, the case ofone former senior police officerwho allegedly had declared assetstotalling RM34 million, a revela-tion that prompted the deputypremier to call upon the police tolook into the matter - that led tothe the sudden downplaying ofthe Report. In fact, there was al-ready some chatter on the Internetpointing out that corruption wasnot just confined to the police.Why not probe the bigger fish, in-cluding the corrupt politicians, aswell?

Or perhaps it was the public’sharping on the need, identified inthe Royal Commission Report, toreplace the existing core values ofthe Police as ‘law enforcers’ with‘a service paradigm’ that triggeredoff the mainstream media’smarginalisation of the issue. Itwas as though some raw nerves

had been touched. For the IGPclearly cautioned that ‘reformsmust not override those core val-ues.’ ‘We wear uniforms and notties when carrying out our duties,’he said. ‘We have to be disciplinedon the job.’

By the end of the week when thereport was released, the newspa-pers were diverted into highlight-ing a story about the police iden-tifying another militant groupoperating in the country - whichturned out to be inaccurate afterall. It was not a militant group buta deviant religious group, itseems. But by then, the Commis-sion’s Report had all but disap-peared from the mainstream me-dia’s radar screen.

Now that the popular call for Po-lice reform has been muted, thefear is that many of the key recom-mendations - especially the needto wipe out corruption, to ensurethat the police comply with lawsand human rights obligations,and to combat crime systemati-cally and seriously - might not re-ceive the attention they deserve.Instead, the focus for reform mightshift to implementing those rec-ommendations on modernisingthe force, improving its remunera-tion system, and providing betterequipment, housing and workpremises.

Recall the case of the Royal Com-mission of Inquiry into the Work-ings of Local Authorities in WestMalaysia, the so-called AthiNahappan Report, 1968. It, too,was an excellent piece of workand its members were roundlycongratulated for a job well done.

A special committee, however,was then appointed ‘to study the

What ’s to de done?

Touching araw nerve?

q


he Royal Commissionentrusted with the dutyto inquire into and makerecommendations in re-

spect of the police force has com-pleted its task by preparing itscomprehensive and far-reachingreport.

The report identifies three majorchallenges, which in fact were thecause of serious public concernthat led to the establishment of theCommission itself. These are:

• The high incidence of crimeand widespread public appre-hension regarding safety.

• Public perception of wide-spread corruption within thepolice force.

• Extensive and consistentabuse of human rights andnon-compliance with pre-scribed laws.

The report acknowledges that theconsequence of these three chal-lenges is that there is a break-down of public trust and confi-dence in the police force which is“generally viewed as inefficient, un-caring, unable to prevent or checkcrime.”It added that “infringementsof human rights are extensive andPDRM is not seen as being transpar-ent or accountable to the public.”

COVER STORY

The real testChallenges and recommendations arising from the RoyalCommission report for police reform

by Ramdas Tikamdas

TTTTT(page 179)

The Commission carried out anindepth study of the inadequaciesand weaknesses of the force andrightly observes that this study isa prerequisite for improvements tobe proposed. Its Mission State-ment is most forward-looking andin line with good governance in ademocracy:

“To TRANSFORM the Royal Ma-laysia Police into a World Class,twenty-first century organisation thatis efficient, clean and trustworthy,dedicated to serving the people andthe nation with integrity and respectfor human rights.”

This is the goal, but first thepresent reality: the problem of en-demic corruption and abuse ofpower are identified as the dou-ble-headed hydra which is theenemy that has to be fought as te-naciously as the Royal MalaysiaPolice fought the Communist in-surgents to protect our peace andstability. On corruption, the report(page 290) states:

“The War against corruption mustbe accorded the highest priority. Thisis because corruption is believed to beextensive, deep rooted and systemic.Political will rather than rhetoric is a

prerequisite.”

And on page 296:

“The drive against corruption can-not be targeted at the police alone. Itmust be targeted at the entire publicservice. The war against corruptionmust cover society at large too, be-cause the givers reside within itsfold.”

On abuse of power, the reportstates (page 302):

“… there is extensive and recurrentabuse of various kinds. They includeapplications by the police for themaximum remand period for suspectsunder the CPC with little attemptmade to complete investigations as


soon as possible; serial remands; fail-ure to hold inquests in cases of custo-dial death (only 6 inquests held on80 custodial deaths from 2001 to2004)…; and numerous denials of ac-cess to counsel on the grounds that itwould interfere with investigations.They all add up to a pattern of con-sistent neglect and abuse of rightswhich appears to have become in-grained in police practices …”

And on page 128, the report statesthat the implementation by thepolice of the law relating to free-dom of speech, assembly and as-sociation is in contravention withthe fundamental liberties ac-corded by the Federal Constitu-tion.

Basically these findings, ex-pressed in sharp and transparentlanguage, confirm what civil so-ciety groups have repeatedlystated. They have often said thisin more temperate language,mindful of manoeuvring deli-cately through the veritable land-mines of our laws, only to findthemselves dismissed as trouble-makers or, worse, drawn into thelong and elastic arms of the law.

As acknowledged in the report it-self on page 122:

“More often than not criticism ismet with denial, defensiveness oreven more discouraging, a threatto investigate and charge the com-plainant of a false complaint re-port.”

The most significant aspect of thereport is in the recommendationsproposed to achieve the MissionStatement. There are 125 recom-mendations. One stands out for

immediate implementation.

1 . Independent Police Com-Independent Police Com-Independent Police Com-Independent Police Com-Independent Police Com-plaints and Misconduct Com-plaints and Misconduct Com-plaints and Misconduct Com-plaints and Misconduct Com-plaints and Misconduct Com-mission (IPCMC)mission (IPCMC)mission (IPCMC)mission (IPCMC)mission (IPCMC)

This is the proposed externaloversight body to be estab-lished pursuant to an Act ofParliament vested with thepowers to receive and investi-gate complaints regarding al-leged police misconduct and toimpose sanctions againstthose found guilty of any mis-conduct.

2. Proposed amendment to S.Proposed amendment to S.Proposed amendment to S.Proposed amendment to S.Proposed amendment to S.117 CPC: Remand procedures117 CPC: Remand procedures117 CPC: Remand procedures117 CPC: Remand procedures117 CPC: Remand procedures

This recommendation pro-vides for the current procedurefor remand for a total period of15 days and the practice of “ar-rest first, investigate later” to bereviewed. The proposal is toallow for remand for a maxi-mum period of no more thanseven days for an arrest with-out warrant and no more than24 hours for an arrest withwarrant. For an arrest with-out warrant, the police mustapply to the Magistrate for fur-ther remand every 48 hoursshould it be necessary, giving

reasons in each case. The de-tained person shall have ac-cess to a lawyer.

3 . Code of practice relating to theCode of practice relating to theCode of practice relating to theCode of practice relating to theCode of practice relating to thearrest and detention of per-arrest and detention of per-arrest and detention of per-arrest and detention of per-arrest and detention of per-sonssonssonssonssons

This proposed code of practiceprovides for an independentCustody Officer who shall beresponsible for the welfare andcustody of every detainee, pro-cedures for police interview in-cluding tape recordings, videosurveillance and access tolawyers.

4. S. 113 CPC - ConfessionsS. 113 CPC - ConfessionsS. 113 CPC - ConfessionsS. 113 CPC - ConfessionsS. 113 CPC - Confessions

The Commission found thatthe present tendency is for po-lice investigation to be not evi-dence–based but confession–basedand this is open to abuse espe-cially since the provision al-lows for the caution statementto be recorded by the policethemselves. The Commissiontherefore recommends that S.113 be repealed. In the mean-time, before its repeal, the pro-posal is that the whole proc-ess of recording the statementof the accused must be tape-re-corded or video-recorded in the

R e c o m m e n d a t i o n s


presence of the accused’s coun-sel.

The Commission recommendsthat it would be better for allstatements or confessions to berecorded by a Magistrate pur-suant to S. 115 CPC. The ac-cused person should also begiven the right to be repre-sented by his counsel when hemakes the statement.

5 . Inquiries into deaths in cus-Inquiries into deaths in cus-Inquiries into deaths in cus-Inquiries into deaths in cus-Inquiries into deaths in cus-todytodytodytodytody

The report views with graveconcern the unacceptable highincidence of deaths in custodyand the failure by the authori-ties to hold inquests beforemagistrates in most of thecases. The report recommends:

• The immediate family of thedeceased to be informed andto be given sufficient time to bepresent at the post mortem.

• Inquiries must be held by amagistrate into all cases ofdeath in custody within onemonth of receiving the reportof death.

• copies of all documents to beused as evidence in such aninquiry should be made avail-able to the deceased’s family,who should be allowed to bepresent at the inquiry.

6. S. 27 Police Act 1967 : Free-S. 27 Police Act 1967 : Free-S. 27 Police Act 1967 : Free-S. 27 Police Act 1967 : Free-S. 27 Police Act 1967 : Free-dom of speech, assembly anddom of speech, assembly anddom of speech, assembly anddom of speech, assembly anddom of speech, assembly andassociationassociationassociationassociationassociation

The Commission’s reaffirma-tion of the principle that “De-mocracy cannot survive nor canit thrive, without freedom ofspeech, assembly and association”is most commendable. The Re-port states that S. 27 of the Po-lice Act 1967 is “bad law” andrecommends that licences forpeaceful assemblies in publicplaces are to be given as a mat-ter of course. Any refusal bythe OCPD must be justifiedwith reasons; and there musta right of appeal to the CPOwhose refusal, if any, must alsobe justified with reasons. Fur-ther, if the OCPD does not re-ply to any application for thelicecse within one week afterthe application is made, it shallbe deemed that the licence isgranted.

No licence is to be required for“any activity” in a private placeand therefore S. 27A, 27B and27C are to be repealed.

These recommendations havesome merit. But it would havebeen better if the Commissionhad considered SUHAKAM’SFreedom of Assembly Report,which proposed amendmentsto the Police Act, Rules & Regu-lations “to require only notifica-tion to the Police on the part of theorganisers, rather than applica-tion for permit to hold assem-blies.”

7. Internal Security ActInternal Security ActInternal Security ActInternal Security ActInternal Security Act

The Report recommends thatthe initial 60-day detention pe-riod under S. 73 of the ISA be

The first real test would be whether the report is tabledand debated in the next parliamentary sitting in Junefor debate by the people’s representatives.

Freedom of assembly must be respected


amended to a 30-day detentionperiod. Further, the arresteddetainee is to be produced be-fore a magistrate within 24hours of arrest and is to be al-lowed access to family mem-bers and counsel within sevendays of arrest. S. 8 of the ISA,which provides for subsequentministerial detention of two-year periods indefinitely, con-tinues.

The Commission’s recommen-dation is unsatisfactory as it le-gitimises preventive detentionwithout trial. The report doesnot consider at allSUHAKAM’s recommenda-tion, which accords a betterbalance between security andpublic order on the one handand fundamental humanrights principles on the other.

SUHAKAM has recommendedthat the ISA be repealed and re-placed with a new comprehen-sive legislation, which dealswith national security includ-ing terrorism. These special of-fences will be listed as sched-uled offences. Under this pro-posed enactment, the policecan detain a person for a maxi-mum of 24 hours, after which

the person must beproduced before aHigh Court Judge.Pursuant to an or-der of the HighCourt, a personmay be further de-tained for maxi-mum periods ofseven days eachtime for a maxi-mum of 29 days.Upon the expiry ofthe 29 days, theperson must either

be released or charged in courtfor the scheduled offence. Thelegislation shall only be inforce for a period of one yearrenewable for one-year peri-ods by authority of Parliament.SUHAKAM's recommenda-tion merits serious considera-tion by Parliament.

8. Repeal of the Restricted Resi-Repeal of the Restricted Resi-Repeal of the Restricted Resi-Repeal of the Restricted Resi-Repeal of the Restricted Resi-dence Act 1933 (RRA) anddence Act 1933 (RRA) anddence Act 1933 (RRA) anddence Act 1933 (RRA) anddence Act 1933 (RRA) andEmergency (Public OrderEmergency (Public OrderEmergency (Public OrderEmergency (Public OrderEmergency (Public OrderAnd Prevention of Crime) Or-And Prevention of Crime) Or-And Prevention of Crime) Or-And Prevention of Crime) Or-And Prevention of Crime) Or-dinances 1969 (EPOPCO)dinances 1969 (EPOPCO)dinances 1969 (EPOPCO)dinances 1969 (EPOPCO)dinances 1969 (EPOPCO)

The Report recommends thatRRA be repealed because re-stricting residence is not prac-tical and action can be takenunder other laws. LikewiseEPOPCO should be repealedbecause it has facilitated theabuse of fundamental liberties.

The report also has some glaringomissions such as the issue of thehigh incidence of persons killedin police shootings. The reportought to have considered interna-tional standards for the use of fire-arms and provided a specificmechanism to deal with this prob-lem.

O m i s s i o n s

Another serious omission was innot inquiring into the role andconduct of the police in respond-ing to the Kampung Medan kill-ings and brutal assaults.

Apart from these omissions, over-all the report is comprehensive,courageous and lives up to its taskin line with the Mission Statement.

The government ought to becommended in instituting theRoyal Commission. Now that thereport has been concluded, the realtest is whether the government hasthe political will to implement therecommendations. The first realtest would be whether the reportis tabled and debated in the nextparliamentary sitting in June fordebate by the people’s representa-tives. Tabling the Bill for the es-tablishment of the IPCMC wouldbe a clear signal of the Govern-ment’s resolve to take the first stepto achieve the Mission Statementexpressed in the report.

The recommendations in the re-port, when implemented, will cer-tainly mark a new chapter in theadministration of justice, law en-forcement and the rule of law inthe country.

In this mission, the Governmentcan expect the full cooperationand support of civil society.

The Real Test

Ramdas Tikamdas, aRamdas Tikamdas, aRamdas Tikamdas, aRamdas Tikamdas, aRamdas Tikamdas, alawyer, is the immediatelawyer, is the immediatelawyer, is the immediatelawyer, is the immediatelawyer, is the immediatepast president of the Hu-past president of the Hu-past president of the Hu-past president of the Hu-past president of the Hu-man Right Society ofman Right Society ofman Right Society ofman Right Society ofman Right Society ofMalaysia (HAKAM).Malaysia (HAKAM).Malaysia (HAKAM).Malaysia (HAKAM).Malaysia (HAKAM).

q

A demonstrator being detained: The Police Act restrictsfreedom of assembly


e welcome the Reportof the Royal Commis-sion to Enhance theOperation and Man-

agement of the Royal Malay-sia Police, which has been long-overdue.

The Report reflects and repro-duces in content numerousmonitoring reports and memo-randa of NGOs and civil soci-ety groups (CSGs) on the abuseof police powers and the vio-lation of human rights princi-ples and prescribed laws. Itrepresents a clear endorsementand vindication of the work ofNGOs and CSGs for years inrelation to the police force. Itsends a clear signal to the Gov-ernment that civil society can-not be ignored or persecutedas trouble-makers, but ratherthat a formal strategic partner-ship be formed with the Gov-ernment to combat problemswhich beset the country in theadministration of justice, lawand order.

There are some shortcomingsand contradictions in the Re-port, in particular as follows:

1 . Insufficient regard to inter-national human rightsnorms in relation to the rec-ommendations on preven-tive detention laws includ-

ing the ISA and recommen-dations on the Police Actwhereon we call upon theGovernment to consider therecommendations bySUHAKAM on these issues.

2 . Omissions in the Report onissues of race relations, po-lice shootings and theKampung Medan incident.

3 . Improper grouping ofwomen and children to-gether as a topic which hasled to the insufficient recog-nition and importance of therights of women and chil-dren as individual and spe-

COVER STORY

Just do it - now

WWWWW

Malaysian NGOs call for immediate implementation

cific vulnerable groups. Itfurther weakens the genderperspective and devaluesthe inviolable rights ofwomen; whilst on the otherhand, the same does notgive sufficient emphasis tothe rights of children as en-shrined in the United Na-tions Convention on theRights of the Child and theMalaysian Child ProtectionAct.

Be that as it may, and seen intotality, the Report is compre-hensive, progressive and re-formist in nature. We call onthe Government to implement


all the recommendations of theReport immediately, in particu-lar, the following:

1 . Recommendation 12 inChapter 6, which is the es-tablishment of the Inde-pendent Police Complaintsand Misconduct Commis-sion. The Report containsthe proposed bill for theCommission, and we see noreason why it should not betabled for reading in Parlia-ment at the next sitting.

2 . All the recommendations inChapter 8, which will en-courage and enhance inves-tigative policing.

3 . All the recommendations inChapter 10, which will en-courage and enhance polic-ing that complies with hu-man rights norms and obli-gations.

The problems and abuseshighlighted in the Report areserious and real. They posecontinuing threats to thewell-being of our nation andthe rule of law. The Report isalso strong evidence that po-lice abuse in Malaysia is sys-temic, endemic and syndi-cated. The recommendations

in Chapters 8 and 10 go insome way to alleviate someof these problems and theimplementation of these rec-ommendations would restorepublic confidence and trust inthe police force. It would fur-ther promote the paradigmshift from the police as a“force” to one of “service”for the people and the nation.

We urge strong political willby the Government in adher-ing to the Report so as not tohave the good and tirelesswork of the Commissioners inproducing the Report go towaste.

7 June 2005

Endorsed by 38 organisations:-

•Alaigal •Aliran KesedaranNegara (ALIRAN) •Amnesty In-ternational Malaysia (AI)•Center for Orang Asli Concerns(COAC) •Civil Rights Commit-tee of Selangor Chinese AssemblyHall (CRC SCAH) •CommunityDevelopment Centre (CDC) •De-mocracy Watch •Education andResearch Association for Con-sumers, Malaysia (ERA Con-sumer) •Institut Kajian Dasar(IKD) •International Movementfor a Just World (JUST) •Labour

Resource Centre (LRC)•Malaysian Democratic Studentand Youth Movement (DEMA)•Malaysian Trade Union Con-gress (MTUC) •MALODI•MALVU •National HumanRights Society (HAKAM) •Peo-ple's Service Organisation (PSO)•Persatuan Masyarakat Selangor& Wilayah Persekutuan(PERMAS) •Persatuan SahabatWanita Selangor (PSWS)•Pertubuhan Jamaah Islah Ma-laysia (JIM) •Pusat AktivisGerakan Reformasi Malaysia(PAGER) •Pusat KomunikasiMasyarakat (KOMAS) •RakanPeneroka Bandar (RAKAN) •RedRose Youth Centre •Save OurSchool (SOS Damansara) •Sis-ters In Islam (SIS) •SOS (SaveOurselves) •Strategic Informa-tion and Research Development(SIRD) •Suara Rakyat Malaysia(SUARAM) •Suara WargaPertiwi (SWP) •TENAGANITA•The Group of Concerned Citi-zens (GCC) •United ChineseSchool Committees’ Associationof Malaysia (Dong Zong) •UnitedChinese School Teacher’s Asso-ciation (Jiao Zong) •Universityof Malaya Association of NewYouth (UMANY) •Women’s Can-didate Initiative (WCI) •Women’sAid Organisation (WAO) •Wom-en’s Development Collective(WDC) q


smail (not his real name),a child below the age of18, was born in the dis-trict of Inderapuri in

Aceh. He was only five when thewar in Aceh erupted, promptinghis mother to flee to Malaysia,leaving him with his father inInderapuri. A young boy whogrew up in a war-torn countrywithout his mother, Ismail hasnevertheless survived in a life thatnever showed him an ounce ofmercy.

When he was 12, the Indonesianarmy murdered his father andburned down his home. Ismail didnot know whether to feel fortunateto be alive - for he was now allalone in a world where violenceand cruelty is an everyday event.

In May 2003, martial law was de-clared in Aceh. The violence thathad been inflicted upon Ismail’sfamily was now everywhere.Flames engulfed schools andhouses and futile cries for help

rose into the smoky air. Acehnesemen were murdered by the dozen;women and girls were raped. Thiswas the reality in Aceh at a timewhen peace prevailed in mostother countries in the world.Ismail’s description of the havocthat reigned in his homelandwould be surreal to most people,especially Malaysians.

Seeking refuge from almost certaindeath and torture, Ismail finallyescaped to Malaysia where he washappily reunited with his mother.He was then brought to the officeof the United Nations High Com-missioner for Refugees (UNHCR)in Kuala Lumpur, where he wasregistered as an asylum seeker,and subsequently accorded refu-gee status.

Little did he know that under theMalaysian laws, he could still becharged under the ImmigrationAct for having entered the coun-try illegally. In August 2004, de-spite his status as a child refugee,Ismail was arrested and chargedin the Kuala Lumpur Court forChildren under Section 6(1)(c) ofthe Immigration Act 1959/93punishable under Section 6(3) ofthe same Act. Fortunately forIsmail, after some legal interven-tion, the charge against him wasdropped and he was released intothe custody of the UNHCR.

REFUGEE RIGHTS

Malaysia’s forgotten childrenMalaysia’s forgotten childrenMalaysia’s forgotten childrenMalaysia’s forgotten childrenMalaysia’s forgotten childrenLacking any meaningful protection, refugee children in Malaysiasuffer in silence

by Amer Hamzah Arshad

“I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for jus-“I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for jus-“I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for jus-“I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for jus-“I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for jus-tice, no matter who it is for or against. I’m a hu-tice, no matter who it is for or against. I’m a hu-tice, no matter who it is for or against. I’m a hu-tice, no matter who it is for or against. I’m a hu-tice, no matter who it is for or against. I’m a hu-man being first and foremost, and as such I’mman being first and foremost, and as such I’mman being first and foremost, and as such I’mman being first and foremost, and as such I’mman being first and foremost, and as such I’mfor whoever and whatever benefits humanity asfor whoever and whatever benefits humanity asfor whoever and whatever benefits humanity asfor whoever and whatever benefits humanity asfor whoever and whatever benefits humanity asa whole.”a whole.”a whole.”a whole.”a whole.”

Malcolm XMalcolm XMalcolm XMalcolm XMalcolm X

IIIII


There are 145 countries that areparties to the 1951 Refugees Con-vention and/or the 1967 Protocolas of 15 Feb 2005. Unfortunately,Malaysia is one of the few remain-ing countries that has ratified nei-ther the 1951 Refugee Conventionnor the 1967 Protocol, eventhough there are some 27,000 refu-gees in Malaysia (excluding asy-lum seekers), 4,600 of whom arechildren.

Malaysia has also failed to enactany legislation for the protectionof refugees. The Immigration Act1959/63 does not recognise refu-gees and due to the lack of suchrecognition in the Malaysian con-text, refugees have been placed ina state of uncertainty, inevitablyresulting in human rights viola-tions. Refugees, adults and chil-dren alike, are instead treated as‘illegal immigrants’ and are sub-jected to harsh penalties, deten-tion and deportation under theImmigration Act. They risk finesof up to RM10, 000 or jail terms ofup to five years or both. They shallalso be liable to whipping of up tosix strokes of the cane. Since Ma-laysia is neither a state party tothe 1951 Convention nor the 1967Protocol, and does not provide forthe protection of refugee childrenunder the Immigration Act, onewonders what protection existsfor refugee children.

Over the years, apart from the 1951Convention and the 1967 Proto-col, other international or regionaltreaties that directly or indirectlydeal with the protection of refu-gees and those who seek asylumhave been developed. One of themore relevant and noteworthy

ones is the Convention on theRights of the Child (“the CRC”),primarily because Malaysia hasratified it.

From the Malaysian government’spoint of view, asylum seekers andrefugees (whether adults or chil-dren) are nothing more than un-wanted statistics or a modern-dayversion of the plague-rats whohave the potential to cause socialproblems in our current capitalistsociety. Despite the ratification ofthe CRC, the actual protection andassistance given to refugee chil-dren is virtually non-existent.Thus, refugee children in Malay-sia are vulnerable and suffer dueto the lack of recognition of theirstatus as refugees. There are casesof refugee children as young as 10years being arrested, detained(some 40 refugee children are indetention centres as of 28 Feb2005), charged in court or sub-jected to penalties merely becausethey entered into Malaysia with-out proper documents.

The incarceration of refugee chil-dren in detention or remand cen-tres may cause serious physicaland psychological health prob-lems to refugee children. Refugeechildren in immigration detentionare denied anything remotely re-sembling a normal life. They areconstantly exposed to an environ-ment detrimental to their physi-cal and psychological well-being.In Australia, for instance, theRoyal Australian and New Zea-land College of Psychiatrists(RANZCP) conducted a study onrefugee children detained in de-tention centres as asylum seekers.It found that 80 per cent of the refu-

gee children there had attemptedto harm themselves and that allthe children met the diagnosticcriteria for major depression andpost-traumatic stress disorder.The combination of pre-migrationtrauma, the detention environ-ment and parental depression was‘damaging’ the children.

There has been no proper studyundertaken by the Malaysian gov-ernment or the medical fraternityon the impact of detention on refu-gee children. But, based on theUNHCR’s interviews and psy-chological assessments and myown interviews, there is empiri-cal evidence to prove that refugeechildren in Malaysian detentioncentres do suffer from fear, severedepression, and emotional andtraumatic experiences whilst indetention. Apart from the psycho-logical issue, there are also caseswhere refugee children have beenbeaten up by other detainees, as Iheard from the children them-selves. Must we wait until a deathin custody occurs before theMalaysian government rectifiesthe appalling situation of refugeechildren in detention?

Refugee children who are not indetention are not better off. Theyare deprived of basic needs thatare available to normal children.They are deprived of shelter, nu-tritious food, education andhealthcare. They live in uninhab-itable huts and shacks, which areset up in secluded areas with nobasic amenities or sanitary sys-tems. Some of the more fortunatelive in squatter houses. Food andclothing are scarce and, if they arelucky, they may receive assistancefrom some non-governmental or-ganisations or from the UNHCR.I even saw them cooking and eat-

No refugees, please,we are Malaysian

Children underd e t e n t i o n


ing the centre of a banana tree astheir ‘main course’. Formal edu-cation is denied to refugee chil-dren because they are consideredillegal immigrants by theMalaysian government. The lawas it stands does not allow themto be enrolled in public schools.The only education they receivecomes via informal classes organ-ised by non-governmental organi-sations.

In short, whilst Malaysian chil-dren are blessed and enjoy thebasic needs and luxuries that anycapitalist society can offer, refugeechildren in Malaysia on the otherhand are unfortunate and are de-nied basic needs that are rightlydue to them. Refugee children, byvirtue of the CRC, should receivethe necessary protection and as-sistance from the Malaysian gov-ernment. They should not be ig-nored and left uncared for. Theyshould not be arrested andcharged in court. Neither shouldthey be locked up in detention cen-tres. The Malaysian government’slack of commitment and politicalwill in acknowledging its moralresponsibilities only serves to per-petuate the appalling plight ofrefugee children.

The CRC is important to childrenin general because it sets compre-hensive standards for almost allaspects of a child’s life – fromhealth and education to social andpolitical rights. The CRC wasadopted and opened for signa-ture, ratification and accession byGeneral Assembly resolution 44/25 of 20 November 1989, and cameinto force on 2 September 1989.Malaysia signed and ratified the

CRC on 17 February1995 .

What may be of particu-lar interest to refugeechildren is Article 22 ofthe CRC, which specifi-cally endorses therights of refugee-andasylum-seeking chil-dren to appropriate pro-tection and humanitar-ian assistance. It alsostates that State partiesshould cooperate withthe United Nations and othercompetent bodies working withthe UN to protect and assist suchchildren as well as to try and re-unify these children with theirfamilies. Where the parents orfamily members cannot be found,the child shall be accorded thesame protection as any other childpermanently or temporarily de-prived of his or her family envi-ronment as set forth in the Con-vention.

Initially, when Malaysia becamea state party to the CRC, Malaysiahad 12 reservations, one of whichwas this particular article. How-ever, in March 1999, the reserva-tion on Article 22 was removed.The removal of the reservation onArticle 22 of the CRC can be seenas a conscious act and a positiveassertion of the Malaysian gov-ernment to the world at large thatMalaysia does recognise the needto protect and render humanitar-ian assistance to refugee children.

The CRC has gained importancebecause of the near-universal rati-fication of the treaty, with 192states having ratified it as of 9 June2004. This widespread ratificationis important: when a state is aparty to the CRC but not to any

refugee treaty, the CRC may beused as the primary basis for pro-tecting refugee children. Article22, in particular clause (1), makesit clear that all state parties mustprovide appropriate protectionand assistance to recognised refu-gee children as well as those whoare seeking asylum.

However, Article 22 of the CRCdoes not embark further to spellout what protection and assist-ance should be given to refugeechildren. Reference therefore hasto be made to the Vienna Conven-tion on the Law of Treaties (ViennaConvention) - to which Malaysiais a state party - which providesfor interpretational principles tobe used when interpreting an in-ternational instrument.

The Vienna Convention, inter alia,states that:

i) a treaty, shall be interpreted ingood faith in accordance withthe ordinary meaning to begiven to the terms of the treatyin the context and in the lightof its object and purpose; and

ii) the norms or the principlesenunciated in the said treatyshould be applied and per-formed in good faith and State

Some recognition,b u t …

Refugees live in uninhabitable shacks like this one.


parties should not frustrate theachievement of the object andpurpose of the treaty.

Read together, these rules call forgood faith in the interpretationand performance of the CRC.Clearly, it follows that Article 22(1)of the CRC must be interpretedwith reference to the object andpurpose of extending interna-tional protection to refugee chil-dren and state parties must notinterpret the Article in a mannerthat would frustrate or defeat theobject and purpose of the CRC asa whole, in particular Article 22(1).

The purpose of the CRC is to en-sure that special care, assistanceand necessary protection are ac-corded to children because theyare vulnerable and dependent innature. Article 22(1) of the CRC,in particular seeks to ensure thatrefugee children will receive thesame care and assistance as wellas the appropriate protection ac-corded to refugees.

In the refugee context, the main“protection” and “assistance”envisaged under Article 22 of theCRC, would inter alia, include:

i) The prevention of the return ofi) The prevention of the return ofi) The prevention of the return ofi) The prevention of the return ofi) The prevention of the return ofrefugees to the country or terri-refugees to the country or terri-refugees to the country or terri-refugees to the country or terri-refugees to the country or terri-tory in which their life or libertytory in which their life or libertytory in which their life or libertytory in which their life or libertytory in which their life or libertymay be endangered;may be endangered;may be endangered;may be endangered;may be endangered;

When a child is compelled to fleehis country of origin due to a well-founded fear of being persecuted,his immediate concern is protec-tion against expulsion orrefoulement. Such protection is nec-essary for preventing further hu-man rights violations. This is be-cause a forcible return to his coun-try of origin may endanger his lifeand safety. Due to this, the inter-

national community has recog-nised the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits statesfrom returning a refugee or asy-lum seeker to territories wherethere is a risk that his or her life orfreedom would be threatened onaccount of race, religion, nation-ality, membership of a particularsocial group, or political opinion.This principle of non-refoulementcan be found in Article 33 of the1951 Convention and has alsobeen considered by a number ofscholars as a rule of customaryinternational law. It is thus bind-ing on all states without exceptionand regardless of whether theyhave ratified the 1951 Conventionor the 1967 Protocol.

ii) To prevent them from penal-ii) To prevent them from penal-ii) To prevent them from penal-ii) To prevent them from penal-ii) To prevent them from penal-ties for entering into the countryties for entering into the countryties for entering into the countryties for entering into the countryties for entering into the countryof refuge without any docu-of refuge without any docu-of refuge without any docu-of refuge without any docu-of refuge without any docu-ments;ments;ments;ments;ments;

Since a refugee is a person whoflees his country of origin to avoidpersecution, it would be akin torubbing salt into an open woundif he is prosecuted and punishedfor his illegal entry into or pres-ence in the country where he isseeking refuge. It must be empha-sised that the situation of a refu-gee differs from that of an ordi-nary alien, who holds a nationalpassport and enjoys the protec-tion of the authorities of his coun-try, to which he may return if heso desires. This is not so in thecase of a refugee. Having enteredthe country in an irregular man-ner, a refugee is immediately atodds with the authorities of thecountry of reception. A refugeedoes not enjoy the luxury of im-migration through normal cus-tomary channels and thus findshimself compelled to seek asylumby irregular entry to a safe coun-

try. It is for these reasons that Ar-ticle 31 was incorporated in the1951 Convention.

iii) To reunite unaccompaniediii) To reunite unaccompaniediii) To reunite unaccompaniediii) To reunite unaccompaniediii) To reunite unaccompaniedrefugee children with their fami-refugee children with their fami-refugee children with their fami-refugee children with their fami-refugee children with their fami-lies;lies;lies;lies;lies;

In cases of unaccompanied refu-gee children, Article 22(2) of theCRC requires the state parties toassist such children to trace theirparents and/or family membersand to reunite them. This Articlemust be read in conjunction withArticle 9, Article 10 and Article 20of the CRC. Article 9 requires statesparties to ensure that a child shallnot be separated from his or herparents against its will. Article 10states that applications by a childor the child’s parents to enter orleave a state party for the purposeof family reunification must bedealt with in a positive, humaneand expeditious manner. Article20 states that where a child is tem-porarily or permanently deprivedof the child’s family environment,it shall be entitled to special pro-tection and assistance providedby the State.

iv) Right to education;iv) Right to education;iv) Right to education;iv) Right to education;iv) Right to education;

Education is vital to the develop-ment of children and will contrib-ute enormously to their well-be-ing. The right to education is a rec-ognised universal human rightand Article 28 of the CRC bindsstate parties to fulfill their obliga-tion in providing it. The mere factthat refugee children are beinguprooted does not negate theirrights to education nor does it ne-gate the state’s responsibility toprovide it. In reality, refugee chil-dren in Malaysia are deprived oftheir right to education. Eventhough there is a provision which


enables non-citizen children to beenrolled and admitted in localschools, such provisions do notinclude refugee children.

Even though the Malaysian gov-ernment has not yet ratified the1951 Convention and/or the 1967Protocol or any of the interna-tional conventions pertaining torefugees and human rights, theMalaysian government, at thevery least, can still ensure andprovide the most basic protectionto a refugee. Such protection couldinclude immunity from penaltiesunder the Immigration Act espe-cially protection from refoulement.

For a start, the Malaysian govern-ment is in a position to use thepresent laws to achieve this goal.The Immigration Act, particularlySection 55, states that the Minis-ter may, by order, exempt any per-son or class or persons, either ab-solutely or conditionally, from allor any of the provisions of this Actand may in any such order pro-vide for any presumptions neces-sary to make this effective.

Malaysian enforcement agencies,including the Attorney General’sChambers must adopt a policywhich reflects, and is in line with,the Malaysian government’s in-ternational obligation arisingfrom its ratification of the CRC.There must be strict adherence tosuch policy. The judiciary can alsoplay an important role through theprocess of common law. As statedabove, the judiciary may adopt theprinciples of international humanrights law relating to refugees intoour domestic system through theinterpretative process. The au-

thorities, which have been dis-cussed above, have clearly pavedthe way for the judiciary to moveforward; the only question that re-mains is whether they have the in-tellectual honesty to do so.

The Malaysian government mustalso realise that the refugee prob-lem is its social responsibility.Hence, the Malaysian governmentmust consider establishing an in-ter-ministerial taskforce on therefugee situation in Malaysia towork out concrete measures andpractical solution-oriented ar-rangements for all categories ofpersons of concern to the UNHCR,especially refugee children andasylum seekers. Ultimately, theMalaysian government must signand ratify the 1951 Conventionand/or the 1967 Protocol relatingto the Status of Refugees and con-duct comparative studies withother jurisdictions which are par-ties to the 1951 Convention and/or 1967 Protocol. The governmentshould then revise the relevantdomestic laws - in particular theimmigration laws - to cater for theprotection of refugees. Addition-ally, a proper mechanism for thedetermination of refugee statusmust be set up either within theexisting Immigration Departmentor through an independent tribu-nal.

Due to the growing refugee prob-lem in the world today, effectivemeans must be adopted to solvethe problem. The Malaysian gov-ernment’s paranoia about the in-flux of asylum seekers and refu-gees if it were to ratify the RefugeeConvention is an unfounded fear,which it must overcome. To me,the government’s reason for non-

ratification is nothing more thatan attempt to avoid dealing withpressing humanitarian problemsthat are beleaguering thousandsof asylum seekers (adults and chil-dren alike) in and around Malay-sia.

We must remember that, since theMalaysian government has rati-fied the CRC, its action must notcontravene the principles laid outin the CRC. Otherwise, theMalaysian government will beseen as being ignorant of its inter-national obligation and blatantlydisregarding the protection ofhuman rights norms and values.Furthermore, it is often said thatthe level of civility of a country ismeasured by how we treat ourguests – and refugees are ourguests. We must treat them withrespect. There is much that thegovernment can still do to ensurethat refugees are treated humanelyand in a civilised manner.

The ratification of the CRC is astep in the right direction. And ifa child refugee can be recognised,the next logical step is the recog-nition of adult refugees becausein truth, what is the difference be-tween a child refugee and an adultrefugee except their age? Lest weforget, the responsibility of pro-tecting and advocating the rightsof refugee children does not solelylie with the Malaysian govern-ment, non-governmental organi-sations or the UNHCR. Rather, itis the responsibility of each andevery citizen in this country.

Our responsibility too

Amer Hamzah Arshad isAmer Hamzah Arshad isAmer Hamzah Arshad isAmer Hamzah Arshad isAmer Hamzah Arshad isa Malaysian lawyer con-a Malaysian lawyer con-a Malaysian lawyer con-a Malaysian lawyer con-a Malaysian lawyer con-cerned about refugeecerned about refugeecerned about refugeecerned about refugeecerned about refugeerights’ issues.rights’ issues.rights’ issues.rights’ issues.rights’ issues.

I t ’ s t h e g o v t ’ s s o c i a lr e s p o n s i b i l i t y

q


axis have been a boon tome since my relocation toKuala Lumpur. My cour-age quite deserts me on

KL byways and highways, so Ionly drive when I have no choice.When I do take my trusty little caron the roads, I find many KL driv-ers to be frighteningly aggressiveor condescendingly disdainful.Besides, the city with its maze ofroads and lanes (their names canbe changed quite suddenly) andthe spill into the many townshipsand suburbs of the Klang Valleydo tax a newcomer’s map-read-ing and navigational skills - es-pecially when signage directionscan be quite unclear, even mis-leading. Thus, taxis and the gen-tlemen who drive them have beenof great help to me.

What images do we have of taxidrivers? Quite often we see themas rude, cunning and unsavoury.They fiddle with the meter to makeus pay more, so we are told; theydrive in circles to get to a placeinstead of using the nearest route.But is this fair? Should we tar awhole group with the same blackpaint because of a few black-guards? If so, we are indulging inunjust demonising. Perhaps wealso need to ask ourselves why itis so much easier to paint certainclasses of people in society (usu-ally those earning small or mini-mum incomes, those not in fash-

ionable togs even if these are serv-ice uniforms, etc.) as potentialtrouble-makers, cheats and crimi-nals.

I would like to recall Dr. JohnHilley’s insightful article:“Putting Compassion Back intoPolitics” in Aliran Monthly (Vol.25No.2). It reinforces my sense thatthe homogenising effect of marketforces and the compassion-lesscommodification of public life hascreated “ a blame culture whichcastigates those at the bottom asfailed market competitors” (p.27).Hilley adds that there is a “creep-ing lack of empathy” or, worsethan this, “a visceral hatred to-wards marginal groups”(p.28).

In a world of competitive economicforces and market rules, taxi driv-ers may be deemed “marginal’ bymany. But the reality is that weneed these figures to toil in orderto oil the ever-churning wheels ofour bourgeois pleasures and sus-tain our never-satisfied consum-erism. Just think of the time whenyou needed to go to an importantlunch meeting at that chic littleboutique hotel. Unfortunately, thehotel has a lamentably small carpark and you fear for your brand-name car (Gen III, Gen X or Gen-Something), which you won’tpark in some back-lane some-

where. Voila! A taxi appears.What a relief!

As I ride in taxis I have often chat-ted with the gentlemen who drivethem. Encik A, my regular taxi-person who drives me to manyvenues, has always been punc-tual. He may not be in the smartuniforms of limousine-driversand he often sports a shadow ofunshaven stubble on his chin buthis dignity is intact. A feisty fel-low with a colourful sense of hu-mour, he eloquently reveals thestruggles of cabbies who rent theircabs. Very few individual licencesare given so nearly all cab drivershave to rent their vehicles fromcompanies. Besides the dailyrental of from RM45 to RM 50(rates vary with companies andradio-call facilities), cabbies haveto take care of gas, tyres, sundryrepairs and payment for the testsrequired to evaluate the road-wor-thiness of taxis. And there aresome cases where companies onlybuy third-party insurance so ataxi-driver has to bear the costs ofdamage to the vehicle if an acci-dent should occur.

The forthright Encik A describesthe companies renting out taxis as“ lintah darat” (leeches) who“ sambil menyelam minum air”

HEART TO HEART"What comes from the lips reaches the ear,what comes from the heart reaches the heart" - Arab proverb

City Cabs: Klang ValleyLike all of us, taxi-drivers are human beings trying to earn aliving to support loved ones

by Wong Soak Koon

TTTTT

A blame culture

Struggles of cabbies


(roughly translated as “wantingto profit from all avenues”). Hepictures the company directorssitting in air-conditioned officesgetting rich (“duduk mengautkekayaan dalam opis dengan air-con”).

Mr S, another taxi-driver I havehad the good fortune to meet,solves my mobility problemswhen Encik A cannot make it. OnFridays, Mr S would have somesacred ash on his forehead fromhis Friday prayers at the templeand his taxi would have the fra-grance of jasmine garlands. Onone occasion, Mr S arrived late(this has never happened). Ap-parently he had to wait almost anhour for gas at a Petronas stationin Cheras. The queue stretchedahead of him and the poor manwas sorely tested (no doubt thethought that time lost means di-minished earnings was beatingout a rhythm in his brains).

I learnt that there is a monopolyso that cheap gas can only be ob-tained from a limited number ofdesignated Petronas stations.Taxi-drivers who have to stop atleast three times a day to pumpgas must be spending hours lin-ing up. I can imagine that at cer-tain stations, for example, inCheras and Jalan Klang Lama,other drivers would be cursingtaxis for creating a jam or block-ing the road with the queues butwhat choice does a cabby have?As for Mr S, I am glad he has thecalming effect of temple prayers.Nonetheless it must be most try-ing to have to wait for gas andthen be told when one gets to thepump that the gas has run out(this has happened to poor Mr S).

I recall another instance when Iwas given yet another glimpse

into a taxi-driver’s insecure life. Igot into a taxi driven by a youngman and we had gone a short dis-tance when he turned and askedpolitely if he could stop to take adrink of water and have some bis-cuits. It turned out that he has hadgastric problems for a while andwas in fact operated on at the Gen-eral Hospital, but he could nottake a break because the rental onthe taxi has to be paid. There is nosuch thing as medical leave. Inaddition, medical coverage,which many of us, especially thosestill working, take for granted isapparently not available to taxi-drivers. As the young taxi-drivertold me, “Yow cheen seh, mo cheenpang” (roughly meaning, “I canafford to die but I can’t afford tobe sick”). It made me sad to hearthese words although I am verysure he didn’t need my pity. Hewas simply stating a fact. And yetit did make me wonder what, ifany, safety net there is for sundrytaxi-drivers who rent cabs? Arethe standard benefits such asSOCSO and EPF simply meaning-less acronyms with no connectionto this group of people in our so-ciety?

Taxi-drivers can also be subjectedto certain arbitrary measuresmeted out by certain governmentdepartments. Recently The Star (9April 2005) reported that the RoadTransport Department (RTD) wastaken to court by a taxi-driverwhose licence was summarily re-voked. The RTD refused to renewhis road tax without calling for anexplanation from him after receiv-ing a complaint that he refused topick a passenger. This smacks of“guilty before being proven inno-cent” or worse, since he was nevergiven a chance to prove anything.As the judge who ruled in favourof the taxi-driver puts it, “The de-fendants failed to prove, on thebalance of probability, that theplaintiff was served with a show-

cause letter.”

The wronged taxi-driver deservesour admiration for not taking theRTD’s high-handed actions sit-ting down. One wonders thoughhow many other taxi-drivers gaveup? Action was filed in 1997 andit was a long, long wait for justiceto be served. The newspaper alsoreported that in the meantime, theplaintiff “became an odd-job la-bourer and later a petty trader tosupport his family.” We can readinto these lines the weight of hu-man suffering he himself, hiswife, children and dependantsmust have had to bear.

Like all of us, taxi-drivers are hu-man beings trying to earn a livingto support loved ones. They arequite ordinary folks and are em-phatically not like the larger-than-life figure of an American cabbyportrayed by Robert de Niro in thefamous movie. That film createdthe myth of a darkly heroic figureout of a taxi-driver who rescues anubile Jodie Foster from a life ofvice by taking the law into his ownhands. Taxi-drivers are in fact nobetter and no worse than the restof us. Unlike most of us, they areparticularly vulnerable. Don’t for-get taxi-drivers were themselvesterrorised by the likes of “CherasAppu”, the bogus taxi-driver whorobbed many cabbies of their ve-hicles at knifepoint (The Star, 3May 2005).

Driving a taxi is a tough way tomake a living. For many taxi-driv-ers the day starts with the firstlight of dawn (for some as earlyas 5 a.m.) and ends way past mid-night. Thus, I wish them safe jour-neys as they ply the streets andlanes in the many townships thatdot the Klang Valley. q

SOCSO, EPF?

No better,no worse than us


he orang asli (meaning‘original people’) arethe indigenous minor-ity people of Peninsu-

lar Malaysia whose ancestorsinhabited the peninsula beforethe Malay kingdoms were es-tablished. They comprise 18different groups, which makeup 0.5 % of the total popula-tion of 26 million. While a fewhave become professionals andbusinessmen and some work infactories in urban areas, themajority still live in the forestand forest-fringed areas. Theydepend on swiddening, hunt-ing, gathering, fishing, andtrading in forest products forsurvival.

To bring development, thegovernment has adopted apolicy of integrating and as-similating the orang asli intomainstream society, more spe-cifically into Malay society. TheJabatan Hal Ehwal Orang Asli(JHEOA) or The Departmentof Orang Asli Affairs was setup for this purpose. Assimila-tion - together with increaseddeforestation and dislocation(as a result of logging and de-velopment projects) - has

threatened to cut the orang aslioff from their ancestral lands,the source of their livelihoodand cultures.

The orang asli have respondedto the state’s assimilationistgoal and the appropriation oftheir ancestral lands by uniting,lobbying politicians, and bring-ing their cases to the court.They formed organisationssuch as the Peninsular Malay-sia Orang Asli Association (setup in 1976) and the IndigenousPeoples’ Network of Malaysia,a network of indigenous peo-ples’ organisations in Sabah,Sarawak, and the Peninsula.The orang asli began to claim an“indigenous identity” to “re-gain their cultural symbols”and to counter control by thestate. In his book, The OrangAsli and the Contest for Resources,Indigenous Politics, Developmentand Identity in Peninsular Malay-

sia, Colin Nicholas, the co-ordinator of the Centre forOrang Asli Concerns, writesthat the orang asli have come torealise that “an assertion oftheir indigenous identity is aprerequisite for their sur-vival.” There is a need to “as-sert both their personal andcollective identity to counterthe power of ‘outsiders’, par-ticularly the state.”

One of the ways to assert thisidentity is to set up culturaltroupes (involving old andyoung people of the orang aslicommunities) to perform in-digenous music and dance andtheir own versions of popularmusic. The various orang asligroups come together to per-form and exhibit their handi-craft at the annual InternationalIndigenous People’s Dayevents.

Akar Umbi (meaning ‘Tap Root’)is an example of a culturalgroup of the Temuan, one ofthe indigenous orang asli groupsliving in Pertak, a forest re-serve just outside of Kuala

ARTS AND CULTURE

Akar UmbiSongs of the Dragon, Indigenous Identity andTemuan Rights to the Forest

by Tan Sooi Beng

TTTTT

A s s i m i l a t i o n

A s s e r t i n gCultural Identity

Through Music

Members of Akar Umbi


Kubu Baru (KKB). Akar Umbi isa musical collaboration whichwas initiated by Antares andRafique Rashid, two musicianswho moved to KKB in 1992.These two musicians encoun-tered the rich culture of theTemuan and have been docu-menting the oral traditions,stories, and music of theTemuan which are in danger ofdisappearing.

Since its formation, Akar Umbihas presented live renditions ofthe songs of Mak MinahAnggong, a Temuan ceremo-nial singer who lived inKampung Orang Asli Pertak.Mak Minah sang her songs atvarious concerts including theSecond Rainforest World Mu-sic Festival in Kuching beforeshe passed away unexpectedlyon 21 September, 1999. To pay

a special tribute to Mak Minahand to share her passionatelove for the rainforest with oth-ers, Antares and Rafique as-sembled a CD of 10 tracks us-ing whatever material that hadbeen recorded at rehearsalsand performances. The CD isentitled Songs of the Dragon(2002) as the dragon refers toMak Minah’s clan lineagewhose totem is the Naga (thespirit guardian of rivers). Thetracks include traditionalTemuan songs with contempo-rary musical arrangements aswell as healing ritual songs(sawai or sewang) with buluhlimbong accompaniment. Thebuluh limbong are pairs of bam-boo instruments struck on along block of wood which areused in healing rituals and alsoto accompany other songs forentertainment by many orangasli groups.

In the CD, Mak MinahAnggong is the lead singerwhile Mak Awa, Mak Nai, andMak Indah perform their tra-ditional sacred songs on thebuluh limbong. The Temuanwomen, who sing in theTemuan language, are accom-

panied by other Malay, Chi-nese, Indian, and Eurasian mu-sicians performing on guitars,keyboards, and percussion.According to Antares, the mu-sic “breaks through traditionalcultural barriers”. Not only arethe musicians multi-ethnic, themusic is “a musical fusion.”

In Hutan Manao (Akar Umbi2002), for instance, Mak Minahsings in the Temuan languageusing the traditional style ofsinging with a narrow vocaltension. She is accompanied bythe alternating rhythms of thebuluh limbong, consisting of alonger lower-sounding tubeknown as ‘father’ and a shorterhigher-pitched tube known as‘mother’ which are both struckon a long block of wood. Thetwo tubes are pitched approxi-mately a minor third apart.Although the keyboard andelectric guitars play westernchords, they emphasise theminor 3rd interval and therhythms of the bamboostampers, thereby keeping har-mony to a minimum. The bam-boo flute and electric guitar arealso given melodic interludes.The song describes the joys andhardships of roaming the for-est for days in search of junglecane (manao) for the furniturestores.

Akar Umbi performed HutanManao live at the benefit con-cert for Bosnia at the ShahAlam Stadium on 16 Septem-ber 1994 and a series of othersongs at the Second SarawakRainforest World Music Festi-val (28-29 August 1999). Sincethe Shah Alam concert, which

Antares on the flute

Mak Minah


had an audience of 42,000 andwas broadcast live on nationaltelevision, Mak Minah has be-come a “cultural representa-tive” for the marginalised orangasli community.

Mak Minah’s songs portray thelove and reverence the indig-enous people have for the for-est, river, and mountains thatsurround them. Indirectly, MakMinah’s songs advocate the cul-tural autonomy of the orang asliat a time when two Temuan vil-lages were to be relocated andTemuan sacred sites and ances-tral heartland flooded to makeway for a 400 feet high damacross the Selangor River. MakMinah opposed the building ofthe dam strongly. The Temuanbelieve that they were placedon earth to be guardians of therainforest. Legend says that“when the orang asli are nolonger visible, the world willend.” Experts have emphasisedthat the wetlands and the fa-mous firefly colony near KualaSelangor would be affected bythe dam project. Despite pro-tests, work on the dam began

in February 2000. When loggingand rock blasting began, theTemuan families living in Pertakand Gerachi had not been prop-erly resettled.

Sungai Makao (River Makao) isa lyrical song with MinahAnggong on vocals, Rafique onacoustic guitar, and Antares onBalinese flute. Mak Minah singsabout the Makao River, whichflows through Pertak Villagewhere she was born. TheTemuan believe that the MakaoRiver has its source in GunungRaja, the sacred mountain, andregard it as the symbol ofabundance and good health.Mak Minah incorporates intothe lyrics a reproof against thedestructive logging activities atthe Temuan reserve.

In Kuda Lari (Running Horse),Minah Anggong warns thosewho intend to disturb the spirit

guardians of the river thatsome mishap might occur. KudaLari is a Temuan nursery rhymeand a humorous account ofhow Cecil Ranking, the firstmagistrate and revenue collec-tor of Kuala Kubu Baru, fell offhis horse and had to chase itall the way to Pahang. Accord-ing to legend, Ranking at-tempted to kill a crocodilepenunggu or sacred guardian ofthe river in 1883. This may havetriggered a dam disaster whichkilled Ranking and flooded thetown of Kuala Kubu Baru. Itis believed that rivers areguarded by dragons, snakes,and crocodiles, which willcause chaos if their homes aredestroyed.

Lari, lari, kuda lari Run, run, horse run

Belang, belang, kuda belang Stripe, stripe, striped horse

Lari, lari, kuda lari Run, run, horse run

Pahang, Pahang, pergi Pahang. Pahang, Pahang, go to Pahang.

Guardians of theR a i n f o r e s t

Silting of Selangor River after construction of dam (photo courtesy of Sam Hui)

115m dam wall under construction(photo courtesy of Antares)


Tan Sooi Beng is professorTan Sooi Beng is professorTan Sooi Beng is professorTan Sooi Beng is professorTan Sooi Beng is professorof ethnomusicology at theof ethnomusicology at theof ethnomusicology at theof ethnomusicology at theof ethnomusicology at theSchool of Arts, UniversitiSchool of Arts, UniversitiSchool of Arts, UniversitiSchool of Arts, UniversitiSchool of Arts, UniversitiSains Malaysia.Sains Malaysia.Sains Malaysia.Sains Malaysia.Sains Malaysia. Informa-Informa-Informa-Informa-Informa-tion regarding the pur-tion regarding the pur-tion regarding the pur-tion regarding the pur-tion regarding the pur-chase of the Akar Umbi CDchase of the Akar Umbi CDchase of the Akar Umbi CDchase of the Akar Umbi CDchase of the Akar Umbi CDand the video documen-and the video documen-and the video documen-and the video documen-and the video documen-tary, Guardians of the For-tary, Guardians of the For-tary, Guardians of the For-tary, Guardians of the For-tary, Guardians of the For-est, can be obtained fromest, can be obtained fromest, can be obtained fromest, can be obtained fromest, can be obtained fromthe website http://the website http://the website http://the website http://the website http://w w w . x l i b r i s . d e /w w w . x l i b r i s . d e /w w w . x l i b r i s . d e /w w w . x l i b r i s . d e /w w w . x l i b r i s . d e /m a g i c k r i v e r /m a g i c k r i v e r /m a g i c k r i v e r /m a g i c k r i v e r /m a g i c k r i v e r /akarumbi.htm. Magickakarumbi.htm. Magickakarumbi.htm. Magickakarumbi.htm. Magickakarumbi.htm. MagickRiver is a “rainbow alli-River is a “rainbow alli-River is a “rainbow alli-River is a “rainbow alli-River is a “rainbow alli-ance of individuals pro-ance of individuals pro-ance of individuals pro-ance of individuals pro-ance of individuals pro-moting ecospiritual ac-moting ecospiritual ac-moting ecospiritual ac-moting ecospiritual ac-moting ecospiritual ac-tivities and communitytivities and communitytivities and communitytivities and communitytivities and communityarts projects that involvearts projects that involvearts projects that involvearts projects that involvearts projects that involvethe Temuan”. The authorthe Temuan”. The authorthe Temuan”. The authorthe Temuan”. The authorthe Temuan”. The authorthanks Antares for per-thanks Antares for per-thanks Antares for per-thanks Antares for per-thanks Antares for per-sonal interviews, photos,sonal interviews, photos,sonal interviews, photos,sonal interviews, photos,sonal interviews, photos,and information on Akarand information on Akarand information on Akarand information on Akarand information on AkarUmbi.Umbi.Umbi.Umbi.Umbi.

Songs of the Dragon has beenproduced the DIY way so thatAkar Umbi has complete controlover the production and dis-tribution of the CD. Some ofthe tracks such as BurungMeniyun were recorded byRafique in his home studio,using a four track cassette,MIDI sequencers, and a pro-grammable drum machine.Other tracks featuring tradi-tional bamboo ritual music suchas Raja Perahu were recordedon a portable digital audio-tape (DAT) during rehearsalsat Antares’ house at KKB witha relaxed ambience. Additionaltracks featuring the voice ofAwa Anak Lahai (sister of MakMinah), who has taken overthe lead singing, were re-corded at a private studio.Antares has been raising fundsfrom friends and private fund-ing agencies to pay for studiotime, musicians, and other as-pects of album production. Dis-tribution is being done mainlythrough the website andthrough friends in the musicworld.

Antares says that the CD hashelped “to keep Mak Minah’smemory alive through herbeautiful songs, and encouragethe younger generation oforang asli to cherish and valuetheir traditional songs”.Through the album, “theTemuan in particular and orangasli in general have begun tofeel a sense of pride in seeingone of their own become asinging celebrity… The over-whelming response of the

crowd at the Shah Alam Sta-dium to Mak Minah’s singinghas shown the Temuan thatother people do value their tra-ditions and believe there ismuch to learn from their cul-ture.”

By presenting the songs in amodern setting, youngerTemuan have been inspired tolearn these songs and playthem at weddings and otherfestivities. Using modern in-struments such as the guitarand keyboard and the worldmusic idiom also helps theyounger generation to connectand engage with modernity.Ten per cent of the proceedsfrom the sale of the CD go to-wards a Mak Minah memorialfund for the children, widows,and old folks of Pertak Village.Antares says that part of thememorial fund will be used tohelp young orang asli with ath-letic or music potential. He isconvinced that helping indi-viduals achieve something inthe field of culture and sportsis the most effective way ofraising the orang asli’s self–es-teem. This is in contrast tostate Jabatan Hal Ehwal OrangAsli officers who try to “as-similate orang asli into modernMalay society by destroying

their natural habitat and theirspiritual links to the land.”

Through their own version ofworld music, Akar Umbi hasgenerated an awareness thatthe survival of Temuan cultureis dependent on the forests,rivers and land around them.The Akar Umbi performancesand CD have stimulated con-cern about the destruction ofthe Temuan’s ancestral landand environment (due to theconstruction of the SelangorDam) and action on their be-half. The Temuan songs assertthat Temuan identity and theintimate relationship of the peo-ple with the natural resourcesof the forest are the basis of thecontinued existence of presentand future generations.

Passing It On

The Temuan's survival depends on theforests, rivers and land around them.

q


he beauty of the PertakForest Reserve, whereour small village of 43houses is located, has at-

tracted many visitors from far andnear. Now that the Selangor Damis complete, even more people arecoming here to fish from the artifi-cial lake. We are glad that peopleappreciate the beauty of our an-cestral homeground, birthplace ofthe Temuan tribe, indeed, our“pusat negri.”

When we were resettled by thedam project, the Jabatan HalEhwal Orang Asli (JHEOA) as-sured us that each family wouldbe issued an individual grant forour new houses, along with somedusun land. However, nothingwas said about the 400 acres ap-proved for gazetting in 1965 asOrang Asli Reserve Land. After39 years, the status of this landremains uncertain. We would likethis matter clarified in writing.

In February 2004, we were in-formed that our new houses standon State land for which we havebeen granted a 99-year lease. Wereceived a letter from the LandOffice asking us to pay an assess-ment of RM540 by 11 May 2004 orour land and houses will be for-feited.

There are few families in KgPertak that can afford to pay this

amount in three months, or evensix. I cannot imagine what willhappen to my sister-in-law, awidow who receives a monthlycash subsidy of RM70 from theWelfare Department. How willshe pay the assessment?

Our ancestors have dwelt herefrom the dawn of time. Nobodyknows how long the Temuan havebeen here, but it is safe to say wehave been here for a thousandgenerations. Now we are told theland is on a 99-year lease, and wemust pay an annual rent to livehere. When my great-grand-daughter’s children reach a ripeold age, the lease will expire, andthe tribe’s future will be decidedby the Land Office. If they choosenot to extend the lease, our com-munity will die out, for the life andidentity of the Orang Asli are tiedto our ancestral lands.

The Jabatan Hal Ehwal OrangAsli has existed for 50 years sincethe Emergency. Their duty is tolook after Orang Asli interests, notto belittle us. To be honest, weOrang Asli do not have much trustin the JHEOA. They seem set ondestroying our way of life and ourbeliefs. In the past they havejoined forces with loggers to ex-ploit our forests and pollute ourstreams. Now they have turnedus into rent-paying tenants onland we have inhabited for thou-

sands of years. We are not happyabout this. The JHEOA have had50 years in which to rob us of ourdignity, pride, confidence, andself-reliance - not to mention theground beneath our feet. ForOrang Asli, the Emergency is notover yet.

We urge you to investigate theunresolved issue of the 400 acresapproved for gazetting in 1965 asOrang Asli Reserve Land and toinstruct the Land Office to issue acommunal title deed. This issurely not too much to ask, as ourancestors originally roamed thewhole of Pahang, Selangor, andNegri Sembilan. But without thesense of permanency granted byofficial recognition of our custom-ary lands, our people will be indespair and lack direction. Grantus the land our ancestors left usas their legacy and free us fromthe heavy-handed control of theJHEOA. This is how we can re-gain our self-esteem, our spirit ofindependence, and our ability toprosper from the fruits of our owninitiative.

NATIVE CUSTOMARY RIGHTS

Homeless in our own homeland…Homeless in our own homeland…Homeless in our own homeland…Homeless in our own homeland…Homeless in our own homeland…We have been here for a thousand generations;now we are told the land is on a 99-year lease

Excerpts from a letter to the Prime Ministerby Batin Bida Chik

TTTTT

Batin Bida Chik is the head-Batin Bida Chik is the head-Batin Bida Chik is the head-Batin Bida Chik is the head-Batin Bida Chik is the head-man of a small Temuanman of a small Temuanman of a small Temuanman of a small Temuanman of a small TemuanOrang Asli village inOrang Asli village inOrang Asli village inOrang Asli village inOrang Asli village inKampung Pertak, UluKampung Pertak, UluKampung Pertak, UluKampung Pertak, UluKampung Pertak, UluSelangor. This is a translationSelangor. This is a translationSelangor. This is a translationSelangor. This is a translationSelangor. This is a translationfrom the original in Malay.from the original in Malay.from the original in Malay.from the original in Malay.from the original in Malay.

q


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Salvador de Madariage1886 - 1973

Spanish diplomat, writer, critic

AM 2005: 25(5)


t seems to me that Malay-sia is a country of ethnicdiversity and culturalignorance. Under a

façade of unity and tolerance,there lie deep divisions and lackof knowledge of each other’s fun-damental cultures.

A few observed instances, as wellas three years of living here, haveled me to this conclusion:

A Chinese woman, educated anda successful ‘self-made woman’,was not sure whether Hindus be-lieved in reincarnation. She wasa Buddhist of sorts, in the eclecticmanner of many Chinese, andknew that Buddha was originallya Hindu, but apparently had notmade the connection.

A Chinese man, doing a PhD inPsychology, was explaining howhe hardly spoke any Chinese be-cause he had been brought up inan area where there were mostlyMalays and had therefore alwaysspoken Malay and had Malayfriends. However, when discuss-ing the times to buka puasa (break-ing fast during the month ofRamadan) he was surprised tohear that Muslims in the furtherreaches of the Southern or North-ern hemispheres have to fast aslong as 17 hours because of the

different times of the rising andsetting sun. “Don’t you have settimes?” he asked, imagining atimetable established perhapsbased on Arabian times. He musthave lived his early life with theconstant background of the call toprayers – had he never noticedthat the time changes?

A young Malay man in an inter-view with the BBC commentedthat “We seem to have been pro-grammed as to when to be friendsand when to be hostile to eachother”

Explanations for ignorance of cul-tural history can be sought in edu-cational policies, political sensi-tivities and communal impera-tives. Malaysia has made a virtueof its diversity, but seems to havedeveloped a contradictory paral-lel blindness to the existence ofdifference. One possible explana-tion for this is that Malaysians aretaught from an early age not toquestion other religions – a laud-able practice, but it seems to ex-tend to not seeking to find out

about other religions either – ques-tions being, of course, the startingpoint of any endeavour to increaseknowledge. On the basis that onemay offend by touching upon a‘sensitive’ issue, it seems that theresult is that one does not seek tolearn more about others’ religions.

Living close to a mosque a non-Muslim gets used to the call forprayers, the recitals and othersounds that come from the loud-speakers. How much does thenon-Muslim really understand?This couldn’t be known withoutsome research, i.e. going and ask-ing questions of a Muslim neigh-bour or friend. How do non-Mus-lims perceive these sounds: is itseen as a pleasant reminder of thevalue of faith, just backgroundnoise, or something else? To findthis out one would have to askpeople in a survey, for example.However, asking people whatthey think would be seen as dis-turbing ‘sensitive’ issues – mean-ing that it is feared that by ques-tioning people about their atti-tudes to other faiths, sensibilitieswill be offended: the end result ofthis is that ignorance is preferred

ETHNIC RELATIONS

Informed tolerationSociety should be built on the basis of common understandingand appreciation

by Inside Observer

IIIII

Parallel blindness


to stirring what is understood tobe a cesspool of unknown dan-gers.

In a country whose social policyis based to a large extent on thepredicate that the ethnic groups,‘races’, will enter into conflict ifthey are not controlled, the majorconcern is to avoid any directclash of communities. One way todescribe discussion is as a ‘clash’,with all the negative connotationsthat implies; another way wouldbe to view it in terms of the usualprocess of diffusion: i.e. commu-nities comparing ideas and val-ues in a common process of inte-gration and ‘co-assimilation’. Yes,historically it is also a source ofconflict, but conflict is not alwaysnegative as long as it stays in therealm of verbal as opposed tophysical conflict. Assuming con-flict will mean that issues of rel-evance to both communities’ corevalues are not discussed, thereforelittle co-development of commu-nities will happen – and the dan-ger is that the values of the domi-nant community will be by defaultthe values that gain the mostprominence and become the statednorm for the rest of the society. Thisin turn will lead to the tensionsthat the original policy was de-signed to avoid.

As a habit of not questioning othercommunities develops, a parallelhabit of ignoring them will alsodevelop. Ignorance breeds intol-erance which in turn breeds vio-lence.

The above argument could be seenas arguing for the assimilation ofall communities into one blend

that denies the original unique-ness and value of the cultures in-volved. That is not the way onewants to go either – however, de-nying the inevitability of changeis a short-sighted approach. Anideal outcome would be informedtoleration of each other, with cul-tural borrowing and sharing ofideas.

Cultural ethical relativism is anissue here. Cultural ethical rela-tivism argues that whatever a cul-ture believes to be morally right,is right. It is an attractive argu-ment, allowing for the acceptanceof moral differences based onmutual respect for other cultures.However, it has a basic logicalproblem that can be explainedusing the following analogy: Cul-ture A believes that a person maysteal from anyone as long as theyare not from their nuclear family;Culture B believes that privateproperty is a fundamental princi-ple that should never be violatedand for which the penalty isdeath. Person A (from Culture A)steals a loaf of bread from PersonB (from Culture B) who happensto be passing by: Person B chasesafter him, catches him, and killshim. Was Person B right to killPerson A? According to his cul-ture, yes – according to Culture A,no: but cultural ethical relativismstates that both cultures’ moralvalues are equally right – it is aparadox that cannot be resolved.

The value of cultural ethical rela-tivism is that it promotes toler-ance, however to argue that eve-ryone has to be tolerant would bemaking an absolutist statement,and thus moving away from cul-tural relativism. In itself, cultural

ethical relativism is logically andpractically untenable.

Rather than seeking to celebrateeach other’s cultures and forge acommon identity – it is ‘live andlet live’. This has no doubt con-tributed to the stability of the past30 years, but the blinkered ap-proach – epitomised by the keydiscursive term ‘sensitive’ couldbe problematic. To understand thepotential dangers, other ethnicallydiverse countries should be lookedat and examined. Living side-by-side in relative ignorance need notbe dangerous, but often is. Majorchanges to the economic or socio-political environment rapidly ex-pose the fault lines between thecommunities, based as they are onthe different tectonic plates of ‘di-versity’.

Informed toleration is a call for ex-ploration and knowledge, criti-cism and valuation; it is a rejec-tion of any unipolar cultural con-struction and a proposal for multi-centred diverse communities.These involve the development ofattitudes that both encompassother cultures, give space for thedifferent expressions of indi-vidual cultures, and allow for thedevelopment of new cultural val-ues and practices. Society shouldbe built on a basis of common un-derstanding and appreciation –the salad dressing is, after all, theelement that combines the fla-vours and gives uniqueness toany particular type of salad.

Blinkered approach

The writer is a lecturer inThe writer is a lecturer inThe writer is a lecturer inThe writer is a lecturer inThe writer is a lecturer ina private college in Ma-a private college in Ma-a private college in Ma-a private college in Ma-a private college in Ma-laysialaysialaysialaysialaysia

Ignorance breedsi n t o l e r a n c e

q


I am amazed at Dr Mahathir’srhetoric and bemoaning about therefusal of the Israelis to allow himto visit Jerusalem. Surely he, of allpeople, knows that every countryhas its own laws.

During his time as Prime Minis-ter of Malaysia, he told Opposi-tion MPs, NGO activists, touristsand even ordinary citizens of Ma-laysia in no uncertain terms, “ifyou don’t like the laws in Malay-sia, you can leave Malaysia ordon’t visit.” Now that he is get-ting back some of the same flak heused to dish out to others, heseems bitter and unable to acceptthe truth of his decline in powerand influence in the world.

Augustine

Anil Netto’s article on water pri-vatisation (AM Vol 25: No. 2) isexcellent. I agree - never privatisebasic necessities like water. Lookat California. There was a big

blackout a few years ago becausethe private company was schem-ing to squeeze out even more prof-its.

If we have learnt anything fromexperience with privatisation, wewould know that the governmentshould be very cautious. Lookslike the government is not beingvery vigilant. It doesn’t have agood track record in monitoringprivate companies.

STOP the transfer to greedy pri-vate hands.

WK

I refer to your article “Judiciaryand Corruption” (AM Vol 25No1). Without juries, how are weto get an impartial judiciary - es-pecially when it comes to costsawarded to lawyers, some ofwhom may be ex-colleagues/classmates/fellow-golfers ofjudges and are on a first-namebasis with them?

The Bar Council and lawyersdon’t want juries because jurieswill not award lawyers ridiculous

amounts for “getting up”. Manyopposition politicians are lawyerswho can also claim ridiculouscosts when they win cases in thehigher courts. So they never callfor juries to be introduced either.

Any demand - including yours -for reforms without calling forjury trials (as practised in moremature democracies) is just hy-pocrisy.

Cheah TE

Malaysians bristle at even theslightest hint of any impingementof our sovereignty. Wasn’t the de-cision to keep Chin Peng from re-turning home based on this? Ex-hortations to defend theKedaulatatan Negara frequentlypepper the speeches of our lead-ers.

The DPM’s complaint againstTel Aviv’s exercising its sover-eignty to keep out Tun Mahathirseems quite hypocritical. WhenI last heard Israel is a sovereignnation too, just like Malaysia.Since the former PM’s stancevis-a-vis Israel can hardly be de-scribed as congenial, why thesurprise and fuss?

R J NoelKuching

Only Aliran keeps Malaysian alertabout PLUS, which is a drain onthe public. I just hope the peopledo not forget this issue when thenext General Election comes.Thank you, Aliran

Dentab

The Doctor tastes hisown medicine

Never privatise basicn e c e s s i t i e s

Juries needed

Double standards

PLUS Watch


n his piece ‘Fault lines ofMalaysian Multi-culturalism’ JohanAbdullah shares con-

cerns that need addressing beforethese develop into ‘social tsuna-mis’ within the Malaysian politi-cal landscape.

As one who was involved from theearly meetings relating to the for-mation of the Inter-ReligiousCouncil I would like to respondto certain misconceptions thatJohan expresses which need clari-fication. We know that, as earlyas the late 1970s, Dr.ChandraMuzaffar proposed the setting upof an Inter-Religious Council.(IRC)

Over the years, he has repeatedthis call. At a seminar organisedby the Bar Council in December2000 on ‘Freedom of Religion’, he

reviewed this idea in a more de-tailed manner. The following year,2001, then Bar Council presidentSulaiman Abdullah set up a com-mittee to work towards the estab-lishment of an IRC. A number ofnon-governmental organisations(NGOs), including the Interna-tional Movement for a Just World(JUST), became involved in thisinitiative.

During the latter part of that year,a number of Muslim members ofthe steering committee perceivedthat some steering committeemembers of the Bar Council and afew others saw the IRC as a forumfor articulating non-Muslim reli-gious grievances. Some committeemembers seemed more concernedabout highlighting their griev-

ances than being sensitive abouthow this affected other groups.

A memorandum tabled by theMalaysian Consultative Commit-tee for Buddhism, Christianity,Hinduism and Sikhism(MCCBCHS) did not help the proc-ess. Further, discussions address-ing topical issues such as apos-tasy and child custody cases werered herrings that detracted fromthe main agenda of setting up theIRC. Expressions and feelings onthese issues did not contribute tothe search for a common responsetowards the idea of an IRC. In-stead, these created a negative per-ception in some quarters on thecredibility of those leading thecommittee

Some Muslim committee membersperceived such expressions as an-tagonistic towards Islam. Theythen decided not to participate inthe deliberations of the committee.No meetings were then held untilthe last quarter of 2002. Then BarCouncil president Mah WengKwai attempted to revive the idea.

Raja Aziz Addruse then met withChandra persuading him to getinvolved and to chair the steeringcommittee. Together, they then metwith the Muslim committee mem-

INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE

Trust, understanding needed forTrust, understanding needed forTrust, understanding needed forTrust, understanding needed forTrust, understanding needed forinter-religious councilinter-religious councilinter-religious councilinter-religious councilinter-religious councilWe should not try to run before we can walk

by K Haridas

IIIII

Perceptions ofa n t a g o n i s m

Representatives of various religions come together to oppose the invasion of Iraq.


bers who left the steering commit-tee and others. In January 2003,several of them agreed to rejoin thecommittee based on the agree-ment reached between them.

It was then agreed that a work-shop be held to discuss issueswithin a larger forum. This wasscheduled for February 2003 andwas to be initiated by civil societyrather than the Bar Council. TheBar would still remain a memberof the steering committee. Thus,some members of the Bar in theCommittee would have to stepdown. The objective of the work-shop was to explore the possibil-ity of setting up the IRC. If formed,this body would have no powersof adjudication. It would concen-trate on promoting understand-ing, confidence and trust buildingbetween the different religiouscommunities

However, as the keynote speakercould not come for several reasons,the workshop was postponed. InMarch 2003, the members of the BarCommittee who were required tostep down and others objected tothe agreement reached betweenRaja Aziz Addruse and DrChandra Muzaffar on the onehand and Muslim members whohad earlier left the steering commit-tee on the other. They argued thatthe Bar should continue to helmthis initiative rather than civil so-ciety groups. As a result of this, theMuslim groups rescinded their ear-lier decision to rejoin the commit-tee.

Chandra then met with newlyelected Bar Council presidentKuthubul Zaman Bukhary to per-suade him to postpone the work-

shop scheduled for 17-18 May.This was to enable more negotia-tions to be conducted between thesteering committee and Muslimindividuals and groups. DespiteChandra’s letters to him and plea,the Bar decided to proceed withthe workshop.

Since May 2003, JUST has notbeen involved with the IRC effort.JUST, however, continues to becommitted to inter-faith dialoguesat the national and inter-nationslevels and has initiated and par-ticipated in such events. JohanAbdullah must realise that pro-gressive groups like ABIM andJUST recognise that it is futile toproceed if the effort does not com-mand legitimacy in the eyes of theMuslim community in particularand the Malaysian public in gen-eral.

We should not try to run beforewe can walk. Inter-faith and in-ter-religious matters are sensitivein nature. A level of understand-ing and trust must exist beforehard issues are handled. An In-ter-Religious Council would havebeen a good beginning leadingeventually to the formation of anInter-Religious Commission. Per-ceptions are real and all who holddiffering views believe in their re-alities. Sometimes the medium it-self has to change. The Bar Coun-cil should have left this to civilsociety. One needs more thanadversarial skills, arguments andfacts to manage the process.

There is much goodwill and open-mindedness in Malaysia. Percep-tions, however, define realities. Onissues relating to religion andfaith, credibility and trust have to

be established. A sense of matu-rity and understanding must pre-vail. I may not agree with how Iam being perceived but, if thisimpacts the process, then in thelarger interest I should step aside.People come from their own levelof understanding and much ac-commodation is called for if theprocess is to succeed.

The Bar must be credited for tak-ing action on this initiative. At thesame time representatives of theBar should have had the humilityto pass this on to civil society andnot question why they were soperceived. So long as we are un-able to bring into the dialogueprocess the Muslim community -be they mainstream, moderate orextreme - we should admit thatmore work needs to be done.

That is why an inter-religiouscouncil should be a forerunner tothe creation of an Inter Faith Com-mission. What has happened fol-lowing their last seminar was thedevelopment of the idea into anInter Faith Commission. One canappreciate this for it brings ontothe table the strengths of the BarCouncil. If there is inadequategoodwill, however, such lawsand regulations will remain atbest good formulations

If the spirit of inclusivity dictates,then a good representative major-ity would support such a laudableobjective. Inclusivity, however, re-quires a language of openness, awillingness to listen, moderationand, if need be, the readiness tostep aside for the larger good. Thisis yet another good example ofgood intentions that have runaground, contributing thereby toa further polarisation of views onthis issue.

Workshop postponed

Inclusivity requireso p e n n e s s

q


hen does an illegal mili-tary occupation becomea force for honourableintervention? When, as

intimated by BBC and other lib-eral reportage, it involves Britishtroops in Iraq. How does suchmedia confer legitimacy on thatinvasion? By rationalising it as adifficult but necessary struggle toestablish democracy.

It is notable that while the dailydiet of death and destruction con-tinues unabated in Iraq, it hasquietly slipped as a headline storyon mainstream news. Not thatBBC coverage of the war, with afew belated exceptions, has everstrayed beyond ‘safe’ reportinglimits. But with the ‘mission todeliver’ Iraqi elections and a par-liamentary process now appar-ently accomplished, media editorsand journalists have settled moreeasily into extolling the occupa-tion (a word never used) as a forcefor good.

Recently, in Edinburgh, I had theprivilege of hearing NoamChomsky dismantle the languageof “benevolent intervention” pro-claimed by Western leaders andthose who have hitched them-

selves to the democratisationbandwagon in the Middle East.Also, on the subject of double-speak, Chomsky talked of thepropaganda system’s remarkableability “to make people feel help-less” — particularly in Americawhere the populace is so mas-sively assaulted by corporate ide-ology.

Selective media coverage andomission play a critical role inboth processes. In a revealing in-terview, the former BBC MiddleEast correspondent, TimLleyellyn, has pointed to the in-stitutional caution of the BBC inreporting the real story of Israelioccupation in the Palestinian ter-

ritories. Afraid of upsetting theBlair government and Jewishlobby, he detects within the BBC adisturbing self-censorship, ap-proximating to editorial and jour-nalistic cowardice. This is also,he believes, part of a more perva-sive trend towards “surface re-porting” and superficial output asbodies like the BBC compete in thefast-news corporate-media envi-ronment. Thus, as news editorscircumvent the sensitive, thevoices of brutalised Palestiniansare being rendered helpless.

Where helplessness prevails, vio-

MEDIA

Media complicity and theeconomy of double-speakThrough the language of “objective” reporting, the mainstreammedia are bowing before the establishment and raw corporatepower

by John Hilley

WWWWW

The deficiencyof force

A quiescent media is helping to prolong Palestinian suffering.


lence often fills the vacuum. Butwhile this has proved disas-trously futile in the Palestiniancase, the media are also guilty ofmisrepresenting such resistance.As Llewellyn notes, BBC report-age has consistently failed tocontextualise the social and po-litical psychology of the suicidebomber. Llewellyn also links thisto the preponderance of corre-spondents based in Israel ratherthan the Palestinian areas.

One of the most hopeful featuresof the Israeli-Palestinian conflicthas been the courage of peacegroups and military refuseniks inIsrael. Yet, again, little of this orthe substantial Israeli public voiceopposed to Sharon is being airedas mainstream news. Thus, aswith the largely biased reportsover Iraq, a quiescent media ishelping to prolong Palestiniansuffering. And, as their resent-ment intensifies, we see not onlybloody retaliation in Israel, butincreased hatred of Jews acrossthe world.

It seems a bleak and unremittingpicture. Yet, as Chomsky re-minded us, while the US and Is-rael have predominance in “thearena of force”, people hold moreinfluence than they think in “thearena of political power”. Bushand Sharon may retain dispropor-tionate military strength, but theystruggle to legitimise that author-ity in the face of informed publicopinion. In short, knowledge,moral argument and non-violentaction are still the most effectiveweapons we have.

Part of that process involves chal-lenging the sacred illusion of me-

dia impartiality. For the writerand academic Robert W.McChesney, tight corporate own-ership and neoliberalisation havelocked international and local me-dia into new conformist relations,dumbing down the news, abbre-viating information and narrow-ing the space for critical journal-ism. Emerging particularly in theUS, mainstream media, he be-lieves, have taken refuge in the po-lite fiction of “professional jour-nalism”.

For McChesney, this is really“tepid journalism”: a narrow,consensual understanding of per-mitted reportage “that reflects therange of existing elite opinion”,reinforcing a “conventional busi-ness-as-usual politics” which“marginalises the new, the criti-cal and the radical, especially ifthey are threatening to entrenchedeconomic interests.” In the cru-cial arena of war, a state inclina-tion which “requires the greatestdemocratic monitoring” by themedia, “professional journalismhas proven to be mostly a stenog-rapher to those in power.”

McChesney’s words overviewWho Owns the Media?, where, in alater chapter, Zaharom Nain (thebook’s co-editor) and Wang LayKim trace the political coercionand incorporation that hasshaped safe media output in Ma-laysia. Charting the evolving net-work of BN ownership and con-trol, the authors note, for example,how The Star returned as a “palecopy” of itself after the suspensionof its licence during OperationLalang. And, as the continuedharassment of Malaysiakini andHarakah suggests, the threat of clo-sure and arbitrary arrest remainsa none-too-subtle reminder to

other would-be critical organs.

However, Malaysian media out-put is also predicated, as else-where on the wider corporate or-der. As McChesney notes, themedia structure in general “pre-supposes the capitalist status quoas the natural and proper demo-cratic ordering of social life.” Andthese assumptions serve a lifetimepurpose in shaping the corporateideal of the passive-citizen-active-consumer. Thus, driven by adver-tising demands and circulationwars, proprietors and editorschurn out evermore mind-numb-ing trivia and celebrity vox pop,while serious current affairs issubsumed to routine party poli-tics and safe editorial-speak. Re-flecting the corporate fundamen-tals which media organisationslive by, political life is reduced tojust another set of commoditychoices.

Where critical comment does ap-pear, it is usually conditioned bya learned deference to power. Forinstance, when Paul Wolfowitzwas given the nod as head of theWorld Bank, some media couldnot help but note the man’s darkreputation and directorship of theIraq war. What they mainly failedto do was ask why he was not be-ing arraigned before an interna-tional court. This is a good exam-ple of how the media and politi-cal class sanitise the actions ofthose who use the respectable of-fices of state to sanction massmurder.

Complicity is not just about directassociation in a crime. It is alsothe act of excusing a crime by hid-

System and illusions

Complicity andrespectable politics


ing behind the mask of ‘profes-sional detachment’; in the media’scase, through a language of ‘ob-jective’ reporting which allows thepowerful to maintain an aura oflegitimacy even where their ac-tions are patently criminal.Again, a good part of this lies inthe type of Western bias which cancondemn Saddam or the perpetra-tors of genocide in Darfur, butwould balk at declaring Bush orBlair responsible for crimesagainst humanity. Likewise,while Mugabe’s human rightsabuses headlined the recent elec-tion in Zimbabwe, few mediascribes thought fit to mention theloss of 100,000 lives as the pricefor Iraq’s ‘first free election’.

As consistently observed byMediaLens <www.medialens.org>, liberal media like the BBCand Guardian are notable expo-nents of such vacillation. Typi-cally, this involves white-washed editorials and selectivekow-towing to senior politi-cians. For example, in a recentpiece, the ML editors note howthe leading BBC correspondentMatt Frei was moved to praiseWolfowitz as a “powerful intel-lectual” who “believes passion-ately in the power of democracyand grassroots development”.(Contra Anwar’s approval, Ialso welcome the Wolfowitz ap-pointment, a posting which mayfinally expose and hasten thedemise of this bogus, undemo-cratic institution — see GeorgeMonbiot’s excellent rendition ofthis argument atwww.monbiot.com.)

Of course, not all journalism isslavish endorsement of the pow-erful. Real critical journalism stillprevails, as demonstrated by peo-

ple like John Pilger. Yet, institu-tional deterrents and self-censor-ship serve to limit and temper dis-sident tendencies. Much of whatpasses for critical press andbroadcasting comes with ‘careerconsiderations’ and a predispo-sition towards ‘in-house’ values.I am reminded here of the classicinterview with Chomsky whereAndrew Marr, now chief BBC po-litical correspondent, proclaimsthe ‘reality’ of journalistic free-dom. Chomsky’s response, likehis disposal of the ‘benevolent in-tervention’ argument, is a clinicaldissection of Marr’s own capac-ity for self-deception — a presci-ent analysis given Marr’s currentapologetics for Blair’s Iraq actionsand Attorney General Lord Gold-smith’s ‘change of mind’ over thelegality of the war.

In another case of selective treat-ment, the anti-war Respect poli-tician George Galloway hasbeen cast as a major hate figureby the British and internationalmedia. In stark contrast to therespectful treatment of politi-cians responsible for mass kill-ing in Iraq, Galloway’s stun-ning election victory in Lon-don’s Bethnal Green (a welcomesurprise even for this writer),overturning Blairite OonaKing’s 10,000 majority, was metwith grudging acknowledge-ment and a particularly venom-ous attack by the BBC’s ‘chiefinterrogator’ Jeremy Paxman.

Having already seen off the Tel-egraph and Christian ScienceMonitor in the libel courts, Gallo-way added to the media’s discom-fort with a dynamic performancebefore the US Senate’s oil-for-foodhearing. There, he dismissed more‘oil beneficiary’ smears and re-

minded the chastened senators ofwho has really profited from thesanctions policy and occupation(see text of Galloway’s speech in anaccompanying piece). On this occa-sion, media ‘praise’ seemed rathermore forthcoming. Yet, it re-mained fixed on Galloway’s ‘con-troversial’ and ‘maverick’ person-ality, rather than the politics of anelected MP articulating wide-spread anti-war feeling.

As arbiters of news, frontline re-porters and celebrity broadcast-ers like Paxman are part of a safemedia establishment which re-gards dissident voices like Gal-loway and Pilger as irritantthreats to ‘respectable’ politicsand professional journalism.Within this sphere of influence,‘acceptable’ views and valuesare mediated and forged, help-ing to marginalise the ‘awk-ward squad’ and patrol the pa-rameters of debate. (Paxman’sown off-screen activities includemembership of the elite BritishAmerican Project, a proto-Blairite/corporate-founded net-work of movers and shakers,which Pilger describes as a“casual freemasonry” of “themost influential transatlantic...politicians, journalists and aca-demics”.) Through such pa-tronage and ‘critical exchange’,editors and journalists come toreproduce, consciously and sub-consciously, an assumed ver-sion of political life which tran-scribes to the public as deferenceto liberal institutions and corpo-rate power.

This is the most subtle aspect ofmedia output; a system which caninstil from within the self-delusional values of unfetteredjournalism, producing, in turn, a


standard vernacular which be-comes lodged in the minds of me-dia personnel and public alike. Toconclude, here are a few examplesof commonly repeated terms andreferences to illustrate the point:

Freedom and democracyFreedom and democracyFreedom and democracyFreedom and democracyFreedom and democracyThe leitmotif of liberal capitalistorder. Assumed project: ‘we, thefree world’ offer this to ‘you, thenon-free/other’.

Free electionsFree electionsFree electionsFree electionsFree electionsThe proclaimed standard of freesocieties.

Free mediaFree mediaFree mediaFree mediaFree mediaThe badge of objectivity and truth— or being free to report what MrMurdoch allows.

Free marketFree marketFree marketFree marketFree marketAbstract economic concept ac-cepted as given reality.

Free trade (benefits of)Free trade (benefits of)Free trade (benefits of)Free trade (benefits of)Free trade (benefits of)Tell the people of Africa.

LiberalisationLiberalisationLiberalisationLiberalisationLiberalisationAdopted corporate-speak for theneoliberal appropriation of all eco-nomic and social life. See ‘WallStreet consensus’.

Economic growthEconomic growthEconomic growthEconomic growthEconomic growthBenchmark of national success:increased output promises moreconsumption, affluence and so-cial prosperity.

Wealth creationWealth creationWealth creationWealth creationWealth creationSupersonic salaries for the one-percenters, anguished aspirationfor the middle classes, cheap jobsfor the rest.

National developmentNational developmentNational developmentNational developmentNational developmentKeeping the populace focused on‘higher’ aims while they languishin poverty; as in the ‘new’ SouthAfrica.

National interestNational interestNational interestNational interestNational interestPrecisely whose?

International communityInternational communityInternational communityInternational communityInternational communityThose adhering to Washington’s‘unilateral multilateralism’.

International terrorismInternational terrorismInternational terrorismInternational terrorismInternational terrorismAnything questioning US terror-ism. Popular Bush-ism: ‘you areeither with us or against us’.

Failed/rogue statesFailed/rogue statesFailed/rogue statesFailed/rogue statesFailed/rogue statesStandard pejorative employed bymainstream media. See also ‘axisof evil’ and Reagan-esque ‘basketcase’.

Weapons of Mass Destruction/Weapons of Mass Destruction/Weapons of Mass Destruction/Weapons of Mass Destruction/Weapons of Mass Destruction/WMDWMDWMDWMDWMDImprinted word association —ignoring US/ UK arsenal of deathand Israel’s nuclear capability (asrevealed by Mordechai Vanunu).

War on TerrorWar on TerrorWar on TerrorWar on TerrorWar on TerrorGeneric reference to unspecifiedthreat from unspecified other. Le-gitimating language forGuantanamo, Bagram, Belmarshand Kamunting.

IncursionsIncursionsIncursionsIncursionsIncursionsThe Israeli ‘Defence’ Force (IDF)launch these into the West Bank,according to prime-time news.Alternative reading: ‘daily deathsquads murder innocent Palestin-ians’.

InsurgentsInsurgentsInsurgentsInsurgentsInsurgentsLoaded media label for indig-enous peoples engaged in legiti-

mate resistance against illegal in-vaders.

JihadJihadJihadJihadJihadMainly peaceful cause/aim usedas fear-instilling term by Westernmedia.

Suicide bomberSuicide bomberSuicide bomberSuicide bomberSuicide bomberPotentially all Palestinians ac-cording to same media.

Moderate IslamModerate IslamModerate IslamModerate IslamModerate IslamAs in Blairite invocation to‘friendly face of Islam’ — or, ‘cometogether in dialogue while we killyour brothers in Iraq and Afghani-stan’.

Taliban fanaticsTaliban fanaticsTaliban fanaticsTaliban fanaticsTaliban fanaticsOld friends of Washington usedagainst the Soviet foe. Feted in theUS, pre-9/11, on behalf of Unocaloil.

Saudi alliesSaudi alliesSaudi alliesSaudi alliesSaudi alliesBush Inc. oil deals and foreigntroops on holy soil. The 9/11 hi-jackers came from where?

Osama still at largeOsama still at largeOsama still at largeOsama still at largeOsama still at largeThe ‘Muslim threat’ personified.

Threat from IranThreat from IranThreat from IranThreat from IranThreat from IranManichaean neo-cons play mediaclever: how to peddle suspicion,destabilise the mullahs andspread ‘democracy’ beyond Bagh-dad.

Free world

Economic progress

Fear factor

Muslim world

Glasgow-based Dr JohnGlasgow-based Dr JohnGlasgow-based Dr JohnGlasgow-based Dr JohnGlasgow-based Dr JohnHilley is the author of Ma-Hilley is the author of Ma-Hilley is the author of Ma-Hilley is the author of Ma-Hilley is the author of Ma-laysia: Mahathirism, andlaysia: Mahathirism, andlaysia: Mahathirism, andlaysia: Mahathirism, andlaysia: Mahathirism, andthe New Opposition (Lon-the New Opposition (Lon-the New Opposition (Lon-the New Opposition (Lon-the New Opposition (Lon-don: 2001).don: 2001).don: 2001).don: 2001).don: 2001).

q


enator, I am not now, norhave I ever been, an oiltrader. And neither hasanyone on my behalf. I

have never seen a barrel of oil,owned one, bought one, sold one- and neither has anyone on mybehalf.

“Now I know that standards haveslipped in the last few years inWashington, but for a lawyer youare remarkably cavalier with anyidea of justice. I am here today butlast week you already found meguilty. You traduced my namearound the world without everhaving asked me a single question,without ever having contactedme, without ever written to me ortelephoned me, without any at-tempt to contact me whatsoever.And you call that justice.

“Now I want to deal with thepages that relate to me in this dos-sier and I want to point out areaswhere there are - let’s be charita-ble and say errors. Then I want toput this in the context where I be-lieve it ought to be. On the veryfirst page of your document aboutme you assert that I have had

‘many meetings’ with SaddamHussein. This is false.

“I have had two meetings withSaddam Hussein, once in 1994and once in August of 2002. Byno stretch of the English languagecan that be described as “manymeetings” with Saddam Hussein.

“As a matter of fact, I have metSaddam Hussein exactly the samenumber of times as DonaldRumsfeld met him. The differenceis Donald Rumsfeld met him tosell him guns and to give himmaps the better to target thoseguns. I met him to try and bringabout an end to sanctions, suffer-ing and war, and on the second ofthe two occasions, I met him to tryand persuade him to let Dr HansBlix and the United Nations weap-ons inspectors back into the coun-try - a rather better use of two meet-ings with Saddam Hussein thanyour own Secretary of State forDefence made of his.

“I was an opponent of SaddamHussein when British and Ameri-cans governments and business-men were selling him guns and

gas. I used to demonstrate outsidethe Iraqi embassy when Britishand American officials were go-ing in and doing commerce.

“You will see from the official par-liamentary record, Hansard, fromthe 15th March 1990 onwards, vo-luminous evidence that I have arather better record of oppositionto Saddam Hussein than you doand than any other member of theBritish or American governmentsdo.

“Now you say in this document,you quote a source, you have thegall to quote a source, without everhaving asked me whether the al-legation from the source is true,that I am ‘the owner of a companywhich has made substantial prof-its from trading in Iraqi oil’.

“Senator, I do not own any com-panies, beyond a small companywhose entire purpose, whose solepurpose, is to receive the incomefrom my journalistic earningsfrom my employer, AssociatedNewspapers, in London. I do notown a company that’s been trad-ing in Iraqi oil. And you have no

INTERNATIONAL

Galloway v the US Senate“Senator, in everything I said about Iraq,I turned out to be right and you turned outto be wrong”

George Galloway, a prominent anti-war politicianGeorge Galloway, a prominent anti-war politicianGeorge Galloway, a prominent anti-war politicianGeorge Galloway, a prominent anti-war politicianGeorge Galloway, a prominent anti-war politicianfrom the UK, delivered this statement on May 18from the UK, delivered this statement on May 18from the UK, delivered this statement on May 18from the UK, delivered this statement on May 18from the UK, delivered this statement on May 18to US Senators who had accused him of corruption.to US Senators who had accused him of corruption.to US Senators who had accused him of corruption.to US Senators who had accused him of corruption.to US Senators who had accused him of corruption.

“S“S“S“S“S


business to carry a quotation, ut-terly unsubstantiated and false,implying otherwise.

“Now you have nothing on me,Senator, except my name on listsof names from Iraq, many of whichhave been drawn up after the in-stallation of your puppet govern-ment in Baghdad. If you had anyof the letters against me that youhad against Zhirinovsky, andeven Pasqua, they would havebeen up there in your slideshowfor the members of your commit-tee today.

“You have my name on lists pro-vided to you by the Duelfer in-quiry, provided to him by the con-victed bank robber, and fraudsterand conman Ahmed Chalabi whomany people to their credit in yourcountry now realise played a de-cisive role in leading your coun-try into the disaster in Iraq.

“There were 270 names on that listoriginally. That’s somehow beenfilleted down to the names youchose to deal with in this commit-tee. Some of the names on thatcommittee included the formersecretary to his Holiness PopeJohn Paul II, the former head ofthe African National CongressPresidential office and many oth-ers who had one defining charac-teristic in common: they all stoodagainst the policy of sanctionsand war which you vociferouslyprosecuted and which has led usto this disaster.

“You quote Mr Dahar YasseinRamadan. Well, you have some-thing on me, I’ve never met MrDahar Yassein Ramadan. Yoursub-committee apparently has.But I do know that he’s your pris-oner, I believe he’s in Abu Ghraibprison. I believe he is facing warcrimes charges, punishable by

death. In these circumstances,knowing what the world knowsabout how you treat prisoners inAbu Ghraib prison, in BagramAirbase, in Guantanamo Bay, in-cluding I may say, British citizensbeing held in those places.

“I’m not sure how much credibil-ity anyone would put on any-thing you manage to get from aprisoner in those circumstances.But you quote 13 words fromDahar Yassein Ramadan whom Ihave never met. If he said what hesaid, then he is wrong.

“And if you had any evidence thatI had ever engaged in any actualoil transaction, if you had any evi-dence that anybody ever gave meany money, it would be before thepublic and before this committeetoday because I agreed with yourMr Greenblatt [Mark Greenblatt,legal counsel on the committee].

“Your Mr Greenblatt was abso-lutely correct. What counts is notthe names on the paper, whatcounts is where’s the money. Sena-tor? Who paid me hundreds ofthousands of dollars of money?The answer to that is nobody. Andif you had anybody who ever paidme a penny, you would have pro-duced them today.

“Now you refer at length to a com-pany names in these documentsas Aredio Petroleum. I say to youunder oath here today: I havenever heard of this company, Ihave never met anyone from thiscompany. This company hasnever paid a penny to me and I’lltell you something else: I can as-sure you that Aredio Petroleumhas never paid a single penny tothe Mariam Appeal Campaign.Not a thin dime. I don’t know whoAredio Petroleum are, but Idaresay if you were to ask them

they would confirm that they havenever met me or ever paid me apenny.

“Whilst I’m on that subject, whois this senior former regime offi-cial that you spoke to yesterday?Don’t you think I have a right toknow? Don’t you think the Com-mittee and the public have a rightto know who this senior formerregime official you were quotingagainst me interviewed yesterdayactually is?

“Now, one of the most serious ofthe mistakes you have made inthis set of documents is, to befrank, such a schoolboy howler asto make a fool of the efforts thatyou have made. You assert onpage 19, not once but twice, thatthe documents that you are refer-ring to cover a different period intime from the documents coveredby The Daily Telegraph whichwere a subject of a libel action wonby me in the High Court in Eng-land late last year.

“You state that The Daily Tel-egraph article cited documentsfrom 1992 and 1993 whilst youare dealing with documents dat-ing from 2001. Senator, The DailyTelegraph’s documents date iden-tically to the documents that youwere dealing with in your reporthere. None of The Daily Tel-egraph’s documents dealt with aperiod of 1992, 1993. I had neverset foot in Iraq until late in 1993 -never in my life. There could pos-sibly be no documents relating toOil-for-Food matters in 1992,1993, for the Oil-for-Food schemedid not exist at that time.

“And yet you’ve allocated a fullsection of this document to claim-ing that your documents are froma different era to the Daily Tel-egraph documents when the op-


posite is true. Your documentsand the Daily Telegraph docu-ments deal with exactly the sameperiod.

“But perhaps you were confusingthe Daily Telegraph action withthe Christian Science Monitor. TheChristian Science Monitor did in-deed publish on its front pages aset of allegations against me verysimilar to the ones that your com-mittee have made. They did in-deed rely on documents whichstarted in 1992, 1993. These docu-ments were unmasked by theChristian Science Monitor them-selves as forgeries.

“Now, the neo-con websites andnewspapers in which you’re sucha hero, senator, were all absolutelycock-a-hoop at the publication ofthe Christian Science Monitordocuments, they were all abso-lutely convinced of their authen-ticity. They were all absolutelyconvinced that these documentsshowed me receiving $10 millionfrom the Saddam regime. Andthey were all lies.

“In the same week as the DailyTelegraph published their docu-ments against me, the ChristianScience Monitor published theirswhich turned out to be forgeriesand the British newspaper, Mailon Sunday, purchased a third setof documents which also uponforensic examination turned outto be forgeries. So there’s nothingfanciful about this. Nothing at allfanciful about it.

“The existence of forged docu-ments implicating me in commer-cial activities with the Iraqi regimeis a proven fact. It’s a proven factthat these forged documents ex-isted and were being circulatedamongst right-wing newspapersin Baghdad and around the world

in the immediate aftermath of thefall of the Iraqi regime.

“Now, Senator, I gave my heartand soul to oppose the policy thatyou promoted. I gave my politicallife’s blood to try to stop the masskilling of Iraqis by the sanctionson Iraq which killed one millionIraqis, most of them children, mostof them died before they evenknew that they were Iraqis, butthey died for no other reason otherthan that they were Iraqis with themisfortune to born at that time. Igave my heart and soul to stop youcommitting the disaster that youdid commit in invading Iraq. AndI told the world that your case forthe war was a pack of lies.

“I told the world that Iraq, con-trary to your claims did not haveweapons of mass destruction. Itold the world, contrary to yourclaims, that Iraq had no connec-tion to al-Qaeda. I told the world,contrary to your claims, that Iraqhad no connection to the atrocityon 9/11 2001. I told the world,contrary to your claims, that theIraqi people would resist a Brit-ish and American invasion oftheir country and that the fall ofBaghdad would not be the begin-ning of the end, but merely the endof the beginning.

“Senator, in everything I saidabout Iraq, I turned out to be rightand you turned out to be wrongand 100,000 people paid withtheir lives; 1600 of them Americansoldiers sent to their deaths on apack of lies; 15,000 of themwounded, many of them disabledforever on a pack of lies.

If the world had listened to KofiAnnan, whose dismissal you de-manded, if the world had listenedto President Chirac who you wantto paint as some kind of corrupt

traitor, if the world had listenedto me and the anti-war movementin Britain, we would not be in thedisaster that we are in today. Sena-tor, this is the mother of allsmokescreens. You are trying todivert attention from the crimesthat you supported, from the theftof billions of dollars of Iraq’swealth.

“Have a look at the real Oil-for-Food scandal. Have a look at the14 months you were in charge ofBaghdad, the first 14 monthswhen $8.8 billion of Iraq’s wealthwent missing on your watch.Have a look at Haliburton andother American corporations thatstole not only Iraq’s money, butthe money of the American tax-payer.

“Have a look at the oil that youdidn’t even meter, that you wereshipping out of the country andselling, the proceeds of whichwent who knows where? Have alook at the $800 million you gaveto American military command-ers to hand out around the coun-try without even counting it orweighing it.

“Have a look at the real scandalbreaking in the newspapers today,revealed in the earlier testimonyin this committee. That the biggestsanctions busters were not me orRussian politicians or Frenchpoliticians. The real sanctionsbusters were your own companieswith the connivance of your ownGovernment.”

George Galloway is theGeorge Galloway is theGeorge Galloway is theGeorge Galloway is theGeorge Galloway is theRespect MP for BethnalRespect MP for BethnalRespect MP for BethnalRespect MP for BethnalRespect MP for BethnalGreen and Bow in the UKGreen and Bow in the UKGreen and Bow in the UKGreen and Bow in the UKGreen and Bow in the UK

Source: Times NewspapersSource: Times NewspapersSource: Times NewspapersSource: Times NewspapersSource: Times NewspapersLtd.Ltd.Ltd.Ltd.Ltd.

q


As reported in the “Opinion”piece, Malaysia has one contrac-tor for every 614 persons. The ra-tio is likely to be amongst the high-est in the world and I am sure it iscausing the government a bigheadache. The government re-cently announced the freezing offurther issuance of new class F li-cences, i.e. no more new baby con-tractors. The objective is to have asmaller number of hungry con-tractors getting a bigger share ofthe limited amount of contractingworks. With due respect, thewhole article has NOT touched onthe fundamental problems facingcontractors. Just stopping the birthof baby contractors will not pro-duce more good contractors.

Since our Independence, the gov-ernment has been trying veryhard to produce successfulbumiputera entrepreneurs in allfields including bumiputera con-struction contractors. In spite ofthe government’s efforts in help-ing bumiputera contractors, thereare only a few good contractorsout of the thousands of contrac-tors in the country. After you haveread my explanation of the inher-ent difficulties involved, you willunderstand that it will take a longtime to produce good contractors.I will also suggest some appropri-ate action to be taken to achievebetter results.

Before this, a clearer understand-ing of the construction industryand its inherent difficulties is es-sential. Up until now, the Govern-ment’s efforts have never beenmore determined and they wouldstill award juicy contracts tobumiputera contractors hoping tohelp them. Unfortunately, records

have shown that all the extramoney and assistance given outhas not produced that many goodbumiputera contractors. A juicycontract with very good rates doesnot necessarily mean that the con-tractor will be able to complete thecontract on time and make aprofit. The extra money is simplywasted and has made them moreinefficient. For example, The Edgeof 21 May 2005 reported that theRM2.54 billion Ipoh-Rawang rail-way contract awarded to DRB-Hicom in July 2000, almost fiveyears ago, is still not completedand now the contractor wantsanother RM700 million to com-plete the project. What will theGovernment do?

Contracting is a very difficult busi-ness; yet, it is so easy to register asa contractor. To register as a ClassF contractor, one has only to showthat one has RM5,000. He does noteven require a pass in the LowerCertificate of Education. But it willtake at least 10 years to learn howto overcome all the inherent diffi-culties and become competitiveand efficient. Continuously giv-ing out juicy contracts withoutopen tenders will only make therecipients less competitive.

Studies have shown that there aremore failures and bankruptcies incontracting than in any otherbusiness, and also almost all con-struction projects are NOT com-pleted within the originally sched-uled time. The delay will cost thecontractor more, and that is whyyou can often see incompletebuildings and abandonedprojects, which had been under-taken by inefficient contractors.There are many reasons for this

peculiar phenomenon.

Although this system is the bestway to ensure completion of anyproject/contract at the lowestprice, it is the most difficult obsta-cle any contractor has to face inthe real competitive world. Hemust know his business very welland be efficient to face open com-petition all the time. Like a goodathlete, he has to keep fit and beconstantly aware of market con-ditions and competitors. There isa classical saying: ‘A cheap thingis not good and a good thing isnot cheap’ But contractors alwayshave to produce good work at thecheapest price. The first astronautwas asked just before take offwhat his biggest worry was. Hereplied that it was that the hun-dreds of tons of steel-work sup-porting him was undertaken bythe cheapest contractors.

To submit the cheapest tender, thecontractor must be very optimis-tic in all his assumptions to getthe cheapest rates. He must as-sume that he will not encounterany cash flow difficulties and thathe will always get his progresspayments on time to pay his credi-tors. He must also assume that hewill not encounter any difficultyin getting all the required materi-als on time to avoid any delay andalso that there are ample workerslined up for him to pick andchoose. Furthermore, he must alsoassume that the heavens will bekind to him and that he will notmeet any harsh weather duringconstruction. Invariably, many of

O v e r - o p t i m i s t i cassumptions in open

tender bids

WHY ARE THERE SO FEW Continued from page 40


these assumptions will be mis-placed; thus, the completion willbe delayed and it will cost more tocomplete the contract.

There was no material price esca-lation clause in the conditions ofcontract before I became the Sec-retary General of the Master Build-ers Association. During the un-precedented oil crisis, buildingmaterial prices shot through theroof. The result: many contractorscould not complete their contractsfor schools and other projects. Af-ter several appeals the PublicWorks Department (PWD), nowknown as JKR, eventually allowedonly cement and steel [leaving outhundreds of other materials] forprice variation reimbursements.Without a price fluctuation clausefor the other items, contractors areexposed to risk. Bearing in mindthat making excessive allowanceswould automatically price them-selves out, contractors normallyunder-price to achieve the lowesttender. Invariably, most materialswould increase in price due to in-flation and other reasons. Con-tractors require many years of ex-perience to be able to foresee thefuture and make adequate provi-sions - without overpricing theirtenders.

No two high rise buildings in KLare the same. The construction ofa building, a bridge or a stadiumis always akin to making a proto-type. The process is much moredifficult than manufacturing anyproduct where there is repetition.For example, in making cars, thefirst prototype and the initial few

cars may be more difficult to make,but once everyone gets used to theroutine, the manufacturing proc-ess will normally proceedsmoothly. However, in the con-struction of buildings or any civilengineering works, there is verylittle repetitive work. Every con-struction site is different and mostof the people involved have neverworked together before. On top ofthis, there may also be inexperi-enced supervisory staff who cancreate a lot of difficulties for thecontractors. Invariably, by thetime all parties get used to the rou-tine, the scheduled time is over.

Most contractors do not have suf-ficient capital to finance their un-dertakings. Contractors generallydo not have fixed assets like mostmanufacturers. They usually donot have land and buildings butinstead, they have constructionequipment. Unfortunately, banksdo not accept these moving assetsas collateral for a loan. Withoutbank financing, contractors willobviously find it more difficult toundertake their business.

There are very few bumiputerabusinessmen dealing in hard-ware, building materials andother general goods. As traders ormerchants, they can naturally ac-quire the skill to wheel and deal,like the Chinese. That is why youcan see the majority of the listedcompanies were started by Chi-nese merchants. Most of them donot have tertiary education e.g.Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong of Gentingwho started as a scrap-iron dealer

and contractor, and Tan Sri YeohThiong Lay of YTL Corp, who alsostarted as an ordinary contractor.Generally, bumiputeras are not in-terested in working long hours inmanaging small businesses earn-ing marginal profits. Many havea life-long dream to secure permitsor concessions for some big dealsso that they can become instantmillionaires.

More bumiputeras should followthe humble foot-steps of the Chi-nese to become traders and mer-chants for building materials andother goods. The business skillsthey can learn will carry them along way. I am very sure some ofthem will eventually become goodcontractors and successful busi-nessmen.

Although there are lots ofbumiputera engineers and manyuniversities are increasing thenumber of engineers who qualifyevery year, without a sufficientlyskilled work force, all the engi-neers in the world would not beable to complete a single project.There are so few bumiputera con-struction foremen, carpenters andother skilled workers. If you wereto go into any building construc-tion site, you would see the truthof what I am saying. How manyMalay carpenters have you seenin KL? Without skilledbumiputera workers, it would bemore difficult for bumiputera con-tractors to succeed. In fact most ofthe Chinese contractors started asapprentices and rose from the bot-tom to become successful contrac-tors. More bumiputeras should beencouraged to work as appren-tices in construction sites. This is

Material pricee s c a l a t i o n

Every constructionsite different

I n s u f f i c i e n tf i n a n c i n g

Lack of experienceas material suppliers

and merchants

Lack of skilledforemen, carpentersand other workers


a surefire way to further producereally good bumiputera contrac-tors.

There should be more tradeschools and more bumiputerasshould be encouraged to learnconstruction skills such as car-pentry, welding, plumbing, andbrick laying. Very soon, skilledtradesmen will be able to earnmore than degree-holders as is thecase in Australia or England. TheGovernment should build moretrade schools and should not hesi-tate to offer scholarships tobumiputeras to be trained in thesetrade schools. Presently the con-struction industry is not short ofengineers but very short of skilledworkers and supervisors. If morebumiputeras are properly trained,some of them will go on to becomegood contractors.

They say Rome was not built in aday. I say IJM Corporation Bhd.has taken almost 40 years to at-tain this competence. IJM wasmade up of three constructioncompanies: Ipoh Garden,Jurutama and Mudajaya. I startedMudajaya in 1966 with threeother partners to under take con-struction work in the Muda Irri-gation Project in Kedah and Perlis.The World Bank financed thisproject so that Malaysia coulddouble its rice production. All mythree original partners had littleformal education but they hadskills to teach me. They all diedabout 10 years ago. It takes a longtime to produce a really good con-tracting company like IJM to beable to compete internationally forcontracts.

In my openingstatement, I saidthat I was afraidthat I might bemiscontrued as aracist and unfaircritic of the Gov-ernment. Now itlooks like all mysin in writing theabove will be ac-ceptable basing onthe Deputy PMNajib’s statementon 5 May whenlaunching the en-t r e p r e n e u r s h i pprogramme, GerakUsahawan. Hesaid thatb u m i p u t e r a sshould emulatethe Chinese entre-

preneurs who set long-term goals,and combined them with hardwork to sustain their businessesover generations.

Contracting is one of the most - ifnot the most - difficult businesses,and it will take a very long time toproduce competent bumiputeracontractors. It is very dangerousto quickly produce half-bakedones, who will soon find them-selves in financial difficulties asthe bankruptcy record shows.The Government must change itsmethods and policies which haveproven unworkable.

Giving out juicy contracts with-out open tendering dramaticallyincreases the likelihood of corrup-tion involving large sums ofmoney. As far as I know IJM Corp.Bhd. the biggest road builder inMalaysia, which is capable ofwinning contracts in India andother countries, completed alltheir North-South Highway con-tracts as subcontractors and nowthey are also subcontractors in theRM2.9 billion Rawang-Ipoh rail-way project. Isn’t that ironical?Now you can understand whyTransparency International hasplaced Malaysia only in 39th po-sition whereas Singapore wasranked 5th in its Corruption Per-ception Index 2004. Since we areso keen to compete with Singapre,why don’t we get rid of corrup-tion and improve our placing inthe Index?

As reported in The Star (26 May2005), Dr. Mahathir said that theGovernment and political partiesmust be more serious in tacklingthe corruption problem. So, stopgiving out juicy contracts withouttendering and use the savingsmore effectively to implement theoptions I have suggested above.q

Not enoughtrade schools

Results expectedtoo quickly

Change unworkablep o l i c i e s

The Kuala Lumpur skyline


lthough I have wanted towrite this article for along time, I was hesitantbecause the subject is

very sensitive and I could easilybe misconstrued as a racist andan unfair critic of the govern-ment’s efforts in trying to producemore competent bumiputera con-tractors. However, I am now en-couraged after having read thereport entitled “Opinion” in theNew Straits Times (1 May 2005)where bumiputeras themselvesopenly expressed their frustra-tions.

With regard to this issue, I think itwould be better if I told you a littleabout my background from theonset so that you will listen to andappreciate what I have to say. I ama 72-year-old Chartered Civil En-gineer and I was one of the found-ers of the three larger constructioncompanies listed on Bursa Malay-sia. These are Gamuda Bhd,Mudajaya Group Bhd, and IJMCorporation Bhd. I was a mem-ber of the Board of Engineers,Malaysia for three terms totallingsix years. I was also on the SIRIMBoard responsible for writing theMalaysian Standard Specifica-tions for Cement and Concrete. Inaddition, I was the Secretary Gen-eral of the Master Builders Asso-ciation, Malaysia for nine years.

These days, I have completely re-tired, and I would like to assureyou that my intentions for writ-ing this article are totally honour-able. Many people may not likereading what I have written andthe truth may be difficult to ac-cept. Nevertheless, I have decidedto make this contribution for thebenefit of bumiputera contractorsand the construction industry.

Firstly, I would like to pose a fewquestions. Out of hundreds ofhigh-rise buildings in KualaLumpur, does anyone know of anybumiputra contractor who haswon any of the building contractsthrough an open competitive ten-

der process? Out of hundreds ofkilometres of highway in Malay-sia, do you know of anybumiputra contractor who haswon any part of the highway con-tracts through open tender?

The obvious answer to the abovequestions proves that all the gov-ernment’s efforts in trying to pro-duce reputable and competitivebumiputera contractors since ourindependence in 1957 have failed.Unless the government changesits methods and policies, whichhave proven to be unworkable, itwill be a long time before we cansee more good bumiputra contrac-tors.

ECONOMY

Why are there so few successfulWhy are there so few successfulWhy are there so few successfulWhy are there so few successfulWhy are there so few successfulbumiputera contractors?bumiputera contractors?bumiputera contractors?bumiputera contractors?bumiputera contractors?A look at how we can produce more

by Koon Yew Yin

AAAAA

Govt effortshave failed

Continued on page 37Continued on page 37Continued on page 37Continued on page 37Continued on page 37

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