Stem the tide of racism and racial-baiting
Racist rhetoric: Extremist leaders continue to spew so much hurtful invectives that these would have shamed the most neo-Nazi right-wingers, the world over. Most modern societies would have punished such hate-mongers if not for their senseless racial baiting but then for their ad hominem attacks on just about anyone who dares to challenge their warped if narrow worldview.
Perhaps the media can play their roles better by downplaying these media hounds, whose purposes are so sickening and depraved.
Pursue the perpetrators: Yet, when called upon to investigate such racist behaviours, the authorities appear to be dragging their feet, and instead concentrate with such efficiency to question and charge a rapper (NameWee) who merely was bold and foolhardy enough to serve as a conduit to expose these wrongdoings. Can the police and authorities not see the biasness of their actions, by pursuing the messenger and not the perpetrator of possible crimes? Full story after the videos below.
On Thoughts, Words and Deeds:
Thoughts become words. Words become action.
What are we teaching our children today?
Rising racism, 53 years on
This year, I became a senior citizen. I can now withdraw my EPF savings and I qualify for some discounts for travel and surprisingly even for some buffet meals at some eateries.
But as I ponder upon ‘retirement’, it is sad to see the Malaysia that I know and live in, grows increasingly uncertain, diffident and bogged down in self-made crises, one after another.
Our previously phenomenal economic growth has now trickled down in a dizzying spiral of middle-income trap – not helped by the 2008 global financial crisis.
Our foreign direct investments have dwindled as our competitiveness, our productivity, perhaps our systemic corruption and wastage, have now been exposed and called into question.
Even our inborn entrepreneurs are investing overseas because of the uncertain future and shifting policies, which have made us face the truth of our competitiveness and value as a nation.
Instead of maturing gracefully, we appear to have become trapped in a petulant phase of angry adolescence breaking out senselessly to attack convenient bogeymen -race and religion appear to have become the easy targets, which breed even more political and economic uncertainty.
As a fourth generation Malaysian, I was born two and a half years before our fateful Merdeka. I am still wondering whether we are truly ‘liberated’ as befits the meaning of ‘Merdeka’, so gloriously proclaimed by our Bapa Merdeka, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, in 1957.
That Merdeka was to have ushered in the birth of what some would have called ‘an unlikely nation’, one that appeared cobbled together in a slapdash manner, juxtaposing a disparate if hodgepodge peoples – predominantly Malays, Chinese and Indians- and akin to mixing oil in water. Yet again, does any one in such serendipitous circumstance have that conscious sense of history and historicity of these singular moments?
To be fair, even then, no one dared to dream that the idea of Malaya and later Malaysia could succeed. But truth be told, we did do very well for so many years, becoming one of the rising ‘Asian tigers’. It’s just these recent years that we have foundered and perhaps lost a little faith in ourselves.
So many other post-colonial new nations had self-destructed in interethnic, religious or tribalistic clashes and conflagrations. We nearly did in May of 1969.
But good sense and firm actions created a novel social re-engineering feat (the NEP) in its wake, to bring about some semblance of order, reasonable interethnic tolerance and suppressed racial tensions.
For the next four decades, we have lived a reasonably harmonious if distinct existence, although seething fault-lines appear now and again to threaten the veneer of our touted ‘Truly Asian’ unity among our unique pastiche of colourful normalcy.
Forty years hence, ratcheted-up rhetoric is beginning to sunder this extraordinary relationship. Polarised insistence on continued affirmative action in stylised if arbitrary terms, remains a bone of contention, which powerfully fans the embers of resurgent ethnic fears and pride.
Sadly, as we celebrate this auspicious anniversary, we seemed mired in increasingly rabid and insulting racism, which greatly threatens our flimsy unity and contrasting diversity.
Racist rhetoric
Extremist leaders continue to spew so much hurtful invectives that these would have shamed the most neo-Nazi right-wingers, the world over. Most modern societies would have punished such hate-mongers if not for their senseless racial baiting but then for their ad hominem attacks on just about anyone who dares to challenge their warped if narrow worldview.
Perhaps the media can play their roles better by downplaying these media hounds, whose purposes are so sickening and depraved.
It appears that more and more politicians are flogging the twisted if populist concept of ethnic supremacy and extraordinary rights (of ethnic ketuanan) once again, as if to bolster their public images as racial champions. The loudest and the most strident appear to be those who are now commanding the greatest publicity and arguably some perverse following.
Our authorities appear timorous in not wanting to directly confront these vociferous bullies, for fear of some unintended backlash. But in so doing, the government loses even more credibility. The government of the people must serve as a fearless just arbiter of a firm and respected Leviathan, and not be held ransom by some mindless minority.
There cannot be distorted applications of the rule of law, where any one can flaunt and challenge the wisdom of the law, at wanton will. There seems to be no more respect for anyone else except for the self-righteous bully pulpit arrogance of voluble tyrants disgorging more and more hatred and painfully shrill racist ideologies to the hilt.
Freedom of speech implies rational discourse and debate, not threatening and insulting rantings. It certainly does not absolve anyone of despicable spewing and inciting of ethnic or religious intimidation or hatred.
But who really is to blame for the recent rise in racist rhetoric?
It appears that some components of the government are still pushing the propaganda machine to perpetuate the concept of racial supremacy and denigrating all other ethnic groups.
The Biro Tata Negara (BTN, National Civics Bureau) instead of instilling national civic consciousness, appears to relish in inculcating and indoctrinating any civil servant or would be scholarship holder, in a time-warped belief system that only the Malays are true patriots and truly deserving of their Malaysianness.
This is still happening 50-odd years following Merdeka, and one wonders why non-bumiputeras don’t sometimes feel any greater sense of belonging to this nation of ours.
Surprisingly such BTN programmes appear to have been a ‘recent’ phenomenon. My sister and brother-in-law who are senior government servants in the Ministries of Education and Higher Education respectively claimed never to have been subject to such gross demeaning indoctrination or abuse – perhaps, they too have been too polite, too programmed, to acknowledge. It did not take place when I was a clinical lecturer for seven years at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in the 1980s and early 1990s.
But as MMA president, I have received some angry verbal complaints (many are traumatised, frightened and do not want to be quoted for fear of reprisals) that even non-bumiputera junior medical specialists and house officers, who aspire to join the service or to be confirmed, are currently subject to physical and mental abuse. Mind you, these are not students of impressionable age, but grown men and women in their twenties and thirties.
Some have been made to squat and huddle together in front of other bumiputera peers, rudely woken at early mornings, shouted at, called pendatang, usurpers of scholarships and positions, depriving the true bumiputeras of their places and rights, told in uncertain terms that they are here only at the behest and kindly generosity of the bumiputeras, and that they can always ‘go home’ or balik kampung which means China or India.
Groups have been bullied into subordinating to and acknowledging the official ‘dogma’, or risk having the entire group not ‘passing the course’. Do these utterances ring a bell?
Less than a year and a half ago, one young returning teacher broke down from such radical abuse and hazing, that her family decided to pull her out, repaying the loan in full – enough is enough! So can we not see how this will perpetuate the cycle of blatant racial baiting and hatred when these ‘officers’ return to their respective services, after such provocative BTN courses?
Mustn’t such propaganda stop? Is the government truly sincere in wishing to stem such state-endorsed racism? Is this government truly espousing the 1Malaysia concept for whatever it is worth?
Last year, Minister in the PM’s Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz acknowledged that the BTN must be overhauled. He had revealed that courses by the BTN were racially divisive and used to promote certain government leaders. While Nazri was bold enough to expose this, he was nearly alone in defending the need to overhaul the BTN courses.
Most of the ruling elite, including the deputy premier had sided with those who refused to acknowledge Nazri’s contention that the BTN was a mockery of the 1Malaysia concept. Of course, former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad joined in and insisted there was no need to revamp the BTN courses, which led Nazri to call the former PM a “bloody racist”, even conferring on Dr M the title “the father of all racists”.
So are we surprised that Perkasa, school teachers and principals, public officers, resort to such ‘ingrained’ behaviour, notwithstanding the so-called ‘provocation ‘ from their charges, their students, who must surely be so ‘insensitive’ as to other’s religious practices?
Pursue the perpetrators
Yet, when called upon to investigate such racist behaviours, the authorities appear to be dragging their feet, and instead concentrate with such efficiency to question and charge a rapper (NameWee) who merely was bold and foolhardy enough to serve as a conduit to expose these wrongdoings.
Can the police and authorities not see the biasness of their actions, by pursuing the messenger and not the perpetrator of possible crimes?
Can the authorities not understand why thinking Malaysians and non-bumiputeas are beginning to feel persecuted and discriminated against, more and more, despite utterances to the contrary by our political leaders?
Can the authorities not understand why more and more disgruntled non-bumiputeas are making a beeline to emigrate whenever and wherever they can – hardship, uprooting displacement and starting over, notwithstanding? This has got nothing to do with patriotism, when one is constantly told that he or she is unequal as a citizen, and that they are unwanted.
Can every Malaysian non-bumiputera truly feel that he or she has a fair and reasonable share of this piece of earth called Malaysia? Do our authorities truly appreciate talent, merit or worth of any non-bumiputera at all, or is this mere lip service? Can they not see the hollowness and insincerity of their pronouncements – when we can hardly see the ‘walk’ from the ‘talk’?
Such crescendos of racist ravings seriously undermine the carefully constructed dream of a true Malaysian nation, shattering the much-bandied ‘unity’ slogan already so tattered among our terribly troubled diversity.
Hurtful cries to demonise and belittle other races as unequal, pendatang and lesser than themselves cannot but help demoralise every peace-loving non-bumiputera Malaysian who aspires for a better tomorrow, a better Malaysia.
We fully recognise the special position of the bumiputeras, but as non-bumiputeras we also increasingly demand our rightful place in this nation of ours. Lest it is forgotten, our position is also enshrined in the constitution. This is not arrogance, but a statement of fact as a human right of any citizen.
We do have a long way to go. We have many mindsets to change, to engage, to dialogue with in sincerity and humility, so that race and religion cannot be made a bogeyman for every travail or challenge that the country is facing.
We have our work cut out for us, but as rational Malaysians, we must all try even harder to persuade the government to be one for all Malaysians and not for mere sloganeering alone or for any one racial group.
We must flush out all closet racists. We must instead cultivate greater rational discourse and dialogue without preconditions of threats and top-down dictates. We need to work on closer cross-ethnic cooperation, tolerance and acceptance so that together we are truly more than the sum of our rich individual strength and heritage.
We must nurture greater cohesiveness by lowering the tempo and temperature of racial baiting and shrill cries and rhetoric of ethnic pride and irrational fear-mongering. We must work towards greater confidence of sharing and building and not engage in divisive dismantling bigotry based on artificial barriers of so-called ethnic or religious sensitivities.
This government must be seen to act without fear or favour, by espousing fair and just policies, by directly confronting and stemming the tide of racism and racial-baiting. Divisive ravings drive uncertainty and suppress confidence. We need to reverse such negative rhetoric if we wish to improve the climate for economic buoyancy in this country.
By staying the course of inept inattention, we stand to lose our global competitiveness even more, as we Malaysians lose confidence in ourselves and our grip on the future.
We must do this right and soon, or risk losing everything! 53 years hence, and Merdeka then would have been in vain.
“We came into the world like brother and brother, And now let’s go hand in hand, not one before another.” – William Shakespeare, in the closing couplet of ‘The Comedy of Errors’ [V.i.425-26]
DR DAVID KL QUEK was the editor-in-chief of the MMA News (bulletin of the Malaysian Medical Association) for 11 years and is currently president of the MMA.
Related Articles:
Haris Ibrahim: What it means to say ‘I AM MALAYSIAN’?
Talk on What it means to say ‘I AM MALAYSIAN’? by Haris Ibrahim and Voter Registration Campaign, organised by SAMsterz, KUBM & PIHDM, held on 22 May 2010 at the Church of the Divine Mercy, Shah Alam.
Watch videos…
More, Parts 6-10, view playlist.
“Selepas Tsunami” – Discern for yourself, seditious or objective?
This documentary “Selepas Tsunami” (After the Tsunami) produced by Big Pictures for KOMAS is about the changes since Post-March 8, 2008 General Elections. It is primarily meant to be used as voter and democracy education in Malaysia. On May 12, 243 copies were seized by Sibu police on pretext that it was seditious.
Next day, the police reverted saying it’s NOT seditious, but have since failed to return the VCDs. One cannot help but wonder if they were trying to stop the distribution of these VCDs which contain important information that may influence votes in the Sibu By-Election.
KOMAS has now made the entire documentary available online for all to watch.
Discern for yourself, seditious or objective?…
Please share this link or upload to your personal web/blog.
Ayah! Ayah!
A man came home from work and his children ran to him and called out ‘Ayah! Ayah!’ His neighbor got very upset and said to him, “Can you please tell your children not to call you ‘Ayah’?” The man asked, “Why?” The neighbor retorted, “Because my children call me ’Ayah’ too. They might get confused and mistaken you to be their father.”
Here’s the perfect example of “man-made” laws…
Non-Muslim can use ‘Allah’ in three states, FTs
Praying together, embracing each other's cultural and religious diversity.
THE POINT OF THE MATTER IS all the furor over the use of “Allah” is consuming the nation; too much energy wasted generating nothing but only ill-will and hatred. The Malaysian people and leaders should exercise wisdom; the wisdom to distinguish what are worthy issues and what are not.
Yes, it may be true that in other countries and societies; the world “Allah” can be used by non-Muslim communities; and that the right to use the word is a basic human right. If there are groups in the country who decided that it is so important that the word should be used according to their rules, so be it in their groups and leave others to worship their God in their own way.
Rightly as some members pointed out in the Facebook group, this is not an issue of right and wrong; or your right versus my right. It is about devoting time to working on real issues that help the nation unite and act as one.
Our personal concern is our energy is consumed daily by these issues which does not help us in improving our economy, create jobs or help us cope with the challenges of the modern world. For example, persistent bad weather in the northern hemisphere and explosive outburst of weather phenomenon are already affecting food production; prices on food have and will continue to escalate if these adverse conditions do not improve.
What about our economy? Who is paying attention to improve our operating condition so we can keep talents home? Let’s no tango to unproductive music, let’s put our energy to where it should belong.
We also call on the media to lend a hand in this respect as well.
With love from Pahlawan Volunteers.
Update 1 Feb 2010:
► Getting down to the real business of the day by Hafidz Baharom
► The ‘Allah’ issue: The Problem with Islamic Education and Political Interests in Malaysia by Wan Imran Wan Chik
—————————————————————–
WATCH VIDEOS by AlJazeera
►► 101 East – Malaysia: Whose God? | Thu, 14 Jan 10:
Panel: Marina Mahathir (Social Activist), Khalid Samad (PAS MP) and Yusri Mohamad (ABIM)
► Inside Story – Religious violence in Malaysia | Tue,12 Jan 10:
WATCH MORE VIDEOS HERE.
► All are welcomed to join this FB group:
We support the use of the name Allah by all Malaysians
FB GROUP in the News:
► Church attacks: Voices from Malaysia
►More here.
ALSO READ THESE ENLIGHTENING ARTICLES:
► On respect, thinking and dialogue by Professor Tariq Ramadan; and
► Finding the middle path by Datuk Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi
► Religion in a Multi-Religious Society by the late Ven. Dr. K. Sri. Dhammananda
Prophet Muhammad’s Promise to Christians
If you relied on mainstream media for your news, you’d think all Malaysian Muslims are up in arms – truth is, it’s mostly UMNO. In reply to Malaysia’s battle for ‘Allah’ goes online …let us all reflect and do the right thing for the sake of our nation and more importantly, for the sake of our children. Otherwise, our nation will regress further.
First, let us go back to basics, read Prophet Muhammad’s Promise to Christians to know what a true Muslim would do, as expressed and demonstrated by Prophet Muhammad himself…
First Published 2009-12-28:
Prophet Muhammad’s Promise to Christians
The document is not a modern human rights treaty but even thought it was penned in 628 A.D. it clearly protects the right to property, freedom of religion, freedom of work, and security of the person, says Muqtedar Khan.
Muslims and Christians together constitute over fifty percent of the world and if they lived in peace, we will be half way to world peace. One small step that we can take towards fostering Muslim-Christian harmony is to tell and retell positive stories and abstain from mutual demonization.
In this article I propose to remind both Muslims and Christians about a promise that Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) made to Christians. The knowledge of this promise can have enormous impact on Muslim conduct towards Christians. Muslims generally respect the precedent of their Prophet and try to practice it in their lives.
In 628 AD, a delegation from St. Catherine’s Monastery came to Prophet Muhammed and requested his protection. He responded by granting them a charter of rights, which I reproduce below in its entirety. St. Catherine’s Monastery is located at the foot of Mt. Sinai and is the world’s oldest monastery. It possesses a huge collection of Christian manuscripts, second only to the Vatican, and is a world heritage site. It also boasts the oldest collection of Christian icons. It is a treasure house of Christian history that has remained safe for 1400 years under Muslim protection.
The Promise to St. Catherine:
“This is a message from Muhammad ibn Abdullah, as a covenant to those who adopt Christianity, near and far, we are with them.
Verily I, the servants, the helpers, and my followers defend them, because Christians are my citizens; and by God! I hold out against anything that displeases them.
No compulsion is to be on them. Neither are their judges to be removed from their jobs nor their monks from their monasteries. No one is to destroy a house of their religion, to damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims’ houses.
Should anyone take any of these, he would spoil God’s covenant and disobey His Prophet. Verily, they are my allies and have my secure charter against all that they hate.
No one is to force them to travel or to oblige them to fight. The Muslims are to fight for them. If a female Christian is married to a Muslim, it is not to take place without her approval. She is not to be prevented from visiting her church to pray. Their churches are to be respected. They are neither to be prevented from repairing them nor the sacredness of their covenants.
No one of the nation (Muslims) is to disobey the covenant till the Last Day (end of the world).”
The first and the final sentence of the charter are critical. They make the promise eternal and universal. Muhammed asserts that Muslims are with Christians near and far straight away rejecting any future attempts to limit the promise to St. Catherine alone. By ordering Muslims to obey it until the Day of Judgment the charter again undermines any future attempts to revoke the privileges. These rights are inalienable. Muhammed declared Christians, all of them, as his allies and he equated ill treatment of Christians with violating God’s covenant.
A remarkable aspect of the charter is that it imposes no conditions on Christians for enjoying its privileges. It is enough that they are Christians. They are not required to alter their beliefs, they do not have to make any payments and they do not have any obligations. This is a charter of rights without any duties!
The document is not a modern human rights treaty but even thought it was penned in 628 A.D. it clearly protects the right to property, freedom of religion, freedom of work, and security of the person.
I know most readers, must be thinking so what? Well the answer is simple. Those who seek to foster discord among Muslims and Christians focus on issues that divide and emphasize areas of conflict. But when resources such as Muhammad’s promise to Christians are invoked and highlighted it builds bridges. It inspires Muslims to rise above communal intolerance and engenders good will in Christians who might be nursing fear of Islam or Muslims.
When I look at Islamic sources, I find in them unprecedented examples of religious tolerance and inclusiveness. They make me want to become a better person. I think the capacity to seek good and do good inheres in all of us. When we subdue this predisposition towards the good, we deny our fundamental humanity. In this holiday season, I hope all of us can find time to look for something positive and worthy of appreciation in the values, cultures and histories of other peoples.
Dr. Muqtedar Khan is Director of Islamic Studies at the University of Delaware and a fellow of the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding. – SOURCE: Middle East Online
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Confident People Do Not Get Confused
Rantings by Marina Mahathir
Now, when that delegation from St Catherine’s monastery came to meet with Prophet Mohamad (pbuh), I suppose it’s fair to assume that they spoke Arabic to one another. And when they were conversing, surely the word ‘God’ must have come up. As in “May God Be With You” and such like. What word did the Prophet (pbuh) use for ‘God’ I wonder? And what did the St Catherinians use in return? For monotheists like them, was there a ‘your God’ and ‘my God’ type of situation, or did they understand that they were both talking about the same One?
While some idiots are mourning over the ‘loss’ of the word ‘Allah’ and therefore basically telling the world that they are people easily confused by nomenclature, and others are predicting riots over what is basically a ‘copyright’ issue, let me define what I think a confident Muslim should be:
- A confident Muslim is unfazed by the issue of God’s name. God speaks to all of humankind in the Quran and never said that only Muslims could call him by the name Allah.
- A confident Muslim has 99 names to choose from to describe that One God. My favourites are Ar-Rahman (The All-Compassionate) and Ar-Rahim (The All-Merciful).
- A confident Muslim never gets confused over which is his/her religion and which is other people’s. For instance, a confident Muslim knows exactly what the first chapter of the Quran is. And it’s not the Lord’s Prayer.
- A confident Muslim will not walk into a church, hear a liturgy in Malay or Arabic where they use the word ‘Allah’ and then think that he or she is in a mosque. A confident Muslim knows the difference.
- A confident Muslim is generous, inclusive and doesn’t think that his or her brethren is made exclusive through the use of a single language. The confident Muslim is well aware that in the Middle East, all services of ANY religion are in Arabic because that’s what they all speak.
- A confident Muslim knows the basis of his/her faith are the five pillars of Islam and will not be shaken just because other people call God by the same name.
- A Muslim believes in only One God. Therefore it makes sense that other people should call God by the same name because there is no other God.
ART THOU NOT aware that it is God whose limitless glory all [creatures] that are in the heavens and on earth extol, even the birds as they spread out their wings? Each [of them] knows indeed how to pray unto Him and to glorify Him; and God has full knowledge of all that they do: (Surah Nour, Verse 41) (Asad)
So I would ask those people demonstrating against the Court decision, have you no pride? Are you saying you’re easily confused?
And before anyone says I have no qualifications to say these things, read what Dr Asri Zainal Abidin (who does have qualifications no matter what JAIS says) has written about this very subject here.
And here’s something interesting. In 2007, the Majlis Agama Negeri Perlis, which is a large majlis filled with people very learned in Islamic religious knowledge, discussed the question of the use of ‘Allah’ by non-Muslims. Their unanimous decision? They issued a fatwa to say that there is absolutely nothing wrong with non-Muslims using the word at all.(This was told to me by Dr. Asri but I cannot find the fatwa anywhere online because all the religious departments’ websites are so useless.)
Are we now going to excommunicate the whole of Perlis?
Join the groups on Facebook:
- We support the use of the name Allah by all Malaysians
- Malaysian Catholic Christians
(View the wall and discussion board what Malaysians think on this issue)
Related Articles (Updated 8 Jan) :
- The Allah Controversy: Between Shared Living and Tipping Points — MP Charles Santiago
- May I have a word? — Tunku ’Abidin Muhriz
- Protests over ‘Allah’ ruling embarrassing — A Rahman
- Qur’an: Muslims and Christians worship same God
- Allah can’t be substituted with Tuhan in Bible translation — Dr Ng Kam Weng
- Why is your Allah not my Allah? — Erna Mahyuni
- Nik Aziz: Non-Muslims can use ‘Allah’
- Ismu Allah — Khalid Samad
- Allah dibebaskan — Haris Ibrahim
- Manusia memang patut panggil Tuhan dengan panggilan Allah — Dr. Mohd Asri bin Zainul Abidin
- Allah, a Quranic perspective — Anas Zubedy
- ‘Allah’ ruling is not a challenge to Islam — Leslie Lau
- Makeover of the decade: PAS and the non-Muslims — Joan Lau
MCSC: Shocked by SPM 10+2 Exclusivity
The Malayan Christian Schools’ Council (MCSC) held a Press Conference this morning, December 17, 2009 at the MCSC HQ in Petaling Jaya. This is to express the shock of MCSC at the exclusivity of the recently announced SPM 10+2 subjects and the marginalization of subjects like Bible Knowledge.
Press Statement by MCSC
SHOCKED BY SPM 10+2 EXCLUSIVITY
The Malayan Christian Schools’ Council is shocked at the Government’s decision not to include Bible Knowledge in the 2 additional SPM subjects as announced recently.
This is despite repeated representations and memoranda to the authorities concerned since June this year.
In The Star Online news report dated Tuesday December 8, 2009 it was announced that the two additional SPM subjects are limited to Bahasa Arab, Bahasa Cina, Bahasa Tamil, Chinese Literature and Tamil Literature.
This decision appears to have been hastily taken without due consultation. It has unjustly excluded other subjects which are highly valued by ethnic and religious minorities in Malaysia.
Among these subjects are Bahasa Iban, Bahasa Punjab and Bible Knowledge. This marginalisation is a source of great consternation among the affected communities which constitute a significant percentage of Malaysians.
We urge the Cabinet, in particular the Minister of Education, to leave the choice of the two additional SPM subjects to the candidate. Surely, such an inclusive approach is more in line with the PM’s vision of 1Malaysia “People First, Performance Now”.
YAP KOK KEONG
Chairman
MALAYAN CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS’ COUNCIL
Dated this 17th December 2009
(The Malayan Christian Schools’ Council represents the Mission Authorities of the Catholic, Methodist, Anglican, Brethren, Presbyterian and Basel Churches)
More:
- Malaysian Mission Schools News Archive
- JOIN: Mission Schools ROCK! @ Facebook
- JOIN: Malaysian Catholic Christians @ Facebook
Police and Your Basic Rights
Published by The Malaysian Bar Council
in conjunction with TANGKAP
(Tindakan Anti Penyalah Gunaan Kuasa Polis)
Updated:
Download PDF Format: English | Malay
1. POLICE STOPS YOU
1.1 Not in uniform, ask for identification
Say: “Please, show me your Police authority card”.
1.2 Police authority card
Red : Suspended Police Officer. He has no authority to do anything to you. Walk away.
Other colours:
- Blue : Rank of Inspector and above
- Yellow: Below the rank of Inspector
- White : Reserve police
Note his name and Police authority card number.
1.3 In uniform
Note his name and ID number on his uniform.
1.4 Police vehicle
Note the number plate of the patrol car or motorcycle.
2. POLICE QUESTION YOU WHEN STOPPED
2.1 Your identification
Only give your name, ID card number and address.
2.2 The police ask other questions
Politely ask, “Am I under arrest?”
2.3 When you are under arrest
You are arrested if the police:
- tell you “yes”;
- do not allow you to leave/want to take you to the Police Station; or
- handcuff you
If you are not under arrest, you may walk away/refuse to follow him back to the Police station or anywhere else, if asked.
2.4 When you cannot be arrested
The police cannot arrest you just because you are a potential witness and want to take a statement from you (112/Witness Statement).
3. QUESTIONING BY POLICE WITHOUT ARREST
3.1 112 Statement
When the Police are investigating a case and think you have information / knowledge about the case, the Police may question you and take down your answers (112 Statement).
3.2 Informal/Formal Request
Most times, the Police make an informal request that you give a 112 Statement. If the place and time is convenient to you, cooperate. If not, tell the Police you will do so at a convenient place and time.
If you refuse to cooperate, the Police may issue a formal order in writing, signed by an investigating officer (Police Officer) to ask you to cooperate.
If you disobey a Police Order, you cannot be arrested. However, it is an offence and the Police may request the Magistrate to issue a warrant against you to compel you to cooperate.
3.3 Giving a 112 Witness Statement
You have the right to ask a lawyer to accompany you. This is advisable.
In giving a 112 Statement, you may refuse to answer any question / remain silent if the answer is likely to expose you to a criminal offence.
- Bring along a notebook or writing paper with you (Personal Notes).
- Write down every question asked in your Personal Notes.
- Make sure you understand every question asked.
- Take your time and think carefully before writing your answers in your Personal Notes.
- Read your answers to the Police Officer questioning you.
- Keep your Personal Notes for future reference.
3.4 Signing your 112 Statement
Before signing your Statement, read the questions and your answers written by the Police Officer carefully.
- Compare the Statement you are asked to sign with your Personal Notes.
- You have the right to make any corrections/changes to the Statement before signing.
- Place your signature immediately below the last sentence of your Statement.
4. POLICE ARREST YOU
4.1 Ask: “Why am I under arrest?”
An arrest is unlawful if you are not informed of the reason.
4.2 Do not resist an arrest
The Police have the right to use reasonable force to arrest you if you resist.
4.3 Ask: “Which Police station are you taking me to?”
The arresting Police Officer must immediately take you to the nearest Police Station and no other place.
4.4 What to do when arrested
You have the right to telephone:
1. Your relative or friend; and
2. A lawyer.
You may also call a nearby Legal Aid Centre (LAC). Inform them:
- you have been arrested;
- the time, place and reason of the arrest;
- the Police Station you will be taken to.
4.5 What happens after arrest
You may be detained up to 24 hours:
- at the Police Station, or
- in a lock-up to “assist” police investigation.
5. YOUR RIGHTS AFTER ARREST & DURING DETENTION
5.1 Right to consult a lawyer
Once you request for the presence of a lawyer, you have a right to consult the lawyer at the Police Station. The Police must accord you reasonable facilities and a reasonable time period for you to meet and consult the lawyer. The Police may, however, deny you this right, if the delay in questioning you may cause the occurrence of another crime or cause danger to others.
5.2 Clothing
You are allowed to have one set of clothing with you in the lock-up.
5.3 Personal belongings
The Police must record and put all your personal belongings in safe custody. Your personal belongings must be returned to you upon your release.
5.4 Welfare
You are allowed to take bath two times a day. If you are sick, you have the right to receive immediate medical attention. You are to be given proper and adequate food and water during detention.
5.5 How long can the Police detain you
The police can only detain you up to 24 hours for investigation. The duty of the police is to complete investigation within 24 hours and to release you as soon as possible. If the police cannot complete investigations within 24 hours, the police must bring you before a Magistrate far a remand order to extend your detention beyond 24 hours (Remand Order).
6. REMAND ORDER BY MAGISTRATE AFTER ARREST
6.1 Who is a Magistrate
A Magistrate is a judicial officer. The Magistrate has power to issue a Remand Order to detain you for more than 24 hours.
6.2 Purpose of Remand Order
It is to give more time to the Police to complete their investigations and decide whether there is evidence to charge you for an offence. The Police cannot ask for a Remand Order only for the purpose of taking a Statement from you.
6.3 How long is a Remand Order
When the Police bring you before a Magistrate for a Remand Order, the Police must give reasons to the Magistrate why it is necessary to detain you beyond 24 hours. The Magistrate’s duty is to consider carefully the reasons given by the Police.
The Magistrate has the discretion:
- not to make a Remand Order, and release you; or
- make a Remand Order for a period shorter than that asked for by the Police.
The Magistrate has the power to make a Remand Order of not more than 4 days or 7 days depending on the offence being investigated. The Police may return at the expiration of this time period and apply for a 2nd Remand Order. The Magistrate may make a 2nd Remand Order of not more than 3 days or 7 days depending on the offence being investigated.
6.4 What to say when you are brought before a Magistrate for remand
Tell the Magistrate:
- you want legal representation and to contact your lawyer, the LAC and your family;
- you want medical treatment because you are sick or have been beaten;
- if the Police threatened or beaten you during detention;
- if you had been denied proper food/water/clothing, access to the toilet or necessary medical attention during your detention;
- whether you had been detained previously, immediately before your current detention;
- whether the Police carried out any investigations during your detention.
6.5 Ask for a shorter Remand Order from the Magistrate
Before the Magistrate makes the Remand Order, ask for a shorter period than what the Police asked. Give reasons (examples: “I will co-operate with the Police in their investigation”, “I will be available and will not run away” etc).
7. BODY SEARCH WITHOUT ARREST
7.1 When Police can do so
If you are at a place (example: disco/karaoke/entertainment outlet) where the Police are conducting a raid to look for something there (example: drugs), the Police may detain and search you if they think you have or are hiding the thing being searched for.
This may only be done in the presence of a Police Officer ranked Inspector and above.
7.2 What to do
- Do not allow the Police officer to put his hands into your clothes or pockets.
- If you are asked to take out your belongings one by one, each time, say “purse”, “keys”, “ID card” etc.
- When your pockets/bags are empty, turn them inside out.
7.3 Your rights
- All body searches must be carried out in a professional manner and with decency.
- A female can only be body searched by a female Police Officer.
- If you are forced to strip naked or threatened with a strip search:
- Protest;
- Remember the Police Officer’s name; and
- Lodge a police report after the incident.
8. BODY SEARCH UPON ARREST
8.1 When Police can do so
- The Police reasonably suspect that you have evidence relating to a suspected offence.
- You are arrested.
- The body search must be conducted in a confined place. It is your right to be bodily searched in private.
8.2 Type of Body search
The law allows the Police to conduct 4 types of body search:
- Pat down” search – act of searching outer clothing.
- Strip search – to search for concealed evidence, object, contraband or weapon. May only be conducted with the authorisation of an officer ranked Inspector and above.
- Intimate search – to search beyond the mouth, nose and ears. May only be conducted with the authorisation of an officer ranked Assistant Superintendent (ASP) and above.
- Intrusive search – to determine the existence of objects etc. in the body. May only be conducted with the authorisation of the Officer in Charge of the Police District (OCPD). Must be conducted by a Government Medical Officer or Medical Officer.
8.3 Your rights
- All body searches must be carried out in a professional manner and with decency.
- It is advisable to request that you be accompanied by your lawyer for the search.
- A female can only be body searched by a female Police Officer.
9. QUESTIONING BY POLICE AFTER ARREST
9.1 Identity of the Police Officer questioning you
Note the name/rank of the Police Officer questioning you.
9.2 Right to remain silent
The Police Officer will first make friendly conversation/talk (example: ask you about your family and friends etc). You are only obliged to give your full name, age, address and occupation (Personal Particulars). Other than giving your Personal Particulars, you have the right to remain silent. Be polite. Do not be afraid to remain silent. This is your right. If you choose to remain silent, say: “I would like to exercise my right to silence”.
9.3 112 Statement by you during investigation
The Police Officer will ask you questions and then write down your answers. The Police cannot threaten or force you into making a Statement. If you have been threatened, beaten or forced, lodge a police report against the Police Officer at the first opportunity. This is your right.
9.4 112 Statement is not to be used as evidence
Generally, any Statement you make to the Police during investigations cannot be used as evidence except if you are being charged for offences under, for example, the Dangerous Drugs Act, the Kidnapping Act and the Internal Security Act. However, you may use the Statement to support your defence during your trial.
LEGAL AID CENTRES (LAC)
- Kuala Lumpur : 03-2691 3005 / 03-2693 2072
- Selangor : 03-5510 7007 / 03-3281 2428
- Negeri Sembilan : 06-6013 844
- Melaka : 06-2845 519 / 06-2864 514
- Johor : 07-2235 698
- Perak : 05-2550 523
- Kedah & Perlis : 04-7333 467
- Kelantan : 04-7448 660
- Pahang : 09-5159 244 / 09-2969 410
- Pulau Pinang : 04-2617 451/ 04-3108 451
Stop Making Racist Comments
Look at The Man In The Mirror
“We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.
We are the change that we seek… Yes We Can.” – Obama
Comments you make and the way you respond to others on a daily basis who are different from you impacts the type of world you live in. While racism is considered politically incorrect in public, people still make racist comments when they’re with close friends or in private.
How to Stop Making Racist Comments
Step 1 : Consider how hurtful it is when someone makes a mean or rude comment about you. The same way those comments make you feel angry, hurt or embarrassed is the same way your racist comments make someone of that race feel.
Step 2 : Think before you speak. Take two to five seconds to consider how someone might take your words offensively before you say something. This brief pause can give you the time to word your thoughts in a considerate way. This can be the difference between saying a racist comment and opening a positive dialog between different races.
Step 3 : Choose good friends. The old saying, “birds of a feather flock together,” is quite true. If all of your friends are constantly making racist comments, this will influence your thoughts and behavior. Try talking to your friends about why it’s harmful to make racist comments, but, if they continue, it may be time to find different friends.
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Step 4 : Get some history books and read about the long-term consequences of racism. Hatred and discrimination against people simply due to the color of their skin or their ethnic origin has been the cause of great poverty, wars and even death. Whether one is the oppressor or the oppressed, there are grave consequences that both sides eventually have to deal with because of the hatred.
Step 5 : Stop stereotyping people based on their race. Every person is an individual and does not fit into one category simply because their skin looks the same. If someone of your race committed a murder, you wouldn’t want to be convicted of their crime simply because their skin matched yours. When you stereotype based on race it’s just like convicting someone of a crime they didn’t commit.
Step 6 : Know that all races–Hispanic, African-American, Asian or Caucasian have good and bad people. Every race has people who have suffered due to racism and every race has people who are racist. There is no superior race and all people are created equal. Base your judgments of others on their character and behavior, not their race.
Step 7 : Learn about other cultures. Often, it is ignorance of other cultures or a person’s upbringing that causes him to make racist comments. Once you begin to realize that everyone is an individual and should not be defined by their race, you will learn to appreciate these differences. As you start to look at people of other races as someone’s mother, father or sister who struggles, cries and has dreams just like you, you might even find a new best friend of a different race.
– eHow.com
Black or White. “My children will one day live in a nation where
they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the
content of their character.” – Martin Luther King Jr
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