The monthly Anti-ISA watch in London: A counter move to Malaysia’s image-polishing abroad
Tunku Abdul Rahman defined the purpose of the act as to “be used solely against the communists…My Cabinet colleagues and I gave a solemn promise to Parliament and the nation that the immense powers given to the government under the ISA would never be used to stifle legitimate opposition and silence lawful dissent”.
By UK chapter of the Abolish ISA Movement
In recent months the Malaysian government has clearly been on an international campaign to spruce up its image abroad. London has been a focal point in the government’s glossy marketing strategy.
In January this year, Malaysian Ministers congregated in London to launch Malaysian Kitchen – a year long programme aimed at putting Malaysian food on the international map. Top celebrity chefs Rick Stein, Gordon Ramsay and Atul Kochar were roped in as Malaysian Kitchen official ambassadors.
In June, Malaysian Kitchen is due to make an appearance at the annual Taste of London food festival in Regent’s Park. In May this year, Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen officiated at Malaysia’s maiden exhibition at the Chelsea Flower Show. Award winning garden designers James Wong and David Cubero were charged with creating a Malaysian tropical oasis and sourced over 50 tropical species from Sarawak, Pahang, Malacca and Johor.
photos taken by Danny Lim
This month, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak was featured in an article in the Monocle – a global briefing covering international affairs, business, culture and design. The article featured the PM’s ‘comfortable’ but ‘not luxuriant’ official travel fleet that included 4 aeroplanes and 4 helicopters, one of them a customised 737 Boeing Business Jet.
Why the Malaysian PM needs a fleet of 8 aircraft remains a mystery. A few weeks ago, the New York Times carried a two page coloured spread, ‘welcoming the First Lady of Malaysia, Her Excellency Datin Paduka Seri Rosmah Mansor’ to New York. In a similar fashion, the tired 1970’s looking Malaysian Tourism Office in Trafalgar Square has in the last month undergone an overhaul and makeover, soon to open its spanking new doors to the hum of ‘Malaysia, Truly Asia’.
In what might be seen as a further boon to the Malaysian government, Malaysia was successful a fortnight ago in its re-election bid to the United Nations Human Rights Council, alongside fellow human-rights champions Libya and Angola. All seems bright and cheery in Boleh-land.
However, whilst Malaysian Ministers are busy polishing Malaysia’s image abroad, hobnobbing in London with celebrity chefs, getting into the Monocle and promoting Malaysia as a utopian paradise holiday destination, a group of London based Malaysians have in a counter move started a UK chapter of the Abolish ISA Movement (Gerakan Mansuhkan ISA).
Inspired by Anti ISA demonstrations organised by GMI in Malaysia in August 2009 that drew a crowd of 40,000 concerned citizens onto the streets and the Bersih Clean and Free election campaign rally in November 2007 that drew over 60,000 people, AIM-UK has started a monthly anti-ISA watch outside the Malaysian Tourism Office in Trafalgar Square on the last Saturday of each month. This watch is aimed at reminding the Malaysian government that the world is watching, and that the global community has not forgotten their straight-jacket and muzzle heavy tactics.
The world has not forgotten that Malaysia Truly Asia Paradise and Gastronomical Heaven Extraordinaire has an ugly side when it comes to its track record on human rights and dealing with political dissent. The message to the Malaysian Government and Malaysian High Commission in the UK is simple – ‘If the Malaysian government cares about its international image, it must also care about its human rights record. If it wants the anti-ISA watch to stop having a negative impact on its international image – it must take definitive, affirmative action to clean up its human rights record by repealing the ISA, and it must do so now.’
The second anti-ISA watch this Saturday attracted Malaysians from all walks of life. Human rights activists, students, ex-ISA detainees, lawyers, journalists, bloggers, artists, Malaysians who had lived in London for 30 years, and some who were just passing through.
They brought banners and posters that read slogans such as ‘Stop detention without trial!’, ‘Malaysia- Stop Human Rights Abuses!’ and ‘ISA- a violation of human rights and civil liberties.’ They picketed with energy and enthusiasm on a busy corner of Trafalgar Square where tens of thousands of people pass each day.
Over 150 passers-by stopped to take information leaflets on the ISA, most of them curious to find out why the Malaysian tourism office was garnering so much attention. Many were shocked to learn of the flip side to Malaysia’s image spinners and the murky depths that often lie below Malaysia’s perceived turquoise clear waters.
The demonstrators were stopped by police once – but only for the police to enquire that all was running well and that they couldn’t provide the demonstrators with any assistance. Inspiring young artists and activists brought a new dimension to the demonstration by reciting ISA-inspired poetry and songs.
We need to remind ourselves and our fellow citizens that this year the Malaysian Internal Security Act celebrates its 50th birthday. And we need to remind the Malaysian government that since its inception, the ISA has been used with impunity as the government’s weapon of choice against more than 10,000 opposition politicians, human rights activists, journalists, bloggers and ordinary civilians. We need to remember that Malaysia’s founding father, Tunku Abdul Rahman, defined the purpose of the act as to “be used solely against the communists…My Cabinet colleagues and I gave a solemn promise to Parliament and the nation that the immense powers given to the government under the ISA would never be used to stifle legitimate opposition and silence lawful dissent”.
Subsequently, Tun Hussein Onn, Malaysia’s third Prime Minister and late father of Malaysian’s current Home Minister, Hishammudin Hussein Onn, stated that the act should only be used with a view to curbing communist activity, and not to repress “lawful political opposition and democratic citizen activity”.
It’s now 2010? Where are the communist bogeymen?
Ironically, in 1966, whilst still a political backbencher, Tun Mahathir Mohammad spoke out against the Internal Security (Amendment) Bill 1966 stating that “no one in his right senses like[s] the ISA. It is in fact a negation of all the principles of democracy.” Strange how back then he made perfect sense.
Hishammudin Rais, human rights activist, ex-ISA detainee, comedian and playwright once said that: “The ISA is like a guillotine that is constantly hanging over the heads of the citizens of Malaysia.” The sobering fact is that this guillotine does not discriminate – anyone at anytime can be on the sharp end for saying or thinking anything considered to be against the status quo. As the ‘anti-ISA watchers’ drifted off into the afternoon drizzle, the haunting lyrics of one of protest songs lingered behind them –
‘When they came for the workers,
I never said a word,
I’m not a worker, so I pretend I never heard
When they came for the Squatters, I was not there
I’m not a squatter, so why should I care?
*Oh I didn’t speak up, I didn’t speak up
No one heard my voice,
Cos’ I didn’t speak up
But when they came for me,
No one heard my call,
There was no one left,
Who could speak for me at all
When they came for the Demonstrators, I never said a word
I’m not a Demonstrator, so I pretend I never heard
When they came for the Refugees, I was not there
I’m not a Refugee, so why should I care?
*Oh I didn’t speak up, I didn’t speak up
No one heard my voice,
Cos’ I didn’t speak up
But when they came for me,
No one heard my call,
There was no one left,
Who could speak for me at all’
The Abolish-ISA Movement UK will continue to show solidarity with those who have been subject to the terrors of the ISA and with our fellow citizens campaigning tirelessly against the ISA in Malaysia till the Malaysian government takes the wise decision of repealing the ISA, in order that its citizens may no longer live in fear and Malaysia’s image remain untarnished in the eyes of the international community. Our next watch is on Saturday the 26th of June 2010, outside the Malaysian Tourism Office in Trafalgar Square, London between 12.00- 1.15pm. We look forward to seeing you there.
