Straight talk from Down Under with lawyer Quintin Rozario – Pt 2
Malaysia Outlook
Below here is second and final part of MO’s exclusive interview with Malaysian-born Australian lawyer Quintin Rozario.
In his first part, Rozario talked about the DOJ suit against four individuals, who had supposedly “stolen” monies from the country’s sovereign wealth fund – 1Malaysia Development Fund (1MDB).
In this segment, the Brisbane-based lawyer airs his views on abuse of democratic space provided in the social media and how the Malaysia government should exert control over it.
He also touches on Bersih, the so-called ‘free and fair election’ watchdog, and its alleged links to foreign funders with a mission to topple a democratically elected federal government.
Excerpts of the interview as below:
MO: Do you think Malaysians were abusing the democratic space provided in social media?
QR: It is not only Malaysians who abuse the space given to them in social media. This is an international problem that has its roots in the unbridled liberal democracies of the west. Whatever one thinks of Lee Kuan Yew, one cannot ignore his very effective attitude to defamation. Sue till it hurts.
MO: Do you think the Malaysian government has been too liberal in allowing many unsavoury and nasty remarks by social media users?
QR: Sadly the Malaysian government reflects the attitudes of its majority constituents, the Malays. Their patience is legendary. But go too far and not even social media will save those irresponsible users of social media space from the wrath of an angry provoked section of the population pushed against their limits. The current generation of young Malaysians has little or no memories of May 13 and what it is that provoked that violent backlash.
It made my flesh crawl when I saw a video shot of a group of Chinese youth at the last Bersih rally symbolically with a broom in hand sweeping the Malays (an effigy of the Prime Minister Najib Razak) in a repeat of a gesture not too dissimilar to that which the Chinese used to spark May 13 in 1969. To that I say, those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.
MO: Do you think the Malaysian government should tighten up the law and enforce it strictly to stem the abuse of social media?
QR: The Malaysian government in the situation that prevails in Malaysia today, has an obligation not a discretion, to tighten a number of laws. This includes the laws of incitement, racial vilification, the use of public space and the media to advance causes that are detrimental to peace and good order. There are constitutional imperatives and obligations on us all in this regard. However it is up to government to enforce these obligations and laws or they become redundant and ineffective from absence of enforcement over time.
It was a grave mistake on the part of the Malaysian government to abolish the ISA. Detention without trial is a part of law and order in the UK, most European countries, the US and Australia. Malaysia cannot wait till radicalised Christians, Muslims or any other of the diverse community decides to take their political and criminal activities outsides of the confines of the law. Laws have to also have a preventative element to it.
In any event it is still possible for the police and for government to order and to detain individuals without trial for extended periods of time.
As for social media, almost all western countries, India and China practice censorship and media control on a grand scale. Their justification for their actions in this regard may vary but the end result and objectives are the same. Even Israel complained to Face Book about the detrimental effects of its ‘free for all’ style of control.
