Wednesday, May 07, 2008

A Step Back Into A Familiar Dark Realm

...where using antiquated, draconian and repressive laws such as the Sedition Act and the Internal Security Act is a convenient way of shutting up anyone.

Raja Petra Kamaruddin may be writing a lot of hogwash, or he may not. Indeed, he may have made some serious allegations in his article "Let's Send the Altantuya Murderers To hell" in Malaysia Today.
But that is his freedom to express what he believes to be true.
So using the Sedition Act against him is a big mistake because it shows you to be oppressive and repressive.

If you think that he has gone overboard or too far, there are other ways of dealing with his alleged "offences".
Not by using the odious Sedition Act that should have been long abolished and repealed.

This piece of nasty legislation maybe a convenient tool for the authorities, but you may not achieve your desired result, for you can no longer shut people up that easily.

People are now emboldened.

Remember March 8 2008.

Oh...Quo Vadis, Malaysia?

Read Rocky's Bru
and Haris Ibrahim's Solidarity With RPK here.

19 comments:

Donplaypuks® said...

Where is M'sia headed (Quo Vadis)?

To a better government the people deserve, I believe! And finally, an awakening of our collective conscience that the Rulers' authority to rule arises from '...the consent of the Ruled' i.e. the People!!'

Despite the voter-revolt of GE200, the BN Govt seems to have learnt very little. Mistakes are compounded further by misreading the mood of the electorate.

Pak Lah's usage of Govt jet to caimpaign at taxpayers' money, The Balkis controversy, the revelation that India Ink usage was cancelled based on 'rumour' and now the Sedition charges against RPK?

What signals are they sending to those on the margin?

That you cannot trust an elected Govt or its key officials such as the EC Chief, IGP and AG?

I cannot think of any other Government that in recent times has shot itself in the foot so often!!

The wanton and illegal use of repressive laws such as the OSA, ISA, PPPA and the Sedition Act are the signs of a desperate regime. These Acts should all be repealed NOW!!

mn said...

A.kum Kak Aina,

1. Eee seronoknya boleh masuk TV no.1 negara Ahad nanti.Tahniah la kerana terpilih.

2. Nanti kak Aina nak pakai warna thema apa..biru ka, kuning ka..hijau ka..putih ka..merah ka?

3. Saya cadangkan kak Aina pakai semua warna 'hitam' sebagai tanda protes dan penghormatan kepada our brader RPK.

http://www.penyokong-kj.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Sis Ena
Looking forward to you emboldening the RTM viewers this Sunday.
aMiR

The Phoenix Foundation said...

NAS{3540}!
Dari Gunong Merapi
Si Laksamana akan turn!
Si Kafir Kafir yang telahpun
rogol rakyaat jelita bumi saya
Si Kafir yang telahpun
bunoh jasmani & rohnai bumi saya
Si Kafir yang telah pun
menghinakan rakayaat jelita Hang Laksamana!
Laksamana RPK dgn Strike Force One
{Gerakan Kilat Laksamana Khas} sudah turun.

Unknown said...

The tide has begun. If 8/3 was a tsunami, perhaps the powers that be really "ain't seen nothin' yet!"

Anis Ahmad Abdul Rahman said...

In a multiracial society with very fargile social fabris and everyone very nervous and suspicious with each other, I mean malay against chinese vice versa, Sedition act is still very much needed. Raja petra has the option of just post the bail and be a free man, the trial is only in october. why on earth he refused to post bail and made himself an instant hero ? It's all political..that article was very political, steven shariibu was sponsored to come all over from mongolia and made press conference in anwar's house. I am really sick with all this pkr antics. yes, i don't like the current government and by all mean please restore democracy in umno, so we can a capable leader and stop allthis keadilan, anwar raja petra dap malaysian malaysia nonsenses.

Anonymous said...

Anis Ahmad Abdul Rahman, 1:23 am:

What are you talking about when you refer to the PKR-DAP Malaysian Malaysia nonsense? Shouldn't being a Malaysian be the ultimate goal of all of us who live in this country? Granted, there is this sense of suspicion among some segments of the different ethnic groups, but WHO has been promoting this? Why hasn't the powers-that-be come forward to allay this feeling, and say that we shouldn't be like that and that we are all Malaysians and that we should not look at each other through a racial paradigm but as brothers and sisters born and raised on the same soil? No, not ONE conciliatory word such as this by the ruling government.

Secondly, if someone has been perceived to be unfairly criminalised, then someone has to stand up for him. If UMNO isn't going to do that, then someone has to do it, and it may as well be the opposition.

Separately, study the Altantuya case and ask yourself why is there so much foot-dragging and odd court behaviour in it? And what happened to the Lingam Tape probe?

Do you really trust the current ruling administration? Do you believe that they are serving the people or whether they might be trying to protect themselves from possible previous wrongdoings?

So give the opposition a break.

And no one said that the Sedition Law is a wholly bad thing. Many advanced nations have it too, and our country for its inherent characteristics may have some use for it too. However, it must be magnanimously and judiciously used! The problem lies in the abuse of this law by the powers-that-be in order to further their political ends, and this is an insult to the very people who gave it a mandate to rule.

Anonymous said...

Anis Ahmad Abdul Rahman,
Why good does it do to restore UMNO? Is UMNO worth restoring/saving? Why not just wipe UMNO off the face of this earth and start afresh?

LazerJuan said...

You nak keluar tv this sunday? Sedarlah sikit! orang macam you, kadir jasin, raja petra semua gilakan publicity walaupun hanya dapat airtime 30 minit (or is it 15 mins?).

Sedarlah wahai bloggers, rtm would rather spend 90 mins or 1 1/2 hours on a prgramme called Rentak Juara on Sunday night. Kalau tak percaya, stay tuned after Nuraina's interview. Dapat tengok mat rock dressed up (macam keluar time machine from the 80s). Bestnya! Rentak Juara menghiburkan! Ada feel good factor sebab those who watch it will either be entertained or will be thanking god saying `I am blessed, I am intelligent after all'. Give it a shot, you will know what I mean!!!

Things will change for the better..let the rakyat speak! Yeah, this rakyat is speaking now!.."More entertainment shows please!! 1 1/2 hours tak cukup. Make it 3 hour!"

Program for intellectual discourse tak payah! Kalau nak buat pun make it 5 mins only. No interviews, just slide shows with in-house commentaries. Better still, buat macam `silent movie'.

Finally, jangan bagi bloggers yang syok sendiri platfom untuk dapat publicity.What for! dia orang bukan artis..tak glamour. Kalau nak sangat keluar Tv, jadilah pelakon or penyanyi. Nuraina, tengok gambar you on your blog memang dah layak jadi artis. AFUNDI Nuraina!! (oops different station).

Anonymous said...

I don't think the Althantuya article contained a lot of 'hogwash', and I can't understand your use of this word. Most of the points raised were what he quoted from the affidavits used in the trial, and affidavits are certainly not hogwash. I agree that the language he used was strong, so much so that it sent shivers down someones' spines. But then that was his purpose of writing the article: to make as much impact as possible. The murder trial has caught the attention of the world because the victim was a foreigner and the persons charged, the explosives used, were all linked to the top leaders in the government. It is therefore incumbent upon the government and the judiciary to ensure that the trial is 'seen' to be conducted with unquestionable impartiality and transparancy. Putting RPK in jail on a trumped-up seditious charge only goes to show that the government is incapable of doing this.

Anonymous said...

we need the seditious act and the ISA. Raja petra doesn't seems to be a responsible person where he wrote article that doesn't been back up by clear cut evidence.. and you still saying that this man is right in his action? come on aina.

I respected rocky for writing good article that doesn't slender people with fictitious points.. raja petra is dangerous writer. he need to learn to be reponsible of what he is writing.. being an aristocrat doesn't mean that this world belongs to him and can do what he want to do...

he deserve it.. if he argues that he is innocent, some way he still can prove it under the seditious act. u mean to say that raja petra should be left out even though he is jeopardizing our nations security?

Anonymous said...

Everything is politically motivated. I can commiserate with those who felt that RPK was remanded under unsubstantial charges. But for RPK to do a Ghandi is rather ridiculous, under the circumstances. What is RPK trying to prove? Albeit, his columns are sensational but sometimes one wonders if the spin is overwhealming. It boggles some minds but not all. If one reads critically one can see that there is a heading and an ending and fillers in between. It does not mean I am supporting the gomen but we have to be realistic too.

Salam.

Anonymous said...

dear kak ina,
reading this posting of yours make me a little bit sad. do you really believe that anyone should be allowed to utter anything he/she wants with impunity in this country? freedom of speech at all cost? do you really believe everyone in this country have reached such maturity that we can have that without anyone misusing such freedom to damage our country's multi-racial society? do you really believe that someone can publicly accused someone else of murder without proper evidence and get away with it? try to read the postings of commentators in RPK's website if u do believe that such slanders were harmless and should be allowed in the name of freedom of speech.
kak ina, i have great respect for u especially as the once political editor of NST and I would like to continue to do so. Please rethink what u wrote in this posting.

Anonymous said...

Dear Nina,
Am waiting anxiously your appearance in RTM....to hear your voice ... all this while...knowing you only through your blog.

Siapa pulak yang dimaksudkan "kafir-kafir" oleh Jeyapalan.T.S.Mahesan tu?

???????

NURAINA A SAMAD said...

syaza,

you may have misunderstood me. I think everyone should be responsible and accountable for what she/he has written. No one is above the law. My point is that if RPK had indeed spread lies and baseless allegations, then the authorities can use other laws such as defamatory and libel laws. i am being personal here, perhaps because i abhor the use of the ISA and Sedition Act against any citizen. I may or may not agree with what RPK has written, but I believe that he should not be charged under the Sedition Act.

That's all.

thank you.

NURAINA A SAMAD said...

anon@11:12AM;

actually, i am not saying that the altantuya article contained a lot of hogwash, it is an expression...that RPK maybe (to some people) writing hogwash (and I also said), he may not.

you may believe him, there are others who don't.

thank you

Anonymous said...

Kak Aina,

Maybe its good that we hear opinions from lawyers with regards to 'seditious' or 'defamatory' - the gravity between the two and how we had dealt with it in the past as a case study. One case that I can remember is Datuk Sreri Anwar's charge againsts some newspapers for defaming him.

Please give us some review.

Thanks

Zaib

Anonymous said...

Malaysiakini reports:
Abdullah said that he has instructed Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan Mansor to lodge a police report against DAP chairperson Karpal Singh over his allegedly seditious remarks against the Sultan of Perak.

Adoi si PM saya, I remember they interviewed PM at the F1 tracks & when asked about Agung rejecting his Terengganu MB, he said our Agung was ‘unconstitutional’ Yes, I saw it on live TV. Anyone cares to play the video again? Memang Malaysians mudah lupa. Like they say, you point 1 finger, more fingers point back at you.

Then 2 police reports were made against Karpal by:
Muar MP Razali Ibrahim
Batu Pahat MP Mohd Puad Zarkashi
Sri Gading MP Mohd Aziz
Pontian MP Ahmad Maslan
Arau MP Ismail Kasim
Bintulu MP Tiong King Sing
and a Osman Abu Bakar also lodged a 2nd police report against Karpal.
SO, for the good folks of Muar, Batu Pahat, Sri Gading, Pontian, Arau and Bintulu, See? – this is what you elected for! This is how your MP is spending his time & Your money! Instead of taking care of Your needs, they are busy politicking. I’ve been to Muar and Batu Pahat and let me tell you, I don’t envy the place you guys are staying in. Now you know your MPs priorities.

Now we know why crime rate is spiralling out of control in this country, and why many REAL ISSUES that concern us the Rakyat is not taken care of. So many MPs to make 1 police report?! And for what????? What cause does it serve? this sedition report! Whose cause are you serving???!! Certainly not ours, the ordinary citizens!! And you dare to ask why we are angry? Damn, we are pissed!

20 Cent said...

Completely agree with you there, Kak Nuraina. No one is above the law, but the law should be applied fairly to all.

The current 'laws' practiced by our so-called government are oppressive and repressive in the extreme.

These laws are used to maintain what our so-called leaders' perception of social order, making a mockery of their claims that this is a democratic country.