Pissed off

Some people I know tend to pussyfoot around the fact that the current UMNO leadership is nearing breaking point. Excuses range from 'oh, give him time lah' to 'he has his own method, he's different from Mahathir' to 'dia pemimpin yang bagus...dia kan anak ulamak'.



I say fuck all that shit.



Arresting someone without giving someone the opportunity to defend himself in a trial is an abuse of human rights. It is also against the teachings of all the major religions and concepts of justice. After all, you are innocent until proven guilty, no?



I can understand if you need to detain a highly dangerous individual for a week or two in order to compile your evidence. What I cannot understand is the fact that the Internal Security Act allows for an individual to be held without trial for up to 2 years, and even then, it can be 'renewed', like updating a loan from a library.



What I only cannot understand is the extravagant use of the Act that should only be brought into play during times of duress and in very extreme circumstances. The flipside of such draconian Acts is the fact that it can be oh-so-easily misused for purposes that have nothing to do with national security, or even worse, be used in a manner that is extremely one-sided in nature.



The arrest of Raja Petra, Teresa Kok and Tan Hoon Cheng are prime examples of such misuse.



I am especially pissed off with the arrest of Hoon Cheng. The lady had written a report for her newspaper, in which she detailed the racial slur that was uttered by Ahmad Ismail, a local UMNO warlord. Her report has been corroborated by other journalists and Mr Ismail was subsequently banned from his political party, while Hoon Cheng has been arrested for inciting racial hatred. Where's the logic in that? Should you not arrest the person who made the actual racist comment as opposed to the person who made it known to the rakyat? Does that mean that journalists will have to stop reporting the truth from now onwards and should resort to a life of fiction?



What about the man who tore Koh Tsu Koon's pic? Should he not be arrested? I am extremely certain that all hell will break loose if a chinese guy tore up a pic of Badawi. And what about the issue surrounding Teresa Kok? There were rumours that mosques had to dampen the sound of their azan following complaints by her. This was never substantiated, and one of the imams of the mosques actually came out to say that there was a problem with a speaker and that nobody had forced them to quieten down. In the meanwhile, Khir Toyo made comments about how Muslims have been made to kow-tow to the non-Malays and that's the reason for the azan-less evenings. Is that not inciting racial hatred? Shouldn't he be arrested as he had openly made such statements, and when Teresa is merely the victim of a vicious rumour?



I would be very afraid of a government that works on the basis of rumours.



Mahathir made a point in his blog about how racially sensitive issues should be discussed in private and not in the public arena, where vested interests would ensure that a comprehensive view of issues is not implemented. All this nonsense could have been avoided if the UMNO leadership was more firm in their undertakings and were more aware of the changes that should have been made. Instead they have been chasing their tails and are now barking and lashing out in obvious distress as the situation becomes more fraught.



It has been said that more individuals will be arrested under the ISA. Makes you wonder if there will be a stop to all this madness. Will they dare arrest Anwar? Or even Mahathir? Is silencing all the dissidents the only way to remain in control? Such things never work if they appear to applied arbitrarily. It might work in the short term, but in the long term it will be the surest guarantee of an uprising of the people.



Unfortunately, any uprising (with the smallest hints of violence) will work well for the government, and would bring in further excuses in using the ISA or even in instituting martial law. The best method for the opposition to gain control, if they wish to do so, will be to convince a fair number of senior BN members to jump ship. Not just members of the component parties, but senior UMNO members. That is probably the only way in which they'll be able to take over the country without too much bloodshed. Apparently surprises are in store; we'll just have to sit back and wait for further developments.



Oh, and please forgive me if I puke the next time someone brings up the fact that Abdullah Badawi was known as 'Mr Clean' .