National and International glorification by government leaders of the lawless and gangsterish break-up of the second APCET meeting in Kuala Lumpur a shame and dishonour to Malaysia

The national and international glorification by government leaders of the lawless and gangsterish break-up of the peaceful and private Second Asia-Pacific Conference on East Timor (APCET) in Kuala Lumpur on 9th November 1996 is a shame and dishonour to Malaysia.

The latest example is provided by the Minister of Information, Datuk Mohamed Rahmat at the signing of memorandum of understanding between the Listeners, Viewers and Readers’ Group of Kampung Belimbing Dalam, Malacca and the Viewers, Readers and Listeners’ Group of Melati Putih, South Sumatra at Palembang, Indonesia yesterday.

Mohamad Rahmat had missed the whole point of national and international outcry over the APCET II meeting - it is not the Government’s position on East Timor, but the lawless and gangsterish manner in which APCET II was broken up by UMNO Youth, MCA Youth and MIC Youth members, claiming to be Malaysian People’s Action Front, hurling abuses, throwing chairs, overturning tables, breaking glasses, and threatening participants with bodily harm.

In his speech, Mohamed Rahmat said the success and rapid development of both nations had made several groups very unhappy, especially the foreign media and non-governmental organisations.

As an example, he said, several NGOs had made an attempt to hold the Second Asia Pacific Conference on East Timor in Kuala Lumpur recently, despite the Malaysian Government imposing a ban on the conference.

He said that Malaysia was of the opinion that the East Timor was an Indonesian internal affair.

“Malaysia believes in the wisdom of Indonesia, under the Golkar administration, led by President Suharto, to resolve the problem in their own way.

“If the Indonesian people had no confidence in the present administration, surely Golkar would not have been given a further mandate to rule the country”.

It was reported that Mohamed Rahmat was given a “thunderous applause” by the more than 300 guests who witnessed the signing ceremony.

Unfortunate that Mohamed Rahmat has created the impression that Malaysia is grovelling to Indonesia on the APCET II issue

Mohamad’s Palembang speech is most unfortunate, for it has given rise to two undesirable impressions. Firstly, that the Malaysian Ministers have no sense of shame or remorse at the lawless and gangsterish manner in which the peaceful and private APCET II meeting was broken-up, giving Malaysia a bad name in the international arena.

Secondly, which is worse, the impression that a Malaysian Cabinet Minister is grovelling to another country instead of explaining with dignity the reasons why the Government is against the holding of APCET II in Kuala Lumpur. The impression is further reinforced by the untruth that the government had banned APCET II - for this was not the case.

The Malaysian Government is entitled to hold the view that the APCET II meeting should not be held in Kuala Lumpur in the interest of Malaysia-Indonesia relations, but if Malaysia is a democratic and sovereign country, there must be room for dissent and the right for the holding of a private and peaceful meeting in Kuala Lumpur to discuss peaceful solutions to the 21-year East Timor conflict.

The Chairman of the Barisan Nasional Backbenchers’ Club, Ruhanie Ahmad had said in Parliament on Oct. 21 in connection with the issue of illegal Indonesian immigrants that Indonesia should not have a “Big Brother” attitude in the Malaysia-Indonesia relations.

Malaysia must cherish and safeguard good neighbourly relations with Indonesia but we must not compromise our sovereignty or national self-respect by any grovelling behaviour - which unfortunately is the impression which had been created from Mohamed Rahmat’s Palembang speech.

With government leaders glorifying the lawless and gangsterish break-up of the peaceful APCET II, both national and international opinion must wonder whether the law would be applied without fear or favour against the 600 UMNO Youth, MCA Youth and MIC Youth leaders who had clearly broken the law and besmirched the international reputation of Malaysia by their behaviour.

It is most sad that Cabinet Ministers have refused to see the real issue over the national and international outcry over the lawless and gangsterish breaking-up of the APCET II meeting, which raised the fundamental question whether Malaysia is ready for a civil society.

`Letter of Conscience’ by UKM Fulbright Visiting Fellow, Norani Othman

It would be worthwhile for Mohamed Rahmat and all other Cabinet Ministers to ponder the questions posed by the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Fulbright Visiting Fellow at the School of Law, Emory University, Norani Othman, who addressed a “letter of conscience” to the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and faxed to Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian newspapers.

In the “letter of conscience”, Norani posed the following pertinent questions

“Malah apa yang amat dikhuatiri oleh ramai pemerhati dan pihak yang terlibat dalam APCET II adalah samada pihak kempimpinan dalam belia UMNO khususnya dan UMNO umumnya berupaya merenungkan semula betapa tidak wajarnya sokongan/kebenaran mereka terhadap tindakan menyerbu-masuk tempat pertemuan itu. Sifat kasar dan agresif tersebut hanya akan menyemaikan semula satu sindrom mob-psychology and mob-directed violence. Perilaku seperti ini hanya menimbulkan imej dan ingatan terhadap tindak-tanduk dan budaya politik sebuah negara yang belum lagi matang menangani perbedaan pendapat dan sikap politik di kalangan rakyat dan pemerintah.

“Tidakkah ada cara yang lain bagi menangani persoalan seperti itu? Kalau senang mengambil tindakan begitu dalam persoalan hak manusia yang bersabit dengan kawasan di negara jiran, bagaimanakah agaknya golongan belia UMNO akan bertindak dalam hal-hal yang berhubung dengan isu-isu hak dan kebebasan di kalangan dan di antara kaum dalam negeri sendiri! Apa yang tercermin dalam tindakan tersebut adalah kesempitan pendirian, jingoism dan self-righteousness di kalangan orang Melayu kita. Mengapakah dianggap salah bagi lapisan masyarakat Malaysia menganjurkan satu forum untuk perbincangan hal-hal tersebut, bukannya mereka mengadakan demonstrasi di jalan raya, di mesjid atau di kampus-kampus. Mereka bukan sekadar melepaskan perasaan, malah mereka cuba menggunakan satu cara yang berpatutan--adakan satu pertemuan, dapatkan maklumat, berbincang dan fikirkan strategi dan cara yang sebaiknya untuk menangani dan memperjuangkan perkara-perkara yang mereka anggap penting dalam kancah kehidupan hari ini. Bukankah ini salah satu cara pragmatis agar dapat dibentuk semangat dan amalan masyarakat madani yang diidam-idamkan--yang mudah dikatakan tapi tak begitu mudah dikotakan?

“Kita semua di Malaysia perlu sedar bahawa kita telah memasuki satu tahap pembangunan yang melibatkan pembentukan unsur-unsur baru dalam struktur sosial kita, terutamanya di kalangan lapisan masyarakat bandar, lapisan kelas menengah baru, malah mungkin juga di kalangan golongan Melayu Baru kita dan lapisan warga ala Bangsa Malaysia baru. Generasi muda yang terdiri daripada golongan profesional dan berpendidikan tinggi di Malaysia kini memerlukan ruang sosial untuk memberi ekspresi dan manifestasi kepada kehidupan sosial dan kewargaan mereka. Apa bagus kalau mereka fikirkan nak buat duit, mengejar status dan kesempatan jadi kaya cepat sahaja? Adakah kita mahukan generasi muda dan profesional kita hanya terlibat dengan tuntutan material dan gaya kehidupan hedonis sahaja?

“Apa salahnya diberi sedikit ruang bagi mereka untuk berfikir, dan bernafas bebas agar dapat mentaksirkan dan membincangkan isu-isu semasa. Sekiranya saudara lihat kepada senarai mereka yang ditangkap--mereka bukannya riff-raff dan individu yang tidak bertanggung jawab atau tidak berpengalaman menganjur dan mengurus persidangan dengan cara yang aman dan sopan. Mereka terdiri daripada golongan akademik, penulis, akhbar dan pelbagai NGO-aktivis; boleh dikatakan ciri sepunya di kalangan mereka adalah mereka ingin menyumbang ke arah meningkatkan kualiti dan suasana kehidupan kewargaan yang berbudi (a civic citizenship) yang menjadi asas utama bagi pembentukan sebuah masyarakat madani. Seperti yang dinyatakan oleh seorang rakan saya yang telah ditangkap dan kini dilepaskan ...we just want to make a difference in the life of the mind and one’s political conscience. Surely there is more to life of a so-called Melayu Baru or even a Bangsa Malaysia Baru than getting an executive job, an expensive car, a condo and a fat bank account!

“Tindakan pihak Belia UMNO mencerminkan satu kepincangan moral dan politik mereka tetapi sekiranya kita sendiri (pemimpin dan rakyat Malaysia yang lainnya) tidak mengambil apa-apa tindakan--sekurang-kurangnya menyatakan kesempitan dan kekolotan tindakan mereka itu, maka kita juga sama bersekongkol dengan mereka dalam kepincangan dan kelemahan moral, politik dan hati nurani.

"Saya amat berharap agar saudara dan pihak pemerintah/kerajaan dapat menebus semula maruah kita sebagai negara yang telah membangun dengan tindakan yang lebih wajar seterusnya dalam hal ini dan buat masa hadapan demi kepentingan dan kehidupan politik kita bersama.”

(27/11/96)