The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion
The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion |
| Posted: 18 Sep 2011 09:33 PM PDT SEPT 19 — Days after the announcement, I still can't quite believe it. Our Internal Security Act (ISA), abolished? Unexpectedly, my respect for our prime minister went up a notch. In the context of our country's politics, to be the man who would repeal the ISA is quite something. Like him or loathe him, he at least has had the courage to do this. After all, many of our former PMs have condemned the ISA before entering government or whilst on the Parliamentary back benches only to find it a most "necessary" law once they become prime minister. Should we care if his motive is to win back "middle" Malaysia? Should we care if this is an election gimmick? Should we care if he is merely stealing Bersih 2.0's thunder? Yes, we probably should. However, the pragmatic in me thinks the motive doesn't matter; the main thing that we need to keep focus on is the fact that this law may no longer be. If Datuk Seri Najib Razak keeps his promise to do so and pushes through the repeal of this Act, then, like him or not, agree with his motives or not, our PM will have performed a great service to our nation. No longer will the government of the day be able to order the arrest and detention of a Malaysian citizen without trial or without being charged; no longer can the government of the day detain a Malaysian indefinitely. Of course, the nub of the question is that if: if he keeps his promise. Then there is the announcement that two new preventive laws will be put in place to replace the ISA, to be used against terrorists. I welcome Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz's statement that these would be not be used to "curb individuals from supporting different political ideologies", but I am still cautious about this development. In the UK the Terrorism Act 2006 came into force in April 2006 following the 7/7 bombings in London the previous year. This law was extensively debated in Parliament, and Tony Blair suffered a defeat over plans to extend detention without trial to 90 days. The Act eventually came into force allowing detention without trial for only 28 days. In the five years since it has been in place, there have been numerous occasions where the police and other authorities have been accused of abusing the Act. A woman was held for questioning for four hours under the Act for walking along a cycle path in Dundee's harbour area in late 2005. In 2008, London's Metropolitan Police conducted 175,000 searches under section 44 of this Act, which allows the police to stop and search anyone or any vehicle, and seize anything that could be used in connection with terrorism. Unlike normal stop and search activities, under section 44 the police do not need "reasonable suspicion" that a crime has been committed to stop someone. Fifty-eight of the people stopped and searched under this Section that year were children under the age of 10. The UK is, in our PM's words, an "advanced democracy." Yet even here abuse of an anti-terrorism law occurs. Fortunately, the UK has a robust press and an independent judiciary. The police are not above the law and can be sued or taken to court to answer any allegations of misconduct. Public enquiries have also been held to examine police procedures and practices. Malaysia unfortunately is not quite there yet. We may be able to hear cases of police misconduct in court, as the case of Aminulrasyid Amzah attests, but these never seem to ask questions about police procedure (why, in our country, are police equipped with submachine guns? We are not the USA!). If anti-terrorism laws are enacted in Malaysia, then I fear the scope for abuse is rather large, and redress would be difficult to obtain. In any case, does Malaysia really need anti-terrorism laws? What would be the point of enacting these laws? When was the last time a terrorist act took place in our country? In fact, how would we define a terrorist or a terrorist act in our country? The government should not be allowed to pass such laws unchallenged, and I dearly hope that our Parliament minutely scrutinises the proposed anti-terrorism laws once they are tabled. In fact, I feel a tiny flutter of hope in the wake of these announcements. For the moment, set aside the motives, and set aside any concerns about whether the ISA repeal will actually happen. For me, the genie is now out of the box. Our PM has stated that it must go. What is also apparent to me is that our PM has finally woken up to the fact that he has lost the support of a number of Malaysians. He may be using these announcements to reach out to those whose support he has lost. Whether he succeeds in reaching out to such people matters not a jot so long as he keeps his promises. To be known as the prime minister who finally got rid of the ISA (and not just promised to get rid of it) — now, isn't that a prize worth striving for? * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. |
| ‘Cinta Madinah’ terima tempias Interlok? Posted: 18 Sep 2011 04:57 PM PDT 19 SEPT — Belum selesai isu sekumpulan penulis teks Komsas yang dianiaya, ditipu dan dizalimi beberapa penerbit, muncul pula isu lain berhubung sebuah lagi teks Komsas. Saya mendapat tahu pada minggu lalu menerusi catatan rakan-rakan di Facebook bahawa novel "Cinta Madinah" karya Abu Hassan Morad dibatalkan kontrak walaupun edisi murid sudah sedia untuk dicetak dan diedarkan ke beberapa negeri di Pantai Timur untuk kegunaan pelajar Tingkatan Tiga mulai 2012. Apabila saya meminta komen rakan-rakan, Hariani Ibrahim dari Tawau, Sabah berkata, "Saya cuma melihat bahawa bentuk kehidupan kita semakin dikawal dengan kepentingan politik". Suriani Mat dari Kulai, Johor pula bertanya, "Mengapa karya terbaik dibatalkan kontrak? Susah hendak mencari karya yang baik dan berisi sebagai ganti." Kalau tidak silap saya, novel "Cinta Madinah" menang Hadiah Sastera Kumpulan Utusan 2000 dan diterbitkan pada 2001. Saya pernah membacanya pada 2005, tidak lama sebelum ia disiarkan di RTM1 sepanjang Ramadan pada tahun berkenaan. Rasa-rasanya, skrip oleh Abu Hassan dan Sharifah Abu Salem.  'Cinta Madinah Edisi Murid' sudah ada dalam rekod PNM. Saya percaya bahawa kehebatan, keunikan dan kecantikan "Cinta Madinah" sebagai sebuah novel bertema Islamik yang menjadi antara faktor mengapa ketiga-tiga peringkat panel pemilih dan pegawai Bahagian Pembangunan Kurikulum (CDC) di Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia (KPM) memutuskan untuk mengangkat novel bermutu itu sebagai teks Komsas. Namun, dalam perkembangan terbaru, walaupun kontrak sudah ditandatangani dan buku edisi murid sudah sedia untuk dicetak, "Cinta Madinah" dikatakan kononnya menerima "tempias" daripada isu "Interlok Edisi Murid" dan akhirnya "kena pancung" daripada senarai teks Komsas. Saya tidak akan terkejut jika alasan yang diberikan oleh KPM adalah bahawa "Cinta Madinah" bersifat "terlalu Islamik, memuji Nabi Muhammad SAW, mengangkat kehebatan kota Madinah, serta tidak bersifat 1 Malaysia". Dalam hal ini, saya tidak menghubungi penerbit untuk bertanya mengapa mereka tidak berjuang mempertahankan novel "Cinta Madinah". Saya percaya penerbit sebenarnya sudah bersedia untuk mencetak novel edisi murid dan ISBN sudah diperoleh. Kalaulah (ulang: kalau) memang wujud apa-apa perkara yang dikatakan sensitif dalam "Cinta Madinah", saya percaya bahawa Razlan Mohamed Noor dan Mahadzir Adun selaku editor sudah menanganinya secara professional dalam edisi murid. Tambahan pula, apabila dikatakan "Cinta Madinah" menerima "tempias" daripada isu "Interlok Edisi Murid", tentulah penerbit, editor dan KPM mampu memastikan pisang tidak berbuah dua kali. Akan tetapi, tentulah suatu tindakan kurang bijak (baca: bodoh) jika sebuah karya sehebat, secantik dan sesempurna "Cinta Madinah" dipancung semata-mata kerana pihak tertentu tidak mampu menangani isu "Interlok Edisi Murid" secara profesional dan matang. Tindakan yang lebih bodoh adalah sekiranya sesiapa di KPM mahu "memancung" novel "Cinta Madinah" edisi murid dengan alasan bahawa novel itu bersifat "terlalu Islamik, memuji Nabi Muhammad SAW, mengangkat kehebatan kota Madinah, serta tidak bersifat 1 Malaysia".  Tiga judul ini sering menjadi tumpuan pembaca. Orang seperti itu juga ternyata lupa pada kedudukan agama Islam mengikut peruntukan Perlembagaan Persekutuan serta hakikat bahawa rakyat pelbagai kaum dan agama di negara bertuah ini sudah teramat biasa membaca dan menghayati karya bertema Islam. Malah, sewaktu novel berkenaan diadaptasi dan disiarkan secara bersiri di televisyen pada 2005, khalayak yang menontonnya bukan hanya orang beragama Islam. Apakah mungkin ada pihak tertentu yang sengaja menggunakan isu "Interlok Edisi Murid" sebagai alasan untuk merealisasikan niat jahat "memancung" novel karya Abu Hassan? Atau untuk menyalahkan kaum tertentu sebagai punca novel itu dibatalkan kontrak? Saya tidak menghubungi Abu Hassan untuk membincangkan isu berkaitan novel "Cinta Madinah" kerana beliau tentu masih bersedih dan kemungkinan sedang berusaha "melupakan" episod yang amat melukakan ini. Saya juga tidak akan membazir masa menghubungi KPM kerana pihak itu masih belum mampu mencetak dan mengedarkan edisi baru novel "Interlok Edisi Murid" seperti dijanjikan menterinya enam bulan lalu.  Abu Hassan Morad. Pada masa sama, memang pelik (baca: gila) kalau sesiapa cuba menyamakan isu "Interlok Edisi Murid" dan "Cinta Madinah". Novel oleh Abu Hassan berkisar sepenuhnya pada watak/keluarga Melayu-Islam. Tidak ada kena-mengena dengan watak kaum/agama lain. Apatah lagi menyentuh sensitiviti kaum/agama lain. Lalu, atas alasan apa "Cinta Madinah" dikatakan tidak sesuai dengan konsep 1 Malaysia? Apakah agaknya alasan rasmi bagi pembatalan kontrak novel itu sebagai teks Komsas? Atau pembatalan dilakukan secara senyap dan saya pula akan didakwa kerana menyebarkan maklumat rahsia kerajaan! Nampaknya isu teks Komsas memang penuh dengan "misteri" dan "tangan-tangan halus". Ada penerbit yang menggunakan beberapa nama syarikat dan dengan amat mudah mendapat kontrak bagi beberapa karya yang menjanjikan pulangan lumayan. Apatah lagi apabila penulis asal tidak dibayar walau satu sen dan KPM tidak berani menegur. Kalaulah benar novel "Cinta Madinah" dipancung atas alasan "terlalu Islamik, memuji Nabi Muhammad SAW, mengangkat kehebatan kota Madinah, serta tidak bersifat 1 Malaysia", saya mahu lihat novel mana pula yang (mungkin) dibawa masuk mengikut pintu belakang untuk menggantikan tempatnya. Apa tidaknya! Novel yang bakal mengambil alih tempat "Cinta Madinah" sebagai teks Komsas pastilah sebuah karya agung yang benar-benar memenuhi ciri-ciri, semangat dan konsep "1 Malaysia". Akhirnya, kita akan tahu apa sebenarnya yang dimaksudkan oleh KPM dengan "1 Malaysia". Sementara itu, saya berharap persatuan-persatuan penulis serta badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) yang semakin lantang bersuara sejak Januari 2011 akan turut berjuang membela nasib Abu Hassan. Tidak perlulah menunggu sehingga beliau datang meminta bantuan. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan