The imperative march against the Peaceful Assembly Bill

This article was published in Malaysian Insider.


*update: this post was also posted in Lim Kit Siangs blog here.
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Have you ever felt a sense of discomfort sitting on your chair whenever you read the news?

Or sometimes (most of the time for me) a sense of disbelief and appal at how politics has screwed our rights, liberties and monies over and over again?!

Just when we had to digest all the poor spending and misappropriation (for example, the Auditor-General’s Report, the National Feedlot Corporation scandal and Kedai 1 Rakyat Malaysia fiasco), now we are told that a Bill will be passed to restrict our natural right to assemble!

The government tells us that we can assemble, and it says it is “revolutionary”. However, they seek to implement various criteria and obstacles before we “can”, or rather more accurately, be allowed to assemble (one fine example would be the requirement of a 30 days’ notice). This clearly illustrated the government’s pure hypocrisy in singing the tune of “best democracy”, “revolutionary” or even “upholding democratic principles” when it in fact it seeks to restrict the rakyat’s natural right to assemble!

Taking into consideration the beautiful wording of section 2 (a) of the Bill which recognises “... citizens... right to organise assemblies or to participate in assemblies, peaceably and without arms”, one ponders how he/she can exercise that right if he/she has to subject himself/herself to unreasonable conditions first.

In addition, this Bill and its restrictions can only point us to the fact that the government intends to stifle dissent of the people who express themselves through street protests. One would also suspect that such a proposal was drafted in the memory of the previous Bersih 2.0 rally, which was organised to advance the cause of having a free election (much to the embarrassment of our government who had handled the situation poorly).

As the rushed Peaceful Assembly Bill is already at its second reading, a quick and drastic action must be taken. A strong message with the force of changing federal lawmakers’ actions must be sent across collectively. At this rate, any delay or indecisiveness will only permit this Bill to be passed into an Act. As this Bill only requires a simple majority from Parliament, any opposition or proposed amendments in the parliamentary debate by opposition lawmakers will have insufficient effect or inadequate persuasion for this Bill to be thoroughly reviewed. Hence, a mass collective voice is urgently needed. More so from the organisation that eats, sleeps and breathes the law (i.e. the Bar Council).

Legal practitioners are bound by the Legal Profession Act 1976, and one most important provision which defines the very soul of this noble profession lies in section 42 (1)(a) which states that:

“(1) The purpose of the Malaysian Bar shall be —

(a) to uphold the cause of justice without regard to its own interest or that of its members, uninfluenced by fear or favour.”

Therefore, let us, as lawyers (and pupils alike), pursue the cause of justice by protecting the very fundamental human right that is the right to freely assemble! Let us show to the public the true reason why the legal profession is said to be a noble one by upholding and promoting just laws and fundamental legal principles in accordance to our moral and legal obligation! Let us also demonstrate to the lawmakers, without fear or favour, our opposition (as readers of the law) against such a restrictive Bill!

Fellow honourable members of the Bar, regardless of the location you reside or practise in, let us step out of practise momentarily and appear on November 29, 11.30am at the Royal Lake Club in Kuala Lumpur to object against this Bill that threatens the supremacy of the Constitution, rule of law and respect for basic human and individual rights!

* Low Teck Kuan reads The Malaysian Insider.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication. The Malaysian Insider does not endorse the view unless specified.

This is what you call a "Bankrupt and Desperate" politician

I was catching up with all the news for the past few weeks since the afternoon, and it shocked me when i read this piece of news.

Zaid Ibrahim actually lodged a police report against Karpal Singh. and for what reason? He alleged that Karpal Singh had "threatened" him. That Karpal had made a statement which contains serious threats to his safety.

Malaysian Insider never really wrote what Karpal said previously, so i did some checking in other news portal and found out that Karpal had issued a statement saying this:

“As Anwar's defence counsel, I am warning all quarters, including politicians, not to defy Justice Mohamed Zabidin's (Mohd Diah) reminder that anyone committing an act of contempt in the ongoing trial will face the music. Any act by anyone, however, subtle, to influence the decision of a judge in an ongoing trial amounts to contempt of court."

now, how is this a threat to his personal safety again?

I can perhaps, force myself a little to understand if a laymen who went to the streets protesting against the Court's ruling interprets Karpal's statement as a physical or personal threat. but Zaid Ibrahim? the lawyer who founded one of the largest law firm in Malaysia? you got to be kidding me!

first and foremost, how on Earth did Karpal's statement amounts to a threat to his safety?

was it directed to him? or did Karpal merely issued a general warning to all who tried to pressure Anwar into giving his DNA? even if Karpal was indirectly warning Zaid about it, how did a valid legal threat (if ever Karpal or the Court decide to charge him for contempt of court) to which Zaid will have the opportunity to defend himself, become a threat to his personal safety?

secondly, what offence will the police pursue to investigate Karpal anyway? even if the police were to forcefully open an investigation and charge Karpal in court for the so called "threat to his personal safety" will they be able to establish a prima facie case in the first place?

surely Zaid, as a former practising lawyer himself would consider all this before lodging a police report?

but no, like an illiterate or an uneducated person he went on to stretch his imagination so wide and desperately so as to gain back his political relevance, did the unthinkable by bringing his supporters to the police station and lodged a formal complain against Karpal. i really do not know whether the intention was to get into the headlines, or score against Karpal. but one things for sure. it is certainly foolish to do so. with more statements and illogical actions such as these, I simply think that he is branding himself as an irrelevant politician.

and this is what you call a bankrupt and desperate politician. its petty and sad really, he could have become a real powerhouse in the political arena. he had so much of respect from the people including myself. but by his own actions Zaid has truly threw all those respects that people had about him away

this picture depicts how truly principled, the public perceived Zaid as previously.

i kinda regret purchasing his autobiography a couple of years ago. i really admired him last time. but like many others i'm really really disappointed with him. i feel like i was fooled into believing that he's one of the rare principled politician around here. obviously i was wrong. and proved wrong by none other than Zaid Ibrahim himself.

Proxy Voting? Why not implement automatic voter registration?

Election Commission recently announced that they are considering the implementation of proxy voting here in Malaysia.

Now as much as I've always been skeptical about the EC, this is actually a pretty good idea mooted by them.

What is a proxy vote actually? Proxy voting means that in the event one person cannot cast their ballot on the Election Day, that person may apply to appoint another person to cast his ballot for him.

the benefits? it simply provides alternative to voters to cast their votes. in fact it is pretty noble of the EC to put the interest of the voters first.

however, before we take an extra step to help the current voters to better cast their votes, why not help the non-registered voters first? before we reinforce the current values of having a better voting process, why dont we fight and lobby for the right to be a voter without being registered?

In Switzerland citizens who attained the age of 18, is automatically registered as a voter. This is good, as firstly, it throws away the hassle of getting yourself registered and secondly, it saves administrative costs and time in processing the registration.

Here in Malaysia, it is not easy to register as a voter. To do so you will need to either go to any Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR) state offices (only 1 office in every state), or look for a post office, or ultimately look for a Assistant Registrar who is appointed by the SPR (on the recommendations of every political parties and a number of NGOs)

From my experiences, most people will avoid Post offices. Simply because its too time consuming to get a number and wait for your turn to get yourself registered. Half of them wont even consider SPR offices as its simply too inconvenient. and so many are dependable on Assistant Registrars who normally open registration booths in shopping malls, pasar malam or any other crowded public places.

and even if you do get yourself registered, you will need to wait for at least 5-6 months before you're registered into the system. and there are no other ways to check the status of the registration other than waiting impatiently for 6 months. and after 6 months, these voters have to re-register themselves if they cant find their names here.

Hence, the current options provided to voters are simply too insufficient. and implementing automatic voters registration will eradicate these problems. so before the EC suggests any new ideas to expand the current system, i think its better for them to consider improving it first.

xxxxx

on another note, Khairy is a bankrupt politician for trying to steal the limelight when Anwar challenged PM Najib for a debate. Khairy claimed that Anwar is not at Najibs "level", and that it will be good enough for Anwar to debate him instead.





pic taken from MsianInsider


Just to clarify certain things, it is Khairy himself who is not at Anwar's level. By convention, the opposite of the Prime Minister will be the Opposition leader in Parliament. Hence it is justified for Anwar to issue the challenge to Najib, instead of issuing to other people such as the UMNO Youth Chief. and why would Anwar want to debate with an outgoing Member of Parliament anyway?

funniest thing is, after PKR Youth agreed to send Rafizi Ramli to debate with Khairy instead, Khairy kept a complete silence on this issue.

so who's the coward?