Silence on the Penan rape cases
Posted: May 29, 2009 Filed under: Society | Tags: Penan 12 Comments »From the Nut Graph:
Indeed, since the report first emerged in mid-September 2008 about the sexual violence towards the Penans by logging company employees, eight months have gone by. A government-led task force into the Baram district completed its investigation in mid-November and yet six months later, Malaysians remain clueless about the plight of the Penan girls and women.
This issue is something that I am very concerned about. Since the reports first came to light, I have been following rather diligently on whatever can be found in the news portals. I’ve also tried to find out more from the websites of respective NGOs.
However, as the article above points out, it has been a very long time since the investigation, and still we know nothing.
Earlier this year, I sent an email to the Kementerian to ask if they have received the report of the said investigation, and if they had plans to reveal the findings. They replied saying that they will have to wait till the report is presented in Cabinet before they make any decisions about going public with the report.
That was in January. It is now the end of May. And still, nothing.
According to Jacqueline Ann Surin:
In early February 2009, when I met her at the MCA’s Chinese New Year dinner for the media, she (Dr Ng Yen Yen, the then Minister involved) would not answer questions about when the task force report would be made public and why it hadn’t yet been made public.
Also according to the same article, Dr Sharizat, the current Minister involved, was said to have planned to present the report in Cabinet on the 27th of May. That would be two days ago. However, the Nut Graph was unable to get hold of the Minister in order to find out if indeed the report was presented.
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I had planned initially to compose a second email to be sent to the Ministry, also asking whether they were planning to at least give a press statement on the status of the report. However, I didn’t get around to doing that.
Part of the reason why I am still holding on to this case in particular is because I was afraid, even from the very beginning, that it would be another one of those cases that got swept under the carpet after a while. And indeed, it looks like my worries were not completely unfounded.
As Jacqueline rightly points out:
Truth is, apart from the Women’s Aid Organisation and the Women’s Centre for Change, no other public interest groups are raising their voices for the task force report to be made public.The traditional media have also lost interest. Two of the largest English dailies in the country — The Star and the New Straits Times — didn’t even bother reporting what Shahrizat said about tabling the report in cabinet and making it partially available. So is it any wonder that the government feels no need to be accountable? Hence, it looks to me that as far as Shahrizat is concerned, the public may just forget about the Penan’s plight if she keeps silent long enough about it.
This is sad, but true.
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I have nothing much to add to Jacqueline’s very good write-up. And while I’m completely disappointed with the way the Ministry is going about this issue, I am thankful that there are people like Jacqueline who are genuinely concerned, and who are also trying their best to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves.
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Postscript: I think I will still try to make some time to compose that second email. I feel that there is a need for us to show the Ministry that we have not forgotten about this issue.
Not “pondan” again..
Posted: May 28, 2009 Filed under: Politics, Society 6 Comments »I came across this article on The Nut Graph HERE. Excerpts:
“THE Barisan Nasional (BN) should change its name to Barisan Pondan (faggot)!” bellows Penang Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) chief Datuk Zahrain Mohamed Hashim to the 5,000-strong crowd in Jalan Berapit on 23 May 2009.
The audience applauds the Bayan Baru MP, and emboldened, he goes on to repeat this homophobic epithet three times in the campaigning for the Penanti by-election. “They are pondans because they are afraid to contest here in Penanti,” he says.
This is not the first time that I’m reading of Pakatan Rakyat politicians resorting to calling Barisan Nasional “pondan”. I wrote about one other incident HERE.
There is a need, I think, to stop this ‘culture’ of resorting to underhanded tactics of putting the ‘other side’ down. And this is doubly insulting because it also shows how insensitive and homophobic some politicians really are.
I honestly do not see a need to be calling Barisan Nasional ‘pondan’. It is, whether we like it or not, a very derogatory term used by conservatives to describe effiminate men. And by conservative, I mean the kind of people who don’t tolerate people who are simply sexually different.
I will not read too much into this. The article from the Nut Graph linked above did mention that other politicians from PKR have stood up to say that it was wrong of Zahrain to say what he did. I do hope, however, that they are not merely paying lip-service, and are truly looking into this seriously. We cannot afford to have politicians who go around calling people “pondan” every time there is a dispute or disagreement.
Homophobia, as with other kinds of discrimination, is nothing to laugh about.
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Postscript: ‘Pondan’ does not translate into ‘coward’. If Zahrain thinks that that’s what he means, then he is implying that effiminate men are cowards. And that is homophobic.
Pewaris: Batalkan status warganegara mereka yang buat permintaan melampau
Posted: May 26, 2009 Filed under: Politics 6 Comments »Found this on The Malaysian Insider HERE, with my English translation following the excerpts:
Rakyat negara ini yang kecewa kerana permintaan melampau mereka tidak dipenuhi oleh kerajaan diminta berpindah ke negara lain yang mungkin dapat melayani permintaan tersebut.
Citizens of this country who are disappointed because their unreasonable (I can’t seem to find the suitable word to translate ‘melampau’) demands are not being met by the government are asked to move to other countries where there is a possibility that these demands would be met.
Sehubungan itu juga, Penasihat Majlis Permuafakatan Ummah (Pewaris), Dr Ahmad Zaki Ismail menggesa kerajaan membatalkan status warganegara mereka yang tergamak membuat tuntutan yang bertentangan dengan semangat Perlembagaan Persekutuan.
In relation to this, Dr Ahmad Zaki Ismail, the Penasihat Majlis Permuafakatan Ummah (Pewaris) urged the government to revoke the citizenship of those who dare to make demands that go against the spirit of the Federal Constitution.
Langkah tersebut katanya, mampu membantu negara untuk mencapai gagasan 1Malaysia yang dicetuskan oleh Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
This step, he said, would help the country achieve the 1Malaysia that was launched by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
This, to me, is a permintaan melampau.
Is citizenship so trivial?
Is the 1Malaysia that Pewaris envisages, one that is homogenous? One that only recognises people who have similar thoughts and opinions? One that revokes the citizenship of her people whenever they are in opposition with the government?
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One-on-One with Farish Noor
Posted: May 26, 2009 Filed under: Politics, Society 1 Comment »Hat-tip to Walski for having put this up on his blog. I’m not sure how I actually missed it on the Malaysiakini website, but it was good to read Walski’s take on it too.
The video below is an interview with Farish Noor, someone I have come to deeply respect.
This is probably one of the reasons why I’m finding history increasingly interesting.
I’m looking forward to the part(s) that will come after this.
Some suggestions for potential changes to the education system
Posted: May 22, 2009 Filed under: Society | Tags: Education 1 Comment »Syed Akbar Ali has his takes on the education system:
To me having the STPM and the HSC within the secondary school system are a waste of time. They merely serve as obstacles to prevent students from getting a place in Government universities. The degree of complexity of the subjects taught at the STPM levels might as well be thought in the 1st year at the Universities and colleges. (I have to agree. STPM was carzy difficult)
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Until today, any Malaysian student with just an SPM can gain admission into American universities.
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The bottom line is our kids have sufficient academic credentials with their SPM to enter Universities in the United States. You do not need the STPM (or the HSC).
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In India and most other countries children start school at six years of age. Here we start school at seven years of age – thus always being one year behind. (We have condemned our kids to being a year slower than other human beings).
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Lets get our kids started in Primary 1 at six years of age. Let them take the SPM at 16 years instead of 17. And use the SPM as sufficient entry requirement for diploma and degree courses in Government universities. Just scrap the STPM.
Read the full post HERE. It’s a good one.
