Have you seen him? (A missing old gentleman)

This is a message from a friend’s friend.

MISSING 寻人

NAME: TAN LEONG KONG 陈良光
AGE: 66

Mr Tan HAS been MISSING SINCE 11.00AM, 31/08/08 AT CHERAS WITH HIS CYAN-COLOURED KANCIL (CAR NO. ACY 2917).

HE IS A DIALISIS AND DIABETES PATIENT, HE NEEDS TO GO FOR DIALISIS 3 TIMES A WEEK.

PLEASE CONTACT 012-306 3211 OR 012-655 8508 IMMEDIATELY IF YOU MEET HIM.

Tribute to Joshua R. Jeyaretnam (1926-2008)

[first watched it on http://mypap.wordpress.com/2008/09/30/jeya/]

It may cost you freedom, wealth and happiness to be an outspoken opposition leader in Singapore, a much more “effective” and “efficient” electoral one-party state than Malaysia. This man however had never surrendered. He died a fighter at 82.

IHT’s obituary below:

Selamat Hari Raya to all, including RPK and all ISA detainees!

I am not sure about the taste of you, RPK and other ISA detainees. But these are some of my Raya favourites. Hope you and they will like it.

Let us not forget them. As long as there is one prisoner of conscience, this nation is not free.

There are quite a few memorandums for you to sign if you want to do something:

http://www.petitiononline.com/freetkok/petition.html （this one is titled “Free Teresa, Abolish ISA” but its content cover all detainees.)

http://www.petitiononline.com/isa1234/petition.html (Caution: this one asks for just the release of detainees, but not the repeal of ISA)

http://www.benar.org/memo.htm (this one addresses the root cause of the suppression - all draconian media laws and not only ISA. If you feel strongly against the show-cause letters to the newspapers (under the Printing Presses and Publications Act), the frequently used Sedition Act, the equally hazardous Official Secrets Act, this is the one you must support.)

What else you can do for RPK and others? Read Susan Loone.

Off-the-Edge: Divided We Stand

The October issue of the Off The Edge magazine carries an article by this blogger titled “Divided we stand: how electoral systems make ethnic politics viable”.

Some of you may be familiar with my argument there: ethnic politics persists not because people are evil or ignorant but because they are arguably rational. It is reinforced by incentives provided by the political system, the electoral system in particular.

So, while some see cultural diversity as a threat to national unity, I actually think the solution is - counter-intuitively - to have more divisions. Let us break up our water-tight ethno-religious identity rather than striving for more commonalities and uniformity.

As the magazine is not online, and to respect its copyright, I cannot and shall not publish the article here. If you are interested, grab a copy from news stand. Its main issue is on the MCA, featuring interviews of Ong Tee Keat, Chua Jui Ming, Chua Soi Lek and Fong Chan Onn.

Uncommon Sense: Let’s have fresh elections

Stalemate ((C) Magda Moiola / Dreamstime.com)

Would transition within Umno bring an end to the political stalemate since 8 March? We have not had a government since then because it was busy worrying about its own survival. And neither have we had much of an opposition, as they, too, have been constantly dreaming and plotting to be the next government.

The answer to the question, then, is no.

http://thenutgraph.com/lets-have-fresh-elections

Uncommon Sense: An Inconvenient Truth

http://thenutgraph.com/an-inconvenient-truth

MINISTER of International Trade and Industry Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin says Umno needs to reform or it, and by extension the Barisan Nasional (BN), may perish by 2013.

He is spot on, but what kind of reforms does Umno need to undertake? What has gone wrong with Umno and the BN?

For people like Muhyiddin, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and most critics of prime minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the problem is the individual in power. Change the person in charge, and the party will rejuvenate. Nothing can be changed without a change in leadership first.

This writer begs to differ.

The electoral one-party state that Umno has built and defended virtually since Independence is the disease, the leadership only its symptom.

Leave a light on for ISA detainees tonight at Merdeka Square

So, the police, as usual, stopped anti-ISA leafleting yesterday near Masjid Jamek.

Is this going to stop us?

Our Hindraf brothers and sisters are organizing a vigil at Dataran Merdeka at 7pm tonight to demand for their release.

Today is also RPK’s birthday. Shouldn’t he and fellow ISA detainees be allowed to go home and celebrate Hari Raya Aidil Fitri with their families?

Come. let’s make it clear that you are part of the Malaysia’s growing consensus that ISA must go.

Leave a light on for our friends unconstitutionally detained under ISA.

Bring your pelita bambo, your lantern, your lamp along to show that our fellow brothers under ISA are not alone. Some of us will gather at the main entrance at the Central Market and walk from there to Merdeka Square. Come join us there.

See you in Merdeka Square, for the nation is far from independent.

For more what you can do, read Haris Ibrahim.

Malaysia’s Political Oscar 2008 - the best actor goes to……

Abdullah Badawi. For his role in which movie?

Songs for RPK, Hindraf 5, Kickdefella and Other Political Prisoners!

On the very next morning after the recent ISA arrest, I called a brave but low-profile friend in the mainstream newspaper.  Depending on how wide the net was cast, we did not rule out the possibility that ourselves might join them soon. I asked my friend in the event of his detention what song he would like us to sing for him in the vigil. He thought for a while and text me his answer: “Born Free”.

Of course, he remains a free man. So is Hoon Cheng and Teresa. But many are still in there under ISA. And fellow blogger Kickdefella are now detained for investigation under the Sedition Act.

I would like to dedicate this song for RPK, Hindraf 5, Kickdefella, and all other political prisoners:

I told my friend I would get him a bonus track - and here I dedicate it too to our friends who have sacrificed their freedom for their political belief.

When I told Helen (Ang) about this conversation, she reminded me not to forget the song from The Hooters. So, here’s it for our friends in there.

May you all be free soon. You are born free. We are all born free.

The day when all political prisoners are freed and when there will be no more, we can celebrate the birth of a free nation.

If you want to end the draconian laws that police and suppress freedom of speech, sign the 2008 Memorandum for Media Freedom.

Teresa is Free! Let’s not forget RPK, Hindraf 5, Kickdefella, et. al.!

“While there is a lower class, I am in it.

While there is a criminal element, I am of it.

While there is a soul in prison, I am not free.”

—- Eugene V Debs, US Trade Unionist (1855-1926)

Due to the mounting public pressure, after Tan Hoon Cheng, Teresa Kok is now a free person.What a great news!

This is the victory of all freedom-loving Malaysians! It shows that public opinion does matter.

I hope this will not make some ISA protesters call it a day.