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| Malaysian Arrests Are a Puzzle |
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| Written by Our Correspondent | |
| Monday, 27 June 2011 | |
 They're still scared of Chin Peng
The arrest Sunday by Malaysian security forces of a Socialist Party member of parliament and 30 others for allegedly intending to wage war against the country’s Yang di-Pertuan Agong, or king, appears to be a throwback to 50 years ago when Communists still thronged the country’s jungles.
The arrest has opposition party members scratching their heads in confusion and attempting to discern what actually happened at a police checkpoint in Penang, where police said the party members had been found with subversive materials instigating an overthrow of the government.
Opposition figures said the 30 were on a campaign swing in the north of the country to seek to generate support for a bigger rally on July 9 that has police – and the ruling Barisan Nasional – much more clearly worried. Sources within the United Malays National Organization, the country’s biggest ethnic political party and the leader of the ruling Barisan Nasional, say that rally, by an organization called Bersih, or the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections, an umbrella group encompassing 64 civil-society groups, has been hijacked by Pakatan Rakyat, the three-party opposition coalition made up principally of Parti Islam se-Malaysia, the Democratic Action Party and Parti Keadilan Rakyat, headed by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.
The Bersih rally’s organizers say they are not connected to any political parties. Although the July 9 rally has been declared illegal by the police, the organizers, headed by Ambiga Sreenevasan, the former president of the Bar Council, say they plan to march through the streets of Kuala Lumpur to deliver a petition to the Agong, whom Parti Sosialis supposedly wants to overthrow.
Adding to police concerns, the Malay nationalist NGO Perkasa, led by firebrand Ibrahim Ali, and the youth division of UMNO say they will hold counter-rallies, increasing the possibility of violent confrontation. Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein has said that he wouldn’t rule out using the country’s strict Internal Security Act, which allows in effect for indefinite detention, on the organizers of the Bersih rally, but maintained that other laws will be used for now.
Indeed, the security establishment has considerable reason for concern even without the counter-rallies. A massive rally in Kuala Lumpur in November 2007 by led by Bersih brought 40,000 people to the streets in one of the biggest anti-government rallies Malaysia had seen to that point. It was a harbinger of the March, 2008 vote that cost the Barisan Nasional its two-thirds lock on Parliament and the leadership of five states.
That rally turned central Kuala Lumpur into chaos as baton-wielding riot police used water cannon and tear gas to try and thwart an attempt by tens of thousands of marchers to deliver a petition to Malaysia’s king, asking for royal intervention in delivering electoral reform.
As the current Bersih rally has become closer to reality, the government has grown more concerned, warning that any violence would be met with force.
“The Bersih marches have been hijacked by opposition parties ahead of pending national elections in a bid to cause unrest while clamoring for electoral reform despite the elections that yielded huge gains for the opposition,” said a lawyer close to Umno. “Furthermore, elements of the outlawed communist Party of Malaya have reared their ugly head with the tacit backing from the DAP and the Bar Council, which is widely seen as engaging the ruling Umno Government to dilute its Malay privileges and national identity that places Islam as its official religion. How else to explain the arrests of 30 Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) activists in Penang late Saturday, apparently under section 122 of the Penal Code which arraigns rebellion against the king?”
The Penang deputy police chief, Abdul Rahim Jaafar said police seized 28 T-shirts, eight of which bore pictures of figures such as the long-dead Argentine revolutionary figure Che Guevara, from the 30 Parti Sosialis members. As a flock of critics pointed out, the Che T-shirts can be bought all over the night markets of Kuala Lumpur and Penang.
Although the Communists were defeated in 1960, the insurgency dragged on in the northern jungles on the Thai border until 1989, almost unnoticed by the bulk of Malaysians, who had got about the business of turning their country into a capitalist, exporting powerhouse that made Communism basically irrelevant. With the insurgency over for the past 22 years, the Communist Party remains outlawed and the party’s elderly longtime leader, Chin Peng, remains outside the country despite a plea to be allowed to come back so that he could die with his family.
Opposition figures including the DAP’s Lim Kit Siang ridiculed the arrests, saying on his blog that they were more an indication over the government’s “fret and fever” over the planned July 9 march that “has driven elements of our security establishment nuts.”
“The arrest and remand for seven days of 30 individuals (including two juveniles in their teens), apparently for having in their possession certain paraphernalia including T-shirts with images of former communist leaders, for waging war against the King is a reflection of such a clampdown,” he told the news website Malaysian Insider.
“By analogy, if one were to be at home wearing a Che Guevara (the Marxist revolutionary) T-shirt listening to a song attacking the institution of royalty by either The Smiths or The Sex Pistols, one faces a very real likelihood of being investigated for waging war against the King. This surely cannot be.”
“The Communist Party is an outlawed political organisation. It is unlawful to display and promote communist elements,” Abdul Rahim, the police official, told reporters. Among other things, he said, some of the Ts-shirts bore the emblem of what looked like the Barisan Nasional logo being cut with a pair of scissors, and the words Anti-Capitalism and Udahlah tu.. Bersaralah (That's enough, retire).
Other items confiscated included copies of the Sosialis Party organ in various languages along with 600 pamphlets advertising the Bersih rally. Some, Abdul Rahim said, contained “seditious content.”
Most of those arrested have been ordered held for seven days.
Comments (21)
  written by RYU, June 27, 2011
THE WHOLE WORLD WILL BE LAUGHING AT US ESPECIALLY THE POLICE. WHAT A NONSENSE.IF WE DONT DO WHAT IS RIGHT FOR OUR FUTURE FOR THE NEXT GE SOON WILL BE DICTATOR COUNTRY.
 written by lanun baru, June 27, 2011
The BN, esp. UMNO is facing defeat. It has lost the faith of the people. And it does not know how to regain that faith. Instead it is resorting to threats of violence and abuse of the laws of detention. The future is bleak for UMNO and its cronies. They only have themselves to blame. The BN does not realise that they have to run a plural society, not a Malay/Islamic one. On that primary principle, they have completely lost it. The Malays now have money in their pockets, own fancy cars and big houses, own plenty of shares in the stock exchange and occupy high positions in many companies. If there is a a riot, all these would be lost. Many would have their houses burnt, cars burnt, their money would be devalued, the stock market would collapse and worst of all, they might even lose their lives. Who would want to lose all these? In 1969 the Malays would. But now, they are the wealthy class. No one wants to lose their material wealth. Hence the Malays would not riot again. This is an indication that they have lost the clout that they had in 1969. Now it would be best if they realise what makes the country tick. They must realise that the non Malays are here for good and the Malays had better stop all their "ketuanan melayu, ketuanan islam" nonsense. One more thing, the UMNO big shot who will call out the Malays to riot, will, this time be hauled up before the UN for crimes against humanity. This I assure you will be done. Watch out Ibrahim Ali!
written by Orang lama, June 27, 2011
It would appear that the Malaysian government after years of trying to hide their deceit regarding Chin Peng, is now facing the music. It is still worried about Chin Peng - no doubt about that. Years of propanda cannot hide the fact that the Malaysian Armed Forces could not defect Chin Peng. In fact they had to sign a peace treaty with the CPM in haste because the CPM was already signing one with the Southern Thai Command, which incidently was receiving bloody noses all the time. The Malaysian Army was and is no match for the CPM. The deceit of the Government is there for all to read(in the historical records). Resurrecting Chin Peng is a bad mistake. Those days are over. Now is history is in the making. The BN will soon be history and with that many heads will roll. Dr M's head will be the first to go. This is the man behing all this "ketuanan' idea. This man is filth. Under him, the Malays have lost their moral ballast, not to mention thier self reliance, enterprise and intellect. Hopefully the time has come for the Malays to realise this and relegate Dr M to the dustbin where he belongs.
 written by Samy, June 27, 2011
The UN Agency for Genocide and the former US Ambassador to Malaysia, J Mallot, would be able to pin the Perkasa chieftian down for inciting ethnic and racial violence against the country's peace-loving minorities non-Muslims. In any eventualities, the UN together with all non-apartheid countries shd apprehend him and hang him like what Saddam did to the Kurds. This is not the 60s! We are living in the 21st century where CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITIES MUST BE PAID FOR.
This frog-faced Ibrahim Ali of Indonesian descent beleives he's the aborigine of Malaya. The bloody fool can't see the Red Indian Orang Asli of Malaya crying out loud for help because they have been sidelined and discriminated by the UMNOputras..
 written by BABZ , June 27, 2011
My friends,
The title of this brilliantly wrirtten article, in a top rated publication like the Asian Sentinel, is by itself the puzzle to me. Dont the learned gentlemen (and ladies) manning the desks of Asia Sentinal, know that Malaysia is a land of sudden sinkholes. It shifts like the sands of the desert, and creates dunes where you least expect it. The only thing that's remained constant is the suffering of millions of a group of people for the past 44 years.The current number of victims stands today at 250,000. Tag 3 dependants per person, and you have 1 million ravaged people in dire need of compassion in governance. Sadly with the snake - eat - snake politics here, no one seems to give a damn. The opposition is as callous as the governance of the land - dont be deceived. We need a thousand Nicole Seah clones if anyone is to be saved. THIS IS A GRASPING, GREEDY SOCIETY WHERE THE LORD GOD seems to MATTERS LESS THAN LORD RINGGIT. Visit http://www.roguesmalaysia.blogspot.com/ and know who she is, and why we need her and her kind here in Malaysia today.
 written by easynow, June 27, 2011
To the people who have commented and are going to comment; dont vent your anger towards the malays. umno and perkasa is not a true representation of the malay race. it is just a political party with the word 'malay' in it. venting your anger and insult towards the malays just makes you a racist like the people you are critisizing. Emotions are unstandably high but criticism can become a racist one if you are not careful and objective. Dont stoop that low. In critisizing people you think are racist, do not be a racist yourself. umno is a political party. Umno and perkasa do not represent generally what many malays believe in these days. the proof is the last general election. no change will happen without malay support because malays make up 60% of the country's population. and the majority of malays are still the poorest. the rich malays you are talking about are the super rich and ones with connections, thats all, a small proportion out of the 18 million ordinary malays out there most of whom are working class! Bersih rally is good as it is trying to promote fair elections.
 written by Utusan Maksiat, June 28, 2011
ummNO Sex, Lies and VCDs plot failed... so now back to roast Christians and Communists etc etc etc!!!
To HELL with UMNO.
 written by Boon, June 28, 2011
Basically this whole sage is ridiculous its about free and fair elections.
If UMNO could win without their dirty hand tactic like vote buying, using the deceased vote, army postal votes, etc. I am sure we will have nothing to march about July 9th. Till then people aren't going to be forever ignorant to stealing, lying, and cheating of the ruling party.
 written by William Wang, June 28, 2011
Cant imagine that the gomen & our security force still resort to the 1950s & 60s tactics, to brand any opposition as communist. Please lah, wake up, the world had changed, we are increasing our economic cooperation & trading with communist(socialist?) countries. People from these countries can just walk into our country. If such is the only reason for the arrest, these dimwits should consider retiring. Wonder, if it is legal buy any of their communist items. Our leaders just cannot seem to think straight when panic. Can they really protect the malaysians?
 written by Crosby, June 28, 2011 The idiocy of this administration is beyond comprehension. On a descending scale of 1 to 10, its leaders' ability will probably be at level 8 or 9. The country is in a dysfunctional state with irrational and flipflop decisions the order of the day. Investor confidence will drop to a new low if they use the evil detention-without-trial law on political opponents again.
 written by Muthu, June 28, 2011
The pseduo Malay, lustful Mamak (Indian Muslim) Tamby Chik would not even spare a child. She was only a small little girl and he abused her sexually as Chief Minister.
written by Orang lama, June 29, 2011
While we like to believe that only UMNO Malays are like the scum we all love to hate, yet the high percentage of "very quiet" Malays sitting on the fence is nothing we can trust. These "moderates" are playing both sides of the game. If the ultras win, these moderates will also benefit. If the ultras lose, then the moderates will shift sides. You can see plenty of them. They pretend to be forward looking and moderate but inside they are rooting for Ibrahim Ali. Deep down,the Malays cannot change their spots. The NEP after 55 years have brainwashed them. Probably only 5-10% of Malays can really be called moderates.
 written by Luis Estrada, June 29, 2011
The Malaysian police force has become a joke. Worse, it has become the storm troopers of the Najib regime. The regime is bankrupt of ideas and thoroughly corrupted and to use the Communists as bogeyman only goes to show how silly the government goons can be. If communists are not allowed in Malaysia why go a-begging in Beijing for business with the Communist Party of the People's Republic of China? That's what Muhyideen, the Deputy PM did recently, not to mention many other trips made by the lackeys in the BN/Umno coalition. And they have Chinese corporations playing in the Malaysian stock market as well.
This Najib regime is a complete joke. It's acting like a bunch of thugs or like a Mafia organisation raking in billions under the nose of the people. As it is, this regime is showing streaks of totalitarian tendency and for that, it will eventually become a train wreck.
written by Samy, June 30, 2011
You simply can't challenge this guy. He's so thorough and analytical. Those three Mamaks (Indian Muslims) can't even do a job let alone a perfect one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TLJAFng9W0&feature=youtu.be
 written by Jonathan Keung, June 30, 2011
our police must realized that with the advancement of the net whatever actions is spot on and posted on the net. the whole world is watching.police must be fair to the people.any arbitary action make them look silly.whatever excuses they make will make them looks dumb. please use your brain instead of just following orders blindly.
 written by Bang, July 02, 2011
It is not a puzzle. Umno is at the end of the road. There is a Chinese saying 'The trees and the grass are all enemies'.A desperate measure. Just like the GI towards the end of Vietnam War,they will shoot anything that moves.
 written by Bomoh, July 04, 2011
What about the NGO's rally ? Is it not illegal as well?
Why are the Hypocritical Malaysian Police only targeting BIRSIH rally? Until the Corrupt BN Malaysian government comes clean then only can we trust this coming election in Malaysia. It looks like BN is very afraid (CHICKEN) and will do anything to supress the opposition..The whole world knows that the current BN govt is corrupt.
 written by Perry Mason, July 05, 2011
Who is Ambiga?
A year ago she was a little known non performer in the Malaysian Bar council. She did nothing for community or society.She was just a rabblerouser. There are 5000 reports in the Bar Council against crooked lawyers. The number grew when she was President. A lawyer who swindled me, laughed at me when I threatened him with a Bar council report. He said"by the time they come to me. I would have got out of the game" I read the comments by Babz.- (scroll up the comments section) Read the link - http://www.roguesmalaysia.blogspot.com/ I did. It made me sick and ashamed that my country is governed this way. Real leaders care for fellow humans. Ambiga, Do you? Why are we allowing ourselves to be used by her?
 written by Chegu Arvin, July 05, 2011
Well said Perry Mason.
Would Ambiga like to show what she has actually done for the community? Is she another Uthaya Kumar and brother who collected 960 thousand (that we know of) on the pretex of the Hindra movement , then lived it up in Uk while pretending to seek asylum? They made a fool of the Indians and potrayed then as hooligans to the world. If the elections were rigged, how did Barisan lose 5 states to the opposition and how did Barisan lose its two third majority? Wake up Malaysians, Ambiga is a publicity hungry , political wanna- be serpent and she has chosen the Mid Eastern style of mayhem to further her agenda. She is a dangerous hypocrite who is using a respected elderly laurette as her puppet.
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Quote "Some, Abdul Rahim said, contained “seditious content.”
Nothing could be more seditious than the Ibrahim toad calling for jihad against the Malaysian Christians and his warning to ethnic Chinese to stock up on food. And what have you done on this? Abdul Rahim????
A bully like you will be the first to run when the going goes against you. We have have the last laugh!