PP3739/12/2005 ISSN 0127 - 5127 / RM4.00 / 2005:Vol.25No.9 Aliran Monthly : Vol.25(9) Page 1 COVER STORY Standing up for freedom and justice Let history record that we at this time and place did our little bit for the cause by P Ramakrishnan LLLLL et me first of all thank In our entire 28 all of you for your pres- years of exist- ence. We are very hon- ence, this was oured that you have the first occa- chosen to sacrifice your Sunday sion when so afternoon to be with us and to much space was be part of this function. There are given to high- many amongst you who have light and ac- given exemplary assistance to k n o w l e d g e make this occasion a great suc- Aliran’s contri- cess. We are truly grateful to bution and its each and every one of you. role in Malaysian soci- We are also very grateful to the many generous donors and sup- porters who have kept faith with us and continue to be a source of support and inspiration in this long and arduous journey. We are equally grateful to Com- edy Court for performing gratis. Allan (Perera) and Indi (Nadarajah) have that rare gift to see the funny side of politics. You see their commentary, you think politics is fun and you laugh. But when you read our commentary, you conclude that politics is terri- ble and you want to cry. The good fight I also wish to pay tribute to theSun newspaper for the fantastic cov- erage they gave Aliran yesterday. Aliran Monthly : Vol.25(9) Page 2 EDITOR'S NOTE This month’s issue focuses on Aliran Monthly’s 25- C O N T E N T S year struggle to promote justice and freedom. P Ramakrishnan traces how the Monthly has evolved over the years and some of the challenges it encoun- tered along the way. CCCCCOOOOOVVVVVEEEEERRRRR SSSSSTTTTTOOOOORRRRRYYYYY ••••• SSSSStttttaaaaannnnndddddiiiiinnnnnggggg UUUUUppppp FFFFFooooorrrrr FFFFFrrrrreeeeeeeeeedddddooooommmmm The theme for the 25th anniversary celebration was AAAAAnnnnnddddd JJJJJuuuuussssstttttiiiiiccccceeeee 22222 “Creating free spaces and alternative ideas”. ••••• CCCCCrrrrreeeeeaaaaatttttiiiiinnnnnggggg FFFFFrrrrreeeeeeeeee SSSSSpppppaaaaaccccceeeeesssss AAAAAnnnnnddddd Mustafa K Anuar and Anil Netto recall the history AAAAAlllllttttteeeeerrrrrnnnnnaaaaatttttiiiiivvvvveeeee IIIIIdddddeeeeeaaaaasssss 88888 of the struggle for free spaces in Malaysia. Found- ••••• AAAAAdddddvvvvvooooocccccaaaaatttttiiiiinnnnnggggg FFFFFrrrrreeeeeeeeeedddddooooommmmm,,,,, JJJJJuuuuussssstttttiiiiiccccceeeee ing member Subramaniam Pillay, meanwhile, traces how Aliran and the Monthly have evolved into in- AAAAAnnnnnddddd AAAAAccccccccccooooouuuuunnnnntttttaaaaabbbbbiiiiillllliiiiitttttyyyyy 11111 11111 stitutions that advocate freedom, justice and account- ••••• AAAAA LLLLLooooonnnnnggggg AAAAAnnnnnddddd WWWWWiiiiinnnnndddddiiiiinnnnnggggg RRRRRoooooaaaaaddddd 1111199999 ability. ••••• TTTTThhhhhaaaaannnnnkkkkksssss FFFFFooooorrrrr SSSSShhhhhaaaaarrrrriiiiinnnnnggggg TTTTThhhhhiiiiisssss JJJJJooooouuuuurrrrrnnnnneeeeeyyyyy WWWWWiiiiittttthhhhh UUUUUsssss 2222222222 In our centre pages, Anil Netto describes an evening to remember at the High Tea celebration in Kuala FFFFFEEEEEAAAAATTTTTUUUUURRRRREEEEESSSSS Lumpur to mark the occasion. ••••• CCCCCaaaaammmmmpppppuuuuusssss PPPPPooooollllllllllsssss BBBBBoooooyyyyycccccoooootttttttttt 11111 22222 Over on the back cover, Clive Kessler writes on the ••••• SSSSShhhhhaaaaarrrrriiiiinnnnnggggg RRRRRooooollllleeeeesssss AAAAAnnnnnddddd RRRRReeeeessssspppppooooonnnnnsssssiiiiibbbbbiiiiillllliiiiitttttiiiiieeeeesssss 1111144444 struggle between “gentle” and “ungentle” Islam ••••• SSSSSeeeeepppppaaaaarrrrraaaaatttttiiiiiooooonnnnn OOOOOfffff PPPPPooooowwwwweeeeerrrrrsssss UUUUUnnnnndddddeeeeerrrrr TTTTThhhhhrrrrreeeeeaaaaattttt 2222233333 within Malaysia, which may have more than local ••••• AAAAA DDDDDiiiiisssssaaaaappppppppppoooooiiiiinnnnntttttiiiiinnnnnggggg BBBBBuuuuudddddgggggeeeeettttt 2222244444 significance. Faith itself, or rather the government’s ••••• SSSSSiiiiillllleeeeennnnnccccceeeee OOOOOfffff WWWWWrrrrriiiiittttteeeeerrrrrsssss 3333333333 vacillating management of it, is now arguably on ••••• RRRRRooooosssssaaaaa PPPPPaaaaarrrrrkkkkksssss 3333355555 trial, he says. ••••• IIIIIssssslllllaaaaammmmm,,,,, TTTTThhhhheeeee SSSSStttttaaaaattttteeeee &&&&& FFFFFrrrrreeeeeeeeeedddddooooommmmm OOOOOfffff RRRRReeeeellllliiiiigggggiiiiiooooonnnnn iiiiinnnnn MMMMMaaaaalllllaaaaayyyyysssssiiiiiaaaaa 4444400000 A Sivarajan analyses the latest Budget and expresses disappointment with the government pro-business RRRRREEEEEGGGGGUUUUULLLLLAAAAARRRRRSSSSS policies that appear to favour mainly the capital- ists. Prema Devaraj, in a piece examining how the ••••• LLLLLeeeeetttttttttteeeeerrrrrsssss 2222277777 issue of gender is treated in textbooks, says it's ••••• CCCCCuuuuurrrrrrrrrreeeeennnnnttttt CCCCCooooonnnnnccccceeeeerrrrrnnnnnsssss 3333300000 hightime the government's national and interna- tional commitments on gender equality are reflected OOOOOTTTTTHHHHHEEEEERRRRRSSSSS in classrooms. We also highlight the quest for cam- ••••• SSSSSuuuuubbbbbssssscccccrrrrriiiiippppptttttiiiiiooooonnnnn FFFFFooooorrrrrmmmmm 1111188888 pus democracy in Malaysia and the students’ boy- cott of recent campus elections, which were widely seen as unfair. Finally, we carry pieces paying tribute to Harold Pinter, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature and PPPPPuuuuubbbbbllllliiiiissssshhhhheeeeeddddd bbbbbyyyyy Rosa Parks, the Mother of the US civil rights move- AAAAAllllliiiiirrrrraaaaannnnn KKKKKeeeeessssseeeeedddddaaaaarrrrraaaaannnnn NNNNNeeeeegggggaaaaarrrrraaaaa (((((AAAAALLLLLIIIIIRRRRRAAAAANNNNN))))) ment, who passed away recently at the age of 92. 111110000033333,,,,, MMMMMeeeeedddddaaaaannnnn PPPPPeeeeennnnnaaaaagggggaaaaa,,,,, 1111111111666660000000000 JJJJJeeeeellllluuuuutttttooooonnnnnggggg,,,,, AAAAALLLLLIIIIIRRRRRAAAAANNNNN iiiiisssss aaaaa RRRRReeeeefffffooooorrrrrmmmmm MMMMMooooovvvvveeeeemmmmmeeeeennnnnttttt dddddeeeeedddddiiiiicccccaaaaattttteeeeeddddd tttttooooo PPPPPeeeeennnnnaaaaannnnnggggg,,,,, MMMMMaaaaalllllaaaaayyyyysssssiiiiiaaaaa..... JJJJJuuuuussssstttttiiiiiccccceeeee,,,,, FFFFFrrrrreeeeeeeeeedddddooooommmmm &&&&& SSSSSooooollllliiiiidddddaaaaarrrrriiiiitttttyyyyy aaaaannnnnddddd llllliiiiisssssttttteeeeeddddd ooooonnnnn ttttthhhhheeeee TTTTTeeeeelllll ::::: (((((0000044444))))) 666665555588888 55555222225555511111 FFFFFaaaaaxxxxx ::::: (((((0000044444))))) 666665555588888 55555111119999977777 rrrrrooooosssssttttteeeeerrrrr ooooofffff ttttthhhhheeeee EEEEEcccccooooonnnnnooooommmmmiiiiiccccc aaaaannnnnddddd SSSSSoooooccccciiiiiaaaaalllll CCCCCooooouuuuunnnnnccccciiiiilllll ooooofffff ttttthhhhheeeee UUUUUnnnnniiiiittttteeeeeddddd NNNNNaaaaatttttiiiiiooooonnnnnsssss..... FFFFFooooouuuuunnnnndddddeeeeeddddd iiiiinnnnn 11111999997777777777,,,,, AAAAAllllliiiiirrrrraaaaannnnn wwwwweeeeelllllcccccooooommmmmeeeeesssss HHHHHooooommmmmeeeeepppppaaaaagggggeeeee ::::: hhhhhttttttttttppppp::::://////////wwwwwwwwwwwwwww.....aaaaallllliiiiirrrrraaaaannnnn.....cccccooooommmmm aaaaallllllllll MMMMMaaaaalllllaaaaayyyyysssssiiiiiaaaaannnnnsssss aaaaabbbbbooooovvvvveeeee 2222211111 tttttooooo bbbbbeeeee mmmmmeeeeemmmmmbbbbbeeeeerrrrrsssss..... CCCCCooooonnnnntttttaaaaacccccttttt ttttthhhhheeeee HHHHHooooonnnnn..... SSSSSeeeeecccccrrrrreeeeetttttaaaaarrrrryyyyy ooooorrrrr vvvvviiiiisssssiiiiittttt ooooouuuuurrrrr wwwwweeeeebbbbbpppppaaaaagggggeeeee..... Printed by Percetakan Tujuh Lapan Enam Sdn. Bhd. No. 16, Lengkangan Brunei, 55100 Pudu, Kuala Lumpur. Aliran Monthly : Vol.25(9) Page 3 ety. We are the only organisation and bureaucratic nuisance, we don’t change. to be accorded this rare honour have never failed the Malaysian and recognition. public. Aliran Monthly may not But the fact was sometime in Oc- be on time but we have come out tober 1980, we received a letter For a long time, we have not been regularly without fail. Every is- from the Home Affairs Ministry quoted or reported by the main- sue of Aliran Monthly is a labour asking us why we had not for- stream media. We were totally ig- of love. It is like delivering a warded copies of our publication nored and completely shut out. baby. At times it is difficult and as required by law. It was then We were given the cold shoulder even painful but this is nothing that we found out that we had a as if our views were of no conse- compared to the joy when the permit to print. Since the year was quence and we did not matter. Monthly is delivered! ending, and as we hardly had time to put together a magazine, we Many wondered whether we were You would have noticed that we came out with this four-pager. around; others suspected that we have never found it necessary to had been closed down; and yet brandish a keris to drive home a Then the following year they did others concluded that we were si- fact; neither has it been necessary not give us a permit. Don’t ask me lenced through intimidation. to open our mouths like a hippo- why. It is the privilege of power. It potamus in order to be heard! is their right to be arrogant! It was so bad that it looked as if there was a deliberate attempt to A publication is born From Quarterly to remove Aliran from the memory Monthly of this nation. The programme that you have with you carries 25 covers to sym- * Then we ap- Under the circumstance, we are bolise the 25 years of Aliran plied for a per- extremely grateful to theSun. It took Monthly. Each and every cover has mit to publish a a great deal of courage to break a story to tell. And every story has Quarterly. The out of this mould and do what you an episode to recall. But I don’t cover seen here is did. In doing so, you stand out as propose to tell all the stories. It will from the first is- a newspaper that can and will take us into the morning. We just sue. It conveyed uphold the highest standard of can’t afford to do that. You haven’t a very valid and ethical journalism, that is, to re- paid for your breakfast. legitimate message: Criticism is port the truth and to be fair in your not a crime. Indeed it is our patri- reporting. In our 25 years of publication we otic duty to criticise whenever it have produced more than 250 is necessary to do so. I salute you. cover stories. And we have cov- ered almost every subject that is * We produced Friends, I stand before you with a of grave concern to all of us. the Quartely for profound sense of gratitude. You two years. They are the caring, feeling and think- * The first cover c o n t a i n e d ing Malaysians. You represent was white and lengthy, analyti- the best in our society. In a sense, the masthead cal articles. But your presence today is a micro- was very differ- then, to wait for representation of the conscience ent. It was a four- the next Quar- of this country. It is people like page tabloid. It terly took three months. It was far you who motivate us, nourish our was a very too long. We felt that we should spirit and strengthen our resolve rushed job. We communicate with the public to carry on with this good fight. didn’t know that we had been more frequently. So we applied for given a permit. Probably it got lost a Monthly and we were given a For 25 years we have carried on in the post and never reached us. permit for 1984. The first copy of this good fight through Aliran Not that the postal service is any the Aliran Monthly was published Montly. In spite of the obstacles better today! Some things just at the height of the BMF scandal. Aliran Monthly : Vol.25(9) Page 4 Of course we had a lot to write! government. This coalition had All this while the advantages of the government the masthead We were selling the Quarterly and machinery and state resources to was static. We Aliran Monthly - you wouldn’t be- clobber UMNO. couldn’t feature lieve this but yes, just for a ringgit our pictures full a copy. And to our credit - or oth- So the constitution was page on the en- erwise - we maintained this price amended to prevent a by-elec- tire cover. And for 10 long years. Each time when tion and serve UMNO’s interest. so, we opted for there was a need to raise the price, The amendments took care of a new masthead which could be there would be a great tug of war two problems for UMNO Baru: moved around and pasted on top among the exco members: To raise Mustapha need not resign and of the pictures on the cover. This or not to raise? There would be there would be no by-elections. was in 1995. vigrous debates. Reluctantly we Not only that, in future there raised the price in 1992 by a mere would be no by-election if a va- A bombshell 50 sen! Then the cost of printing cancy is caused either by death is dropped went up in the middle of 1994, and or resignation of an elected rep- after a lot of soul searching we in- resentative within two years be- * The cover fea- creased the price by another 50 fore the next general election turing Rahim sen. was scheduled. Tamby Chik was not meant You would realise that we are no This wasn’t the only amendment to be the cover prudent businessmen! No won- during the long tenure of story. This was a der we are in dire straits finan- Mahathir. The numerous amend- last minute cially! ments during his time mutilated switch to replace the constitution. Yet this was the a planned cover story. What we A touch of gloss man who criticised the Tunku, had wanted to carry was an im- our beloved Bapa Malaysia, in the portant issue involving Al Arqam, * In 1993 we de- following words: “The manner, which had just been banned. We cided to use frequency and the trivial reasons had 16 pages of material on this glossy art paper for altering the Constitution re- subject matter. The artwork was for the cover and duced this supreme law of the done and the films were made and the middle nation to a useless scrap of pa- sent to Kuala Lumpur for print- pages. This issue per.” ing. At that time the Monthly was focused on the printed in KL. Constitutional We wonder what it is worth now! Amendments. We didn’t mean to That weekend I was in Frasers Adding colour gloss over this important issue. Hill taking a break. Even during to the struggle breaks, Aliran is not far away from At that time Mahathir wanted to most of us. After breakfast that appoint Tun Mustapha as Federal * Then towards Sunday morning, I rang the Minister but he overlooked the the end of 1993 printer to ask when the Monthly constitutional provision requiring we went full col- would be ready. Mustapha to resign from the our for the first Sabah State Assembly. This time. It coin- I had the shock of my life when he would have entailed a by-election. cided with the said that he wasn’t going to print UMNO Baru was on a very weak Highland Tow- the Monthly any more. wicket in Sabah. A by-election at ers tragedy. This this time therefore could have had issue featured this sad occasion I asked him why. disastrous consequences for very vividly and the title – UMNO Baru because of the for- Malaysians Mourn - spoke on be- And he replied that he took the mation of a PBS-USNO coalition half of all Malaysians. entire artwork to the Special Aliran Monthly : Vol.25(9) Page 5 Branch to get clearance. It ap- the UNMO Baru ceipts. What happened? Nothing! peared that they told him, “If you Constitution to want to print go ahead. If you get allow for disci- There must be a political will to into trouble, it is up to you.” The plinary action to act. Very often what we get is lip poor guy got the message. It was be taken against service time to stop dealing with Aliran. members who This was just before he 1995 gen- indulged in vote A young Rafidah eral election. buying during embroiled in party elections. Mahathir speak- controversy I told him that it was not fair to ing about the amendments made leave us in the lurch at the last it sound as if he had found a cure * While on the moment. I told him that we would to get rid of this disease at long same topic of cor- remove the 16 pages on Al Arqam last. ruption, let me and substitute other articles. I refer to the pic- Some things pleaded with him to print this par- ture next to ticular issue so that this could give never change Money Politics. us some time to scout around for Yes, that’s the another printer. Finally he agreed. But money politics has been with pretty face of a us for a long time. For some rea- young Rafidah Aziz who is now That’s how Rahim hit the cover of son, money politics during elec- on the run! this issue. Incidentally, we had tions seems okay. Perhaps it is reproduced an article from because when the voters are The issue of ‘Gravy Train of Share Asiaweek focusing on the flamboy- bribed in order to remain as a rul- Allocations’ may shock you if you ant Chief Minister of Malacca in ing party, it seems it is not corrup- were to read it now. If you thought the previous issue of the Monthly. tion. But when delegates are that awarding 16,000 APs to a sin- Titled “Riches, Romance and bribed to dislodge others from gle person is mind boggling and Rahim”, the article touched on the their position then it becomes unjustified, you are right. disturbing allegations hounding haram. In this party situation, the Chief Minister, including al- one’s chances of being elected are We agree entirely with Mahathir legations of womanising and ac- threatened and therefore a lot of when he asked,”…why was such cumulating excessive wealth. noise is made about money poli- a huge number of APs given to tics. But all that noise about money two persons and those two per- The Chief Minister’s Press Secre- politics is really to safeguard self- sons passed them to others. I tary, Khairuddin Hassan, ish interests and nothing more. would imagine they must have promptly wrote to us, dismissing made a lot of money. How much the accusations as baseless. Well, Rules, of course, do not get rid of income tax did they pay?” it looks like Rahim is indeed “Rug- corruption. Rules and regulations ged, Robust and Resilient”. He is by themselves are of no effect in But did Mahathir raise the same now back in the UMNO Supreme the absence of moral outrage for questions when other shocking Council! money politics. Amending the figures were released when he UMNO Baru Constitution or leg- was the Prime Minister? What are * After a long search we found a islating new laws will not curb these figures and who are the re- printer in Penang who agreed to money politics. There must be a cipients? Take a deep breath. And print. The cover story “Time To revulsion for it. It must be seen and if you have a weak heart, close Speak Out” was the issue pro- perceived as something wrong your ears. duced immediately after the and unethical. Rahim issue. The recipients and the figures are: Tun Mustapha alleged then that * In 1994, money politics became money in Sabah dropped like Mahathir’s son received 1.5 mil- a big issue. It was so rampant that leaves from the tree and he fur- lion shares; Anwar’s brother re- amendments were introduced to nished proof in the form of re- ceived 1.5 million shares; Hamid Aliran Monthly : Vol.25(9) Page 6 Omar’s son received 5.2 million shares; Rafidah’s son-in-law re- ceived a total of 5.7 million shares in two companies; Megad Junid’s son received a whopping 14.8 million shares. Yes, these are stag- gering figures! We raised the following questions with regard to these allocations: • Why are shares allocated to well-off relatives of leaders of government? • If the whole scheme was intro- pealing to generous people like many challenges confronting us duced to help underprivileged you. If you can help us to keep the boldly and honestly, history will bumiputras, why has it turned flame of freedom burning brightly judge us very harshly. Let history out that it only benefits the rich by persuading your friends to record that we at this time and bumiputra more? subscribe to the Monthly or by tak- place did our little bit for the cause ing on a gift subscription for them, of freedom. q • There is no reason why rich that will help greatly. If you can bumiputras should become help to expand the readership, richer from schemes meant to then the next time we organise a TTTTThhhhhiiiiisssss iiiiisssss ttttthhhhheeeee ttttteeeeexxxxxttttt ooooofffff aaaaa help the poor. dinner we will not charge you ex- ssssspppppeeeeeeeeeeccccchhhhh ttttthhhhhaaaaattttt wwwwwaaaaasssss dddddeeeeellllliiiiivvvvv----- orbitantly! We will organise the eeeeerrrrreeeeeddddd ddddduuuuurrrrriiiiinnnnnggggg ttttthhhhheeeee hhhhhiiiiiggggghhhhh ttttteeeeeaaaaa Eleven years dinner as a social function and ooooonnnnn 2222255555 SSSSSeeeeepppppttttteeeeemmmmmbbbbbeeeeerrrrr 22222000000000055555 aaaaattttt later, we are still charge you reasonably and tell ttttthhhhheeeee NNNNNUUUUUPPPPPWWWWW hhhhhaaaaallllllllll iiiiinnnnn KKKKKuuuuuaaaaalllllaaaaa asking the same you more stories! LLLLLuuuuummmmmpppppuuuuurrrrr tttttooooo ccccceeeeellllleeeeebbbbbrrrrraaaaattttteeeee ttttthhhhheeeee questions. You 2222255555ttttthhhhh aaaaannnnnnnnnniiiiivvvvveeeeerrrrrsssssaaaaarrrrryyyyy ooooofffff must read the Finally, my friends, if we don’t AAAAAllllliiiiirrrrraaaaannnnn MMMMMooooonnnnnttttthhhhhlllllyyyyy..... latest Aliran stand up for freedom, democracy, Monthly - Whose human rights and all that we cher- Nation? Whose ish dearly, if we don’t face the Agenda? - to realise the rot that has entrenched itself. You decide Well friends, these are some of the issue and challenges that con- front us. We have survived thus far. Will we be around for the next 25 years? You will have to decide our fate. As long as Aliran Monthly is saleable to sustain our work, you can count on us to keep fight- ing. Since our sales have dropped, we are obliged to seek funds by ap- Aliran Monthly : Vol.25(9) Page 7 COVER STORY Creating free spaces and alternative ideas Each time the state narrows the space for freedom of the media, activists have bounced back with creative ways to get their message across by Mustafa Kamal Anuar and Anil Netto WWWWW e are here to talk to about the struggle to create free spaces for alternative ideas to thrive. As you know, some societies consider themselves to be democratic be- cause they have elections every five years. But democracy is much, much more than this - it also means a society where debate and dissent is encouraged and flour- ishes. A democratic society is one where everybody can express critical thoughts without fear. For such freedom of expression to repressed groups and mar- that is free from superpower he- thrive, the media have to be freed ginalised communities can ex- gemony, one that promotes social not only from the shackles of state press themselves and make their justice, safeguards the environ- control and self-censorship. They voices heard. Such groups include ment and narrows income in- must also be freed from the tenta- women, workers and rural farm- equalities. These free spaces will cles of corporate interests and their ers, ethnic minorities, the lower also allow the voices of little peo- stifling agenda. The real test for classes, migrant workers, refu- ple to be heard instead of always any democratic society is the ex- gees, detainees, critics and univer- being suffocated by the stifling tent to which there is room and sity/college students. In the proc- agenda of Big Business and space for alternative ideas to flour- ess of articulating their views, Power. It will also facilitate the ish, for a diversity of views to be these groups will empower and emergence of a society based on aired in the public sphere. liberate themselves from the universal values common to all shackles of oppression. our spiritual traditions - values Empowering such as justice, freedom, respect oppressed groups Free spaces are also necessary to for human rights... present alternative interpretations Charter 2000-Aliran has been try- of development trends. We need In Malaysia, unfortunately, the ing to raise awareness of the need the space to fashion an alterna- free spaces we have are so limited, for free spaces so that minorities, tive model of development - one it is difficult for alternative ideas Aliran Monthly : Vol.25(9) Page 8 to be heard. The campaign for cal websites in the country. greater media freedom is a long- term struggle to create such Aliran and other civil society spaces. Over the years, many have groups launched their websites tried to expand the space for al- from 1997 onwards. ternative views against formida- Malaysiakini.com, the country’s ble odds. But each attempt to ex- first Internet newspaper, was pand the space for alternative born in late 1999. These websites views was followed by crushing provided even more space for al- sledgehammer blows against ternative views and independent press freedom. Nonetheless, me- news to be disseminated to a dia freedom activists and civil so- larger audience. ciety groups refused to surrender More blows - and in their struggle to create alterna- tive spaces. press freedom Said Zahari groups are born Flashback to 1961: the journey begins sumer rights issues. And then But then, more blows for media Aliran Monthly emerged as a bea- freedom followed: a crackdown of Let us take you back in time to con for reforms and democratic the Malay press in 2000 after the some of the milestones in the change. This heralded a new cli- reformasi-inspired opposition in- struggle to create alternative mate of relatively freer media and roads in the 1999 general election. spaces. We begin in 1961, the year we saw this when The Star began For instance, Harakah had its fre- when Utusan Melayu editor Said displaying a more independent quency slashed from twice a week Zahari and his colleagues coura- voice in the 1980s. to twice a month, while other pub- geously went on strike to oppose lications had their permits termi- the takeover of Utusan Melayu by But by 1987, darkness descended nated. UMNO. Though they did not suc- again. The Star and two other ma- ceed in stopping the takeover of jor newspapers were suspended The year 2000, however, was also Utusan, they did plant the seeds during Operation Lalang. Indeed, the year Aliran launched Charter of the struggle for media freedom Malaysia under the Mahathir ad- 2000 with the primary objective of in Malaysia. ministration bore witness to a se- pushing for media reform in the ries of new laws and amendments country. This initiative has re- In the early 1970s, the New Straits that restricted press freedom. For ceived substantial backing and Times (M) Press group came un- example, the Printing Presses and endorsements from civil society der the ownership of a company Publications Act and the Official groups who care for media free- that was associated with UMNO. Secrets Act were further amended dom. Another Malay press free- The media was co-opted by the to essentially curtail media free- dom group, KAMI, was formed. state in the guise of “developmen- dom. The concentration of media tal journalism”. In other words, ownership too further con- Again, the forces against press the media and the state were sup- strained the space for freedom of freedom rallied to squeeze the lim- posedly partners in national de- expression. ited space available. The takeover velopment. in 2001 of Nanyang Siang Pau and And then from darkness, fresh China Press by Huaren Manage- Light, darkness hope again: the onset of reformasi, ment Sdn Bhd, the investment arm and hope sparked by the sacking of Anwar of the MCA, was a black day in Ibrahim from government in 1998, the struggle for greater media free- But it wasn’t all pessimism. Civil coincided with the arrival of the dom. society was beginning to find its Internet. These proved to be cata- voice. In the 1970s, Utusan lysts for the mushrooming of al- But out of the ashes of the takeo- Konsumer began articulating con- ternative, independent and criti- ver, a slew of media freedom Aliran Monthly : Vol.25(9) Page 9 groups and committees emerged, Among the latest of these is the awards. taking up the battle cry for press Chinese language freedom in Malaysia to a new With the availability of the Internet level. New independent Chinese MerdekaReview.com as a tool, the idea of having a me- websites such as thefreemedia.com and MalaysiaToday.net dia monitoring mechanism using and mytianwang.com were set up. a blog was raised. Aliran’s Char- As the public grows increasingly ter 2000, aided by a number of in- A giant gobbles up sceptical of mainstream journal- dependent volunteers monitored the competition - but ism, more and more concerned the performance of the main- new websites emerge Malaysians have ventured into stream media in the run up to the cyberspace and turned overnight 2004 general election, and came New challenges emerged though: into citizen journalists and pub- up with the dismal - if predictable attempts to crack down on lic interest bloggers disseminat- - conclusion that the mainstream cyberspace, typified in 2003 by the ing alternative and grassroots media were acting as propagan- police raid on Malaysiakini and views. dists for the Barisan Nasional. attempts to restrict political satire The media monitoring has contin- group Instant Cafe Theatre. Creative expression ued even after the general election in the arts to this day. And then in 2005, a huge con- glomerate, Media Prima, has been Despite the constraints, cultural Join us in the struggle gobbling up television stations bodies and writers have sought such as TV3, 8tv, Channel 9 and creative ways to express them- Looking back, we can see that over possibly ntv7. Media Prima al- selves in the public domain. Peo- the years, the struggle for media ready owns some major newspa- ple in the arts are experimenting freedom has been a long and ar- pers and up-and-coming radio in theatre, transmitting alternative duous one, punctuated by fresh stations. It is the latest develop- ideas to receptive audiences. In hopes and crushing blows. We ment in media consolidation in- Penang, for instance, Janet Pillai salute those media freedom activ- volving giant media firms owned and Tan Sooi Beng have been us- ists and civil society groups, cou- by a few powerful individuals that ing theatre to inculcate the values rageous journalists and citizen are squeezing out independent of multiculturalism and justice bloggers and all those who have voices. particularly among children. In- persevered in the face of formida- dependent film-makers too have ble odds. They give us hope. Nonetheless, civil society groups begun to express themselves and alternative media continue to through motion pictures, a few of We want to encourage all of you respond to these challenges. them even winning international to join us in this struggle as well. With your solidarity, we are con- fident that, no matter what the obstacles, nothing can crush our hope of creating free spaces for al- ternative ideas to thrive in our quest for a more just, democratic society. q TTTTThhhhheeeee aaaaabbbbbooooovvvvveeeee ppppprrrrreeeeessssseeeeennnnntttttaaaaatttttiiiiiooooonnnnn wwwwwaaaaasssss mmmmmaaaaadddddeeeee aaaaattttt AAAAAllllliiiiirrrrraaaaannnnn’’’’’sssss hhhhhiiiiiggggghhhhh ttttteeeeeaaaaa ccccceeeeellllleeeeebbbbbrrrrraaaaatttttiiiiiooooonnnnn iiiiinnnnn KKKKKuuuuuaaaaalllllaaaaa LLLLLuuuuummmmmpppppuuuuurrrrr ooooonnnnn 2222255555 SSSSSeeeeepppppttttteeeeemmmmmbbbbbeeeeerrrrr 22222000000000055555 tttttooooo mmmmmaaaaarrrrrkkkkk 2222255555 yyyyyeeeeeaaaaarrrrrsssss ooooofffff AAAAAllllliiiiirrrrraaaaannnnn MMMMMooooonnnnnttttthhhhhlllllyyyyy Aliran Monthly : Vol.25(9) Page 10