I’ll post these literally as I upload them from my camera (pls click on the picture for a better image). Updates on the situation here.

* 1am, 1 Dec; that’s it for now. These pictures are best viewed from bottom to top (1-10). Malaysiakini’s video is also out now.
10

This was my last view of the day, MPAJ blocking the entrance to the kampung. They were planning to destroy the entry roads, and they may be demolished by the time you read this.

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Casualties; on the left was from an accident when MPAJ was clearing stuff; the other girl needed to be sent to the hospital because she was complaining of pains from the confrontation at the surau.

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Villagers left to sit amidst rubble in the shadow of luxury.

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Even little shelters with humble mattresses were met with full destructive force, and MPAJ confiscated anything of remote value (MPAJ offices not enough furniture, need to steal from villagers!)
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All most could do was watch, cry and pray :(

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This girl had also tried to stay in the surau, and was traumatized by her forced eviction.

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This is MPAJ forcing little girls out of the surau. So macho.

1

This was when I first arrived, the police had already ‘neutralised’ a number of activists and villagers, this villager was trying to calm down his child who was crying frantically in the arms of his/her distraught mother. The cops would have none of it.

Tags: eyewitness, Government Negligence, Local Government, Government Appropriation by Nathaniel Tan
6 Comments »

Note: Will try to keep updates via this post in bangkit.net.

*

Just got back, here’s the situation when i left. (I have photos of all described below, and will upload as soon as i can).

By about noon: The surau was demolished in a most sacreligious and offensive manner. I was told that the JAIS (Selangor Religious Department) had some protestors arrested for calling the invaders kafirs :|

During lunch, the MPAJ happily had their lunch inside the few shelters still standing in the kampung. After they had eaten nicely, the proceeded to tear down those same structures - including the ones some of us helped put up on Sunday.

MPAJ also started carting away belongings - furniture, appliances, anything that was of any value. Just loaded them up unto trucks like common thieves. MPAJ office short on supplies and furniture issit?

After that, they proceeded to tear down the better set-up tents, which were put up over cement. They just carted everything out, tore off the tarpaulin covers, and then brought in their mighty back hoe.

There was one incident where in an act of defiance, a few girls refused to get off their mattress, even as their cloth roof had been torn up and the few planks acting as walls destroyed. Even with the huge ass back hoe looming over them, the girls did not move and MPAJ officers had to drag the mattress out - in a most biadap manner, might I add.

While they continued to wipe out any semblence of structure, there was one incident in which a villager overreacted and tried to launch himself into the back hoe cab to harass the driver - of course the police dragged him down, and the situation nearly escalated, but supporters managed to calm the situation down.

The MPAJ also made clear their intent to destroy all 3 access roads into the kampung, which would make the place virtually inaccessible. When I left, they hadn’t started work on this yet, but they were already towing cars out of the ‘parking lot.’

These were horrible things to witness. That simple families should experience such destruction is tragic; that it should be inflicted upon them by people who live in comfort and luxury is a most heinous injustice.

Wait for the documentation - it’s guaranteed to shock. For now, try malaysiakini.tv, tvpas.com and this article. I’ll start pointing to the rest soon.

Tags: Government Negligence, eyewitness, Local Government, Civics, Government Appropriation, Malaysian Politics by Nathaniel Tan
4 Comments »

apparently mpaj, the police, and (?!?!) JAIS (Selangor Islamic Religious Department) are there to take down the Surau, so I’m going to try and pop on over for a bit. Updates to come!

Tags: little points by Nathaniel Tan
1 Comment »

Let’s start with a recent crusade by DAP stalwart Ronnie Liew that was picked up by Malaysiakini:

.. parliamentary constituenc(ies have) been given (by the government) a year-end ‘bonus’ of RM3 million. Only two rules apply - they need to spend it in six weeks and the money is only for bumiputera contractors.

The total funds? RM 600 million. Of the rakyat’s money!! >:|

Sketchy? Doesn’t end there. Mr. Liew points out that Sarawak, which does not have a significant Umno presence, is not included in this grouping of constintuencies, ie no money for them. According to him as well, only Umno division chiefs were notified of this allotment, not any of the other BN component parties, and certainly not Opposition MP’s.

And this six weeks time span? That’s as if the whole of Malaysia (except forlorn Sarawak of course) simultaneously had emergency problems with their roads, government buildings or utilities :| Pork barrel politics at its undisguised ugliest.

*

Young punk that I am, it took PKR’s Tian Chua to explain to me a little bit about the historical development of Umno and how TDM transformed it from a party of bureaucrats and civil servants to a party of contractors.

He saw this as the only way the Malay’s could really consolidate real power - ie. economic power - in the country, and thus his most fundamental economic theory was to breed contractors (the predecessor to the Umnoputera) and feed them incessantly with project after big, fat project.

Tian’s suggestion was that it was a departure from that model that really irked TDM and started him down his hellbent path against Pak Lah. So has TDM shut up because he’s been defeated? Or has TDM shut up because of SJER, the 2nd Penang Bridge, this undersea cables monstrosity, and handouts like this RM 600 mil thing?

It seems entirely plausible that TDM’s campaign has been a lot more succesful that it looks. Behold the return of the mega-project!!
*

Mega-projects are accompanied by mega-mergers (which I’m glad bloggers are keeping an eye on), ostensibly to increase competitiveness. Pak Lah’s exhortation for Malay contractors to merge for precisely that reason seems a bit contradictory.

If such contractors/companies can compete openly in the global market, they should theoretically be able to compete locally - indeed, competing globally generally indicates having mastered the local markets.

If this is so, then what need would these Umnoputera contractors have of the NEP? Or RM 600 million handouts for that matter?

The idea that mergers create size which automatically creates success seems reminiscent of the Umno/BN ideology that to get rid of problems (uncompetitiveness, fickle voters, etc), is to throw money at problems. Lots and lots of our money, that is :(

Tags: Government Policies, Government Appropriation, Economy, Ethnicity, Malaysian Politics by Nathaniel Tan
1 Comment »

Was a pretty good sharing, and the audience was actually mostly Chinese I reckon, which I take as a good sign. While I think there are good arguments warranting the need for such fora, I am looking fwd to the day the problems of one community are even more so considered the concerns of all communitiies.

Some highlights in pointish form: (got in late so missed 1.5 presentations - sorry!)
Thiru K. Arumugam gave some interesting insights regarding the Indian electorate, speaking about how even though all MIC candidates who stood in the General Elections (GE) won, this was in large part due to the Malay vote in those constituencies. Thus, they cannot be said to be truly representing Indian interests because ultimately, they are beholden to that Malay vote. He also had some interesting statistics where Indians could be the swing vote in a number of constituencies.

Thiru S. Arutchelvan, better known as Sdr. Arul, gave some socialist analysis and also talked about advocating the closing down of the plantation industries - wherein rather than have the palm oil and rubber estates run by conglomerates who breed poverty through exploitation, some the land should be given to the workers for them to make their own livings.

He also spoke about evictions, both of urban settlers and estate workers. Prominent examples of the latter include Putrajaya, KLIA and Sg. Buloh - where only the last of the 3 still have a large number of Indian residents. In prison :P

Also discussed: the prominence of Indian gangs, and the allure of the good money, respect and social security that they offer, as compared to the vicious cycle of poverty many are trapped in. The latter also contributes to disproportionately high suicide rates, which Arul accused MIC no. 2 Dtk G. Palanivel of explaining away as a result of watching too many Tamil movies :|

Thiru Uthaya Shankar, a charismatic speaker, expounded mostly on the role of education and culture.

During the Q&A, I learnt that Ms. Rathi Ramanathan had spoken mostly about affirmitive action (like the NEP) and such and its relation to Indians. Other highlights included a sharing from Dr. Siti Mariam from PAS, who while a product of the NEP did not support it in its current form - she talked of the over-dependence on more and more tongkats and the perils of institutional racism. She also highlighted how poverty is blind to ethnicity - relating tales of barefoot, hardworking, hardcore poor Chinese in Gerakan-run Penang.

There was also a discussion that seemed to mirror very well a somewhat classic clash between capitalist and socialist thought, when someone in the audience brought up work ethics among individuals from the poorer communities. As I listened to the debate, it seemed that there was an almost uncrossable divide between the two schools of thought, which I could understand, but saddened me nonetheless.

This last exchange got me thinking about the extent to which the activist/opposition communities were insular, and what potential they had for reaching out beyond their faithful to generate interest in their causes outisde their circles. Still thinking……

Tags: Government Negligence, eyewitness, Government Policies, Economy, Ethnicity, Event, Malaysian Politics by Nathaniel Tan
2 Comments »

Off to forum soon, but Mr. K aka predream sent over some good pics of Berembang protest in Shah Alam this morning that went off w/o a hitch. Coalition of kampung folk, NGOs and Opposition parties finally managed to hand over memo to reps of Selangor State Gov’t. Also see article and emotional video.

Was tardy (again!) so could only see from outside, but the protesters once again demonstrated a true dedication to both firmness and non-violence, even in the face of:

A report on the forum later I hope, and some more pics below :)

[Read more →]

Tags: eyewitness, Government Negligence, Local Government by Nathaniel Tan
No Comments »

Took me a while to get to this, but I wanted to highlight some contents of a memo Suaram submitted some time back (endorsed by a few other NGOs as well) regarding children and pregnant mothers being held in immigration detention centres.

Through our investigations and from other credible sources, we have learned that the Immigration Department is detaining scores of asylum seeker children, pregnant women and other vulnerable individuals, mainly from Burma/Myanmar, at various detention camps and prisons around the country. Since April of 2006, we have recorded at least 13 mass-scale raids at different locations around the country by the Immigration Department and RELA (People’s Volunteer Corps).

Also arrested and detained in these round-ups are children, mothers, pregnant women and other extremely vulnerable individuals who have come to this country for no other reason than to seek a safe haven from persecution and serious human rights violations in their home country.

*

Dawt Khun Tial, age 3, who is being detained with her mother at Lenggeng, for example, is reported to be in deteriorating health condition. Local volunteer doctors who recently visited the child suspected a case of Tuberculosis. According to the child’s mother, Dawt Khun Tial has not been eating well since their detention and is losing weight and becoming very frail. Woman detainees reported that they suffer regular verbal and physical abuse by guards. Dawt Khun Tial and her mother were splashed with water by one female guard during one of the regular cross-legged-sitting session. Women detainees testified that children are often too terrified by verbally abusive guards who often raised their voice and verbally abused detainees in the presence of the children.

In a similar case, Ram Za Thang, (See Annex # I) another 3 year-old child is being held with her mother at Juru Detention Camp. According to the child’s father, a UNHCR-recognized refugee, who visited them on 13 November 2006 (Monday), the child is suffering from Malaria and has been to hospital for a total of five times, three times in October alone. He said the mother is also complaining of painful shoulders, which made her unable to sleep properly at night.

*

For example, Par Lang who is 8 month pregnant, is still being held at Kajang prison. (See Annex # II) She was arrested on 5 October 2006 during a RELA-Immigration operation in Jalan Imbi. Par Lang is expecting child birth on 16 December 2006. Her court date has been set for 13 December and it is very likely she will be delivering her child in detention.

Do you have any idea how bad things are in Burma? Do we really need to inflict more suffering on these refugees than they’ve already experienced? To 3 year old kids? 3 years old?!

What was the government’s repsonse? (thanks to alice for fwd’ing)

(Home Affairs Ministry) Deputy Minister Datuk Tan Chai Ho said he also was not aware of them being treated badly by authorities in the centres, adding that the matter would have to be verified.

“Illegal immigrants are normally well taken care of until their case has been investigated.”

I have heard otherwise personally from refugees themselves. I’ve also heard from people who’ve been to both institutions that living conditions at the detention centres are worse than those in prison. Ever been in prison?..

For those of you who may like to get involved with some very on the ground work with refugees in Malaysia, may I recommend these good people, who I can personally vouch for.

Tags: eyewitness, Government Negligence, Detention without Trial, Migrants by Nathaniel Tan
2 Comments »