Isnin, 19 Julai 2010

Anwar Ibrahim

Anwar Ibrahim

Malaysia’s Bridge is Falling Down

Posted: 19 Jul 2010 05:26 PM PDT

From Huffington Post
By Thor Halvorssen
Founder, Oslo Freedom Forum

The farcical trial of Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim resumes this week in Kuala Lumpur. This is the second time that the country’s ruling establishment has tried to destroy Anwar’s career with trumped-up allegations of sodomy. It succeeded 12 years ago, when he was imprisoned for six years on similar charges. Now Anwar faces up to 20 years in jail and whipping if convicted.

Controlled by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) since independence and now led by the increasingly autocratic Prime Minister Najib Razak, the Malaysian government knows Anwar is the only viable threat to its half-century of rule. Anwar became a risk to the government as deputy prime minister in 1998 when he began attacking corruption and calling for reform. Ultimately he became leader of the opposition.

Najib’s UMNO is trying to jail Anwar again in hopes of crushing his People’s Justice Party (PKR). A secular Muslim party, PKR leads a diverse political coalition with ethnic Chinese and Islamist partners. If Anwar is neutralized, this opposition movement would be paralyzed.

Anwar’s accuser – a former intern- admits to meeting with Najib just days before the alleged sexual act occurred and he has since changed his story several times. The charges against Anwar are transparently political. But the obvious intent of the trial matters little in Malaysia, where the government exercises a disabling grip on the justice system and the media.

Yet as one visits Kuala Lumpur today, these autocratic tendencies are not immediately visible. The modern splendor of this city and the surrounding wealthy state of Selangor help disguise one of the world’s most insidious authoritarian governments.

Najib’s most powerful tool is the Internal Security Act – a remnant from the days of British colonialism that gives the Interior Minister power to indefinitely and arbitrarily imprison any Malaysian without trial or even evidence. Through the ISA the government creates a climate of fear by arresting dozens of politicians, journalists, and student leaders.

Opposition voices like Anwar who are politically attacked through the courts are hardly better off than victims of the ISA. Virtually all positions in the justice system beyond the local level are held by government cronies.

Most problematic is that the local media cannot report on the ISA and the puppet justice system. The Printing Presses and Publications Act gives Najib near-absolute control over the news as media organizations need the government’s permission to operate.

Almost all major national newspapers, magazines, television channels, and radio stations here are tied to the ruling UMNO party. And Najib continues to tighten his grip in the face of Anwar’s trial. Suara Keadilan, the publication of Anwar’s PKR party, and the two other visible opposition outlets had their permits revoked on July 1.

The only way to get unfiltered news in Malaysia is online. Here, the media is protected by the “Bill of Guarantee of No Internet Censorship” – a law passed in the 1990s, at the strong suggestion of Bill Gates, to woo IT development to Malaysia.

Unfortunately, internet penetration is extremely limited outside of Malaysian urban centers. In some provinces, less than 10% of the population has online access, and most are stuck with the broadsheets. These read as if from a 1984 dystopia – there is no bad news, and other than culture and sports, there is cant-laden drivel about the government’s righteous quest to “serve the people”.

On a visit to the offices of a small opposition monthly, the editors despaired at the suffocating Malaysian media culture. Not just because it means Malaysians can’t easily find truth, but also because the next generation has grown uninterested: real journalism can no longer be practiced.

Through the silencing of opposition voices, vote-shopping, and gerrymandering, the UMNO-led government is able to continue its autocratic rule while calling Malaysia a democracy. And Najib seeks to perpetuate this charade by clamping down on Malaysian youth. Through the University and University College Act, students are forbidden from having any involvement in politics.

Despite their systemic nature, Malaysia’s human rights violations are largely unknown to the outside world. Many academics and journalists group the country with Indonesia and Turkey as a promising moderate Muslim democracy. And Wikipedia’s entries on Malaysia and on Najib avoid any mention of human rights, the Internal Security Act, censorship, or the crumbling rule of law. Such whitewashing is not surprising given that Najib hired Washington-based APCO Worldwide to burnish his image and besmirch Anwar’s.

Anwar, who has been profiled in TIME, the New Yorker, and Newsweek, and is frequently lionized as a promising Muslim leader, has recently been APCO’s target. In Malaysia, Anwar has often been mocked for having “Jewish friends.” Najib’s mentor and predecessor, Mahathir, even went so far as to say Anwar “would make a good prime minister for Israel.” In return, Anwar seized Najib’s hiring of APCO as a chance to issue inflammatory remarks on the firm’s supposed ties to Israel. This backfired when APCO distributed Anwar’s comments internationally along with a series of unattributed anti-Semitic statements posted on his website. The result is that on the eve of his trial many of his Western allies have questioned Anwar’s integrity.

The truth is that Anwar has been critical of some policies of the current Israeli government. And in the last few months he has even become more vocal as he wrestles with Najib’s media apparatus to avoid being pinned as blindly pro-Israel. But Anwar is hardly an anti-Semite. Contrast this with UMNO–which has led entire rallies inveighing against “the Jew.” Anwar’s critics should be careful not to carry water for Najib’s party, which proudly sports venomous anti-Semitic rhetoric and conspiracy.

Over dinner in Kuala Lumpur, Anwar told us that unless international actors address issues like censorship and imprisonment without trial, Malaysia will not become the oft-discussed bridge between East and West. Only if his trial is exposed as a sham and he avoids prison might Malaysia have a real democratic contest with elections in 2012 or 2013.

Sadly, this country’s appalling human rights record remains buried under a sea of APCO press releases.

Thor Halvorssen is the president of the Human Rights Foundation and the founder of the Oslo Freedom Forum. Alex Gladstein is its Chief Operating Officer.

Isu Pasir: ‘Jangan Tunduk Pada BN’

Posted: 18 Jul 2010 09:26 PM PDT

Dari Malaysiakini
Oleh Salhan K.Ahmad

Badan bertindak pengusaha dan pembeli pasir Selangor hari ini mendesak kerajaan negeri itu supaya tidak tunduk kepada desakan pembangkang supaya Kumpulan Semesta Sdn Bhd dibubarkan.

Pengerusinya, Raja Kamarudin Raja Ab Wahid berkata, tindakan tersebut akan menyebabkan lesen mereka yang dilesenkan KSSB akan terbatal.

“Maknanya kami akan tanggung kerugian besar. Adakah Umno akan bayar kerugian ini,” katanya ketika menyerahkan satu memorandum kepada exco sumber alam Yaakob Sapari.

Raja Kamaruddin bersama hampir 50 orang penyokong menyerahkan memorandum tersebut kepada Yaakob di lobi bangunan SUK, Shah Alam hari ini.

“Apa yang menakutkan lagi, pembangkang mendesak permit pasir Selangor tidak dikeluarkan lagi untuk tanah kerajaan,” katanya lagi.

Beliau berkata, desakan itu dibuat bagi mendapatkan permit melombong pasir di tanah persendirian.

“Kebanyakan tanah persendirian di Selangor telah disapu bersih oleh kroni pemimpin kerajaan BN Umno.

“Yang tinggal kepada kerajaan Pakatan adalah lubang-lubang yang telah dikorek zaman BN Umno memerintah,” katanya lagi.

Rakyat Desa Berjimat, Pemimpin Bermewah

Posted: 18 Jul 2010 07:55 PM PDT

Dari Harakah
Oleh Hasan Husaini

Tanggal 4 Jun 2008, Perdana Menteri Malaysia mengumumkan kenaikan harga minyak yang memecahkan rekod kenaikan harga bahan bakar itu, petrol 78 sen dan RM1 bagi diesel. Mungkin itulah tanda terima kasih beliau kepada penyokong setia kerajaan dan mungkin juga sebagai ancaman kerana mempercayai janji Pakatan Rakyat. Walaupun alasan yang diberi ialah kerana kenaikan harga bahan mentah itu di pasaran antarabangsa.

Sehubungan dengan itu, ramailah yang bangkit menentang, berpiket dan menganjurkan tunjuk perasaan. Tidak kurang juga yang bersedia dengan pelan perancangan hidup baru, mungkin merancang untuk kembali menunggang motosikal, berbasikal atau bersunnah dengan menunggang kuda. Yang malang ialah mereka yang bersetuju malah membela keputusan kerajaan menaikkan harga emas cecair itu.

Pada 16 Julai 2010, harga barang naik lagi dengan alasan penyelarasan subsidi. Pelik benar. Andai penjimatan yang menjadi agenda utama, maka bukanlah pakcik dan makcik di kampung yang perlu diajak berjimat. Bahkan para pembesar nun di singgahsana yang wajib turun merasai bagaimana lazatnya nasi putih beras usang bersama ulam pucuk ubi kayu.

Saya menulis pada hari ini bukan untuk membahaskan dari sudut akademik atau politik jauh sekali dalam bidang ekonomi. Bahkan berpandukan pengalaman cetek ketika berkunjung di negara sejawatan dengan Malaysia sebagai pengeluar minyak, Arab Saudi. Harga minyak di Saudi jauh berbeza dengan harga di Malaysia. Rs10 mampu memulangkan lebih 20 liter petrol. Tak perlu beralasan bahawa kita membeli minyak dari luar. Yang penting negara kita adalah negara pengeluar minyak.

Bukan sekadar itu, negara kita juga terkenal dengan negara pengeluar minyak sawit terbesar dunia. Di mana keuntungan semua itu? Di mana keuntungan sawit? Di mana keuntungan getah? Di mana keuntungan minyak mentah?

Maka untuk menutup kemarahan rakyat, PM pun mengarahkan media agar tidak menggunakan istilah harga barang naik. Kalimah itu digantikan dengan penyelarasan subsidi. Ustaz dan ustazah pula diarahkan menyelinap masuk dalam masyarakat sama ada dalam media elektronik, media cetak, malah terjun dalam dunia realiti ke kampung dan desa untuk menyampaikan ceramah dan forum supaya berjimat cermat. Maka berbondong-bondonglah ustaz dan ustazah hadhari tampil dengan upah yang tinggi, berkereta besar pergi berceramah ke kampung kepada pakcik dan makcik yang sudah puluhan tahun mengira biji beras, berjimat cermat untuk menjaga anak-anak yang bakal meneruskan hidup. Sedangkan panel penceramah, penganjur, ahli VIP yang hadir serta penganjur masih dalam dunia membazir.

Ketahuilah bahawa Allah tidak pernah sekali-kali mempersaudarakan manusia yang zalim dengan syaitan, kecuali kepada si pembazir, maka Allah berfirman (maksudnya), " Sesungguhnya orang yang membazir itu adalah saudara bagi syaitan-syaitan".

Suka untuk saya tegaskan pada hari ini, golongan yang patut ditegur ialah para pembesar negara yang secara zalimnya meletakkan beban kepada rakyat sedangkan mereka masih bersenang-lenang dengan pangkat dan harta yang bertimbun bahkan masih menerima elaun dan dividen serta keistimewaan yang keterlaluan.

Kenyataan seorang ‘orang besar kerajaan’ pada Jun 2008, “Tidak relevan memotong elaun menteri, bukan sampai bilion pun”. Ya, memang rakyat tahu, elaun menteri tak sampai bilion, sebab itulah rakyat nak ia dipotong. Mana kesanggupan pemimpin untuk bersama rakyat kalau masih menikmati elaun?

Pada 17 Julai 2010, seorang menteri juga beralasan dengan cara yang tidak cerdik mengatakan bahawa tidak patut untuk negara membelanjakan RM1 bilion demi memberi subsudi kepada barangan yang boleh membawa penyakit.

Dalam usaha menjaga ekonomi negara, kerajaan lebih rela meletakkan beban yang berat ini ke atas rakyat bawahan yang cukup lemah. Sedangkan, dalam masa yang sama, sebuah istana bernilai hampir satu bilion ringgit sedang dibina. Walhal istana lama masih 100 kali lebih mewah dari rumah paling cantik di desa sana.

Saya amat tertarik dengan kisah Imam Nawawi yang dibuang negeri setelah beliau enggan untuk memberi fatwa untuk mengharuskan Raja Zahir mengambil harta rakyat untuk mencukupkan kelengkapan perang demi mempertahankan negara. Sekali imbas, patut bagi si raja untuk mengambil harta rakyatnya pada waktu itu. Tapi, kecerdikan Imam Nawawi tidak seperti ustaz dan ustazah hadhari yang mudah ditipu oleh ketamakan pemerintah.

Beliau berhujah bahawa beliau akan membenarkan si raja mengambil harta rakyat jika gedung kekayaan istana dikosongkan, gundik-gundik dibebaskan dan segala kemewahan ditinggalkan, namun kelengkapan perang masih belum mencukupi. Maka raja naik marah lantas membuang Imam Nawawi ke luar negeri.

Begitu juga dengan kisah seorang sahabat yang dihantar untuk menjadi gabenor di salah sebuah wilayah Islam. Maka apabila tiba musim pembahagian zakat, nama si gabenor tadi berada di tangga teratas senarai penerima zakat lantaran kemiskinan beliau kerana senantiasa meninggalkan kesenangan dan keperluan diri serta keluarga semata-mata untuk membantu rakyat jelata.

Samalah juga tentang apa yang berlaku pada Khalifah Umar Khattab yang terlebih dahulu mengorbankan kesenangan diri sebelum meminta rakyat berjimat cermat apabila tiba musim kemarau, musim Ramadh, selama hampir 9 bulan. Sepanjang temoh itu, Saidina Umar tidak memakan keju, meminum susu bahkan memakan daging. Rasulullah sendiri yang sememangnya menjadi contoh tauladan kepada umat Islam hidup dalam keadaan sederhana.

Itulah gaya sebenar seorang pemimpin. Terlebih dahulu mengorbankan kesenangan sendiri, bukan hanya dengan mudah meletakkan beban kepada rakyat. Sedangkan diri sendiri masih sempat untuk bermain golf, menunggang kuda, bercuti ke luar negara dengan dibiaya duit rakyat!

Bagaimana patut pemimpin negara berpesta dengan berhabis jutaan ringgit sedangkan rakyat miskin yang tidak mempunyai pendapatan tetap dan tanpa apa-apa skim yang menaungi sedang mengikat perut membilang biji beras ekoran kenaikan harga gula dan kenaikan mendadak harga minyak.

Tertarik saya untuk mengikuti jejak langkah Imam Nawawi menegur pembesar negara supaya terlebih dahulu berjimat sebelum melepaskan beban itu kepada rakyat. Tinggalkan dahulu istana besar, kecilkan dahulu poket tebal menteri-menteri, hilangkan dahulu skim eksekutif dan eksklusif yang melindungi para menteri, jual dahulu saham-saham individu yang bernilai jutaan ringgit. Hilangkan dahulu sifat pentingkan diri para pembesar dengan mengosongkan garaj kereta mewah dan eksotik pembesar negara. Patutkah seorang pemimpin masih bermewah mengurniakan pangkat bermewah-mewah berpesta saat rakyat mereka menderita?

Bayangkan Datuk Seri Najib berucap supaya rakyat berjimat, sedangkan dia sejurus kemudian menyantap di meja mewah bersama orang-orang besar kerajaan? Dari mana duit untuk membayar makanan itu? Bukankah ianya hasil dari penjimatan pakcik dan makcik yang hanya makan nasi berulamkan pucuk ubi kayu? Bukankah lagi patut Datuk Seri Najib meniru gaya seorang MB yang hanya makan nasi goreng dalam polisterin?

Wahai rakyat Malaysia, sedarlah bahawa anda semua sedang diperbodohkan oleh pemimpin yang kamu junjung. Anda di desa telah puluhan tahun berjimat-cermat, sedangkan mereka masih sempat bermewah. Patutkah anda memilih mereka untuk kesekian kalinya?

Penulis adalah penuntut di Darul Muttaqin, Mu’tah, Jordan.

What Anwar’s Trial Means For Malaysia

Posted: 18 Jul 2010 07:37 PM PDT

From Wall Street Journal
By JOHN R. MALOTT

A guilty verdict would be a serious step backwards for this aspiring Muslim democracy.

The trial of Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia’s opposition leader and his nation’s best-known and most respected international figure, is scheduled to resume this week in Kuala Lumpur.

The Malaysian press dubs the affair “Sodomy II,” for it appears to be a repeat of the Muslim democrat’s 1998-99 trials, when he was convicted on corruption and sexual charges. Sentenced to 15 years in prison, Mr. Anwar later had his conviction overturned, and he was released after six years in solitary confinement.

I was the U.S. ambassador to Malaysia when Mr. Anwar first was arrested and put on trial, and everything I knew then and know now leads me to conclude that this trial also is an attempt to sideline him politically.

Already convicted by the government-controlled media, Mr. Anwar and his defense team have been denied access to the evidence that the government possesses, including police and medical reports, surveillance tapes, and even the witness list. Malaysia does not have a jury system. The verdict will be rendered by one judge, appointed by the same government that wants to remove Mr. Anwar from the political scene.

While a handful of human rights groups and some Australian parliamentarians have condemned the trial, there has been little interest at the broader international level. The Obama administration has been silent.

When I visited Malaysia last month, it was clear that Mr. Anwar and most observers expect a guilty verdict in August. At that point, the question is whether he remains free on bail during his appeal or is jailed immediately.

A charismatic campaigner, Mr. Anwar led his coalition to near victory in Malaysia’s last parliamentary elections in 2008, when the opposition took 47% of the popular vote and gained 62 seats. The government’s new political game plan seems to be to put Mr. Anwar in jail and the opposition in disarray, call snap elections, and ride to victory.

Today Malaysia gets little attention in the world press. The lingering image is of an Asian economic success story, a moderate Islamic country and aspiring democracy, and a multiracial society in which harmony prevails. Unfortunately, that is not the case today. Malaysia is a nation adrift.

Once one of the world’s dynamos, Malaysia’s economy has underperformed over the past decade, with an average annual growth rate of 4.5%. Much of that growth was the result of government spending, which has pushed Malaysia’s debt level to 54% of GDP. Foreign direct investment (FDI) has remained relatively flat over the past 15 years, while flows into Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam have soared. To make matters worse, Malaysia experienced a net outflow of $6 billion in FDI capital in 2008.

Malaysia desperately needs to upgrade its skills base and innovation capabilities, but almost 500,000 Malaysians—nearly 2% of the population—left their country for good between 2007 and 2009. Malaysian experts believe most of these émigrés were skilled ethnic Chinese and Indian Malaysians, concerned by economic decline and growing racial and religious tensions.

Worried about losing political support, the ruling party has responded by appealing to the baser instincts of the country’s Malay Muslim majority. For example, it told Malaysia’s Christians that they may no longer use the word “Allah” for God, even though the word existed in Arabic long before Islam arose. A new militant group called Perkasa, which claims that Malay rights are under threat from the Chinese and Indian minorities, has won backing from former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and other members of the ruling party.

For Malaysia and the world, there is more at stake in Mr. Anwar’s trial than whether one person is convicted. Malaysia is at a crossroads. The road that it chooses matters not only for some 30 million Malaysians, but for the entire world. The country could be a model for the 600 million people of Southeast Asia and for the entire Muslim world, if it returns to the promising course it was on 15 years ago. But a guilty verdict for Mr. Anwar means that the corruption and cronyism that now pervade Malaysia, its lack of political freedom and its economic decline, will continue. The country’s non-Malay citizens will continue to seek a better haven overseas.

In 1998, Mr. Anwar said, “If this can happen to me, it can happen to anyone.” That is no less true today. If Mr. Anwar is denied his freedom, then Malaysians will continue to be denied their freedom and the country its promise.
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