Irene Fernandez is a women and migrant rights activist in Malaysia. For more than ten years, Irene has been faced with a ‘criminal defamation’ charge (which has now been dropped) for having published a memorandum, asking the Malaysian government to look into alleged atrocities taking place in migrant camps in the country.

Aside from being an activist, which had led to her receiving the Right Livelihood Award in 2005, Irene is also a mother to three children, Camverra Jose Maliamauv, Tania Jo and Katrina Jorene, and several foster children. It is hard to imagine what goes on the mind of an activist like Irene, when she thinks of her children. During her sentencing at the initial trial in 2003, Irene was reported to have said:

I want my children and the children of all the people I work with as head of Tenaganita to enjoy and live in a society that is peaceful, where we do not fear state violence.

Irene’s role as a mother perhaps can best be reflected in the eyes of her daughter, Katrina Jorene, who wrote on the Micah Mandate (a Christian-based blog seeking to raise public interest advocacy):

I celebrate my mother who brought me up to be constantly vigilant in life and to be clear and maddeningly persistent for the truth and for what is just, true and right. I celebrate the countless heroes who have been present in my life especially my family members and the family at Tenaganita [the organization Irene Fernandez leads]. I celebrate all who have worked silently, tirelessly and with so much care all these years for the greater good of others.

It appears Irene’s teachings have caused at least one of her children to take on the same activist mantle as herself. Now Katrina writes advocacy pieces dealing with minority rights and protection.

Unlike Katrina Jorene, unfortunately, Alexander and Kim Aris, sons of Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, have not had the opportunity to learn from their mother for more than a decade. So strong was Ms Suu Kyi’s passion for Myanmar, she has spent close to fourteen years under detention in a lakeside villa in Yangon, choosing to stay for fear that the military junta would not allow her in again if she left. Womensphere, a blog by and about women, writes:

[Ms Suu Kyi] British husband, the Oxford scholar, Michael Aris, died of cancer in 1999 at the age of 53. She was unable to see him as he was dying – the junta refused to give him an entry visa, and she feared that, if she left Burma, she would not be allowed back in. She has not seen either of her two sons, now men in their thirties, for a decade.

Little has been written about (or by) Alexander or Kim. However, in 1991, Ms Suu Kyi’s older son, Alexander, accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on her behalf. Again, looking through the lens of her child, we might be able to better understand Ms Suu Kyi as a mother:

Speaking as her son, however, I would add that I personally believe that by her own dedication and personal sacrifice she has come to be a worthy symbol through whom the plight of all the people of Burma may be recognised. And no one must underestimate that plight.

…

We must also remember that [her] lonely struggle taking place in a heavily guarded compound in Rangoon is part of the much larger struggle, worldwide, for the emancipation of the human spirit from political tyranny and psychological subjection.

…

Although my mother is often described as a political dissident who strives by peaceful means for democratic change, we should remember that her quest is basically spiritual.

…

It is my hope that soon my mother will be able to share this feeling and to speak directly for herself instead of through me.

Meanwhile, many activist mothers in Asia still face persecution. For example, Fan Guijuan, whose house was said to have been demolished as a result of the Shanghai World Expo project, was arrested in Beijing and sent back to Shanghai, placed immediately in detention. Her son has no place to live, due to the demolition. Meanwhile, in the Philippines, Dr Edita Burgos, mother of Jonas Burgos, fights for justice for her activist son, who is said to have desaparecido (“disappeared”). Dr Burgos is the chair of Desaparecidos (Families of Desaparecidos for Justice), an organization seeking justice for the many unaccounted for, said to be a hallmark of the Arroyo regime.

Now, in Iran, humanitarian activist mothers are fast becoming global icons for human rights causes worldwide. In silent public protest, the ‘Mourning Mothers of Iran,’ known in Tehran as the ‘Mothers of Laleh,’ peaceably seek justice for their dead or incarcerated children.

“A mother is a mother as long as she lives.”

Alternate Income

According to Associated Content:

With the extremely high cost of decent childcare in this country and the ongoing problem of women being unable to collect child support regularly, more and more single mothers are turning to prostitution in order to pay their bills and support themselves and their children.

The report states that the Internet has opened new doors for these ladies. “Holly”, aged 25, was quoted as saying:

My ex-husband was not paying child support for our four-year-old son, and I was getting desperate for money… I placed an ad on Yahoo looking for a sugar-daddy type of relationship and met a decent guy that was willing to help me out.

This has apparently become a trend in Japan. Japan Today reports:

There are 1.23 million single-mother households in Japan, Health and Labor Ministry statistics show. Their average annual income, government benefits included, is 2.11 million yen—40% of the overall household average. A revised welfare law shrank entitlements in 2002. The current recession is choking off employment opportunities. For the 28-year-old woman Suzuki calls “Ruriko Kumata,” prostitution seems her only means of survival.

Not only mothers, single women are turning to prostitution or “hostess” jobs in Japan. News from Ground Report states that more young women are turning to “club jobs”, while Nurse In Australia, a blog by a nurse in Australia, reports that nurses are leaving the profession and turning to prostitution.

In response to a report similar to these, Wandaphull World, a blog ‘is dedicated to all the “REAL” women of the world”, states:

Ladies I know time are hard and we can barely pay our rents but this is not going to last forever, so pray and have patients. These are trying times for everyone but we still have to hold strong as women and keep our hearts, homes and body intact for we will need it all following the recession. Women are so much stronger than people give us credit for and I’m pretty sure that the “real hardworking women” of today will be as disgusted by this story as I am, yet [I] feel bad for the women who feel this is [necessary.]

Thinking Twice About Motherhood

Another effect the recession has had on motherhood is that many women are reconsidering motherhood. Bester News reports from Reuters:

Worries about the economy have led many American women to think twice about having a baby, a survey released on Wednesday found, with nearly half of those surveyed saying they want to delay pregnancy or limit the number of children they have.

Leah, a blogger on Work It, Mom, writes:

New York Times Magazine, WebMd, and Work It, Mom have all featured stories about how economic recessions negatively affect birth rates and the numbers of children per household. Expanding a family–whether the old-fashioned way or through fertility treatments or adoption–is expensive no matter how you cut it, and in addition to the three major costs I was stressing about last fall–maternity leave, childcare, and health insurance–there are dozens of other financial factors that might influence a couple’s decision to have a child…or not

Erica commented to this blog post:

I’m almost 29 and had really hoped to have my 2 children by the time I was 30. But with this recession, its looking less likely to happen. I’m hoping maybe next year, maybe things will get better. My hubby is convinced we should just be happy with the child we have because he doesn’t think we’ll ever be able to afford another one.

A recent survey by the Guttmacher Institute echoes these sentiments, finding that “nearly two-thirds (64%) of US low- and middle-income women of childbearing age say they cannot afford to have a baby because of the current bad economy.”

What Birth Control?

The Guttmacher Institute also found that women are either forgoing birth control pills or else purchasing cheaper contraceptives to save on cash during this economic downturn. The Women’s Rights blog at Care2.com stated:

The problem is, affordable birth control is not yet regarded as a fundamental right in this country… This isn't just about getting access to the pill - it's about basic women's health needs like pap smears or pelvic exams. And when the government is considering how it can help Americans weather the recession, family planning and reproductive health need to be high priorities.

Café Kim, on the Healthy Living Buzz blog, wrote:

I found the results of this survey alarming because if these women can't afford birth control, how will they afford the cost of having a child? What can be done about this?

Octobersmom, in response to Café Kim, wrote:

[A] child is a hell of a lot more expensive than a baby! If you can't afford BC then, joy of joys, the rest of the country can pay for your baby because you couldn't keep your pants on.

Francine Huff on the Wallet Pop, struggling families are now considering giving away their babies because they cannot afford to bring the children up. In addition, Wallet Pop reports that adoption agencies claim there has been an increase in inquiries from women who are considering giving their babies up for adoption. With these as a few examples of how the recession has affected motherhood, perhaps more will be done on the way back to recovery.

According to news reports, S$230 million (about US$162.3 million) in baby bonuses were handed out by the Singaporean government in 2008, yet there appears to be no corresponding rise in the number of Singaporean babies born.

The Singapore government's website explains:

You will get a cash gift of up to $4,000 each for your 1st and 2nd child and $6,000 each for your 3rd and 4th child. All your children born on or after 17 August 2008 will also enjoy Government contributions in the form of a dollar-for-dollar matching for the amount of savings you contribute to your child’s Children Development Account (CDA). If your child is born before 17 August 2008, he or she will enjoy the Government matching contributions in the CDA if he or she is your second to fourth child.

The CDA is a special savings account that you open at any OCBC Bank or Standard Chartered Bank branch for your child who is eligible for CDA. You can save in the CDA any time until 31 December in the year your child turns 6 years of age. The savings will be matched up to the cap of $6,000 each for the 1st and 2nd child, $12,000 each for the 3rd and 4th child and $18,000 each for the fifth and subsequent child. The Government will match your savings in the following month.

This means that the those eligible will not only get the cash bonus, but also moneys from the government in the CDA account, subject to a cap, depending on the birth order of the child.

Recently, Singapore’s National Population Secretariat statistics revealed there were only 32,423 citizens born last year, just 129 more than in 2003, the year before the government extended the Baby Bonus Scheme to include the first and fourth child.

According to Mother of Six, a blogger in Singapore who writes on motherhood and social issues, the perception of having a larger family in Singapore is not favourable. She says:

Often, when I tell people I have six children, they react in disbelief. Many must think we are crazy, as the norm in Singapore is to have just one or two. Now with the baby bonus, three or four children may become a standard in future. But six?

The typical objections to having so many children in Singapore are mainly economical. Rising costs is one. If you factor in tuition, enrichment, supplementary class, school buses, childcare, day care and maid, then there will be disincentives to have more than two children.

On the other hand, single unwed mothers in Singapore do not enjoy the baby bonus benefits. According to the Association of Single Mothers Singapore blog:

By providing single mothers a chance to move out and start a family on their own, they learn to be independent and self-help themselves.

By providing single mothers with the same privileges like the ability to purchase HDB flats (government housing) and receive the Baby Bonus, they can stop worrying about facing pressures when at home and focus better at work and improving themselves. By having a clearer mind and more refreshed and energized self, they can better plan their future.

The Baby Bonus allows single mothers to pay for their child’s basic needs like milk and diapers. Single mothers can also use that money to enrol their child into public nurseries so that they have more time on their hands to take on a more permanent and stable job. With bonuses, single mothers can ease their minds

Molly’s blog, To Fix A Mocking Peasant, a personal blog, has an interesting analysis into the situation of the stance of the Singapore government and single unwed mothers:

As usual, our darling CNA (Channel News Asia) is able to sum up the hopelessly impressively circular (il)logic of the government's representatives in one succinct sentence (perhaps without seeing the irony?):

“The baby bonus will not be extended to single unwed mothers as the Marriage and Parenthood Package is an incentive for married couples.”

In other words, we won't extend the baby bonus to single unwed mothers because we won't. The Baby Bonus will remain something for married couples because we won't extend it.

Molly writes further:

Other wonderful reasons Mrs. Yu-Foo (Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports) came up with for not extending the Baby Bonus to single unwed mothers include the fact that they are eligible for other sorts of benefits that married mothers are eligible…

Single unwed mothers are not entitled to the Baby Bonus because they are entitled to everything else. Yes, that's to sum it up in one line.

But you have yet to see the best of Mrs Yu-Foo:

“The Marriage and Parenthood Package is not a financial assistance scheme for children. The government

cannot and should not be the surrogate father.”

So, the Baby Bonus is supposed to lighten the financial costs of having children, but it's not a financial assistance scheme! The government can give the Baby Bonus to poor married couples without becoming the surrogate father, but if it extends the Bonus to single unwed mothers, it will become a surrogate father!

She ends her commentary by saying:

Single unwed mothers, often more so than married mothers, make a conscious decision to keep their babies instead of aborting them due to the social stigmas associated with being, well, single unwed mothers…

Sons of single parents serve NS (Singapore’s compulsory National Service) too.

Pretty Princess Maggie, “a mum who is committed to her family and her handsome baby boy”, has interesting perspective of motherhood and Singapore’s baby bonus on her blog:

The Singapore government had recently revised its baby bonus package. However, as a mother of one, I do not see myself in sacrificing my career and time to stop everything and have another baby again. I want to provide the best for him and I do not want him to share his parents' love with anymore siblings as I do not experienced a very happy childhood. I want to look after him properly and nurture him and give him the best. It is better to have a good kid, than to have 8 lousy ones.

…

Seriously speaking, having more maternity leave… would only add burden to the employers and hinder our career advancement. I do not see that it will help woman have more babies. It would only add stress to them if they were new to the company and was planning to have a few kids. However, I would definitely consider having another child only if I am paid a salary for looking after my baby. And if my baby gets free education or heavily subsidised education… Comparing a few thousand dollars baby bonus to offset the hospitalisation for childbirth, to the money ($950X15=$14,250) to be spent on babycare till 18 months at daycare, and the care and attention that a baby needs, it can nowhere be compared. The baby bonus is just to entice those who do not understand the hardship and commitment and huge financial commitment to raising a baby. In short, only those who had not done their sums would think that it is a big bonus where in fact it is a huge investment with not necessary any returns at all.

The background of Singapore’s current predicament of an aging population is interestingly explored on Singapore Sojourn blog. It states:

…If one reads the history of social engineering from the 1960's onwards it becomes apparent the reluctance to breed was first triggered by a deliberate campaign to reduce population.

In those times parents who had more than two children were penalised and the incidence of abortion was high. Having a third child carried a stigma and financial cost.

Mui Teng Yap wrote an interesting paper on this subject entitled Fertility and Population Policy: the Singapore Experience in which he wrote “Singapore has long been known for its use of social policies to influence fertility/reproductive behaviour. This began in the late 1960s/early 1970s and continues to the present, although the demographic objective has changed from anti-natalist to selectively pro-natalist.”

There was also great concerned that ‘educated' Singaporeans were not breeding and the under classes were.

This changed in 1987 when the rule became “have three if you can afford them” but I suspect by then that the damage was done in that the cultural perceptions of what constituted a family had changed.

A few reasons why Singapore’s baby bonus has not produced its desired results are laid out in (13) Expositions. Among the reasons listed, are the society’s mindset and the difficulty in maintaining a good work-life balance:

Firstly, there is a higher need in the change of the society’s mindset. As Singapore modernizes, its citizens become more educated and women are able to become more independent. They develop a deep passion for their career and a sense of satisfaction when they succeed. In fact, Singapore has witnessed a sharp increase in the percentage of working mothers from 45.6% in 1986 to 54.3% in 2006…

Secondly, the difficulties in maintaining a balance between work and family cause couples to be hesitant to have babies. Working women are especially reluctant to have babies, fearing the insurmountable task of having to juggle between the demands from work to their family-building duties, which require large amounts of commitment…

In conclusion, other prominent factors have been shown to affect the decision to have children. Thus, the Baby Bonus Scheme is limited in its impact and presents a too simplistic solution to resolve such a personal and complicated dilemma.

The Temasek Review also adds that the high cost of living, especially housing, is a prime reason for the ineffectiveness of the baby bonus.

According to a news report, Sociologist Paulin Straughan has suggested that a cash incentive is not enough to encourage women to take on the role of motherhood. She was reported to have said that what mothers and parents really need is more “flexibility and latitude” at the workplace. She was quoted as saying, “We need more enlightened employers who know that granting parents time off for pressing childcare needs may actually produce happier, more productive and loyal workers.”

Mother of Six concludes:

What lessons can be drawn from my experience? Firstly, making a decision to have a child is a personal one between a husband and his wife. We have children because we like children, even if we do not get to enjoy a baby bonus. It would be sad if a couple had a child solely for the monetary rewards, as a child needs more than money to grow into adulthood.

Secondly, women need to rediscover who they are. Only we can bring life into the world, and since the Sexual Revolution of the 1960s, I feel we have actively suppressed this important role of procreation. Of course, in this era of equality, we can argue that the husband must also contribute to bringing up a child — but if a woman does not even allow herself to bear a child, how can the man get the chance?

Often, women in Singapore prefer a briefcase to a bottle, a notebook to a nappy. In this drive to actualise ourselves as career women and useful citizens, have we forgotten that we have the power and ability to bring life into the world?

Ian Tan, a blogger in Singapore, offers a few interesting solutions to the Singapore's baby drought on his blog.

According to AFP reports, a senate official stated:

US Senate foreign relations committee staff are reviewing reports of extortion and human trafficking from Burmese and other migrants in Malaysia, allegedly at the hands of Malaysia government officials… The allegations include assertions that Burmese and other migrants - whether or not they have UNHCR documentation– are taken from Malaysian government detention facilities and transported to the Thailand-Malaysia border.

According to the allegations, money is demanded from them at the border, or they are turned over to human traffickers in southern Thailand. However, that Malaysia might be a hotspot of human trafficking is not a new development. Veteran opposition leader, Mr Lim Kit Siang, posted on his blog that Malaysia was included in the United States Government’s 2007 Trafficking In Persons (TIP) Report in the Tier 3 list of the worst human trafficking offenders in June 2007.

Photo courtesy of Adli Ghazali

Mr Charles Santiago, Opposition politician, stated on his blog:

The recent news report stating that the US Senate is investigating allegations of Malaysian officials extorting money from foreign migrants are linked to human trafficking comes as no surprise.

I had raised this issue in Parliament last year with regards to the Burmese refugees, together with human rights organisations like Tenaganita and the Migration Working Group. But the Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar had only glossed over the matter… responding in a typical fashion, Syed Hamid in a reply to my question in Parliament said that a special committee formed by the Immigration Department to investigate claims contained in the programme had found that immigration officials were not involved in trafficking of the Burmese or other refugees.

Either Syed Hamid is naive enough to buy the story dished out by the Immigration Department, which had set-up a special team to investigate its own officers. Or he is desperate to ensure Malaysia does not receive bad press worldwide.

Photo courtesy of M.A.M09

Santiago went on to say:

The refugees live in fear of being caught by the immigration authorities and being deported to their countries of origin, to face political persecution, despite holding UNHCR cards.

They are constantly harassed by Rela* officers, a volunteer force, who are known to constantly be on the prowl for migrants and refugees. They even burn down make-shift homes of refugees in jungles.

If arrested, the migrants and asylum-seekers are lumped together in tiny immigration detention cells where flogging is the main form of punishment.

In short refugees live in a limbo in the country as Malaysia is yet to ratify the 1951 Refugee Convention. This means, the government does not need to officially recognise the refugees or the UNHCR documents that they carry.

It also, unfortunately, means that the government can shut a blind eye to allegations of abuse of power by immigration officers who make quick bucks extorting money from the refugees. Those who cannot pay off the extortionists are sold to brothels, fishing boats or as bonded labourers.

Meanwhile the refugees and migrants who are still in the country live in appalling conditions without proper sanitation facilities, housing, food and medicine. They and their children depend on handouts and the goodwill of others.

‘Miniaturz', on the Star newspapers' blog facility, stated:

It is to my personal hope that the US will be able to prove that the Malaysian Immigration personnels are involved in human trafficking. Although I do not approve of illegal immigrants in Malaysia, but the alleged modus operandi of the Malaysian Immigration is deliberate in nature to allow the abuse of subsequently detained illegal immigrants…

So, once again - the hypocrisy of the Malaysian Government is exposed big time. They talk about aiding the people from certain countries but right in our own country, fellow human beings are being treated like slaves for monetary purposes.

That Myanmar refugees and undocumented migrant workers face hardship is well known among Malaysians. Most urbanites, or at least those involved in civil society, are also aware of the allegations of abuse and torture in Malaysia's detention camps. That Malaysia is a ‘hotspot' for human trafficking appears to be the logical next-step in the unfortunate sequence.

Photo courtesy of Adli Ghazali

In response to the investigation, the Home Ministry typically responded that Malaysia was not liable for any wrongdoing in the matter. Santiago stated on his blog:

… Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar had responded in ‘typical fashion’ in Parliament on the matter by announcing the formation of a special committee to investigate the claims, which were first exposed last year by private television network NTV7.

As predicted, it was “found” that immigration officials were not involved in trafficking of the Burmese or other refugees.

This came despite testimonials to the contrary from numerous migrant rights’ non-governmental organisations as well as the victims themselves.

“Either Syed Hamid is naive enough to buy the story dished out by the Immigration Department, which had set-up a special team to investigate its own officers or he is desperate to ensure Malaysia does not receive bad press worldwide,” Santiago told Malaysiakini.**

Now, on April 24th, 2009, it has been reported that top Republican on the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee, handed to the Malaysian government a report “Trafficking and Extortion of Burmese Migrants in Malaysia and Southern Thailand.” The report alleges that “illegal Myanmar migrants deported from Malaysia were often turned over to human traffickers and forced to work in brothels, fishing boats and restaurants in Thailand if they had no money to purchase their freedom.”

The US Senate report, now commonly called “the Lugar Report”, was based on a year-long review by committee staff who interviewed migrants and human rights activists. According to the report:

Myanmar migrants in recent years might have become victims of extortion and trafficking once they were deported to Malaysia's northern border with Thailand. Upon arrival at the Malaysia-Thailand border, human traffickers reportedly take possession of the migrants. Migrants state that those unable to pay (the traffickers) are turned over to human peddlers in Thailand, representing a variety of business interests ranging from fishing boats to brothels.

Through the report, the US Senate Committee called on Malaysia to investigate and prosecute “the trafficking, selling and slavery of Burmese and other migrants.”

Photo courtesy of Adli Ghazali

Opposition veteran, Lim, noted on his blog:

The Senate investigators also received multiple reports of Burmese women being sexually abused by traffickers, including some in front of their husbands because, as one NGO employee cited in the report put it, “no one dares to intervene as they would be shot or stabbed to death in the jungle’’.

“[Burmese women] are sold at a brothel if they look good,” recounted one refugee. “If they are not beautiful, they [the traffickers] might sell them at a restaurant or house-keeping job.”

The committee launched the investigation in 2007 after hearing allegations about the trafficking of Burmese migrants “with the knowledge, if not participation” of Malaysian officials.

“The prospect that Burmese migrants, having fled the heavy hand of the Burmese junta, only to find themselves in harms’ way in Malaysia seemed beyond belief,” said the report.

Lim called on newly minted Prime Minister, Mr Najib Razak, to “respond with instant government action in keeping with his “Performance Now” motto on the Lugar Report which accused Malaysian officials of complicity in the human trafficking of Burmese refugees who have been sold into prostitution and other kinds of forced labour in recent years.”

Photo courtesy of M.A.M09

Santiago, in response to the report, stated on his blog:

Let’s get this straight. The refugees are not coming to Malaysia seeking better economic opportunities. They simply have no choice. They run into Malaysia, leaving behind families and children, to stay alive.

Their woes do not stop once they get to Malaysia. Here they are hunted down like animals by RELA, a bully group consisting of citizens who turn ad-hoc policemen.

Their refugee cards issued by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees or UNHCR is useless as Malaysia does not recognise their refugee status. Therefore the refugees are trapped in a situation where they cannot work and are constantly under the threat of being arrested by immigration and RELA officers.

But the government is only interested in business transactions with the military junta. Malaysian state oil company, Petronas, does business amounting to millions of US dollars with Burma.

ASEAN, on the other hand, pretend they are limousine liberals while in reality, turn a blind eye to the gross violations of human rights by the military. Instead, the leaders shake hands and exchange diplomatic niceties with the Burmese army officers during ASEAN meetings.

The 10-member bloc’s non-interference policy further cushions the Burmese military from the need to be accountable to the killings and disappearances of hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas, Karens, Chins and other minority clans.

I call upon the newly minted Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Tun Hussein to open a new investigation on the matter and consider the 10 proposal of the Lugar report including implementation the country’s Anti-trafficking Law, ASEAN’s Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers and the immediate ratification of the UN 1967 Refugee Convention - with a view to protect and promote the rights of migrants and refugees in the country and region.

Photo courtesy of Adli Ghazali

Aside from the opposition's call for action, Suhakam commissioner, Mr N. Siva Subramaniam, was reported to have said that Suhakam (Malaysia's Human Rights Commission) has received several complaints about human trafficking in the past two years. He was quoted as saying, “The issue has even been raised at international forums but it is difficult to compile the evidence.” Mr Siva also called on the relevant authorities “to investigate and take action against those responsible.”

The report and the calls for action has stirred the sentiments of some bloggers. Bob writes:

Today in the 21st Century, in an era of globalisation, development and technology, one would think that the human race is advancing in the areas of freedom, peace and human dignity. Unfortunately this is not so. … there are more slaves TODAY than were seized from Africa in 4 centuries of trans-Atlantic slave trade. The horror is back. Buying a slave is cheaper than ever before.

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS HAS BECOME THE FASTEST GROWING TRADE ACROSS OUR WORLD. SOME 2.4 MILLION PEOPLE ARE TRAFFICKED EACH YEAR; 1.2 MILLION OF THEM ARE CHILDREN

Every minute, every day, men, women and children are being transported, used or sold against their will. These are the victims of trafficking. They get herded across borders, across continents, sometimes in groups but they are often trafficked alone. They live in terror. Others watch their every move. They are treated like cattle. But the truth is, they’re not just a statistic. These are people – someone’s mother, someone’s child – and they’re dreaming of freedom.

Min Li states:

Most people here are unaware of what exactly defines human trafficking, and that is happening right here in Malaysia. What we usually notice is the amount of foreign workers; be it Chinese, Indonesians or Bangladeshis brought here for labour… but what we don't notice is that some of them have been brought here on false promises and later forced into involuntary servitude due to debt and threats. They have no way out.

The issue of human trafficking and migrant mistreatment is an issue which many Malaysians feel strongly about. Activist and former detainee-without-trial, Nat Tan, wrote on his blog:

The cycle of arrest, detention and deportation that the Burmese refugees in Malaysia experience is a vicious one. The experiences they face along the way, often riddled with violence and abuse, is a complete and utter violation of basic human rights.

Realizing the need for stronger advocacy, and a space for the refugees themselves to share their stories, Tenaganita has compiled stories from refugees who’ve been put through this cycle of arrest-detention-deportation and return to Malaysia. This book, The Revolving Door, highlights the status and situation of refugees in Malaysia, and the need for all parties to play a stronger role in supporting the refugees who live among us.

The Fifty Refugees Website

In fact, for Aris, a 37 year-old Malaysian, the issue was such a passion that the former doctor put together a website, recounting tales of fifty refugees, entitled simply “Fifty Refugees“. The website states:

Theirs [the refugees] is a heartwrenching story of detention, abuse, fear, neglect, and humiliation. But these are stories of resilience, courage, hope and love as well… People who are of your age, or of your children's age, or your parents'. Normal human beings, of flesh and blood, hopes and dreams, like you and me.

Ironically, the Lugar report comes almost a year after Malaysia's Anti-Trafficking in Persons law came into force. According to news reports, thirty-three suspected victims of human trafficking were rescued within the first four months of its enforcement.

In response to the Lugar Report, Malaysia's Prime Minister, Mr Najib, was reported to have said, “We will take appropriate action… We do not want Malaysia to be used as a point for human trafficking … but we need to know more facts.”

* the People’s Volunteer Corps (Rela)
** an alternative news portal
Photos courtesy of Adli Ghazali and M.A.M09

On Saturday, December 11, 1993, at about 1.30 pm, after 10 days of continuous rainfall, a landslide was triggered. Mud slipped into the basements of Block 1 and hence shifting the entire base of the building, hence the entire block collapsed, trapping residents inside. When the rescue operation was called off after days of searching, 48 people were recorded dead. Many countries like Japan and the US sent professionals to help the rescuers here to get trapped victims out from the collapsed rubble. The nation (Malaysia) declared this incident a national tragedy.

Immediately after the collapse of Block 1 the residents of Blocks 2 and 3 were prevented from entering their apartments by the local authority having jurisdiction of the area, the Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya (MPAJ), for fear of the instability of these two buildings. A couple of days later, these occupants were allowed in, in restricted numbers, but only to collect their personal valuables. At that time, even with the presence of the security forces, the apartments were looted. With the eventual passing of time especially when security was reduced and subsequently withdrawn altogether, vandalism became more intense. By 1998, when this court visited the site, every apartment in Blocks 2 and 3 was completely stripped of contents, including fittings leaving only the naked structure.

Image of recent landslide courtesy of www.syahrinaziz.com

The first of the recent landslides occurred at a commercial area where buildings were perched on a hillslope. Jeff, an eyewitness, wrote on his blog:

It happen when I was going through the issues log, suddenly there is a loud noise and the whole building is shaking.

Since I have already noticed the cracks on the road few days ago, I knew in an instance that the road must have collapsed after the heavy rain in the afternoon. *Lucky it didn't fell earlier when I was running by from car park in the heavy rain (else it might scare the hell out of me)*

As usual, everyone is running out from the building to see what have happen, I did the same except I grab along my Ricoh GRDII…

…and that is what I saw…

Image of recent landslide courtesy of Kokstang

Disaster struck again two days later at Bukit Antarabangsa, in the vicinity of the Highland Towers Tragedy, in a residential area. This time, the landslide killed at least four people, with seven missing on the first day, 15 injured, 14 bungalows destroyed and 4,000 people evacuated from the area.

Image of recent landslide courtesy of www.syahrinaziz.com

The Lifeballade blog had this post:

Do they learn what had happened in 1993?? Highland Tower collapsed and many [sic] died [sic] when this collapsed, children, adults, old people.

What have the developers had done for all these years?? With this accident, don’t they still choose not to believe this is our earth calling for help?

My heart shrunk when I saw the piece of news where the husband uses his bare hands to dig the earth to find his wife. The wife managed to save all her children, but she was not able to get out from it, and was buried alive.

Why were developers built those houses near the hill?
Why were those hill cutting projects approved?
Why none of these people understand the greenery is important to our earth?

Image of recent landslide courtesy of Edreenchenart

State assemblywoman, Elizabeth Wong, wrote on her blog:

One of the earliest policy decision made by the new Selangor state govt of Pakatan Rakyat was to throw out any housing and building applications on Class 3 and Class 4 hillslopes, in order to preserve environmentally sensitive areas and prevent the recurrence of landslides. This was decided on April 2, 2008 Executive Council meeting.

Selangor became the first and only state in the Federation to have complied with the Federal Town and Country Planning Department’s “Total Planning Guidelines” 1997 (2nd edition, 2001) which states that no housing development should be allowed on 25 degrees and above gradient slopes.

Developers thought it was a late April Fool’s joke. Since our ban, they have used all means - the media, blogs, lobbying of ADUNs and MPs etc. to change of our minds. We were labelled and villified as “anti-business” and “anti-development”. I have even had some of our Pakatan MPs asking us to make exceptions for Class 3.

And every couple of months, we have to repeat our policy decision again. Even as recent as last month, developers were insisting that they had the right to develop hillslopes and some had told a couple of ExCo members that they were planning to sue us. One of them said we would have to compensate them RM 330 million (25% of our state budget) of possible loss of profits. Imagine the pressure of a lobby group whose combined income and assets dwarfs the state government.

Saturday’s tragedy proves the correctness of the decision of the state government. But vindication which comes after loss of 4 lives and more homes is unspeakably bitter. There are some 5,000 residents living within the vicinity of the landslide who face uncertainty and possibly have to vacate their houses.

Image of recent landslide courtesy of Kokstang

In response to this, Johnny Ong wrote on his blog:

Lobby? Who are this group of lobbyists? Even Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak quoted the same word. He mentioned this - “calls on developers not to lobby or pressure the Government for any building permits for hillside development.”

Anyway, both the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister were cohesive on this - government will not be issuing any more permits for hillside developments.

However, the Prime Minister said something that was half correct - “But Malaysians never want to learn from past experiences, they want a good view (scenery) while developers only seek to profit but no one takes safety and soil stability into consideration.”

Malaysians who purchased properties had expected the property developers to have gotten proper licences and approvals, after having submitted the development plans / soil studies / drainage and irrigation planning, from the relevant federal and state government agencies. You can't say that the purchasers are partly to be blamed for willing to buy up the properties.

Image of recent landslide courtesy of www.syahrinaziz.com

Meanwhile, SC Watch comments on the recent tragedies:

First, it happened in Ulu Yam, just on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur killing two young girls. Then it happened in the city, right between the buildings occupied by our foremost investment bank, CIMB (fortunately no casualties). And the latest taking place at the suburb called Bukit Antarabangsa or International Heights (todate 4 dead).

The latest trajedy at Bukit Antarabangsa is not very far from the more infamous one at Highland Towers, where just under 50 lives were lost in 1993. I remember a few years later, then PM Mahathir noticed blatant clearing of hill-side areas whilst travelling in a helicopter over the same Bukit Antarabangsa area and ordering a stop to those clearing ……. but the development still carried on subsequently …. after taking “certain precautionary measures” on the part of the developers.

It is so ironic that only when lives are lost, properties damaged, thousands of people displaced that the government decides that enough is enough.

Image of recent landslide courtesy of Kokstang

Gan Vin Tsen adds:

So now Bukit Antarabangsa and the surrounding area have been classified as the “dangerous belt”, for real this time. Oh, so it's only seriously declared as the “danger zone” after the 3rd bloody time something severe like this happened.

The Highland Tower tragedy that killed 40 odd innocent lives weren't enough to make this place the “danger zone”? Landslides after landslides for the past few years still weren't enough for the government to take action?

I've just found out that this area was being labelled as one of the hazardous area near town by researchers, years ago may I add. But it was ignored, no actions were taken, development still carried on like nobody's business.

Highways, condominiums, bungalows etc. Nothing can slow down, moreover stop these life-threatening development around Bukit Antarabangsa. Nobody cared about the “researches”. Not the developer, nor the government.

Image of recent landslide courtesy of www.syahrinaziz.com

But not everyone blames the developers or the government. The Paddle Planet Pedal comments:

Many people hold the view that Malaysia should have a large population to create a critical mass of consumers to energize the economy. This puts pressure on many sectors such as crime rates, rising prices, demand for housing, the destruction to the environment and the rapid if not rabid urban sprawl.

This has a direct meaning on the landslide incident. Population and housing pressure pushes developers to look for new sites to build more dwellings. One victim is land which was previously trees and hills. They are cut down and terraced to be turned into housing estates.

Although, it must be said that it is not clear if this commentary is in all seriousness or tongue-in-cheek.

The developers' names have not been highlighted, and mainstream press have not highlighted any press announcements made by the developer(s) in question. Zorro Unmasked proposes:

Let the onus of proof on safety of hillside development be fully with the developer. Let town planners not compromise on any development to fatten the profits of developers

Image of recent landslide courtesy of Kokstang

Bloggers also are disillusioned by the authorities assurances on future hillside developments. The Malaysian writes:

As a people, Malaysians must be sick and tired of the government's assurances every time such a tragedy occurs. After a short period of mourning it is back to business as usual - The MBs keep enriching themselves by influencing the doling out of permits and the local authority bigwigs keep filling their private coffers by allowing development wherever the developer wants, as long as they pay the considerable bribes. One feels such a sense of helplessness amidst all the corruption and unwillingness of the government to at least do something about it. Terrible

Furthermore, bloggers are questioning current hillside development. Tathsing writes:

Nearer home in the District of Penampang, we have seen a number of hillside development. Are these slopes stable and sustainable unlike the slope in Bukit Antarabangsa?

I pray that we don’t have to sacrifice some lives back home here before the local authority and government sit up and notice properly these approved developments.

Meanwhile, power has been restored to the area, and the SPCA and volunteers have searched for missing or abandoned pets. The death toll reported is four, with one missing. Many people are still trapped in their homes in the affected area.

Image of recent landslide courtesy of www.syahrinaziz.com

A geotechnical engineer was reported to have said that an abandoned development of double-storey houses might have caused the landslide. The report stated that as the site was not completed, and with there being no maintenance of the site, the slopes might have caused the buildings to collapse, causing the landslide.

The Prime Minister, Abdullah Badawi, has issued a stop-work order on all current hillside development projects. While state governments in three other Malaysian states have frozen highland projects.

On[e] a sunny Sunday morning last year, 16-year-old Cynthia (not her real name) boarded a four-wheel drive dispatched by logging company Samling to ferry students to SMK Long Lama from her longhouse in Long Kawi, middle Baram, Sarawak.

However, the driver did not send the passengers - two boys and three girls - to the school directly. He dropped by a logging camp and told the students that they had to spend the night there.

“It was around 4pm. Although the school is not far from the camp, the driver didn’t want to continue the journey. The boys and girls were separated into two rooms. I was with my younger sister and another girl.

When night fell, the men in the camp were drinking. In the middle of the night, several men came into our room. One of them dragged me from the room and took me to the bushes behind the camp,” Cynthia recalls her ordeal. The other two girls were not harmed.

Photo courtesy of the Borneo Project

These allegations were initially reported by the Bruno Manser Fonds (BMF), a wildlife and environmental NGO. Following this, Malaysian dailies highlighted the allegations of rape of the Penan womenfolk by employees of two logging companies. BMF reported,

Penan women from the Middle Baram area of Sarawak are launching a cry of alarm to the international community over cases of sexual abuse by logging company workers in the East Malaysian state’s rainforests.

Malaysian blogger and activist, Joseph Tawie, writes on his blog, the Broken Shield:

On the rape cases of the Penan girls, the government had to deny that there was no such a thing, as it did not want the story to be blown up because of international implications. First, they did not want the world to know that the Penans had been deprived of their livelihood when their “pemakai menua” territorial domains and their ancestral lands were seized for oil palm and acacia plantations as well as destroying their forests, the sources of their foods. If the Penans’ plight is to be highlighted, then the possibility of our tropical forest timber and palm oil exports may be banned by the European Union, USA and Japan.

Photo courtesy of the Trade Environment Database

Taib Mahmud reveals even more on his blog, the Sarawak Headhunter:

When Chee How [Taib Mahumd's personal assistent] returned to Kuching, he confirmed that the local Penan communities did tell him the story of a 15-year-old girl raped by some security personnel, and a six-year-old boy had also died from a tear gas attack upon a blockade put up to resist logging operations.

Apparently, the Penans had made the long-trip downriver to Marudi and even Miri, trying to make police reports against the crimes committed on their children. But the policemen on duty in these places simply refused to accept their police report. (It is against the law to refuse to take a police report, but if you are meek, shy, and respectful Penans, what can you do?)

We then decided that perhaps it would be better to bring the Penans to Kuching to lodge the police report. I was a serving MP, and had a little clout with the police, the media, and government departments and agencies in the capital city of Sarawak…

I tell this tale not for the self-serving purpose of showing how heroic I was in trying to bring justice for the Penans. I merely want to show how hard it is for the Penans just to make a police report if a Penan girl is raped, and a Penan boy, killed.

That is the sort of injustice that cries out for the total overhaul of our political culture. Surely, the greatness or meanness of our Malaysian society is judged by how the weakest members of our Malaysian body politics are treated by the institutions of power?

Since then, I have thought about that poor Penan girl often.

Photo courtesy of Survival International

The McCarthy family explain:

The Penan are one of the few remaining nomadic tribes of the rainforest and I think the only nomadic hunter gatherer people of Borneo. Most of the communities are within the Malaysian state of Sarawak. Very sadly the Sarawak rainforest in the last 20 years has diminished through intensive state backed logging. The majority of the Penan communities have lost their traditional way of lives and have been forced into settlements. I don't know enough about the communities but I can only assume that some are better off than others.

Jeffery Jim writes about his own encounters with the Penan:

I sat down close to them. It is true that they are timid and very reserved. I give them a warm smile and say hello. It is not easy to talk to them since they are victims of much aggression and discrimination.
…
These Penans that I have encountered are no more nomads. They have settled down just like the others, only that they are substantially lack of prime necessities such as clothings and food. Their daily activities still maintain the same. They still survive by the jungle. They hunt for food and at most time, their kills is the only source of income. They trade their kills. Sometime they sell it for a really low price in comparison to their effort. Beside hunting, occasionally they generate their income by doing hard labor. They carry jerry cans of fuel and stove tank for hours for the use of the local Kelabit [another indigenous tribe]. They actually contribute to the Kelabit by giving them the option for cheaper goods compare to the flown in goods which are highly priced.

Photo courtesy of Virtual Malaysia

Staindlee reacts:

Recently, i'm angered by the article i'd read inside the newspapers.. it is regarding the issues of the Penan community… now, their teen girls are being targeted as an easy pray for the loggers to fulfills their sexual desires… fxxk those stupid, inhuman, moron rapers… how can do such an act to such innocent people… those young teenage girls whose life are shine with the bright hope of the future, suddenly ruined in one single incident that may changes their life path forever…
…
i'm mr. nobody… my voice won't even reach out to them.. i'm glad there are some responsible NGOs who are looking into this matter such as Suhakam.. please save them and bring the culprits into the face of justice… doesn't mean that the Penan lives in the rural areas their lives, their plights are taken easily… they are the people have the same equal right as you and me and also deserves a better and secure life.. away from fear of the evil society…

Photo courtesy of DayLife

It is reactions like these which caused the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry to form a special task force to look into the alleged rape and abuse by loggers against Penan women and girls (to be ready in December). Furthermore, Malaysian Human Rights Commission, SUHAKAM also set out its own investigations into the matter.

NGOs responded with a press conference, calling for police in the Malaysian headquarters in the capital to look into the matter, rather than the police in the state of Sarawak. A blog with the NGOs press release states:

We further urge that proper police investigation commences as soon as possible with the Bukit Aman Police heading the investigation as the communities affected have expressed a serious loss of confidence against the Sarawak police due to their long standing dealings with them including in disputes with logging companies and the inaction and perpetuation of impunity in the aforesaid abuse cases.

The press release also states:

We also wish to add that in November 1994, the Penans lodged a police report listing 10 instances of abuses committed against their persons, property and lands, including the rape of a 12-year-old girl by Police Field Force personnel (PFF, now known as General Operation Force). These were quickly dismissed by the police even before an investigation was begun, causing a serious loss of confidence in the ability of the Sarawak police to act professionally.

In 2000, a report was also made to Suhakam but similarly there was no action.

Due to the vulnerability of these girls and women and the communities as a whole, we strongly and urgently call upon the Government and Suhakam to take these allegations seriously and set up a fact finding mission comprising of respected and qualified members who will be able to conduct the fact finding independently, fairly and competently.

In response, Deputy Chief Minister of Sarawak, Alfred Jabu Numpang, ticked off Tawie for highlighting the Penan's plight in his Broken Shield blog (click Global Voices Advocacy report here). Furthermore, the police investigation, conducted by the police headquarters in Kuala Lumpur as called for, found little or no evidence of rape.

Aside from the news that the the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry's special task force will have its report ready in December on the Penan rape issue, no new developments have occurred on this matter.

Photo courtesy of the Bruno Manser Fond

Sadly, the Penans have more than just the (alleged) rapes to contend with. The Sarawak Headhunter blog published a news report, which states:

The Penan’s protracted resistance to deforestation and the international attention the tribe continues to receive must have irked the Sarawak government.
The state government continues to dismiss their concerns over the loss of forest resources brought on by industrial logging that degrades the forest and pollutes the rivers.

At the height of the international anti-tropical timber campaign in the late 1980s, the state set up a Penan Affairs Committee to help the nomadic tribe to lead a settled life with promises of socio-economic development. The state announced allocations worth millions of ringgit.

Two decades later, the benefits remain elusive for many Penans. The rapid expansion of acacia and oil palm plantations eats into their ancestral land. To top it off, the natives are becoming illegals with many not having official documents.

Photo courtesy of Photongo's Flickr Account

ConservationBytes.com also adds:

The Malaysian government is attempting to quell indigenous opposition to logging in the rainforests of Borneo by deposing community leaders and replacing them with timber company stakeholders, reports an environmental group.

The Bruno Manser Fund, a Swiss NGO that works on behalf of the forest people of Sarawak, Malaysia, says that the headmen of at least three Penan communities that have opposed logging have lost official recognition from Malaysian authorities over the past year. The government is working to install representatives who support logging.

Photo Courtesy of the Rainforest Information Centre, Australia

Politics and rapes aside, Sharwin Arujunan blogs:

Over the next decade there is about 12 dam project in Sarawak alone. I am very sure that alot of native people's home has to be sacrificed but why so many dam's ? Most of the Sarawak is still covered by forest the power which is to be created is for who? Raymond Abin of the Borneo Resource Institute (Brimas) said , for energy needs in Sarawak, we don't need the Murum, because Bakun is more than enough to supply the state's needs.

Penan people are likely to be effected and I really think that building quite a number of dam's means that the will be a major loss of flora and fauna and loads more. I do understand we have to sacrifice something in order to get something better but, we can avoid making unnecessary sacrifice which will in the short term lower down the cost of spending, save the native people's culture and give them a life and in the long run there will be still flora and fauna where the new generation can experience so that they too can have a chance.

Photo courtesy of the Forest Monitor

All images were researched through Creative Commons.

According to a blog report:

Whatta day!! If you were expecting a cool “Walk for Justice”-type scene, you were in for a big surprise!! It was no walk in the park….

- 40,000 people
- 4000 Police - Dataran Merdeka was sealed off by a wall of Policemen.
- Police fired water cannons and tear gas at Masjid Jamek.
- Roadblocks on ALL roads leading into KL.
- 29 people arrested, 24 released
- The cops could not stop 40,000 people from marching from KL city centre to the Istana Negara to hand over the memorandum to the Agong [the King].

An anniversary rally was organised this year, not only to commemorate one of the biggest protest marches held in Malaysia, but to also celebrate the release of Raja Petra Kamaruddin (RPK), who had been held in detention without trial. What transpired that evening turned out to be much more than just a candlelight vigil that had been planned.

According to blogger Antares:

Got a call from a friend who said the cops had forced her to turn back at a roadblock, so she decided to go home… Polis patrol cars were cruising up & down and the crowd started walking slowly towards the PJ Civic Center. Decided to WALK WITH RPK (literally) and when I got to the Civic Center, the Red Helmets were already lined up and beating their shields to scare people. Polis sirens were wailing just for effect. It appeared they had been instructed to intimidate & terrorize the peaceful rakyat gathered there simply because we value democracy and love this nation too much to allow it to be turned into a pirates' lair by a bunch of Scumno scoundrels.

Apparently, there were roadblocks throughout Petaling Jaya, the suburbs on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. A vigil to free Raja Petra Kamaruddin had been held in a field in the suburbs every week since his detention. Since his release, the vigil was to be held together with the BERSIH one-year rally.

KKitSam says:

… i realized that the police had roadblocks all over PJ, blocking cars to the field in front of Amcorp Mall. I then parked my car near MBPJ building and walked there. Apparently the police didn’t stops me going there but i saw them questioning those who wore FREE RPK/I AM WITH RPK shirt.

Many had gathered at the field. Angela told us that the police had asked us to disperse because we didn’t have permit to gather at the PUBLIC PARK. The police also said we need to be at a closed area, not OPEN AREA. The turnout was very good, even with roadblocks closing all the roads for cars, a few hundreds managed to walk there and gathered in front of the Amcorp Mall at the car park. By 9pm, FRU [Federal Reserve Unit] has lined up and pushed the peoples into the mall.

News reports state that the crowd dispersed from the field to a nearby commercial area, where a popular multi-purpose hall, the Civics Centre, was located. At the Civic Centre, blogger and witness Chin Yau Chia wrote:

Reached Civic centre, greeted Marina, and the short ceremony begun. Both of us was standing outside the crowd. We heard Tony [Pua - Opposition MP present at the rally] said that if there's no BERSIH rally, he will probably not been elected. Then we started singing “Negara Ku” [Malaysia's national anthem], when we are about to finish, FRU charged us. It seems that they have specific targets. I saw them chasing after a young Indian guy, and got him finally. We quickly walked away as we are not able to help at that instance. A few FRUs passed us by, but they did nothing to us. Some plainclothes, one Chinese plainclothes, was shouting at us chasing us to leave the venue. So now I know, our Police force is used against the orderly people, people who are seeking for justice, not to combat crime.

The pandemonium appears to have occurred while a crowd of about 100 citizens were singing the national anthem. The police walked into the crowd to disperse them midway through the song. ICFJ trainee citizen journalism vloggers, Lesly Lee and Christine Chan, caught the following clip.

What followed was the arrest of twenty-three people, including Opposition MP, Tony Pua, state assemblyman, Lau Weng San, a Malaysiakini video journalist and activist, Angela Ooi . According to Sivin Kit:

A 53-year-old woman named Dian Abdullah was attacked from behind by a few policemen, causing her to fall and injure the back of her head. A bystander took her to the hospital where she received four stitches for the cut.

MP for Petaling Jaya Utara, Tony Pua and Kampung Tunku state assemblyman Lau Weng San were manhandled and punched respectively. A PAS member was set upon by six police officers on the five-foot-way right outside Lotus Restaurant.

Blogger Melvin Mah reports:

We established that 24 were arrested. Angela Ooi, the girl actively in the anti-ISA vigil in Seremban was one of them, Augustine, Arif Abdull - a fellow blogger, the priest Father Paulino from the [Divine] Mercy church in Shah Alam. We thought Ronnie was also arrested. He was released immediately becuase the police apparently saw him trying to approach them to request for time before dispersing.

Tony [Pua] was dragged by Special Branch into the Black Maria truck. Kampung Tunku assemblyman Lau Weng San was assaulted by a special Branch man whom he managed to identify, but the man responsible was rude, refused to reveal his identity. Some of the organizing team for the vigil in Penang including were arrested as well.

… Chris' friend, Dian was dragged behind and fell down, her son arrested and her husband dragged by the Special Branch. The bleeding was so profuse that she was taken to the Assunta hospital, requiring 4 stitches. Another woman, while attempting to run away from the melee, struck her head onto a pot plant, head bleeding profusely.

The Malaysiakini videographer, who was there to record the event was also arrested. He also recorded RPK's word or two at the Civic Centre before he was taken away.

All but one of those detained were released the following day. In addition, news reports quoted Chief Police Officer (CPO) Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar as saying that he did not hear the national anthem being sung when his men moved in to disperse the crowd which had violated the law by taking part in an illegal assembly.

Blogger Haris Ibrahim responds:

Now, Khalid, if you did not hear the Negaraku being sung at the impromptu Dewan Sivik vigil, why did you not react with ‘What anthem? No-one was singing Negaraku?’ when told that vigilers had complained that your men charged into them whilst they were singing Negaraku, rather than “That is what they are claiming”, as reported in Malaysiakini.

If Khalid truly did not hear the singing, it could be for only one of two reasons.

He wasn’t at the scene.
Or he’s stone deaf.

…From the moment I got there until we began to disperse at about 9.40-9.45pm, the national anthem was sung only once, a little after 9.30pm.

Civil society groups condemn the arrests, especially on the use of force, the repression of assembly and expression and the disrespect shown to the national anthem, and Malaysian bloggers are up in arms on the whole episode.

Master Wordsmith writes:

For some of us, we may be telling ourselves that we may not ever dare to venture to a candle light vigil. Some may opine that the more they suppress us, the louder will be our voices resounding through whatever space that we can use.

For what it was worth, the recent arrests have left the IT savvy English speaking segment and some of the Bersih crowd and their networks seething with rage. I was very angry too but is anger alone enough? You see, that is the very reaction that our enemies want to create in the hearts and minds of the citizens. Do we then succumb to their conniving plot?

… many more need to rise above the induced fear and anger. The mass consciousness in Malaysia is constantly being manipulated by those in power to believe that we have no other choice than what is being thrust on us now.

Master Wordsmith was arrested for organising an anti-ISA rally in Penang, another Malaysian state, on 15th November, a week after the arrests in Petaling Jaya. A parallel event near the capital took place on the same evening without incident.

“Pontianak” is one of the most famous, scariest and violent ghost in the Malaysian culture. Primarily, the Malays believe that it originates from a still born child, women who dies while giving birth, women who were killed by the pontianak or their spirits captured by them. The phrase “Pontianak” was believed from the acronym of “Perempuan Mati Beranak” in the Malay language, meaning the woman death by childbirth

The Joker explains further:

…Pontianak appearance can be deceiving. She would go out and fly during nighttime. She would look seductive and beautiful on the outside and would usually smell nice as well so that she can entice men. Once she lured in someone, the Pontianak would then turn into something hideous.

It’s not only men that are in danger from being victims of Pontianaks. Babies and women are not safe from Pontianaks. They are known to eat babies as well and would cause harm to pregnant women that might cause their miscarriage.

According to legend, the Pontianak usually haunts lonely roads or leafy areas. According to the “Gambar Hantu” (Ghost Picture) blog:

Hantu puntianak dikatakan sering menjelma sebagai wanita cantik yang berjalan seorang diri dijalan yang sunyi. Oleh itu, cerita ini kemungkinan bertujuan menghindari golongan wanita daripada diganggu oleh pemuda-pemuda yang takutkan puntianak ketika berjalan seorang diri di jalan yang sunyi.

Legend is that the Pontianak are afraid of sharp objects, as these can paralyse them, or cause them to turn into a beautiful woman. According to the Budak Jahat (Naughty Boy) blog:

Puntianak ini dikatakan mempunyai lubang dibelakang tengkuknya.
Sesiapa yang berjaya hidup ketika berjumpa puntianak dalam jelmaan wanita dan memasukkan paku ke dalam lubang ini dikatakan menjadikan puntianak tersebut kekal menjadi wanita cantik. Sekiranya paku itu dikeluarkan, ia akan kembali sebagai puntianak.

So inherent is the legend of the Pontianak in South East Asian culture that a city in Indonesia is named after the ghoul.

Pontianak according to the fairy tale is a name of a lady ghost, who has along hair. Because there were a lot Pontianak ghost at the ancient time, so the people named this city Pontianak.

Like the western world's ‘Dracula‘, the Eastern entertainment industry has immortalised the Pontianak legend on to the silver screen, with such gems as Dendam Pontianak (Pontianak's Revenge 1957), Sumpah Pontianak (Pontianak's Promise 1958), Pontianak Kembali (The Return of the Pontianak 1963), Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam (the Pontianak Tuberose 2004) and Kuntilanak (2007). Some of these have spawned many sequels. A variation of the Pontianak has also appeared in Japanese Manga cartoons.

Sightings of the Pontianak has never ceased through the years. About two years ago, two young Singapore soldiers were caught on video getting spooked by a Pontianak (see video below).

More recently, the recording of what is said to be a Pontianak even made it into the Malaysian Malay language dailies. In April 2008, many flocked to the historical town of Malacca. According to Yik Yang Nicholas on April 15th 2008:

For the past fortnight, droves of people have gathered at a bridge near Jalan Pulau Gadong, Malacca, where the 50-second video-clip was purportedly filmed.

Many stayed up to the wee hours of the morning hoping to catch a glimpse of the spectre.

The video clip, circulated via mobile phone, shows a woman with long black hair and clad in a white cloth floating in midair while whimpering.

A receiver of the video clip told the Malay daily that he had heard many stories about the pontianak.

Still, there are sceptics. The most common theory debunking Pontianak sightings is explained on the G.H.O.S.T. Club blog:

The barn owl, white in colour, often mistaken as a ‘Pontianak', commonly found in cemetries.

The images above are so easily mistaken for sights of the paranormal, that more often than not, people imagine they have witnessed a ghost rather than rationalize that it was probably just an owl. I mean, afterall, don't we prefer to say that we have seen a ghost, rather an an animal?

Still, the Pontianak lives on in the South East Asian imagination. Urban legends, like the following story, as related on the City That Never Sleeps blog, is one of the most famous stories around.

It seemed one late night on the old road to Genting Highlands, before the new road was opened, a couple, husband and wife were driving downwards heading home after having their holidays. After passing a tunnel, their car began to have some weird sounds. Curious, the husband decided to stop along the roadside to check on the engine. The road was deserted as it was late at night. The husband opened the bonnet of the car and began examining the engine with his torchlight.

While the husband was busy finding out what happened to his car, the wife sat quitely in the car waiting for him. Some 15 minutes passed by and the husband was still busy with the car. The wife just sat there patiently, she was beginning to wonder what took him so long. The eerie silence was a little too much for her as there was not a single sound at all.

Suddenly, she heard a loud motor sound coming towards her car. In need of help, she called out loudly to the motorcyclist, who happened to be a policeman. She was shocked as the policeman rushed to her with a panic frenzy, opened her car door, and ordered her to quickly jump onto his bike. The wife hesitated at first, but seeing the policeman was in a state of shock, she followed his instuctions obligingly.

Jumped onto his bike, she asked the policeman what was happening. He didn't reply her, but ordered her not to ever look back to her car. As they sped down the road, the woman took a peek at the side mirror of the motorcycle, and there she saw the most horrifying thing — a pontianak with long hair and dressed in white was sucking her husband dry in front of the car!

Ghosts ghouls myths and legends

However, Zaid resigned from his position in protest to the detentions without trial of a journalist, a blogger and an opposition MP, all of whom were detained within a one-day time frame. Now, it is unclear if judicial reforms will take place, or even if they do, how effective the reforms will be.

This comes hot on the heals of Tan Sri Zaki Azmi as the new Chief Justice of Malaysia. According to blogger Shamsul Iskandar:

Agak menyedihkan bagi seorang Perdana Menteri yang akan menghabiskan sisa-sisa perkhidmatannya pada Mac 2009 kerana masih lagi gagal untuk memahami dan memenuhi kehendak rakyat supaya badan penting seperti Badan Kehakiman ini ‘dibersihkan’ tanpa sebarang keraguan. Umum mengetahui bahawa sebelum Tan Sri Zaki Tun Azmi dilantik sebagai Hakim Mahkamah Persekutuan, beliau merupakan seorang tokoh korporat yang rapat dengan Parti Umno malah mengetuai salahsatu jawatankuasa di bawah parti berkenaan.

The need for judicial reform in Malaysia is considered crucial by many Malaysians. From the 1988 judicial crisis, which saw the sacking of six prominent judges by the Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, followed by what has been called as “two decades of judicial darkness“, including poison pen letters alleging judicial corruption in 1996 and culmination of the crisis in the recent “Lingam Tapes” scandal.

According to Screenshots, the Lingam tape purportedly shows a veteran lawyer, VK Lingam, in a phone conversation with current Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, allegedly fixing the appointment of ‘friendly’ senior judges.

The outrage of the clip caused the government to form a Royal Commission of Inquiry into its contents. Most tellingly, the Commission found that the judicial appointments is open to manipulation by the Executive and private citizens, and that prominent personalities, including former Malaysian premier, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, were involved in an ”insidious movement” to fix the appointment of judges.

The Malaysian judiciary has not ever recovered from the Lingam scandal, and Malaysians looked with favour on Zaid's proposals on judicial reform. However, since his resignation and its aftermath, which included an open letter to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah on the detentions without trial, and now with the appointment of Tan Sri Zaki Azmi, things are not optimistic. Din Merican stated:

…I am aghast at this latest news coming out Kuala Lumpur today that the appointment of UMNO’s Zaki Tun Azmi as the new Chief Justice of our country has been accepted by Majlis Di Raja (Council of Rulers). Zaki is the pick of our reform minded Badawi government in its dying days, despite the fact that some 25,000 Malaysians had signed the petition appealing to our Duli Yang Maha Yang DiPertuan (our King) to stop this appointment.

This is no doubt a huge blow to judicial reform and one can only hope the Parliamentarians on both sides of the aisle will in good conscience and as provided under Article 127 of the Federal Constitution debate this appointment. As it is, Malaysia’s image abroad is severely impaired and with this latest development, political observers and analysts will wonder why Prime Minister Badawi who promised to push his reform agenda in his remaining months in office should be making such retrogressive move.

While Guansin says:

It is common knowledge that the Judiciary of Malaysia has rotten over the years, culminating in the Lingam tape scandal in 2007, much to the wrath of the rakyat of Malaysia. But reading the specifics of how some judges have rotten in the Judiciary would allow us to expose and shame the judges concerned. We should not just let them off easily.

Meanwhile, current politician and son of former premier, Tun Dr Mahathir, Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir, recently stated that Zaid’s efforts to make the judicial appointments system more transparent would not play much of a role in the nation’s progress, asserting that judicial reform issues, if not implemented, would not cause the nation to crumble, adding that Malaysians had lived all this while without them.

This, along with the appointment of Tan Sri Zaki, has caused much disquiet among netizens. Malik Imtiaz stated on his blog:

Matters of judicial competence and integrity impact across the board; they are neither race nor political-party specific. Bad or skewed decisions hurt the wider legal profession and the nation as a whole as much as the litigants involved. One of the biggest difficulties practicing law at the present is the lack of certainty in the law, in part for there being a slew of decisions that have been adjudged without due regard to principle or precedent. In becoming precedents themselves, these decisions have undermined the foundations of not only the legal system but also the system of commerce that it supports. Commerce being wholly dependent on the certainty that only an effectively functioning legal system can provide, the current state of affairs is anathema.

In addition, the public has recently been reminded of the slow and arduous journey of the Malaysian justice system, with the appeal of human rights activist, Irene Fernandez beginning this month. The case is said to be Malaysia's longest-running case in Malaysia, littered with postponements, missing court documents and ‘incomprehensible' judicial notes.

However, new Chief Justice Tan Sri Zaki Azmi has begun his term with what has been described as a “hard-hitting” speech. He said that he will not hesitate to take stern and drastic action against errant judges, who have tarnished the image of the judiciary. According to news reports, Tan Sri Zaki is already planning reforms, with the blessing of the Prime Minister.

Meanwhile, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz has stepped back into his former position as the minister in charge of legal affairs, in replacement of Zaid Ibrahim. Nazri has done some good work with the legal affairs portfolio, like pushing forward the Witness Protection Bill. However, Zaid has stated that in his time he faced much opposition in Parliament. The jury is out if Nazri, together with Tan Sri Zaki, will be able to come through with effective judicial reforms.

[note: Tan Sri, Tun, Datuk Seri and Datuk are honourifics given to Malaysians]

According to Hungzai.com,

Entering the jungle? Respect the place and don’t “talk big”. Don’t relieve yourself anywhere you like. Don’t call out your friend’s name. Break these traditional taboos and unseen spirits may just wreak havoc on you – for instance, a “voice” may just imitate your companion’s name and lead him far astray from the path.

Or you may end up in an unseen dimension, perhaps even meet a nice old man who invites you to a fabulous ‘mansion’ in the jungle.

Fascination on the matter has grown in recent years, with the sighting of a creature, similar to the North American Bigfoot, in the jungles of peninsular Malaysia. According to Adha:

Ramai yang mendakwa telah terserempak dengan Bigfoot dan mereka menggambarkan makhluk itu bertubuh tegap dan besar, gigi-giginya besar, matanya berwarna merah, bulunya berwarna perang gelap atau merah kehitaman dan meliputi seluruh badan. penghuni hantu puaka rimba hutan berhantu angker batu di Malaysia hutan tropika Bigfoot dikatakan tidak menyerang manusia atau menggangu manusia sebaliknya malu jika terserempak dengan manusia malah sering berpindah kawasan setelah kewujudannya disedari oleh manusia. Ia hanya makan pucuk kayu muda dan akan menggosokkan badannya pada batang pokok untuk menghilang kegatalan pada tubuh. kejadian paranormal mengenai big foot mengenai Bigfoot makhluk tapak kaki besar Makhluk yang dikenali sebagai Mawas, Orang utan, Hantu Jarang Gigi dan Siamang di kalangan masyarakat Orang Asli Johor itu juga hidup dalam kumpulan iaitu satu keluarga yang dianggotai oleh bapak, ibu dan anak-anak… Kisah terawal tentang Big foot mula dilaporkan pada tahun 1811 apabila seorang juruukur Kanada mendakwa menemui jejak kaki luarbiasa yang besar dan dipercayai milik makhluk yang belum pernah dikenali oleh dunia di Jasper, Kanada.

Urban myth aside, Malaysia is rich with legends of ghosts living in the forest.
Oakfall~FirdzZ explains what a Water Ghost is on his blog:

Hantu Air, Puaka Air or Mambang Air is the Malay translation for Spirit of the Water , Hantu Air is the unseen dweller of watery places such as rivers, lakes, seas, swamps and even ditches. It is mainly associated with bad things happening to people which includes drowning, missing, flooding and many more.

The term Hantu Air may sound spooky to Malays but when the term is translated into English it creates a new understanding of the meaning that besets the culture of the Malay people. For a long time the Malay Archipelago was ruled by animism {the believe in spirits} and people tended to associate almost anything with the spiritual world including nature.

Some people believe that the spirit will haunt places associated with water during or after it has been discarded by its previous owner. The unguided and lost spirit will soon roam the place. When it is hungry, it will feast on anything including humans.

Superstitions arising among the locals tell of this evil spirit dwelling in watery places where it sometimes disguises itself as an old tree trunk, a beautiful lady, fishes or other animals in order to attract unassuming people into its trap. When caught the human will be eaten or perhaps drowned to death.

There is a ceremony that is still popular among the local older Malays called Semah Pantai especially in the East Coast of Malaysia. It is a ceremony whereby fishermen and seafarers honor the sea spirits and at the same time ask for blessings and protection when they venture out to sea to catch fish.

At the Penampakan Gambar Foto Hantu blog, which specialises in photos of ghosts, you can even find photos of what is said to be a ghost in the forest, like the one below.

Perhaps the most famous of all forest spirits, who are said to live in a dimension which humans can't see. Occasionally, the dimensions overlaps, which explains sightings. According to X Trackers:

One best option is not to engage in this entities, because without a proper guidance and knowledge we could endanger ourselves and families. If God Willing, I will soon post some of by research I wrote “The Law Of Spirit”, so people will have a better understanding of the another world dimension and it's beings within. In it will have topic such as “The misinterpretion of ghost and do they exist?”

Meanwhile, recent school hysteria has been put down to ghostly sightings, including that of the Bunian. Alem says:

memang hard to believe that some people can see makluk halus which were jin, bunian, jembalang and so on..this is a give from god..do you ever heard news about hysteria happen at the new school somewhere in malaysia recendly..base on her(girl that can see things) opnion that place were perkampungan bunian hard to believe kan.. i agree with her coz actually that place memang tempat jin bertendang before development..no1 attent to go there but the school was build at that place for many reason..tambah lagi primary school lagi.. u know kan children memang can see many things… i dunno this is my opinion..so to me other mahlok memang exist..tuhan itu maha kuasa…anything beyond our thinking anything can be…

Syed Hamid’s announcement is notwithstanding long-held objections by journalists, activists and civil society groups.

The government has not been precise on why a National Media Council and policy should be implemented. The purpose for setting up a Media Council in 2001, according to the then Information Parliamentary Secretary, Zainuddin Maidin, was so that journalists remain sensitive to the political and social scenarios, and to enable chief editors to contend with bigger problems.

Meanwhile, the opposition in 2001 wanted an “independent high-powered Media Council” to promote free and responsible press, with powers to expose all instances of irresponsible foreign and local reporting.

Going on this premise, Malaysia might possibly need a media policy and a regulatory body, as there has been allegations of several alleged breaches of journalistic ethics this year alone, including non-verification of facts and alleged hate journalism.

Bloggers, including former premier, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed, are less than convinced. According to the Malaysia Update blog, Dr Mahathir said:

“It is not necessary. It is up to the media. If you deal in a lot of rumour and speculation, then you will not sell newspapers.”

He added that the media should be self-regulating.

A commenter on Malaysia Today, the website of detained blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin, said:

“No point having national media council if the Printing Presses and Publications Act and the broadcast restriction using Multimedia Commission is not lifted. Contrary to TDM [Tun Dr Mahathir], it still won't be self regulation if all these laws are in place. Of course, TDM may not think so because he does not subscribe to the view that these provisions stifle the press as they are still able to criticise him when he was in power.

“Anyway, the point of having the media commission is not to punish people like Malaysiakini, but rather [to] ensure objective reporting of [the] like[s] [of] NST [New Straits Times] and Utusan Melayu. It should definitely not be a place to seek remedy for defamation because that would be duplicating the function of the court.”

In fact, Home Minister Syed Hamid has been non-committal about the abolition of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 (PPPA), which requires anyone seeking to publish or print to obtain a licence from government. According to Malaysiakini, more than 900 journalists had signed a petition for the repeal of the licensing provisions under the PPPA.

Blogger, Masterwordsmith, had a ten-point response on her blog. She questions the need to “waste government resources/taxpayers' money by creating a media council as another regulatory authority over the print media”.

Mastwordsmith also asks why nothing has been done about the short story written by Chamil Wariya in the Malay language newspaper, Mingguan Malaysia, which allegedly incites the public towards violence against a Member of Parliament. Chamil Wariya, is the president of the Malaysian Press Institute (MPI), which is said to be assisting in the formulation of the proposed Media Council and Policy.

Blogger Kean-Jin Lim, a Malaysian working in Finland, stated, in response to Syed Hamid’s citing the UK as having a press council:

“Min[i]ster used UK as example in this case. They told us before we should not learn from Western world. Now, they gave you example from Western world. Selective choice isn’t it? We see many complaints made to several commissions we already have; however, the outcome so far?”

It also appears that most new media are unaware of the ‘new media policy’. Blogger and now politician, Jeff Ooi, stated at a forum on Blogging and Defamation that most of the online press he had spoken to only found out about this development through the press. Ooi added at the forum that having a media council would be like being “double hand-cuffed”.

It should be noted that a survey conducted by Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) and Merdeka Center on media independence, 35% of the respondents said the government should play the most important role in improving media independence in Malaysia. Furthermore, the media is seen by some members of the public as important. For example, PJ Moorthy, ends his post on the issue on his blog, on this note:

“Perhaps, then if the proposed National Media Council actually did cover the blogosphere, then maybe… these personal opinion maestros of the blogs might just succumb to authority. As it is, the likes of [anonymous] bloggers will continue to mesmerize their readers with imagined fowls and miraged post men with their fairy tales!

This writer believes that these personal pages (otherwise known as Blogs) remain….oh so personal and should not be looked at as THE SOURCE for news.”

However, the idea for a Media Council has been mooted for many years. Only time will tell when it will be established and how effective it will be in its role of regulating media in Malaysia.