narrativeautumn

亟需糾正的腐化司法制度

“Deal with the rot, not the tape” by M. Bakri Musa

M Bakri Musa
Sep 28, 07 11:41am
If Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz has any sense of personal honour and professional integrity left, he should resign immediately. If Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has even the slightest responsibility for leadership and moral duty to the citizens, he should not extend the Chief Justice’s contract, due to expire this October. If the Malaysian Bar Council has any credible principle of societal obligation and self-policing ethics of a profession, it would disbar the lawyer making that phone call shown in the infamous video clip exposed by former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim.

Alas, judging from past performances, expect none of these. That is the unfortunate reality of Malaysia today. What remains then would be for the King to withhold consent for extending Fairuz’s contract, thereby precipitating an unnecessary and distracting constitutional crisis the nation could ill bear.

The Bar Council had an emergency meeting, but instead of initiating the necessary disciplinary proceedings on the involved lawyer (which would definitely be within its power) it decided instead to march at Putrajaya and hand a petition to the prime minister demanding for a Royal Commission. Next those lawyers would be demonstrating on the streets. So Third World, a la Pakistan! I would have thought those smart lawyers would have concocted some novel legal theory on which to sue the government into action.

Meanwhile Abdullah Badawi was “disappointed,” not at the explosive contents of the video but the fact that it was released. Wake up, Mr Prime Minister! The rot is the Malaysian judiciary, not the taping. If Abdullah does perk up from his slumber, he would probably order the arrest of Anwar Ibrahim!

Chief Justice Fairuz, taking a leaf from the prime minister’s notorious “elegant silence,” issued a terse, “No comment!” It was neither elegant nor silent; instead it was ugly and spoke volumes.

Motive for taping
The quality of the recording is such that it is unlikely to be a fake. With today’s forensic capabilities, it would be foolish for anyone to even attempt this. The lawyer concerned was speaking on his cell phone, meaning, there will be the inerasable digital trail. My monthly cell phone bill details my outgoing and incoming calls. Because of the quality, the video could not be shot surreptitiously as with a cell phone a la the earlier “nude ear squat” episode. Besides, such a device was probably unavailable back in 2002.

The intriguing question then is why the taping was made in the first place. Dispensing with the most common and obvious reason – stupidity – I posit a few.

One is that basic human emotion: vanity. The bragging rights of accumulating the next million after you have already acquired a few declines very rapidly. You need some other trophies, like an embellished royal title or additional wives (for Muslims). If you already have those, or cannot acquire them, then the next intoxicating fantasy would be to be a kingmaker, or fancying yourself as one.

For a lawyer to be able to brag that you could “handle” senior judges must be the ultimate high. If also considerably enhances your ability as rainmaker. Years later in your old age, your skeptical grandchildren might attribute your boasts to nothing more than the rambling of a senile mind, unless of course you have the video to prove it!

Closely related to vanity is arrogance. Humility is when you could manipulate the nation’s judiciary and have the quiet satisfaction; arrogance is when you flaunt it. This lawyer Lingam was certainly flaunting it!

Alternatively, I do not put it below this shyster to put on this monologue with an imagined targeted senior judge at the other end, a la Lat’s old cartoon, and then purposely “leaked” the tape out. It would certainly be a headline grabber. As for a motive, rogues are known to do this to each other when they have a falling out. There is one quick way to check this: examine the tape to determine when it was manufactured.

The last possibility is that this could be an insider’s job, perhaps an employee’s scheme to get even with his or her boss just in case he would get nasty in future. Knowing how law firms’ employees are treated in Malaysia, this is a real possibility.

No remedy
After much delay and amidst speculations, Abdullah finally appointed, apparently at the Ruler’s insistence, Justice Hamid Mohamed as President of the Court of Appeal, and Justice Alauddin Sherif as Chief Justice of Malaya. The two are highly regarded for their integrity as well as for being apolitical and independent minded. No wonder they were not Abdullah’s initial choice!

Abdullah also appointed a private lawyer Zaki Tun Azmi directly to the Federal Court. He was on Umno’s “Money Politics” disciplinary board. Lately he was known more for dumping his young Thai bride (his second, third, fourth?) and then asking her to burn their wedding certificate that was issued in Southern Thailand. Such personal integrity! The surprise is that the Council of Rulers consented to the appointment.

Perhaps Zaki Azmi was Abdulalh’s ideal choice for a future Chief Justice. That would of course reflect on Abdullah.

The rot in the judiciary predates Abdullah. However, he had the opportunity to reverse the trend or at least stem the decline with these new appointments, but as with the massive electoral mandate he received in 2004, he squandered it.

Many are advocating for an independent Judicial Commission to deal with judges’ appointments and promotions. I disagree. Judges and the judiciary generally must be accountable to the public. While I would not have judges be elected, as in some jurisdictions in America, the current system with judges appointed by the prime minister and consented to by the Council of Rulers is a good substitute. There is no point wasting time and effort tinkering with the current system.

What is needed instead is for the prime minister to be wise in his appointments and to open the field as wide as possible. In America, federal judges are nominated by the President and then consented to by the Senate, after a public confirmation hearing. If the president were stupid enough to nominate someone equally stupid, the Senate would not hesitate to deny the confirmation, after the appropriate public humiliation of the hearings. Additionally, the Bar Associations, legal scholars, and editorial boards would never shy from voicing their opinions.

The prime minister cannot abdicate his responsibility in selecting judges. If Abdullah needs guidance (he obviously does!), I suggest that he reads Lee Kuan Yew’s memoirs. If he finds the volumes too thick and tedious, I can help Abdullah by referring him to the relevant few pages.

Waiting from directive
Elsewhere I commented on the intellectual and experiential insularity of Malaysian judges. They are almost exclusively drawn from the civil service, with minimal or no outside experience in academia, private sector, or elsewhere. They follow directives only too well.

I was stunned that Chief Justice Fairuz, when confronted with the evidence that he had promoted judges who had been delinquent with their written judgments, would write to the prime minister instead of handling the issue himself. Presumably Feiruz was awaiting arahan (directive) from the prime minister. So much for his appreciation and understanding of the concept of separation of powers!

That more than anything reflects the caliber of Fairuz. Don’t get me started on the quality of his legal writings and commentaries!

In the end it does not matter what system you have if those responsible for selecting our judges do not do the job responsibly. The rot in our judiciary is not with the system but with the personnel. The system has produced such judicial luminaries as Tun Suffian and Raja Azlan Shah. It could do it again.

亟需纠正的腐化司法制度
姚文杰
07年10月9日 晚上8:09

LINK: http://www1.malaysiakini.com/columns/73417

如果首席大法官阿末法魯斯還存有任何個人榮譽和職業操守意識，他應該立刻辭職。如果首相阿都拉對自己的領導和道德還負 有些許責任，他不應該延長首席大法官即將在十月期滿的合約。如果大馬律師公會對社會還負有法律上的義務，以及自我監督的專業，在前首相安華公佈公佈臭名昭 彰的林甘影片之後，他們將會取消林甘的律師資格。

唉，從過去記錄來看，不要期望這些，這是大馬無可奈何的現實。延長法魯斯的合約是國家經不起的憲法危機—這突如其來的憲法危機是不必要且令人困惑的， 現在只好等最高元首拒絕延長法魯斯的合約。
律師公會召開了緊急會議，但並沒有採取公會許可權之內的紀律行動懲罰涉案的律師，反而選擇遊行到布特拉再也行政中心，然後將請求設立皇家調查委員會的請願書交給首相。接下來他們將會走上街頭示威。非常第三世界，跟巴基斯坦沒有兩樣！我以為那些聰明的律師會編制一些法律論說起訴政府。

首席大法官學“幽雅的沉默”

與此同時，首相阿都拉“很失望”——因為這件事曝光而失望，並非為影片的爭議性內容覺得失望。醒一醒吧，首相先生！腐敗的是大馬司法制度，不是曝光的影片。如果首相從睡夢中振作起來，他大概會下令逮捕安華！

首席大法官法魯斯學了首相聲名狼藉的“幽雅的沉默”姿態，只簡短地講了“無可奉告”。其實這並非幽雅或沉默，反而暴露了其醜陋的一面。

以該影片的錄音品質來看，那不可能是假的。以現在的偵察技術來說，任何嘗試這樣造假的人都很愚蠢。涉案的律師用手機撥電話，意味著將有不可刪除的通話記錄。我每個月的手機帳單清楚標示撥出和接聽紀錄。以該影片的品質來說，這不可能像是早前在我國發生的“裸蹲案”（nude ear squat）事件那樣被偷拍的。再說，在2002年或許也沒有那樣的儀器。

拍攝影片的動機：虛榮心作怪
既然是那樣的話，有趣的問題就是：為何要拍那影片？除卻最顯而易見的原因——愚蠢，我假設其它一些原因。

一個原因是基本人類情緒：虛榮心。如果你已經擁有了好幾百萬，當你賺取下一個一百萬時，你也就沒有什麼好吹噓的了。你需要一些戰利品，例如拿來裝飾的王室頭銜，若是回教徒就多討幾個老婆。如果你已經擁有這些戰利品，或者無法擁有，那另一個使人陶醉的夢幻就是成為一個有權支配高官的人，或者憑空幻想自己是有那般能耐的人。

身為一個律師，如果你有能力操縱高級法官的律師並且一直拿來吹噓，那你肯定是很高階的，這也加強你當超級說客的能力。除非你有影片證明自己的當年勇，否則當你年老時，你的孫子會以為你只不過患了老人癡呆症在吹牛而已。

跟虛榮心緊密相關的就是自大。所謂的謙虛，就是你能利用不當手段操縱國家司法制度而不吭聲；所謂的自大，就是你將之炫耀。涉案的林甘律師肯定是在炫耀！

或者，我不會像Lat的漫畫那樣，將這不擇手段的律師，和另一位想像中的某個大法官放進這長篇大論的文章裡，然後想像他們故意讓該影片“曝光”。這肯定可以上報章頭條。至於個中動機，眾所周知，當一群無賴有衝突時，他們常常互暴醜聞。有一個快捷的辦法可以調查：調查該影片以確定那是何時製作的。

最後一個可能性是：這可能是內鬼所為，也許是一個職員在自己還沒有窮途末路之前事先陷害雇主的詭計。看看我國律師樓是如何對待職員的，這可能性或許就可以成立。

委任巫統律師任法官惹猜疑
經過一番拖延和猜測當中，以及在王室統治者的堅持之下，阿都拉終於委任哈密莫哈末（Hamid Mohamed）法官為上訴法庭主席法官和阿拉勿丁沙裡夫（Alauddin Sherif）法官為馬來亞大法官。這兩位大法官的道德感和不涉及政治的獨立作風，向來備受尊崇。難怪他們不是阿都拉最初的選擇。

阿都拉也委派一個私人律師查基（Zaki Tun Azmi）到聯邦法院。他是巫統“金錢政治”的紀律委員會。他最近比較有名的事情是和一個年輕泰國小妾（不知道是第幾個小妾？）離婚，聽說他還要那小妾把他們在泰南簽署的結婚證書付之一炬。這種個人道德！令人訝異的是，統治者委員會竟然批准該項委任。

也許查基是阿都拉在未來的理想大法官人選，這當然會為阿都拉招致非議。

在阿都拉成為首相之前，司法制度早就腐化了。無論如何，他有機會扭轉乾坤，或至少透過新的委任來遏止司法制度繼續往下沉淪，但他辜負了選民在2004年大選中所賦予他的強力支持。

很多人提議成立一個獨立司法委員會來處理法官委任、升等事宜，我並不同意。法官和司法制度要對大眾負責。在美國的司法制度底下，我沒有法官可選。但對我而言，一個好的替代方式就是現在這個由首相提名，然後由統治者通過的制度。浪費時間來馬虎將就地修改現有制度是毫無道理的。

現在迫切需要的事情反而是首相委任法官時要放聰明一點，並且盡可能開放競爭。在美國，聯邦法官由總統提名，然後在公共聽證會之後，參議院才會批准。如果總統很笨，委任一個跟他一樣笨的人選，參議院在經過公共聽證會的聽證和公開羞辱之後，會毫不猶疑地拒絕批准該提名。另外，律師公會、法學學者和輿論也不會羞於表達他們 的意見。

首相不可以放棄他遴選法官的責任。如果阿都拉需要指導（很顯然的，他需要），我建議他讀李光耀回憶錄。如果他覺得那本書太厚、太冗長乏味，我可以告訴他該參考哪幾頁。

等待首相指示處置失職法官？
我曾在別處評論過大馬法官的智慧和偏狹的經驗。他們幾乎沒有公共服務經驗，學術、私人界或其它領域的經驗也少得可憐，甚至掛零。他們非常遵從指示。

當大法官法魯斯發現他提拔了在書寫判決書方面失職的法官時，他沒有自己處理這問題，反而竟然還寫信問首相。這讓我覺得非常驚訝。他大概是在等待上頭指示吧。他真瞭解並且維護三權分立啊！

以上幾點就反映出他的能力。不要讓我開始評論他法學文章和評論的素質！

如果有權遴選法官的人沒有盡責，到頭來不管我們擁有什麼制度都是枉然。我們的司法制度並沒有腐化，腐化的是當中的人事。這制度曾經培養出司法界裡非常傑出的人物，例如敦蘇菲安（Tun Suffian）和阿茲蘭莎蘇丹（Raja Azlan Shah），現在當然也可以再度出現司法泰斗。

Article 153 on ’special position’ of the Malays and other natives: The way forward
WRITTEN BY ART HARUN
WEDNESDAY, 17 MARCH 2010 11:12
LINK: http://english.cpiasia.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1883:article-153-on-special-position-of-the-malays-and-other-natives-the-way-forward&catid=207:art-harun&Itemid=156

In my article, Visiting the Malay ‘Rights’ (the Bahasa Malaysia version can be read here), I had commented on article 153 of the Federal Constitution. I stated that under its provisions, the Malays in fact do not possess any special ‘rights’.
There is only the special ‘position’ of the Malays and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak. In general, this special position does not confer any right which is recognised by law to the Malays.
Specifically, what is contained in article 153 is the power vested in His Majesty the Yang di Pertuan Agong to ensure that places in the civil service and institutions of higher learning are reserved for the Malays and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak as His Majesty deems reasonable.
Additionally, His Majesty is also given the power to reserve a quota for the Malays and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak in the allocation of scholarships, and permits or licences required for business and trade. This power is similarly to be exercised by His Majesty as His Majesty deems reasonable.
A few fundamental premises should be examined and borne in mind regarding the provisions contained in article 153. They are:
They do not confer any rights to the Malays and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak. For example, article 153 does not state that the Malays are entitled (as a matter of rights) to 30% or 50% of scholarships disbursed by the government every year;
The special position is not only conferred to the Malays but also the natives of Sabah and Sarawak;
The power (enabling the quotas) belongs to His Majesty the Yang di Pertuan Agong;
His Majesty is to exercise the powers under article 153 as His majesty deems reasonable. This means the power cannot be exercised arbitrarily.

The injection of the element of ‘reasonableness’ in article 153 brings an element of dynamism in the implementation of the powers under article 153. This is because what was reasonable back in 1969, for instance, may no longer be fitting in 2010 and so forth.
A starting point towards dissipating the dissatisfaction currently felt by all parties (whether the Malays or non-Malays) over article 153 is, I believe, to commence a rational discussion to determine what is held to be ‘reasonable’ at this point.
Thereafter, I feel, the implementation of those facets of article 153 can then be carefully planned by incorporating whatever equitable formula guaranteeing the element of ‘reasonableness’ in time to come.
In this way, there will be no need for all of us to have shouting matches, wield the keris and to ready the arena for a silat fight here and there every time there is doubt that the economic balance between the races falls short of the ideal in our country.
Malaysia has our fair share of the intelligentsia and learned economists. Dr Jomo Sundram, for example, is a senior official the United Nations secretariat. We even have our very own astronaut. We have submarines in our naval fleet. Why don’t we just employ the wisdom and expertise which we possess to resolve this matter of article 153?
Lately, the issue has raised a lot of hackles and even been distorted by those who appear to be ignorant of its provisions. The trite rhetoric daily purveyed by the mass media is bereft of academic credentials and far from factual. The cheap politicking and parochialism emanating from this rhetoric is so pungent as to be nauseating.
One of the popular assertions is that article 153 cannot be amended. This claim is, in my humble opinion, very confusing and merely reflects ignorance of the Federal Constitution.
According to article 159 of the Federal Constitution, article 153 can in fact be amended on the condition that the amendment is supported by two-thirds of the members of the Lower and Upper Houses in its second and third reading. If this support is obtained, the amendment may only take effect after it is approved by the Council of Rulers.
Therefore, if there is anyone who insists article 153 cannot be amended, I would be glad to be proven otherwise.
We as Malaysians should be more sensitive to any efforts made to gain a deeper understanding of various matters because it is only through knowledge can we arrive at the truth. Don’t simply swallow wholesale what people say. On the subject of article 153, there is a lot we can learn from history.

So let’s revisit history on it.
It is common knowledge that a commission was established to draft our constitution. This commission is known as the Reid Commission (named after its head, a renowned English judge, Lord Reid).
In drawing up the Federal Constitution, the Reid Commission was assigned the task to ensure that the position of the Malays was safeguarded. Its report says:

“Our terms of reference require that provision should be made in the Constitution for the ‘safeguarding of the special position of the Malays and the legitimate interests of other Communities’.”

Nonetheless, the commission found it difficult to give a special preference to any single race permanently because such a special preference is contrary to the principle of equality in the eyes of the law. The Reid Commission reported:

“We found it difficult, therefore, to reconcile the terms of reference if the protection of the special position of the Malays signified the granting of special privileges, permanently, to one community only and not to the others.”

The Alliance front led by Tunku Abdul Rahman had also wanted independent Malaya to confer equal rights, privileges, and equal opportunities to all its citizens regardless of race or religion. Additionally, the Council of Rulers had hoped too that the concept of communalism would be eventually eradicated from the country’s political and economic spheres. In relation to this, the Reid Commission reported:

“The difficulty of giving one community a permanent advantage over the others was realised by the Alliance Party, representatives of which, led by the Chief Minister, submitted that in an independent Malaya all nationals should be accorded equal rights, privileges and opportunities and there must not be discrimination on grounds of race and creed …’ The same view was expressed by their Highnesses in their memorandum, in which they said that they ‘look forward to a time not too remote when it will become possible to eliminate Communalism as a force in the political and economic life of the country’.”

Such was the hope and good intentions of our forefathers in their common struggle to obtain independence from British colonialism. The Federal Constitution was formulated in cognizance of these intentions and aspirations.
This notwithstanding, the Reid Commission was presented with yet another difficulty. What was in actuality the special position of the Malays that was to be preserved? Where was the special position to be found? What guidelines should they have used to determine and establish this special position?
Their search ended when it was discovered that the Malays had always enjoyed a special position even from the start of British colonisation. This special position was already affirmed by the British in their earlier treaties with the Malay rulers. This culminated in the recognition of the said special position in clause 19(1) (d) of the Federation of Malaya Agreement 1948. It was explained as below:

“When we came to determine what is ‘the special position of the Malays’ we found that as a result of the original treaties with the Malay States, reaffirmed from time to time, the special position of the Malays has always been recognised. This recognition was continued by the provisions of cl 19(1)(d) of the Federation Agreement, 1948, which made the High Commissioner responsible for safeguarding the special position of the Malays and the legitimate interests of other communities.”

They found that the Malays had always enjoyed a special position in four areas:
Reserve land,
Quota in the civil service,
Quota in permits and trading licences, and
Quota in scholarships and education.

When they visited Tanah Melayu to solicit the views of the various parties before proceeding to draft our constitution, the Reid Commission did not meet with any objections from any parties for this special position to remain although there were some quarters that objected to it being extended for a long period of time.
After studying the special position of the Malays and the circumstances of the Malays who at that time were lagging behind the other races in the economic and education sectors, the Reid Commission decided to retain the Malay special position in the constitution that they drafted.
This is the background and rationale behind article 153 that we have with us today. The question now is whether it is true that the provisions of article 153 were meant to be maintained for perpetuity.

马来“特权”非永恒不可变
当今特约 | 4月4日 下午2点14分
文：阿哈伦；译：姚文傑
LINK: http://www.malaysiakini.com/columns/128285

我曾在〈探索马来人“权利”〉一文中评论了联邦宪法第153条文。我在该篇文章中指出，根据该条文，马来人其实并没有任何特别“权利”。

宪法只是阐明，马来人与沙巴砂拉越土著拥有特别“地位”。总的来说，这个特别地位并未赋予马来人任何受法律承认的权利。

具体来说，宪法第153条文所涵盖的是赋予最高元首的权力：在陛下认为合理的情况之下，最高元首有权确保公共服务、高等教育机构保留名额给马来人与东马土著。

此外，在奖学金、准证、执照的分配方面，陛下也有权确保马来人与东马土著享有固打名额。同样地，当最高元首认为合理的情况之下，陛下有权执行这项权力。

153条文的四个前提

我们必须检视、牢记宪法第153条文的基本前提：

该条文并没有将任何权利赋予马来人与东马土著。举例来说，宪法第153条并没有阐明：马来人每年有权获得三成至五成的政府奖学金；
除了马来人之外，该条文也将特别地位赋予沙巴与砂拉越土著；
最高元首拥有御准固打的权力；
当最高元首认为合理的情况之下，陛下有权执行这项权力。换句话说，陛下不可任意执行这项权力。

扶弱政策需有“合理”元素

宪法第153条文中的“合理”元素，为该条文的执行注入了弹性。理由很简单，在1969年合理的事情，在2010年或以後都未必合理。若想要消弭马来人或非马来人对宪法第153条文的不满，我们必须理智地讨论：在目前的大环境里，何谓“合理”？

在未来的日子里，我们必须谨慎地执行宪法第153条文，并将任何公平的方程式纳入其中，以确保该条文的执行是“合理”的。

如此一来，每当各族群之间出现经济地位不平衡的争议时，大家就无需举剑激辩了。

大马拥有相当多的知识份子与经济学家。举个例子，佐摩教授目前担任联合国秘书处的高级官员；我国甚至出了个太空人、海军舰队也有潜水艇。为何我们不善用我们的智慧与专长来解决宪法第153条文的争议呢？

这课题在近来惹恼了好多人，有些人不了解该条文的规定，结果将之曲解了。媒体每天重复的老套陈述，根本就没有学术根据，也不符合事实。政治手段如此低劣，从这种老套论述衍生出的目光如豆，实在是让人觉得反胃。

宪法当然可以在国会被修订

大家一般普遍主张宪法第153条文是不能被修订的。据我愚见，这是一个混淆视听的主张，并且尽显对宪法的无知。根据宪法第159条文，只要国会上下议院在二读、三读时有三分之二的议员支持修订法案，宪法第153条文其实是可以被修订的。若得到上下议院三分之二议员的支持，那么在统治者会议批准之后，该项修订法案方才生效。

因此，若有任何人坚持认为宪法第153条文是不可被修订的话，我很乐意证明他是错的。

我们尝试了解不同事物的努力，国人应该更谨慎看待之，因为唯有通过知识，我们才能找到真相。对于别人所说的一切，切莫囫囵吞枣。有关宪法第153条文的议题，我们其实可以回顾历史，从中学习。

就让我们一起回顾历史吧。

拟宪委会了解扶弱有违公平

众所周知，英殖民地政府曾设立一个委员会草拟我国宪法，那就是一个以知名英国法官里德为名的委员会。

里德委员会（Reid Commission）在草拟我国宪法时，被委以保障马来人地位的任务。其报告指出：

“我们受到委托，以在宪法中规定‘保障马来人特别地位，以及其他族群的法定权益’。”

然而，该委员会发现到，要永远特别优惠特定族群，是相当困难的，因为这违背了法律上的公平原则。里德委员会在报告中指出：

“保障马来人特别地位若是预示着允许一个族群，而不是其他族群长久享有特别优惠，我们发现到，要调和这项委托是相当困难的。”

统治者会议要种族主义绝迹

以国父东姑阿都拉曼为首的联盟，亦要求独立的马来亚不分种族、宗教，让人民享有平等的权利、优惠和机会。此外，统治者会议也希望种族主义最终可以在政治、经济领域中绝迹。关于这点，里德委员会指出：

“让一个族群比其他族群更优先，并且长久享有特别优惠，联盟党也发现到这是很困难的。由首长领军的联盟党代表也认为，在独立的马来亚，所有国民都享有平等权利、优惠与机会，不容出现以种族、宗教信仰为由的歧视….’王室成员亦在备忘录中表达相同的看法：‘我们期望在不久的将来，我们可以在我国政治、经济领域中杜绝种族主义’。”

这就是我国建国先贤向英殖民地政府争取独立时的美好愿景，联邦宪法也是在对这些抱负有所认知的情况之下制订的。

尽管如此，里德委员会面临另一个难题：在现实中，马来人有什么特别地位是需要被保护的？特别地位是存在的吗？建构这特别地位的准则是什么？

马来特殊地位表现在四领域

当该委员会发现到马来人自从英国殖民马来亚就享有特别地位之后，他们就停止寻找答案了。这特别地位是英国人和马来统治者签署协议时制订的，结果马来亚联邦1948年协议第19(1) (d)条款承认了这项特别地位。该委员会解释：

“当我们要决定何谓‘马来人的特别地位’时，我们发现到：根据英国跟马来州属的协定，马来人特别地位一直都是受到承认，当局亦不时重申这件事。马来亚联邦1948年协议第19(1) (d)条款中延续了这项认可，保障马来人特别地位与其他族群权益的责任就落在最高专员署身上。”

该委员会也发现到马来人在这四个领域享有特别地位：
* 保留地
* 公共服务机构的固打名额
* 准证与商业执照的固打名额
* 奖学金与教育领域的固打名额

里德委员会草拟我国宪法之前，曾经拜访马来亚以汇集各方意见。虽然有些团体反对长久延续马来人特别地位，但是里德委员会到访期间，并没有碰到任何人反对延续马来人特别地位。

该委员会继而考察马来人特别地位、马来人在经济与教育领域落后于其他族群的情况，后来决定在草拟宪法时保留马来人特别地位。这就是宪法第153条文的历史背景与根源。现在的问题是，我们必须决定这是不是真的：宪法第153条文中的规定应该永远维持不变。

编按：本文译自政策创议中心（CPI）特约马来撰稿人阿哈伦（Art Harun）的文章〈Article 153 on ’special position’ of the Malays and other natives: The way forward〉；姚文傑负责翻译。

原文：Mariam Mokhtar；翻译：姚文傑

Link: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/124652

Malaysia’s brain drain appears to be picking up speed. According to a recent parliamentary report, 140,000 left the country, probably for good, in 2007.

Between March 2008 and August 2009, that figure more than doubled to 305,000 as talented people pulled up stakes, apparently disillusioned by rising crime, a tainted judiciary, human rights abuses, an outmoded education system and other concerns.

The general assumption is that Chinese and Indian Malaysians form the majority of those abandoning the country of their birth because ethnic Malays consider them ‘pendatang’ – aliens in a Malay land, regardless of how long they have been in the country.

However, increasing numbers of Malays have already emigrated as well, or are seriously thinking it, dismayed by corrupt practices as well as the rigid confines of Islam and the rise of fundamentalism embodied in the revelation on Wednesday by Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein that three Muslim women had been caned in Kajang Prison in Selangor on Feb 9 for having had illicit sex under shariah law.

In 2000, according to figures compiled in 2007, 40 percent of Malaysian emigrants headed for Singapore – at the same time Singaporeans are headed somewhere else. By one estimate, the number who put the Lion City behind them is as high as 15 percent of annual births. In 2006, the Transport Minister, Raymond Lim, expressed concern that 53 percent of Singaporean teens would consider emigration.

One website survey put Singapore’s average outflow at 26.11 migrants per 1,000 citizens, the second highest in the world – next only to East Timor.

Of the other émigrés, 30 percent go to OECD countries (Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada and Britain) 20 percent to Asian countries (Brunei, Philippines, Indonesia) and the rest of the world (10 percent). Malaysian Employers Federation executive director, Shamsuddin Bardan, said in an interview that 785,000 Malaysians are working overseas. Unofficially, the figure is well over 1 million.

Nor are people all that is leaving. Asia Sentinel reported that there has been an exodus of money from Malaysia on a scale which surpasses that which occurred during the Asian crisis. The decline is also reflected in a sudden decline in base money supply – even while, thanks to Bank Negara, broader M2 has continued to grow modestly.

A major problem is the flight of graduates. As early as 2004, former premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was becoming concerned, pointing out that as many as many as 30,000 thought to be working in foreign countries, many of whom had held scholarships in top universities from the Malaysian government but chose to stay overseas at the end of their studies.

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad demanded that other countries pay Malaysia for having seduced them to stay, “since, by right, the graduates’ training and knowledge should be called intellectual property.”

The typical reasons are well-documented: improved employment and business prospects, higher salaries, better working environments, greater chances of promotion and a relatively superior quality of life.

Three personal stories

Three Malay women put a personal face on statistics in conversation with Asia Sentinel, sharing their decisions to emigrate. Two are graduates of overseas universities, the third is from a local school. Their decisions to leave were made, they say, after a lot of soul searching. But for these women, money and economic incentives were not the end-all. Their names have been changed to protect them.

Anita claims to have left because of her sexuality. She graduated from a university in the United Kingdom but continued with a post-graduate degree course. At the end of her studies, she worked in a multinational corporation in London and is now a department head. She was recently married, in a civil ceremony, in the UK.

A Malay, Anita is naturally Muslim. Her partner is another woman, Nadia, an Iraqi Jew. They met as undergraduates. For a decade, the two made the annual pilgrimage to Malaysia to visit Anita’s ageing parents, Anita says. When in Kuala Lumpur, they are regular patrons of lesbian joints in Bangsar. After the Malaysian National Fatwa Council issued an edict banning lesbianism in 2008, Anita travelled alone.

Nadia dislikes the risk of being ‘caught’. The clues to their sexuality are their short cropped hair, Doc Marten shoes, preponderance of masculine clothes and, on closer inspection, their identical wedding rings with each other’s names inscribed. Anita is in self-imposed exile because her partner will not be allowed to reside in Malaysia.

Although male homosexuality is illegal in Malaysia and sodomy incurs a punishment of 20 years jail, Malaysia’s civil code does not ban lesbianism. Malaysian men are just so big-headed that they cannot imagine any woman not wanting to sleep with a man.

“It is unacceptable to see women who love the male lifestyle including dressing in the clothes men wear,” said Abdul Shukor Husin, the Fatwa Council chairman.

Perak mufti Harussani Idris Zakaria says that the council’s ruling was not legally binding as it had not been passed into law. He wants tomboys to be banned because their actions are immoral. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a law or not,” he says.

Living in a goldfish bowl

In 2000, Malaysia had around 80,000 official expatriates. By 2008, this figure had shrunk to 38,000 as the collapsing global economy cut into trade and thus trade and Malaysian exports.

When Bibi worked in an electronics factory in north Perak, little did she foresee marrying her expatriate quality control engineer. After his conversion to Islam and their subsequent marriage, he attempted unsuccessfully to gain permanent residence.

He claims to have spent a small fortune on lawyers, on ‘proof’ and photographs for the application process, and several trips to the immigration offices to be ‘verified’. He claims that one low ranking government official even offered him a birth certificate for RM60,000, as a pre cursor to a ‘red’ identity card, which would help facilitate the permanent resident status.

When Bibi’s husband’s work permit expired, he attempted to form a trading company. He travelled to the border every few months to renew his immigration-social visit pass, while he explored this avenue.

He was ineligible for a sole proprietorship and although he could form a limited company with 51 percent bumiputra ownership, he found that for one reason or another, it was not viable. Local partners wanted maximum profits for little or no work. A Caucasian, he was seen as a cash cow, he says.

In addition, the Perak town they lived in was very provincial. Had he lived in Kuala Lumpur or Penang, he could be anonymous, like the expatriates married to Malay women in these cities.

As an expat convert in his local town, the Malays expected him to uphold Malay values and scrutinised his every move, right down to his religious obligations. He was disillusioned with living in a goldfish bowl and both he and Bibi left for Europe.

40% of M’sian experts work in US

According to one local daily, the number of Malaysian researchers, scientists and engineers working overseas exceeds 20,000 with 40 percent of them in the United States and 10 percent in Australia.

When Ida graduated from Australia with a chemical engineering degree, she worked in a chemical plant in Selangor. Her friendship with a chemist blossomed into love, with talk of marriage. There was one problem – Anthony was a Catholic.

He dutifully presented himself at the mosque for ‘agama’ lessons in preparation for his conversion. The imam never appeared for their pre-arranged appointments. Frustrated with being let down repeatedly, he stopped going. His lucky break came when he was offered a job in a neighbouring country. Ida joined him.

She was free from parental and family pressures, he from the religious zealots. They married. He retained his faith, she remained a Muslim. They started a family and have since emigrated to New Zealand. Recently, she embraced Catholicism.

Malaysian emigration has critical policy implications. There are questions over what will happen when overseas students receive employment offers in the country where they are studying, when skilled people leave Malaysia, when pensioners retire abroad (the silver economy) and the nation registers an increase in unskilled foreign workers but a decrease in skilled expatriates.

The challenge for policymakers is to harness the economic and political potential of this largely ignored diaspora. There is no point pretending Malaysia does not have a serious problem. The
incentives to reverse the brain drain and attract those who are abroad must be reviewed, as they are currently ineffective.

For many like Anita, Bibi and Ida, it is not just politics and racial discrimination but also religious and social pressures that drive them away.

LINK: http://www.malaysiakini.com/columns/125189
马来西亚似乎有越来越多人才外流了。根据最近一份国会报告，2007年有14万人离开大马。他们或许就此一去不回头。

在2008年3月至2009年8月之间，移民人数增加超过一倍，达到30万5千人。很明显地，他们之所以收拾包袱离开故乡，是因为对犯罪率上升、腐败的司法制度、侵犯人权、过时的教育制度等等现状觉得大失所望。

大家一般的印象是：离开祖国马来西亚的大多是华裔和印裔，因为不论他们在这里住了多久，马来人还是会认为他们是外来移民（pendatang）——马来领土上的外国人。

回教极端化让马来人也移民
然而，与此同时，我国也有越来越多马来人移民，或者考虑着要移民。看着国内贪污成风、一成不变地限制回教、原教旨主义崛起的情况，他们灰心了。上星期三，内政部长希山慕丁披露，三名回教徒女子涉及通奸，触犯了回教法，而于2月9日在加影监狱被鞭笞。这意味着原教旨主义的崛起。

根据2007年的数据，四成的大马移民移居新加坡，与此同时，新加坡人却移居其他国家。根据估计，离开狮城的人数相等于该国一年新生婴儿的百分之十五。在2006年，多达百分之五十三新加坡青少年考虑要移民，新加坡交通部长林双吉（Raymond Lim）亦曾关注此事。

有一个网络民意调查显示，在新加坡，每一千人就有26.11人移民，移民率之高在全球仅次于东帝汶。

国外工作大马人达百万之众

大约30%的大马移民在经济合作与发展组织国家（OECD countries）定居，例如英美纽澳加；20%移民到亚洲国家，例如汶莱、菲律宾、印尼；10%则移居其他国家。马来西亚雇主联合会执行董事三苏丁峇丹在一项访问中透露，在国外工作的马来西亚人有78万5000人。至于非官方数据，则预测在海外工作的国人远远超过一百万人。

想要离开我国的，其实并不只是人才，就连钞票也想要跑路了。根据《亚洲前哨报》（Asia Sentinel）报导，我国资金外流程度超越了亚洲金融风暴的水平。货币供给遽减反映了资金外流现象，然而，多亏国家银行撑腰，货币供给依然持续适度成长。

留学生选择滞留海外不归

在海外留学的大马人选择不回国确实是个大问题。早在2004年，前首相阿都拉也曾关注此事。他表示，我们有多达30万国人在海外工作，其中有很多人是领着大马政府奖学金出国深造的，但是在毕业后选择留在国外工作。

前首相敦马哈迪曾要求其他国家，必须因吸引我国人才留在当地而付钱给我国，理由是“大学生的培训与知识也应被视为知识产权”。

我国人才留在国外的原因，大家都再熟悉不过了：就业前程似锦、更多商机、待遇更优渥、工作环境更好、晋升机会更多、生活素质更高。

三个心路历程故事

《亚洲前哨报》曾访问三个马来女子，让她们叙述自己为何要移民。其中两人在外国大学毕业，另一个女子则在本地大学毕业。她们表示，经过了一番自我探索之后，她们决定要离开大马。对她们而言，金钱与经济因素都不是主因。为了保护她们，她们的名字都已被修改了。

安妮达是因为自己的性取向而离开的。她在英国某大学毕业后，继续攻读博士课程。博士班毕业之后，她在伦敦一家国际机构工作，目前担任部门主任，最近也刚结了婚。

性向被排斥只有选择离开

身为一个马来人，她一出生就是回教徒。她的伴侣名为纳迪雅，是一个来自伊拉克的犹太女子。她俩是在大学时代认识的。这十年以来，她俩每年都会回到大马探望安妮达的年迈双亲，也常出入孟沙的女同性恋者场合。当全国回教法规委员会（National Fatwa Council）在2008年禁止女同性恋之后，安妮达就独来独往，免得引人注意。

纳迪雅不喜欢冒着“被逮捕”的风险。透露她们性取向的装扮，通常是留短发、穿马丁靴、多数穿男装，她们的结婚戒指也都刻着对方的名字。安妮达的伴侣不可居住在大马，因此她必须自我放逐。

虽然男同性恋在大马是违法的，肛交的刑罚是坐牢20年，但是我国民事法典并未明文禁止女同性恋。大马男人太自负了，他们无法想像世上有女人不想跟男人睡觉。

“女子偏爱男子生活方式、穿男装，这是很难令人接受的，” 全国回教法规委员会主席阿都舒库尔胡先说道。

霹雳州宗教司哈鲁沙尼表示，该理事会的规定还未在国会通过成为法律，因此都没有法律约束力。但是，“不管合法与否”，他都要禁止男人婆，理由是他们的行为举止不道德。

社会处处排斥外国女婿

在2000年，我国有8万名外派雇员。到了2008年，我国贸易与出口受到次贷金融风暴影响，外派雇员人数就下跌至3万8千人。

当碧比在霹雳州北部一家电子厂工作时，她根本没想过自己会嫁给来自国外的品质控制工程师。那位老外工程师皈依回教之后，他俩就共结连理，但是男方还是无法取得永久居留权。

律师费、申请过程的“证据”和照片、到移民厅来回好几趟的过程必须被“审核”，这些都是他破费的杂事。有一个低阶官员曾跟他开价，以6万令吉换取一张出生证明书。有了这张出生证明书，他就可以申请红色身份证，如此一来，他就能得到永久居留权了。

碧比丈夫的工作准证逾期之后，他曾尝试开贸易公司。在这段期间，他每隔几个月就得出入境一次，以更新旅游观光签证。

他并不符合经营独资企业的资格。虽然他知道自己可以开一家拥有51%土著股权的有限公司，但是不管怎样，他知道这是行不通的，因为本地伙伴希望工作少，最好是不用工作，但又要求赚最多钱。他说自己身为一个洋人，在这里被视为一棵摇钱树。

此外，他俩住在霹雳州一个偏远小镇。如果他住在吉隆坡或槟城，他就如同在这两座城市里跟马来女子结婚的外派雇员一般，没有什么特别。

像他这般的外派雇员入乡随俗之后，同乡的马来人都期望他维护马来社会价值观。他的一举一动、有否履行宗教义务，都被村人监督。他觉得失望透顶，就带着碧比远赴欧洲了。

希望皈依回教却困难重重

根据一份本地报章，在海外工作的大马研究员、科学家、工程师超过两万人，其中有四成在美国工作，一成落户澳洲。

依达在澳洲考获化工学位之后，任职于雪州一家化学工厂。她跟一位化学师堕入爱河，后来谈婚论嫁时面对一个问题：他的先生安东尼是一个天主教徒。

他尽责得很，出席了准备皈依回教的宗教课程，虽然已经事先预约好了，但是宗教司并不曾赴会。宗教司爽约好几次之后，他就不再出席了。后来，多亏幸运之神眷顾着他，他在邻国找到了一份工作，依达就跟随他远走高飞。

从此以后，依达从父母与家庭的压力中解脱了，安东尼则摆脱了宗教狂热份子。他俩结为夫妇之后，安东尼就重归天主教怀抱，依达则依然是个回教徒。这个新家庭后来移居到纽西兰，最近依达也信奉天主教了。

大马人移民的现象将产生重大政治影响。当海外大马学生选择留在国外工作，当技术人员离开我国，当银发族在外国退休（影响我国银发经济），当非技术劳工大举涌入我国而高技术的外派雇员却减少了，我国届时将会发生什么事？

这个移民潮现象被忽略了，控制移民潮所产生的政治、经济影响，是我国政策决策者的挑战。假装马来西亚没有面对什么严重问题，是无济于事的。既然现有的吸引大马专才回国计划不见效，当局就必须检讨现有的奖励计划，以扭转人才外流的劣势。

有些人也跟安妮达、碧比和依达面对相同窘境，对她们而言，迫使她们决定离去的原因，除了政治与种族歧视之外，也还有宗教与社会观感压力的因素。

Original text link: http://www.malaysiakini.com/columns/117730

Chinese translation Link: http://www.malaysiakini.com/columns/118160

注：原文Sad road to see Seetha’s suicide，作者Helen Ang ，姚文杰翻译。

Sad road to Seetha’s suicide
Helen Ang
Nov 18, 09
4:19pm

I wrote the article below before news broke of Seetha’s passing. May she rest in peace. My prayers for her.

Words cannot hope to convey the plight of R Seetha (photo) who is in critical condition after her suicide bid.

Mine are hopelessly inadequate and I can only offer them in sympathy hearing that Seetha might die. Ingesting paraquat like she did causes liver, lung, heart or kidney failure within several days that can result in death.

In 2006, another young Indian woman M Sanggita took her four children to Sungei Gadut near Seremban to wait for the train to Singapore. The family was not going for a holiday but to their deaths.

Can you imagine such a state of mind where having the train run over you seems better than living? Sanggita, 30, and two of her children were killed that July day lying across the railway tracks.

“There is no use for all of us to live. I pity my kids. They have no future here. Let us be with God,” pleaded Sanggita in her suicide note.

She lamented that she could find no solace. “If given the opportunity, we would all come back as angels to help those in need,” the note ended. Like Sanggita, Seetha lived also in Negri Sembilan and perhaps angels did watch over her four children. Thankfully, they will – we’re hopeful – pull through after sipping the weed killer given by their mother.

Some people have called for Seetha to be charged with attempted murder.

It’s been reported that Seetha promised her children that if they drank the poison, they could meet their youngest uncle again who had been gunned down by police. I don’t think Seetha had it in mind to brutally kill her children – certainly not in the same way that police had done her brother Surendran.

Doubtless, I cannot claim to fathom what was going through her mind that tipped her over the edge. But neither can those condemning her imagine what Seetha has had to endure in her short life thus far. From the story fragments that have come to public knowledge, we can at best speculate.

A closed Tamil society

Seetha’s husband M Manimaran said his wife had told him that she wanted to see the departed Surendran and be with him.

Her father R Rampathy (far left) in his police report had said: “Seetha terlalu sayang kepada Surendran. Dia selalu nangis di hadapan gambar Surendran yang meninggal.”

The picture they paint is one of a woman consumed by inconsolable grief. For most of us, we lose our loved ones to old age or they succumb to natural causes. For the Tamil underclass like Seetha, death can visit a male sibling in a hail of bullets or occurring in the police lock-up. This comes about due to the chronic socio-economic deprivation of the community.

So, no, those comfortable armchair critics of Seetha can’t even begin to comprehend her anguish and the perennial dark cloud hanging when one is mired in poverty. Her father is a security guard; her husband a lorry driver. Both are low status and low pay jobs.

Seetha is a housewife; her mother is a housewife. A feminine shroud encloses homemakers in the still highly patriarchal Tamil society. The women’s limited life experience may not have allowed them to acquire the coping mechanisms that our ’survival of the fittest’ advocates, preaching fortitude, would like to think everyone else should possess.

The defeatist proletariat, denied access to empowering education, does not enjoy the buffer zone that better-off Malaysians have when it comes to confronting adversity and despair. Not just the shock of violent, sudden death but the depression that daily dampens their dispiriting environment.

Worlds apart, chasm between

A poor family earns a combined income of under RM1,092 monthly. This amount is all that a household – usually calculated as a unit comprising five members – has at their disposal to cover all expenditure including housing, utilities, food, schooling expenses and transport.

On the other hand, an affluent young couple may spend more than a thousand ringgit a month on milk powder alone for two young children, what with the price of things skyrocketing nowadays.

I’ve given the example above of two sets of people whose finances are at opposite ends. Wouldn’t their thinking norms be very different too? Seetha’s critics simply have no inkling of the facets of her world.

Do you know how many percent of Indians earn only around a thousand ringgit? The answer is 108,000 households … five years ago (certainly more poor people today). These 540,000 souls make up the bottom 30% of the 1.8 million total Indian population, according to the Social Strategic Foundation report of April 2005.

More data: From the Household Income Survey 2004 by the Economic Planning Unit and Department of Statistics. On the incidence of urban poverty, Bumiputera register 4.1%, Chinese 0.4% and Indian 2.4%.

Now compare with their respective population ratio that same year: Bumiputera was 61%, Chinese 24% and Indian 7% out of 25.6 million Malaysians. Indians who comprised a mere 7% of this country in 2004 showed a disproportionately high poverty rate in stark contrast to Chinese and Malays.

“You are on your own. Don’t hold out your hand because nothing will fall into it.” This quote is attributed to long overstaying MIC president Samy Vellu in the book ‘The Malaysian Indians’ by Muzafar Desmond Tate.

Heck, not only are the poor Indians refused help, even what little they had was taken away from them.

Rendered jobless and homeless

In 1980, plantation workers still accounted for over half of the entire Indian community, wrote Muzafar. What has been happening since then is that the plantations have been fragmented and their workers evicted from the labourer quarters.

The Putrajaya mega-project dislodged estate workers too (Golden Hope plantations among them) and in Mahathirville’s 4,580 hectares, there is no room for the Indians; you don’t see them in this shiny new administrative capital.

Rubber estates like Golden Hope, Guthrie, Sime Darby and Boustead had been colonial enterprises.

Then, government agencies like Pemodalan Nasional Berhad took over Sime Darby (today merged with Guthrie and Golden Hope) while Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera acquired a controlling equity interest in Boustead. Now owned by government-linked Malays and managed by Malays, these corporations are developing the previously plantation land into lucrative real estate properties and new townships.

Oh well, too bad for the hapless Indians. Its displaced young generation drift to urban settlements and create slums.

As mentioned earlier, about 7% of the Malaysian general population is Indian but in their making up 16.1% of squatters, the ratio is double, not proportional. It’s hardly surprising that the Indian quota for low-cost rented accommodation with KL City Hall is always exhausted.

Meanwhile in Penang, a report submitted to the state government by the Socio-economic and Environmental Research Institute (Seri) in November 1998 revealed deplorable housing conditions.

Five percent of the survey respondents lived in containers while in Sungai Tiram, the majority of respondents lived in shacks which used to provide shelter for animals before. Ten years down the road, Penang kindly gave Indians the Kg Buah Pala saga.

The poverty trap led Surendran to his fateful meeting with destiny and trigger-happy cops. Seetha is the collateral damage. Can’t their circumstances and they too be considered hostage to the Indian condition?

Human Rights Party pro-tem secretary-general P Uthayakumar has intimated that should she die, he will bring her body to Parliament to drive home the point that police shootings of racially profiled and so-called ’suspects’ must stop.

Uthaya’s threat recalls the self-immolation or suicide by fire, of Buddhist monks to protest the Vietnamese regime in the 1960s.

Perhaps it will take a drastic measure like a frail, pretty corpse brought outside Parliament under the glare of international media attention to finally open Malaysia’s eyes. A deliberately neglected community is at the end of its tether, if only you knew.

Do you remember the unforgettable Hindraf rally images of Indians passively allowing themselves be drenched by chemical-laced water fired by the FRU cannons? How would an ordinary robust individual react in the same circumstances? You’d run.

So how did a swathe of marginalized Malaysians come to such pass that they squat wet in the street like martyrs with nothing else to lose?

Some have slammed Seetha for attempting to take her own life. Can these censorious people please try to plumb the question that plagued one who deserves only our compassion: ‘What’s there to live for?’

我撰写以下篇文章时，西达仍未辞世。我会为她祈祷，但愿她在天之灵可以安息。

西达尝试自杀之后，病情危急，她的痛苦，不是笔墨可以形容的。比起西达，我的痛苦算不了什么。听到西达或许会离开人间，我只能同情她。像她这般灌了除草剂，肝脏、肺部、心脏或肾脏，都在几天内衰竭致死的。

2006 年，另一个印裔妇女桑吉达（M Sanggita）带着四个孩子到靠近芙蓉双溪芽笃（Sungei Gadut），等着开往新加坡的火车。这家人并不是去度假，而是要寻死。让火车碾过自己的身躯，也比活着来得更好，阁下能想像这种心理状态吗？年仅30岁的桑吉达和两个孩子，就在七月的某一天躺在火车轨道上，被火车碾死了。

桑吉达在遗书上写道，“活着根本无甚意义。我同情我的孩子，他们在这里没有前途。让我们和上帝在一起吧”。她抱怨她无法找到慰藉。

遗书以这句结尾：“如果有机会，我们会化作天使，回来帮助需要帮助的人。”

西达也跟桑吉达同样住在森美兰，也许天使有守护着她的四个孩子吧。他们喝过了母亲给的除草剂，现在却得以逃过死劫。谢天谢地，我们满怀信心，他们会度过难关的。

有些人呼吁检控单位起诉西达企图谋杀。根据报道，西达答应她的孩子，他们很快就可见到被警方击毙的小舅。我不认为西达是要残忍杀害自己的孩子。警方对待她弟弟的态度，肯定不是她对待孩子的态度。

毫无疑问地，当她被逼到死角的时候，心里想着什么，我并不能自作主张揣测一番。但是批评她的人们，也不能凭空想像她在短暂生命旅程中所必须承受的一切。从公众所知道的故事碎片来看，我们顶多只能推测而已。

封闭的淡米尔社会
西达的丈夫玛尼马兰（Manimaran）表示，西达曾跟他说过要见她的弟弟，要和他在一起。西达的父亲南峇迪在警局录口供时表示：“西达太疼爱弟弟苏纳登了，她常常拿着弟弟的遗照哭泣。”（Seetha terlalu sayang kepada Surendran. Dia selalu nangis di hadapan gambar Surendran yang meninggal.）

一个女人，受尽苦痛，难以安抚，就是他们所描绘的情景。对我们大多数人而言，我们失去挚爱的原因，不外乎是他们年纪大了，抑或自然死亡。西达出身淡米尔社会底层，对他们而言，死神召唤自己兄弟姐妹的时候，可以是在枪林弹雨中，或者在扣留室里。印裔社会长期被剥夺社会经济机会，因此落得如此残局。

西达的悲痛，还有一个人陷入贫穷泥淖中，生活长期愁云惨淡的情况，都不是脱离现实的安逸评论人所能开始理解的。她父亲是保安人员，丈夫是货车司机，都是从事低阶低薪的工作。

西达是个家庭主妇，她的母亲也一样。一个女性的身份，把家庭主妇困在仍然父权至上的淡米尔社会。我们的“适者生存”理论要求每一个人要有竞争力、要坚韧不拔，但妇女生活经验有限，也许并不能让她们具备这竞争能力。

教育可增强人的自信心与能力，但最底层的失败主义者，都被拒于教育门外。不同於生活条件较好的大马人，他们面对困难与绝望的时候，并没有缓冲区。暴力与突然死亡所带来的惊愕，再加上日以继夜的忧郁，更进一步打击了他们的颓丧生活环境。

两个世界，天渊之别

一户贫穷人家，每个月的总收入低于1092令吉。这就是一户人家，通常是五个人的家庭，可以花在房屋、水电费、膳食、学杂费和交通费的金额了。相反地，如今物价飙涨，一对富有的年轻夫妇，单单是买给两个小孩的奶粉钱，每个月就可能超过一千令吉。

财务状况完全不同的两组人，我已经举例说明了。他们的思考模式不也会大不相同吗？西达的批评者，对她所身处的世界根本连一点认识都没有。

你知道印裔社群当中月入1000令吉的比例是多少吗？答案是10万8000户人家。这是五年前的数据，今天的穷人肯定更多。根据社会策略基金会报告，这54万个人在180万印裔社群中垫底，成为最底层的30%。

经济策划小组和统计局的2004年家庭收入调查报告有更多的数据。以城市贫困率来说，土著占了4.1%，华裔0.4%和印裔2.4%。现在就拿当年的人口比例来比较一下：在2560万大马人口当中，土著占了61%、华裔24%和印裔7%。在2004年只占了我国人口7%的印裔，贫困率高得不成比例，跟华裔和土著形成强烈对比。

“大马印裔” 的作者慕扎法戴斯蒙（Muzafar Desmond Tate）以这番话标签在位太久的国大党主席三美威鲁：

“你们要自力更生，不要伸手，没有什么东西会掉在你的手掌上。”

唉，不只是贫穷印裔求助无门，甚至连属于他们的一丁点东西，也都被夺走了。

被迫停工、流离失所

慕扎法写道，在1980年，整个印裔社会有超过一半是园丘工人。后来发生的事情是，园丘关闭了，住在宿舍的工人被赶了出来。布城的大型工程也驱赶园丘工人，金希望 （Golden Hope）就是其中一家公司。占地4580公顷的“敦马城堡”，印裔可没一席之地，阁下很难在这金碧辉煌的行政区看到他们。

种植公司如金希望、牙直利（Guthrie）、森那美（Sime Darby）和莫实得（Boustead），都是殖民地时代的企业。后来，官联公司如国民投资公司（Pemodalan Nasional Berhad）收购森那美。森那美现在也跟牙直利和金希望合并了。这些公司现在由一些跟政府有关系的马来人所拥有，并由他们管理。原本是园丘的一片片土地，在他们的手上转变成很赚钱的房地产和新城镇。

至于倒霉的印裔，那真是太不幸了。流离失所的新生代飘泊到城市边缘，盖了贫民窟。诚如之前所述，非法木屋区居民有16.1%是印裔，而印裔只占我国人口大约7%，这比例是多了一倍，是不成比例的。吉隆坡市政局的低廉租金组屋计划，分配给印裔的配额总是一扫而空，这其实是不稀奇的。

在槟城，社会经济与环境研究中心（Seri）于1998年11月提交给州政府的报告，则披露了糟透的居住环境。报告指出，百分之五的受访者住在货柜箱。在地南河（Sungai Tiram），曾经是动物栖息处的简陋木屋，大多受访者都住在那里。十年了，槟城给了印裔一记“豆蔻村事件”。

贫穷的陷阱，牵引着苏纳登的命运，碰上了以开枪为乐的警察。西达是间接的受害者。他们的情况，乃至于他们本人，不能被视为是印裔困境的人质吗？

人权党的筹委会总秘书乌达雅古玛 （Uthayakumar）表示，若是西达不幸身亡，他会抬着她的棺材到国会抗议，极力呼吁警方停止开枪射击特定族群和所谓的“疑犯”。乌达雅古玛的威胁，让人回想起在1960年代，佛教僧侣自焚抗议越南政权的历史。

激进的手段，例如在国际媒体的镁光灯下，抬着一具脆弱而美丽的尸体到国会大厦外，也许这样才能终于睁开大马人的眼睛吧。一个被刻意忽视的社会，是忍无可忍了，要是阁下知道就好了。

还记得兴权会游行的的照片吗？还记得那些印裔，任由联邦后备队以渗有化学物质的水炮扫射他们吗？面对这样的情况，一个健全的人会怎么反应？一定会抱腿就跑。一群被边缘化的大马人，怎么会躺在街上，全身湿透，仿若已经没有什么可以失去的烈士？

有些人猛烈抨击西达企图轻生。对于一个我们应该怜悯的弱者，这些爱好批评的人，可否思索她所面对的问题：“活着，是为了什么？”

LINK: http://www.malaysiakini.com/columns/113415

2 Malaysia in health services
Sim Kwang Yang
Sep 5, 09
11:47am
As we approach September 16, the date on which Sarawak achieved independence through by joing Malaysia 46 years ago, my thought turns to the progress made in developing my home state.

The Malaysiakini report on the failed Flying Doctor Service is particularly illuminating, in highlighting the problems of public health care for the rural dwellers of Sarawak – and Sabah as well.

Readers of Malaysiakini are probably urban dwellers for whom medical facilities are taken for granted, along with clean water, sanitation, good roads, and all the amenities that are available aplenty in large cities and towns

If you get sick, there is always the neighbourhood GP’s clinic; a jab and some pills will take care of the usual minor-ailments.

If you are really sick, there are always the public or private general hospitals with all the latest sophisticated medial equipment and the professional expertise at your disposal, as long as you can pay the bills.

But imagine this: what do you do when you get sick if you are a citizen living in a remote village in the deep interior of Sarawak?

Well, you try to consult the old folk or the local village healer, look for traditional medicines like some herbs and roots, and try to sleep off your ailment.

If you are afflicted with some serious conditions like cancer or a difficult child birth, you just lie down and wait to die.

In my travels throughout Sarawak a long time ago, I have seen many rural Sarawakians just lying down and waiting to die. Why?

In the upper reaches of the great rivers in Sarawak, transportation facilities are really primitive.

The only semblance of medical facilities are the rural clinics run by a dresser or a nurse, and access to them may mean hours of walking on foot and travelling in a small boat up and down those infamous rapids.

And the medical personnel and the facilities are usually not sufficient to handle really serious cases at all.

Dubious deals and deaths

Let’s take the upper or middle Baram regions for instance.

In the vast mountainous terrain of that area, the only way to send the patients with a serious medical condition is to fly them down to the Miri General Hospital in a helicopter.

That is why my blood boiled when I read about the failure of the contractor who had not fulfilled their contract agreement to provide a helicopter service.

How many rural patients have died because of their dubious deals?

The other alternative is for the rural patients to take a boat ride down the treacherous water of the Baram for many hours.

The Penans and the Orang Ulu who live in the upper reaches of the river do not always have the kind of cash to pay for the fare.

Let’s say our rural patients finally get to the Miri GH one way or another.

Their problems have just begun. The hospital may not want to admit them as in-patient because many rural Sarawakians do not have identity cards.

When the Sarawak rural mother gives birth, she may not have the strength or money to travel to the nearest National Registration Department which is always half a universe away.

Even if rural patients are admitted without identification papers, they may still be denied the assistance rendered by the Social Welfare Department on the grounds that they are not bona fide citizens!

The public hospitals in Sarawak are always over-crowded and under-staffed.

The medical personnel there are almost always overworked and stressed out. The odd ones will take it out on the patients who had come a long way from home to seek treatment.

It is also a custom in Sarawak for relatives or family members of the rural patients to accompany them to the hospital in the big city.

They will take turns to be with the patients in the hospital 24/7, to help with simple tasks like bringing a glass of water or passing the bed pan, and even to call the doctor if there is a sudden turn for the worse in the condition of the patients.

Half-way houses for patients’ families

Where are they going to live in the duration of the patient’s protracted treatment in the hospital?

You cannot expect them to check into the Holiday Inn because they would have neither cash nor credit cards, as you and I have!

The obvious solution is for the government or some charitable organisations to build a kind of halfway house for these stranded rural people with minimal facilities for cooking and sleeping.

So far, I have heard of only one project in Miri where some kind-hearted citizens have rented a house to help the Penans caught in that kind of predicament.

Let’s say the patients do not die, but recover from the treatment and is discharged.

Will the hospital authorities waive their payment as a matter of policy, and even give them money for the fare home as is done by the NHS (National Heath Services) in the UK?

Or will the petty officer at the pharmacy humiliate them about their inability to pay for the medicines to take home for follow-up treatment?

The best way of providing health care is to take medical service to the rural people.

For quite a few years in recent past, this is what a group of selfless dedicated government doctors and nurses have done.

They do not take leave all through the years, so that with the accumulated leave, they can take a long trip into the Baram interior.

They raise funds on their own to finance expenses needed for their trips and to buy medicines.

They make a few trips a year deep into the jungle to bring modern medicine to the Penan settlements and the Orang Ulu villagers.

Very often, they are the first medical team that has ever been welcome in those remote human settlements.

A doctor who had frequently gone on these trips related one story to me.

They had encountered a Penan man in one village with a thorn from a rattan vine lodged deep in his thigh. It had been there for three weeks.

Thorn in the flesh removed…weeks later

Actually, he had gone to the health clinic at Lio Matoh, 3 hours boat ride and 2 hours hitch ride away.

The medical officer there removed half the thorn and said he could do no more.

So the man returned to his village, waiting for the infection to worsen, and perhaps to die, until our volunteer medical team arrived.

A young doctor from Kuching removed the offensive thorn with the under a torch light using a pair of primitive pincers.

I bet you this grateful Penan man will remember that young Chinese doctor for the rest life.

Their main problem is funding. They try to raise funds from charitable organisations like the Lion’s Club, as well as private companies.

The best solution is for them to set up a charitable trust fund that can begin to receive donations from overseas.

But for that, they will need a million ringgit to start with. So you guys with many millions to spare do remember these good doctors in your will.

As we are still located in this ambiguous period between two independence day celebrations, my thought goes out to this group of enlightened doctors and nurses.

They have sacrificed their time and talent, taken the long and torturous journey to bringing modern medicine to the homes of those Malaysians long forgotten by the nation 46 years after their independence from British rule.

You will not hear much about these good Samaritans, because they are publicity shy.

But they embody for me the best spirit of Merdeka. They have shown us all that charity indeed begins at home.

Unfortunately, this is the only voluntary effort I know of that does its best to relieve the physical suffering of Sarawak’s rural dwellers.

Those who receive help from them are indeed fortunate, but there are numerous people in the deep interior who continue to suffer neglect by the government.

For them, Merdeka has made no difference in their inability to gain access to public health care.

This just goes to show that the lives of rural people are cheaper than those in the towns and cities.

This is the 2Malaysia we have.

The first Malaysia belongs to those in the cities and towns whose life is precious, and the second Malaysia exists among those whose life is cheap and expendable, in the deep interior of Sarawak and Sabah.

46年前的9月16日，砂拉越通过加入马来西亚取得独立。马来西亚日跫音渐进，我的思绪转移到我故乡在这些年来所取得的进展。

《当今大马》的报道点出了失败的飞行医生服务（Flying Doctor Service），也凸显了砂拉越和沙巴两州乡区人民的公共卫生问题。

《当今大马》读者大概都是城市居民。大城市和市镇地区的设施完备，医院诊所、清洁食水、卫生设备、完善公路等等一应俱全，也许居民都会认为这些基本设施都是理所当然的。如果阁下生病了，邻里就有一家家庭诊所。打一支针，吃些药丸，一般小病，迎刃而解。如果阁下真的生大病，在附近就可找到拥有最先进医疗设施的公立或私立医院，以及随时为您服务的专业医疗团队，只要阁下付得起医药费就行了。

原住民得病只有等死

但是，试想像一下：如果你是住在砂拉越内陆偏僻乡村的公民，生病了应该怎么办呢？好吧，你试着跟长辈或当地乡村医者请教，讨了一些传统药物如草药和树根，吃了倒头就睡，看看会不会睡醒病除。如果阁下惨遭癌症、难产等严重症状缠身，就只能躺下等待离开人间。

我在很久以前游走砂拉越时，就看到很多乡区砂拉越人躺下等待撒手尘寰。为什么？在砂拉越很多大河的上游流域，交通设施其实都还未开发。唯一勉强足以成为医疗设施的，就是由医疗助理（注一）或护士经营的乡区诊所。要想见见他们，阁下必须亲自走路，跋山涉水好几个小时，坐着小船乘着忽高忽低越过无情的急流。这些医护人员和设施，通常都对大病束手无策。

我们就以峇南（Baram）上游或中游地区为例子。在那浩浩无际的山丘地区，动用直升机把病人送到美里中央医院是唯一的方法。这就是为什么当我读到承包商没有履行合约以提供直升机服务时，我会气得七孔冒烟的原因。多少病人因为他们的含糊交易而丧命？

乡区病人的另一个选择，就是花上很多个小时乘船越过惊险的峇南河。住在河流上游流域的本南人（Penan）和乌鲁人（Ulu），通常都付不起船费。

没身份证难进政府医院

举个例子，就假设我们的乡区病人，终于以其中一个方式抵达美里中央医院了。他们的问题才刚开始—— 医院并不愿意收容他们为住院病人，因为很多乡区砂拉越人没有身份证。当一个住在砂拉越乡区的妈妈生了小孩之后，她也许没有力气或车马费走访最靠近的国家注册局——那注册局通常都坐落在山长水远的地方。即使他们没有证件也被允许住院，社会福利局还可能会拒绝援助他们——理由是他们并非真正的公民！

砂拉越的公共医院时常“客满为患”，医疗团队人手不足。那里的医护人员通常都是超时工作，心理压力极大。有些脾气古怪的医护人员，就会把那些远道而来求医的病人当出气筒。

陪伴亲朋戚友到大城市的医院去看病，是砂拉越人的生活习惯。他们都会轮流在医院守候24小时，帮亲人斟茶递水，或准备床上便盆，甚至是当病情急转直下时召唤医生。

康复之后却无力偿还医药费

在这段漫长的求医过程，他们又应该在哪里留宿呢？阁下当然不可以期望他们入住假日大饭店（Holiday Inn），因为他们身无分文，不像我们“披金带卡”。很明显的解决方法就是：政府或福利团体搭建一种中途客栈的房子，房子里有基本设施，让那些陷入困境的村民可以在那里烹饪、睡觉。到目前为止，我曾听说过美里一些善心人合租一间房子，帮助那些面临同样困难的本南人。

再举个例子，如果病人没有病死，反而在接受治疗之后康复了，然后又出院了。院方会否执行不收费的政策，抑或甚至如同英国的国民健保服务般，资助他们回家的费用？抑或药房里的小气官员会否对他们不客气，开腔羞辱他们没钱买药？

义务医生进入山地行医
提供健保服务的最佳方法，就是为乡区居民带来医疗服务。最近这些年来，这就是一批无私的政府医生和护士所致力献身的工作。他们这些年来都没有动用年假，当年假累积够了，他们就可以长途跋涉到峇南内陆地区。他们自掏腰包资助远行和药物的费用，在一年内好几次走访本南区、乌鲁村，为他们带来先进的医疗服务。他们常常都成为第一次走访这些偏僻地区的医疗团队。

其中一位常参与这计划的医生跟我分享一个故事。他们曾在某个乡村见到一个本南男子。有一根藤刺刺在他的大腿上已经三个星期了。

藤刺足以要一个人的命

其实他曾到过廖玛多 （Lio Matoh ）的诊所。他乘了三小时的船，搭了两小时的顺风车才抵达那里。医生给他拔掉了一半的藤刺，然后说他无能为力了。该本南男子也只能无奈地回家，等待伤口恶化，或许准备等死，直到我们的医疗团队抵步为止。一位来自古晋的年轻医生，凭着简单的钳子和手电筒就把那恼人的藤刺给拔掉了。我敢说这个心存感激的本南男子，一辈子都会记得那位年轻华裔医生。

这群医生面临的主要问题是资金。他们尝试向慈善团体如狮子会募款，或者寻求私人公司协助。最好的解决方法就是：设立一个可接受海外捐助的慈善基金。但是这基金也必须要有一百万令吉来启动，因此诸位若有数百万令吉的闲钱，写遗嘱时，就请不要忘记这些好医生。

东马内陆居民“独立”了吗？

正当我们还在两个独立庆祝日的模糊期间，我就想起这批开明的医生和护士。他们牺牲了时间和才华，长途跋涉为这些脱离英国殖民统治后，又被国家遗忘长达46年的大马人提供先进医疗服务。

这批像撒马利亚人（注二）的医护人员，阁下是很少会听到他们的消息的，因为他们害怕曝光。但他们向我体现了最佳的默迪卡精神，也向我们展示：其实慈善始于家园。很可惜地，就减轻砂拉越乡区居民的痛楚来说，这就是我所知的唯一一个志愿行动。

能够接受他们援助的居民其实都很幸运，但是还有很多住在内陆的人们因为政府忽视而继续受苦。对他们而言，他们没能力享用公共医疗设施的事实，独立其实并没有改变一些什么。

这显示乡区人民的生命，比城市居民的生命还要贱。这就是我们所拥有的两个马来西亚。第一个马来西亚属于城市和市镇居民，他们的生命珍贵得很；第二个马来西亚，就存在于沙巴和砂拉越内陆地区，那些居民的生命都很廉价，而且随时可被牺牲。

注解：

（二） 撒马利亚人（Samaritans）：（英国）撒马利亚慈善咨询中心（为想自杀的人和其他不幸者提供咨询的组织，主要通过电话提供咨询服务）（新牛津英汉双解大词典，第1881页。）

Plea for Indian M’sians
Azly Rahman Malaysiakini Nov 26, 07 11:16am

The economic anarchy of capitalist society as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of the evil. We see before us a huge community of producers the members of which are unceasingly striving to deprive each other of the fruits of their collective labour – not by force, but on the whole in faithful compliance with legally established rules. – Albert Einstein in ‘Why Socialism?’ (1949)

What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea. – Mohandas K Gandhi

Will Queen Elizabeth II of England pay for the 150-year suffering of Indian Malaysians? How would reparations be addressed in an age in which we are still mystified by newer forms of colonialism – the English Premier League, Malaysian Eton-clones, Oxbridge education, and British rock musicians such as the guitarist-astrophysicist Dr Brian May of the better-than-the-Beatles rock group Queen (and recently appointed chancellor of a Liverpool university)?

Who in British Malaya collaborated with the British East India company in facilitating the globalised system of indentured slavery? Will the current government now pay attention to the 50-year problems of Indian Malaysians?

We need to untangle this ideological mess and listen to the pulse of the nation. We are hyperventilating from the ills of a 50-year indentured self-designed pathological system of discriminatory servitude of the mind and body, fashioned after the style of colonialism.

We need a crash course in the history of reparation, slavery, and the declaration universal human rights. We need to understand the style of British colonialism as it collaborated with the local power elites of any colony it buried its tentacles in and sucked dry the blood, sweat and tears of the natives it dehumanised and sub-humanised.

We need to calculate how much the imperialists and the local chieftains gained from the trafficking of human labour – across time and space and throughout history.
In short, we need to educate ourselves on the anatomy, chemistry, anthropology and post-structurality of old and newer forms of imperialism. British imperialism has successfully structured a profitable system of the servitude of the body, mind and soul and has transferred this ideology onto the natives wishing to be “more British than their brown skins can handle”.

We need to encourage our children to read about the system of indentured slavery – of the kangchu and kangani and how the Malays were also relegated to becoming ‘reluctant’ producers of the colonial economy. The Malays’ reluctance led to the British designation “lazy native”.

We need to also learn from the Orang Asli and the natives of each state and how their philosophy of developmentalism is more advanced that the programmes prescribed under the successive five-year Malaysia Plans. A philosophy of development that respects and is symbiotic with Nature is certainly more appropriate for cultural dignity that the one to which we have been subjected; one that exploits human beings and destroys the environment under the guise of ‘progress’.

Caged construction

Our history lessons mask the larger issue of traditional, modern and corporate control of the means of production of Malaya. We see the issue of race being played up from time immemorial; issue of convenience and necessity to the sustenance of the status quo and the proliferation of modern local oligopoly and plutocracy.

Our history classes have failed our generation that is in need of the bigger picture; ones that will allow us to see what is outside of our caged construction of historicising. Our historians, from the court propagandist Tun Sri Lanang to our modern historians written under the mental surveillance of the ruling parties, have not been true to the demand of the production of knowledge based on social and humanistic dimensions of factualising historical accounts.

We need to study the political-economy of the rubber and canning industry and the relationship between the British and the American empire as industrialisation began to take off.
The Indians in Malaysia have all the right to ask for reparation and even most importantly they have the rights as rightful citizens of Malaysia to demand for equality and equal opportunity as such accorded to the ‘bumiputera’. Every Malaysian must be given such rights.

Failure to do so we will all be guilty of practising neo-colonialism and we will one day be faced with similar issue of reparation; this time marginalised Malaysians against the independent government of Malaysia. How are we going to peacefully correct the imbalances if we do not learn from the history of international slavery, labour migration and human labour trafficking that, in the case of Hindraf, involved millions of Tamils from Tamil Nadu province?

I once wrote a piece calling for all of us to help the least privileged of our fellow Malaysians – the Indians. The piece called for the leaders to stop fighting and to help each other as well.

I wrote a passage on the need to help each other in the spirit of selflessness and collaboration: “It is time for the other races to engage in serious and sincere gotong-royong to help the poorest of the poor among the Indians. It is time that we become possessed with a new spirit of multi-cultural marhaenism. The great Indonesian leader Ahmed Soekarno popularised the concept of marhaenism as an antidote to the ideological battle against materialism, colonialism, dependency and imperialism. The thought that the top 10 percent of the richest Malaysians are earning more than 20 times compared to the 90 percent of the population is terrifying. What has become of this nation that promised a just distribution of wealth at the onset of Independence?”

Not a Hindu problem

Now we have a better scenario – we have the rights group that is beginning to pull together,-close ranks and demand for their basic human rights that have been denied. Not only their rights to be accorded places of worship and economic justice, but also the rights to look at history and ourselves and interrogate what actually happened and who actually was responsible for the misery, desolation and sustained abject poverty to which they have been subjected.

It is not a Hindu problem – it is universal problem that cuts across race and religion. If we believe in what religion has taught us about human dignity and the brotherhood and sisterhood of humanity, we will all be speaking in one voice rallying for those who demand for their rights to live with dignity.

In Hindraf, I believe there are Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Catholics, atheists, Buddhists, Sikhs, Bahais, Jains, etc rallying for the cause. In other words there are human beings speaking up for peace and social justice. It is the right of every Malaysian to lend support to their demands.

We have let the Indians in Malaysia suffer for too long. We ought to have a programme of affirmative action in place. We ought to have a sound programme for alleviation of poverty for the Indians and radically improve their conditions through political action, education and cultural preservation. We ought to extract the enabling aspects of culture though and perhaps reconstruct the our understanding of the relationship between culture and human progress.

But can the current political paradigm engineer a solution to the problems of the Malaysian Indians, as long as politics – after 50 years – is still British colonialist-imperialist-oppressive in nature? We have evolved into a sophisticated politically racist nation, hiding our discriminatory policies with the use of language that rationalises what the British imperialists brutally did in the open.

But our arguments cannot hold water any loner. Things are falling apart – deconstructed. The waves of demands, the frequency of rallies and the excavating of issues drawn from the archaeology of our fossilised arrogant knowledge – all these are symptoms of deconstructionism in our body politics. It is like the violent vomit of a rehabilitating cocaine addict undergoing treatment in a Buddhist monastery somewhere in northern Thailand.

We cannot continue to alienate each other through arguments on a ‘social contract’ that is alien from perhaps what Jean Jacques Rousseau wrote about some 300 years ago – a philosophy that inspired the founding of America, a nation of immigrants constantly struggling (albeit imperfectly) to meet the standards requirements of equality, equity and equal opportunity especially in education.

How do we come together, as Malaysians, as neo-bumiputeras free from false political-economic and ideological dichotomies of Malays versus non-Malays, bumi versus non-bumi and craft a better way of looking at our political, economic, social, cultural, psychological and spiritual destiny – so that we may continue to survive as a species for the next 50 years?

As a privileged Malaysian whose mother tongue is the Malay language and as one designated as a bumiputera, I want to see the false dichotomies destroyed and a new sense of social order emerging, based on a more just form of linguistic play designed as a new Merdeka game plan.

Think Malaysian – we do not have anything to lose except our mental chains. We have a lot to gain in seeing the oppressed be freed from the burden of history; one that is based on the march of materialism. We are essentially social beings, as Einstein would emphasise. Our economic design must address the socialism of existence.

Let us restructure of policies to help the Indian Malaysians – they are our lawful citizens speaking up for their fundamental rights. Let us help restructure the lives of the poor before they restructure the lives of the rich.

为大马印裔请愿
姚文杰 當今大馬 11月30日 晚上8点04分

“照我看来，今日资本社会经济的无政府状态是万恶之源。我们亲眼看见一个庞大生产者社群，各自竭尽所能地互相剥夺集体劳动成果。总的来说，这剥削无关暴力，反而是藉着奉公守法来进行的。”—愛因斯坦

“我对西方文明有何看法？我想那会是个很好的主意。”—甘地

大马印裔痛苦地挣扎了150年，英女王伊丽莎白二世会赔偿吗？在这世代，大家都被新式殖民主义蒙蔽—英格兰超级足球联赛、大马伊顿公学（英国贵族中学）复制品、津桥教育，以及崇拜英国摇滚乐手，例如崇拜比披头四还厉害的皇后乐队（Queen）吉他手兼天体物理学者布瑞恩‧梅博士（最近被委任为利物浦大学校长）—我们又该如何解决赔偿问题？

谁在英治时代助纣为虐，助长东印度公司全球奴隶契约制度？印裔同胞在这50年来所面对的问题，现任政府会正视吗？

面对这些混乱的意识型态纠结，光是解开纠结是不够的，我们也还要了解国民意向。这50年来带有歧视性地奴役身心的病态制度，是根据殖民主义而设计的，其祸害正逼得我们喘不过气来。

有关赔偿、奴隶制、人权宣言历史，我们都很需要密集课程。我们必须明白剥削作为都丧失人性：英国殖民主义串通各地政治菁英之后，就把触角深入殖民地，吸干殖民地人民的热汗血泪。

我们也必须计算：纵横整个历史时空里的人口贩卖活动，到底帝国主义者和本地首领从中搜刮了多少油水。

总而言之，我们必须再教育自己，学习新旧帝国主义的解剖结构、化学作用、人类学和后结构性质。英国帝国主义凭着奴役身心的方式，成功地建构了一个有利可图的制度。这意识型态也被转化了，使得土著欲更英化。即便土著英化得再厉害，棕色皮肤还是无法英化起来的。

港主和肯嘉尼（kangchu and kangani）制度，都是我们必须鼓励孩子了解的奴隶契约制度。我们也要让孩子了解：马来人如何被贬为殖民地经济的“不情愿生产者”，因而被扣上“慵懒土著”帽子。

国内各州原住民和土著的发展哲学，都比五年大马计划的指定策划来得更进步，我们都必须学习。一个尊重大自然，并且强调与大自然共生的发展哲学，当然比目前在“发展”幌子下剥削人类、破坏环境的制度，来得更有文化尊严。

重拾平民主义正合时宜
一些更重大议题，不论是新旧议题，或者是财团控制马来亚财富议题—种族课题老早已被挑拨炒炸、维持现状是否有其便利性与必要性、本地少数财团垄断国内市场、财阀政治肆虐—都被历史课给掩盖起来了。

我 们生活在自己建构的历史牢笼里，即使上过历史课，也无法看到牢笼外面的广阔历史图腾，可见我们的历史课是失败的。记录史实必须以社会和人文面向为基础，但 我国历史学家—从马来皇族大文豪兼传道者敦斯里拉南（Tun Sri Lanang），到当代被各执政党监控思想的历史学家，都不符合这标准。

工业起飞年代的橡胶和包装工业，这两大工业中的政治经济学，以及英美两大帝国之间的关系，我们都需要研究了解。

大马印裔有权要求赔偿。更重要的是他们身为合法公民，有权要求所给予土著的平等与机会均等，而且每个大马人都一定要被赋予这权利。

这次是被边缘化的大马人要求赔偿。如果不能让人人机会均等，我们所有人都将会背负实施新殖民主义的罪孽，而且在未来会再次面对赔偿课题。如果不从国际奴隶 制度、劳工移民和人口贩卖历史中汲取教训，我们又怎能以和平方式来纠正不均衡状态？谈到人口贩卖，我们就必须知道：参与兴都权益游行的印裔，其祖先主要来 自淡米尔纳德省。

印裔同胞是最弱势族群，我曾撰文请求大家帮助他们，请求大家守望相助，同时也呼吁领袖们停止斗争。其中一段提到大家 必须无私地合作：“我们必须帮助赤贫印裔同胞，各族是时候同心协力了。与此同时，我们也该拥有多元文化的平民主义（Marhaenism）。面对着物质主 义、殖民主义、依赖性、帝国主义，前印度尼西亚总统苏卡诺以平民主义极力抵御之，平民主义一词也因此窜红。最富有的十分之一大马人，其收入是其余十分之九 人口收入的二十倍，听之骇然。国家刚独立时，我们不是承诺平均分配财富吗？现在呢？”

应有扶弱计划消除贫穷
目前局势比较好了—权益诉求组织开始互助合作，一起努力争取自己被拒绝的权益。这权益并不只是要有庙宇供教徒膜拜和经济平等而已，也还包括回顾自身历史的权力—过去到底发生了什么事，谁该为他们的穷困潦倒负责，他们都有权质问。

这问题非关兴都徒，这问题不只横跨种族和宗教，而且也相当普及。如果我们相信宗教所倡导的人类尊严，以及人性中的手足之情，我们都会支持要求活得有尊严的游行。

在兴都权益游行当中，我相信有兴都徒、回教徒、基督徒、天主教徒、无神论者、佛教徒、锡克、巴哈伊、耆那教徒等等，他们都是为理想游行。换句话说，有人为社会的和平正义大声疾呼。对于他们的要求，每个马来西亚人都有权伸出援手。

我们让印裔同胞受苦太久了，因此必须要有一套扶弱计划。除了要有一个完善除贫计划，我们也必须要有政治、教育和文化保育等各方面行动，以便可以彻底地改善他们的处境。除了必须从各文化汲取养分，对于文化与人类发展之间的关系，我们也必须重新建构这方面的认知与理解。

50 年过去了，综观当今政治环境，其本质仍无异于大英帝国压迫式殖民，现有政治模式可以在这环境里，为印裔困境提出和平解决方案吗？在英殖民时代，举凡歧视偏 差政策，英国帝国主义者都粗暴地公然实施；到了今天，国内偏差歧视政策，一律都被语言掩盖着，并且合理化了。由此可见，我国是一个矫揉造作的种族政治国家。

我们的论点站不住脚了，时局开始分崩离析了—一波波诉求声浪、次数频密的游行、用考古方法检验迂腐思想以揭发争议性议题—这些都是政治统一体解构症状。这就像一个瘾君子，在泰北某佛寺接受康复治疗时剧烈呕吐一样。

勿再用社会契约来分割

我们不能再根据“社会契约”争议来分化彼此，这与法国思想家兼文学家卢梭在大约三百年前撰写的哲学格格不入。美国这个长期挣扎（尽管不完美），以期可以达到公正平等标准的移民国家，就是受卢梭哲学启发而建国的。这国家希望人人机会均等，特别是教育机会均等。

面对错误的政治经济和意识型态—“土著对抗非土著”、 “马来人对抗非马来人”—我们可以不受其桎梏，并且和解、团结为马来西亚人吗？对于政治、经济、社会、文化、心理和精神各方面的命运，我们能否建构一个比较好的看法，以便在未来五十年以相同的大马人身份继续生存？

身为一个以马来文为母语的幸运巫裔、土著，我要看到错误的二分法被废除。我也希望新社会秩序可以出现，让各种语文包括马来文都获得尊重。如此的新社会秩序，应该成为新独立策略。

想一想，除了思想束缚之外，我们大马人没有什么可以失去。资本主义施虐导致许多人受害，如果让被压迫的群体解除历史包袱，对我们绝对有利无弊。实质上，人除了是个体的存在，人也是社会的存在，大概爱因斯坦也会这样强调。我们的经济策划必须彰显存在社会学。

印裔同胞也是合法公民，大家一起重定扶持印裔的政策吧。在他们还未调整富人生活之前，让我们先帮助穷人重建生活吧。

The yellow wave and its durian effect
Azly Rahman
Malaysiakini Nov 12, 07

“Bersih, Cekap, Amanah” – old political slogan

“Cemerlang, Gemilang, Terbilang” – new political slogan

“B.e.r.s.i.h” – slogan to get from the new slogan to the old.

I quote the first few paragraphs of the 1776 American Declaration of Independence:

“… When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. …

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.-That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, -That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

Those are the words penned primarily by Thomas Jefferson, philosopher and statesman; words that became the document of American democracy that is still evolving.

Evolve we must

Evolve we must as a nation of multicultural poor yearning to break free from the shackles of poverty, alienation, massive corruption, and the tiredness of seeing power being abused and absolute power being abused absolutely.

Evolve we must by way of the slogans that have been fed to us religiously. By “we” we mean both the ruler and the ruled, the governor and the governed, the rakyat and the kerajaan (government). Essentially the process of “cleaning up” our act is both the desire of the ruling party and those who are protesting against it. We are a nation in need of therapy. We are one, essentially – our subjectivity and objectivity is being deconstructed and destroyed.

If we are to live with the truth and the power of the slogans we create, we must surrender to the will of the people who put us into power and wishes to see justice being served and a clean, transparent, and trustworthy government being put in place.

We have arrived at a juncture in our own brand of Civil Rights movement. We now need our own Magna Carta to teach our citizens the inalienable rights we have vis-a-vis the aristocrats; those that transformed themselves from the commoners to power-elites – through the huge machinery of money, media, and mental maneuverings and meanderings of the messages we created as the medium. We are made to live in a world of “managed perception”.

Don’t Pakistanize ourselves

Let us pray that we shall not have to Pakistanize ourselves in our struggle to exercise free speech and freedom of assembly. Unless we are like a nation at war with itself with us plunged as characters in the epic movie Lord of The Rings in which Humanity battles Humanoids in the war for natural justice set in antiquity.

The events that led to the declaration of emergency in Islamabad may as well foreshadow the nature and shape of things to come by the time campaigning and Election Day arrives.

Will the yellow fever, like the River HuangHe does, bring sorrow to the current regime? Is the nation seeing the seeds of destruction germinating? Will the Krakatau of the Malaysian rumbling and grumbling finally erupt?

I don’t know. You and I can only make informed guesses. Man proposes, God disposes.

We can only predict and plan for the translation of theory into practice. That’s what praxis is – the marriage of idealism and action to produce “cultural action for freedom”, as Latin liberation theologians such as Gustavo Gutierrez, Denis Goulet, and Paulo Freire would say. Or like what the brave heart Che Guevara would embody.

Being a student of social revolutions in which I have closely looked at the anatomy of peaceful and violent revolutions such as those of The American, The French, Cuban, Iranian, Nicaraguan, Indonesian and also the Computer and the Internet, I believe there are interesting elements one can extract from the Nov 10 march.

Unlike the French Revolution, the march did not begin in a tennis court but from many angles but denied the final congregation in front of Freedom/Independence/Merdeka Square. Nor it deposed a grandson of the Sun King, but rather seeks refuge in the Malay Supreme Ruler. Unlike the Cuban Revolution in which a law doctoral graduate Fidel Castro had to use extra-legal means to gain power and return it to the people, the November march began with a legal application that was denied and was preceded by the Lawyer’s Walk that sent memorandum to stop a judiciary rot. Unlike the Iranian Revolution in which a million people waited for Imam Khomeini, the Nov 10 march was a freedom march whose leadership is collaborative in nature. Unlike the Nicaraguan Revolution in which Daniel Ortega had to go underground to fight a guerilla war, Nov 10 saw not a single shot being fired nor Mat Rempits being hired. Unlike the American Revolution in which the French was General Washington’s ally, Nov 10 was purely a people’s protest devoid of outside influence. Unlike the most Indonesian Revolution in which Jakarta was burning, Nov 10 saw instead alleged chemical laced- water being sprayed on a rainy day.

Parallels and non-parallels there are.

But like the Computer Revolution that spread like wildfire and transformed millions into informed citizens Nov 10 was preceded by a good sense of informational war, with Malaysia-Today and a few other blogs hacked – the power of the Internet reigns supreme in spreading the yellow fever.

There is a durian dimension to the Nov 10 march of grievance.

The durian effect
The durian is a yellow fruit – an exquisite and truly “world-class” Malaysian fruit. It has a Marxist contradiction built in. It is pungent, banned in hotels and airplanes, tastes like vomit to some, feels like eating ice-cream in a Malaysian toilet to many, yet is has one of the most heavenly taste that even the most glorious of Malaysian statesmen and Supreme Rulers would not resist it over a pot of thick Malaccan coffee. In the yellowness of it lies heaven and hell. In it lies the joys and sorrow of tasting. It is a bitter fruit of freedom. Like the fruit in the song “Strange Fruit” rendered beautifully by the grand diva of jazz, Nina Simone; a fruit that tells America the story of lynching down South.

The yellowness of the durian is a metaphor of the yellow wave of change.

It’s only the beginning of a peaceful revolt against the might of the machine. Indeed the next wave will be met with even more machines from the regime. Like in the movie Lord of the Rings. Like in the movie the Matrix in which things will multiply as Humanity battles with Humanoids conditioned by totalitarianism.

The photos of the rally tell us a lot about the nature of our peaceful marches – thanks to the leaders and the marshals. Thanks to the wisdom of the leaders who are in tune and in syn with the gentleness of the people. But the faces of the protesters read like Chairil Anwar’s poems and WS Rendra’s plays.

We have evolved into brave souls with brave hearts. But with finesse and patience must we revolt. If we can have the masses to continue to wear yellow (like the Irish with their St. Patrick greens) as a memory of Nov 10, we will continue with the message right till Election Day. Revolutions need martyrs, reformations need signs and symbols and significations – etched in the memory of even the little child near Pasar Seni pepper-sprayed by the Mighty Machine trying with paranoia to crush those voices no longer in the wilderness.

This is why we have the yellow fever. Clean, Efficient, Trustworthy – a good old slogan to arrive at. But clean up we must. With lots of shower. Not with ones with chemically-laced water though.

We must evolve – collectively.

黄潮和其榴梿效应
姚文杰
當今大馬 07年11月23日
（原著文章：阿兹里拉曼，姚文杰翻译）

“清廉、有效率、可信赖”—旧政治口号。

“卓越、辉煌、昌盛”—新政治口号。

“廉洁”—一个从旧政治口号得之而来的新口号。

且让我引述1776年美国独立宣言的前几段：

在有关人类事务的发展进程中，当一个民族必须解除和另一个民族之间的政治关系，并在世界各国之间依照自然法则和上帝意旨，以接受独立和平等的地位时，出于对人类舆论的尊重，必须把他们不得不独立的理由公告天下。
我 们认为以下这些真理是不言而喻的:人人生而平等，造物者赋予他们若干不可剥夺的权利，其中包括生命权、自由权和追求幸福的权利。为了保障这些权利，才在他 们之间建立政府。政府之正当权力，是经被治理者同意而产生的。当任何形式的政府，对这些目标具有破坏作用时，人民就有权力改变或废除它，以建立新政府。新 政府奠基的原则，及其组织权力的方式，必须使人民获致最大的安全感与幸福感。

美国民主现今仍在发展，其所依据的文献，就是由哲学家兼政治家托玛斯?杰弗逊撰写的美国独立宣言。

我们必须进化
我们的国民对多元文化认识不足，向往挣脱贫穷、分化、贪腐的桎梏，以及摆脱眼睁睁地看着权力被滥用、绝对权力被侵犯的疲惫感，因此都必须进化。

我们的进化，应当以像宗教信仰般来灌输的口号为标准。“我们”涵盖着统治者和被统治者、领导者和被领导者，以及人民和政府。实质上，反贪腐是执政党和反对派的共同愿望。我们的主观性和客观性都被解构、摧毁，因此亟需治疗。
若我们想要拥有真理，以及得到口号中的力量，就必须遵循人民的意愿，毕竟是人民让我们执政的。人民也期望可以实现公平正义的理念，也希望看到一个廉洁、透明、值得信赖的政府执政。

我 们自家品牌的民权运动，已经到了一个关键时刻。我们需要自家版本的“大宪章”来教导公民—相对于贵族，我们也拥有着不可剥夺的权力。这里的“贵族”，是指 那些透过金钱和媒体的庞大机制，并以欺诈和被曲折的讯息作为工具，从平民阶级爬到政治菁英阶级的人。我们是活在一个“个人认知被控制”的世界里。

切莫自我巴基斯坦化

让我们一起祈祷吧，祈祷在这争取言论与集会自由的坎坷路上，我们不会自我巴基斯坦化。除非我们是一个内战中的国民—像奇幻史诗电影〈魔戒〉般—在那古时代分成人类和半兽人两大派，双方为了正义兵戎相见。

当竞选活动和大选来临时，伊斯兰堡宣布紧急状态的导因，我们也不妨引以为鉴。
这次的黄潮热会像黄河泛滥一样，令到政权害怕吗？国民看到毁灭的种子正在发芽吗？马来西亚人的怨声载道，会像印度尼西亚喀拉喀托火山般最终爆发吗？

我不知道，你我只能有根据地揣测。谋事在人，成事在天。

我们只能预测、策划来实践理论，这就是实践法—让理想与行动结合产生“追求自由的文化行动”。大概拉丁美洲解放神学家古铁雷斯、古莱特和弗雷勒也会这么会说，或者革命烈士格瓦拉也会体现这实践法。

身为一个社会革命运动的学生，我曾就近观察有关和平与暴力革命的分析，其中包括美国、法国、古巴、伊朗、尼加拉瓜、印尼，还有电脑和网络的科技革命，我想我可以从11月10日爆发的黄潮游行中，找到一些挺有趣的要素。
不像法国大革命，黄潮不是从一个网球场开始而是从各地发起，但最终不被允许在独立广场集合；黄潮也没有要罢免任何皇亲 国戚，反而向马来统治者寻求庇护。黄潮也不像古巴革命—当时拥有法学博士的卡斯特罗，必须采取法律管辖以外的步骤来夺取政权，之后再归还人民，黄潮组织申 请游行准证被拒绝，之前还有律师游行提交备忘录呼吁停止司法腐败。不像整整上百万人等着霍梅尼的伊朗革命，11月10日游行的领导层都跟民众紧密配合。不 像奥德嘉必须走入地下打游击战的尼加拉瓜革命，黄潮游行一枪也没开过，也没有雇用飙车族来壮大游行声势。不像美国独立战争—当时华盛顿将领有同盟国法国撑 腰，黄潮纯粹是一场没有外国势力影响的人民反对游行。不像让雅加达陷入一片熊熊火焰的印尼革命，黄潮游行反而见到警方在雨天发射渗有化学物质的水炮。

这些历史事迹，有些可以互相比较，有些则不然。

电脑革命像星星之火，瞬间将11月10日集会游行讯息如燎原般，在人民之间迅速蔓延开来。当然，在这之前就有理智的资讯战—《当今大马》和其他部落格开山劈石，让网络力量得以在“黄潮热”的扩散工作方面位居第一功臣。

11月10日黄潮游行有着一个榴梿特点。

榴梿效应
榴梿是一种精致的黄色水果，并且是真正“世界级”的大马水果，但当中也有马克斯主义式矛盾。榴莲之味道，颇为刺鼻，因 此被列为酒店、机场禁品。有些人觉得那味道彷若呕吐，抑或彷若置身大马的厕所里品尝雪糕，但榴梿也会让人觉得“此美味只应天上有”，就连德高望重的大马政 治家和统治者，也会为了它而舍弃一壶香味浓郁的马六甲咖啡。天堂和地狱、欢乐和忧伤就尽藏在那黄色果肉里头。榴梿是自由的苦果，正如伟大的女爵士歌手妮娜 西蒙演绎得非常好的〈怪异果〉—一个告诉美国人有关在南北战争后，南方白人杀害、逼迫黑人的故事。

榴梿的黄色性质，象征着黄潮的改革风潮。

这只是以和平起义对抗强权的开端而已，下一波黄潮将会碰上更多国家机器，就好像电影〈魔戒〉，或是像〈黑客任务〉里头的情节—人类和受极权主义支配的半兽人决一死战时，事情总是成倍增加。
游行照片显示黄潮的和平本质，这要感谢黄潮领袖和游行队伍统帅，也要感谢支持、同情人民，并且和人民一样温和的领袖。但游行者的脸庞，看起来像是凯里尔安哇尔（Chairil Anwar）的诗和WS仁达（WS Rendra）的表演。

我们的灵魂和心灵，已经进化到拥有勇气的阶段了，但我们也要有技巧和耐心以坚持改革。若大众以穿黄衣（例如爱尔兰人穿上属于圣伯德绿色的衣服）来纪念11月 10日，我们的讯息就可以一直延烧到大选。革命需要烈士，改革则需要讯号、标志和意义—在首都艺术广场附近的小孩，他们的记忆里都会留下烙印—庞大的国家 机器，妄想着可以利用水炮喷射不再是一盘散沙的反对派声音。

这就是为什么我们燃烧起了一股“黄潮热”。“廉洁、精明、可靠”，尽管都是旧口号，但都是我们要达到的大好目标。我们必须靠多“洗澡”来审贪，当然可不是用渗有化学物质的水炮。

我们都必须集体进化。

Deal with the rot, not the tape
M Bakri Musa
www.malaysiakini.com Sep 28, 07 11:41am
If Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz has any sense of personal honour and professional integrity left, he should resign immediately. If Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has even the slightest responsibility for leadership and moral duty to the citizens, he should not extend the Chief Justice’s contract, due to expire this October. If the Malaysian Bar Council has any credible principle of societal obligation and self-policing ethics of a profession, it would disbar the lawyer making that phone call shown in the infamous video clip exposed by former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim.

Alas, judging from past performances, expect none of these. That is the unfortunate reality of Malaysia today. What remains then would be for the King to withhold consent for extending Fairuz’s contract, thereby precipitating an unnecessary and distracting constitutional crisis the nation could ill bear.

The Bar Council had an emergency meeting, but instead of initiating the necessary disciplinary proceedings on the involved lawyer (which would definitely be within its power) it decided instead to march at Putrajaya and hand a petition to the prime minister demanding for a Royal Commission. Next those lawyers would be demonstrating on the streets. So Third World, a la Pakistan! I would have thought those smart lawyers would have concocted some novel legal theory on which to sue the government into action.

Meanwhile Abdullah Badawi was “disappointed,” not at the explosive contents of the video but the fact that it was released. Wake up, Mr Prime Minister! The rot is the Malaysian judiciary, not the taping. If Abdullah does perk up from his slumber, he would probably order the arrest of Anwar Ibrahim!

Chief Justice Fairuz, taking a leaf from the prime minister’s notorious “elegant silence,” issued a terse, “No comment!” It was neither elegant nor silent; instead it was ugly and spoke volumes.

Motive for taping
The quality of the recording is such that it is unlikely to be a fake. With today’s forensic capabilities, it would be foolish for anyone to even attempt this. The lawyer concerned was speaking on his cell phone, meaning, there will be the inerasable digital trail. My monthly cell phone bill details my outgoing and incoming calls. Because of the quality, the video could not be shot surreptitiously as with a cell phone a la the earlier “nude ear squat” episode. Besides, such a device was probably unavailable back in 2002.

The intriguing question then is why the taping was made in the first place. Dispensing with the most common and obvious reason – stupidity – I posit a few.

One is that basic human emotion: vanity. The bragging rights of accumulating the next million after you have already acquired a few declines very rapidly. You need some other trophies, like an embellished royal title or additional wives (for Muslims). If you already have those, or cannot acquire them, then the next intoxicating fantasy would be to be a kingmaker, or fancying yourself as one.

For a lawyer to be able to brag that you could “handle” senior judges must be the ultimate high. If also considerably enhances your ability as rainmaker. Years later in your old age, your skeptical grandchildren might attribute your boasts to nothing more than the rambling of a senile mind, unless of course you have the video to prove it!

Closely related to vanity is arrogance. Humility is when you could manipulate the nation’s judiciary and have the quiet satisfaction; arrogance is when you flaunt it. This lawyer Lingam was certainly flaunting it!

Alternatively, I do not put it below this shyster to put on this monologue with an imagined targeted senior judge at the other end, a la Lat’s old cartoon, and then purposely “leaked” the tape out. It would certainly be a headline grabber. As for a motive, rogues are known to do this to each other when they have a falling out. There is one quick way to check this: examine the tape to determine when it was manufactured.

The last possibility is that this could be an insider’s job, perhaps an employee’s scheme to get even with his or her boss just in case he would get nasty in future. Knowing how law firms’ employees are treated in Malaysia, this is a real possibility.

No remedy
After much delay and amidst speculations, Abdullah finally appointed, apparently at the Ruler’s insistence, Justice Hamid Mohamed as President of the Court of Appeal, and Justice Alauddin Sherif as Chief Justice of Malaya. The two are highly regarded for their integrity as well as for being apolitical and independent minded. No wonder they were not Abdullah’s initial choice!

Abdullah also appointed a private lawyer Zaki Tun Azmi directly to the Federal Court. He was on Umno’s “Money Politics” disciplinary board. Lately he was known more for dumping his young Thai bride (his second, third, fourth?) and then asking her to burn their wedding certificate that was issued in Southern Thailand. Such personal integrity! The surprise is that the Council of Rulers consented to the appointment.

Perhaps Zaki Azmi was Abdulalh’s ideal choice for a future Chief Justice. That would of course reflect on Abdullah.

The rot in the judiciary predates Abdullah. However, he had the opportunity to reverse the trend or at least stem the decline with these new appointments, but as with the massive electoral mandate he received in 2004, he squandered it.

Many are advocating for an independent Judicial Commission to deal with judges’ appointments and promotions. I disagree. Judges and the judiciary generally must be accountable to the public. While I would not have judges be elected, as in some jurisdictions in America, the current system with judges appointed by the prime minister and consented to by the Council of Rulers is a good substitute. There is no point wasting time and effort tinkering with the current system.

What is needed instead is for the prime minister to be wise in his appointments and to open the field as wide as possible. In America, federal judges are nominated by the President and then consented to by the Senate, after a public confirmation hearing. If the president were stupid enough to nominate someone equally stupid, the Senate would not hesitate to deny the confirmation, after the appropriate public humiliation of the hearings. Additionally, the Bar Associations, legal scholars, and editorial boards would never shy from voicing their opinions.

The prime minister cannot abdicate his responsibility in selecting judges. If Abdullah needs guidance (he obviously does!), I suggest that he reads Lee Kuan Yew’s memoirs. If he finds the volumes too thick and tedious, I can help Abdullah by referring him to the relevant few pages.

Waiting from directive
Elsewhere I commented on the intellectual and experiential insularity of Malaysian judges. They are almost exclusively drawn from the civil service, with minimal or no outside experience in academia, private sector, or elsewhere. They follow directives only too well.

I was stunned that Chief Justice Fairuz, when confronted with the evidence that he had promoted judges who had been delinquent with their written judgments, would write to the prime minister instead of handling the issue himself. Presumably Feiruz was awaiting arahan (directive) from the prime minister. So much for his appreciation and understanding of the concept of separation of powers!

That more than anything reflects the caliber of Fairuz. Don’t get me started on the quality of his legal writings and commentaries!

In the end it does not matter what system you have if those responsible for selecting our judges do not do the job responsibly. The rot in our judiciary is not with the system but with the personnel. The system has produced such judicial luminaries as Tun Suffian and Raja Azlan Shah. It could do it again.

亟需糾正的腐化司法制度
姚文傑

《當今大馬》07年10月9日 晚上8:09
如果首席大法官阿末法魯斯還存有任何個人榮譽和職業操守意識，他應該立刻辭職。如果首相阿都拉對自己的領導和道德還負 有些許責任，他不應該延長首席大法官即將在十月期滿的合約。如果大馬律師公會對社會還負有法律上的義務，以及自我監督的專業，在前首相安華公佈公佈臭名昭 彰的林甘影片之後，他們將會取消林甘的律師資格。

唉，從過去記錄來看，不要期望這些，這是大馬無可奈何的現實。延長法魯斯的合約是國家經不起的憲法危機—這突如其來的憲法危機是不必要且令人困惑的， 現在只好等最高元首拒絕延長法魯斯的合約。
律師公會召開了緊急會議，但並沒有採取公會許可權之內的紀律行動懲罰涉案的律師，反而選擇遊行到布特拉再也行政中心，然後將請求設立皇家調查委員會的請願書交給首相。接下來他們將會走上街頭示威。非常第三世界，跟巴基斯坦沒有兩樣！我以為那些聰明的律師會編制一些法律論說起訴政府。

首席大法官學“幽雅的沉默”

與此同時，首相阿都拉“很失望”——因為這件事曝光而失望，並非為影片的爭議性內容覺得失望。醒一醒吧，首相先生！腐敗的是大馬司法制度，不是曝光的影片。如果首相從睡夢中振作起來，他大概會下令逮捕安華！

首席大法官法魯斯學了首相聲名狼藉的“幽雅的沉默”姿態，只簡短地講了“無可奉告”。其實這並非幽雅或沉默，反而暴露了其醜陋的一面。

以該影片的錄音品質來看，那不可能是假的。以現在的偵察技術來說，任何嘗試這樣造假的人都很愚蠢。涉案的律師用手機撥電話，意味著將有不可刪除的通話記錄。我每個月的手機帳單清楚標示撥出和接聽紀錄。以該影片的品質來說，這不可能像是早前在我國發生的“裸蹲案”（nude ear squat）事件那樣被偷拍的。再說，在2002年或許也沒有那樣的儀器。

拍攝影片的動機：虛榮心作怪
既然是那樣的話，有趣的問題就是：為何要拍那影片？除卻最顯而易見的原因——愚蠢，我假設其它一些原因。

一個原因是基本人類情緒：虛榮心。如果你已經擁有了好幾百萬，當你賺取下一個一百萬時，你也就沒有什麼好吹噓的了。你需要一些戰利品，例如拿來裝飾的王室頭銜，若是回教徒就多討幾個老婆。如果你已經擁有這些戰利品，或者無法擁有，那另一個使人陶醉的夢幻就是成為一個有權支配高官的人，或者憑空幻想自己是有那般能耐的人。

身為一個律師，如果你有能力操縱高級法官的律師並且一直拿來吹噓，那你肯定是很高階的，這也加強你當超級說客的能力。除非你有影片證明自己的當年勇，否則當你年老時，你的孫子會以為你只不過患了老人癡呆症在吹牛而已。

跟虛榮心緊密相關的就是自大。所謂的謙虛，就是你能利用不當手段操縱國家司法制度而不吭聲；所謂的自大，就是你將之炫耀。涉案的林甘律師肯定是在炫耀！

或者，我不會像Lat的漫畫那樣，將這不擇手段的律師，和另一位想像中的某個大法官放進這長篇大論的文章裡，然後想像他們故意讓該影片“曝光”。這肯定可以上報章頭條。至於個中動機，眾所周知，當一群無賴有衝突時，他們常常互暴醜聞。有一個快捷的辦法可以調查：調查該影片以確定那是何時製作的。

最後一個可能性是：這可能是內鬼所為，也許是一個職員在自己還沒有窮途末路之前事先陷害雇主的詭計。看看我國律師樓是如何對待職員的，這可能性或許就可以成立。

委任巫統律師任法官惹猜疑
經過一番拖延和猜測當中，以及在王室統治者的堅持之下，阿都拉終於委任哈密莫哈末（Hamid Mohamed）法官為上訴法庭主席法官和阿拉勿丁沙裡夫（Alauddin Sherif）法官為馬來亞大法官。這兩位大法官的道德感和不涉及政治的獨立作風，向來備受尊崇。難怪他們不是阿都拉最初的選擇。

阿都拉也委派一個私人律師查基（Zaki Tun Azmi）到聯邦法院。他是巫統“金錢政治”的紀律委員會。他最近比較有名的事情是和一個年輕泰國小妾（不知道是第幾個小妾？）離婚，聽說他還要那小妾把他們在泰南簽署的結婚證書付之一炬。這種個人道德！令人訝異的是，統治者委員會竟然批准該項委任。

也許查基是阿都拉在未來的理想大法官人選，這當然會為阿都拉招致非議。

在阿都拉成為首相之前，司法制度早就腐化了。無論如何，他有機會扭轉乾坤，或至少透過新的委任來遏止司法制度繼續往下沉淪，但他辜負了選民在2004年大選中所賦予他的強力支持。

很多人提議成立一個獨立司法委員會來處理法官委任、升等事宜，我並不同意。法官和司法制度要對大眾負責。在美國的司法制度底下，我沒有法官可選。但對我而言，一個好的替代方式就是現在這個由首相提名，然後由統治者通過的制度。浪費時間來馬虎將就地修改現有制度是毫無道理的。

現在迫切需要的事情反而是首相委任法官時要放聰明一點，並且盡可能開放競爭。在美國，聯邦法官由總統提名，然後在公共聽證會之後，參議院才會批准。如果總統很笨，委任一個跟他一樣笨的人選，參議院在經過公共聽證會的聽證和公開羞辱之後，會毫不猶疑地拒絕批准該提名。另外，律師公會、法學學者和輿論也不會羞於表達他們 的意見。

首相不可以放棄他遴選法官的責任。如果阿都拉需要指導（很顯然的，他需要），我建議他讀李光耀回憶錄。如果他覺得那本書太厚、太冗長乏味，我可以告訴他該參考哪幾頁。

等待首相指示處置失職法官？
我曾在別處評論過大馬法官的智慧和偏狹的經驗。他們幾乎沒有公共服務經驗，學術、私人界或其它領域的經驗也少得可憐，甚至掛零。他們非常遵從指示。

當大法官法魯斯發現他提拔了在書寫判決書方面失職的法官時，他沒有自己處理這問題，反而竟然還寫信問首相。這讓我覺得非常驚訝。他大概是在等待上頭指示吧。他真瞭解並且維護三權分立啊！

以上幾點就反映出他的能力。不要讓我開始評論他法學文章和評論的素質！

如果有權遴選法官的人沒有盡責，到頭來不管我們擁有什麼制度都是枉然。我們的司法制度並沒有腐化，腐化的是當中的人事。這制度曾經培養出司法界裡非常傑出的人物，例如敦蘇菲安（Tun Suffian）和阿茲蘭莎蘇丹（Raja Azlan Shah），現在當然也可以再度出現司法泰斗。