NEUTRAL OR OTHERWISE, CHINESE ASSOCIATION LEADERS ARE EXPECTED TO RAISE OUR CIVIL RIGHTS DEMANDS IN THE 13th GENERAL ELECTION
by Dr Kua Kia Soong, 1 Feb 2011In the coming 13th general elections, whether the Chinese associations decide to be neutral or whatever, the Chinese masses still expect them to voice their demands to all the political parties, both incumbent and opposition. This is the responsibility of the Chinese education movement as well as the other Chinese associations.
As long as the civil rights of Malaysians are still being denied, the leaders of these associations are expected to follow the example shown by Chinese association leaders such as Lim Lian Geok, Lim Fong Seng and Sim Mow Yu. At every general election since Independence, they never failed to put forward the demands of the community that were also consistent with the aspirations of the wider Malaysian society.
The 1985 Joint Declaration voiced the demands of the Chinese community in the 1986 general elections. These demands were also consistent with those of the whole country’s. The leadership shown by Lim Fong Seng, Sim Mow Yu and Khoo Siong Chi in propagating the Joint Declaration was legendary and a model for all Chinese association leaders. They even formed the Civil Rights Committee in order to ensure that these demands were implemented and ensured that the masses in every state were familiar with these demands. Thus these issues were clearly before the country during the 1986 general elections. This is what political education is all about and that is how a society is supposed to progress.
Suqiu in 1999 was intended to perform this function of voicing the demands of the community before the 1999 general elections. Likewise, the demands were not only those of the Chinese community but also of the whole nation. Thus it also received the support of many non-Chinese NGOs. Unfortunately, the leaders of the Chinese community got cold feet when threatened by UMNO Youth and withdrew some of these demands.
This was a surrender unheard of in the history of the Chinese community of Malaysia. Leaders of the Chinese associations should not offer themselves for service if they can so easily succumb to UMNO Youth’s threats and do not have the courage exemplified by leaders like Lim Lian Geok, Lim Fong Seng and Sim Mow Yu. In contrast, when Malaysian NGOs were stormed by an UMNO Youth
mob during the East Timor conference in 1996, they stood their ground and did not give in to these fascist threats.
“Neutrality” is not an excuse not to raise demands
Since the Suqiu debacle, the leaders of Dong Jiao Zong have been using the excuse of being “neutral” to avoid raising the demands of the community in the 2004 and 2008 general elections. Or else they have quietly handed memoranda to the government trying not to create too much attention. In the process, the civil rights of the people have been covered up instead of raised to ensure that the political parties in the election are forced to commit to giving us these rights when they are elected.
Political parties are laughing when civil society does not put forward demands since they would not have any obligations to deliver when they get elected. Learning from the past, civil society must put forward clear demands and targets that they expect to be met and must not accept fluffy promises. Take just one example, how many Chinese and Tamil schools have been built since Independence? The figures are negative - Is this acceptable?
Leaders of the Chinese association must live up to their responsibility. They cannot simply enjoy the cheap thrill of social status in representing sections of the community but shirk on the expected responsibility of voicing our demands in the political arena. The elite in the Chinese community may be quite comfortable in their social positions; however, the masses in the community are not so fortunate and it is for the masses in the community that the association leaders have been elected and they have a responsibility to speak out on these civil rights demands.
So what are the demands of the community at the coming 13th general elections? The following are some basic civil rights issues to go by:
Civil Rights Demands in the 13GE
(The coalition that wins must announce and start work on these demands within the first 100 days after election)
1. Build a new economic agenda based on the needs of sectors and classes and not on race;
2. Enact a Race Relations Act to combat racism, race discrimination and institute a Race Relations Commission to promote good ethnic relations;
3. Reform the Election Commission, in particular, delineate parliamentary constituencies to ensure fair representation – the discrepancy in the number of voters in different constituencies should not exceed 15% as existed at the time of Independence;
4. Establish a Law Reform Commission to restore the independence of the judiciary; to review all laws that are unjust and to resolve the conflict of jurisdiction between civil and syariah laws;
5. Reintroduce elected local governments and enact a Freedom of Information Act;
6. Limit the office of the Prime Minister, Menteri Besar and Chief Minister to two terms in office;
7. Elect representatives to the Dewan Negara (Senate) based on proportional representation according to proportion of votes won in the election;
8. Repeal the ISA, and all detention-without-trial laws;
9. Build Chinese and Tamil schools in areas where they are needed (at least 20 new Chinese schools); ensure they receive proportionate financial support (at least 25% of total allocations for Chinese schools and 10% for Tamil schools) and train adequate teachers for these schools;
10. Recognise the Duzhong Unified Examination Certificate and provide enough financial support for the Duzhong schools so that the students can enjoy free education as in other secondary schools; at the same time, recognize the degrees of foreign universities as long as they meet the accreditation standards of the country;
11. Protect and guarantee the freedoms of expression, assembly and association by reviewing the Sedition Act, the PPPA, the Official Secrets Act, the Police Act, the Societies Act and other relevant laws;
12. Implement the IPCMC and other recommendations of the Royal Police Commission to ensure transparency and accountability; likewise, reform the MACC and Attorney General’s Chambers;
13. Enact a law whereby all elected representatives and senior civil servants must publicly declare their assets;
14. Establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry to solve the problem of citizenship for Malaysians who were born here or have lived here for more than 10 years; permanent residence for foreign spouses of Malaysians who have been in the country for 5 years, as well as the problem of illegal immigrants especially in states such as Sabah;
15. Implement a modernization plan for all the New Villages in the country and promote the development of small and medium enterprises in them;
16. Promote a sustainable agricultural policy, providing fair and adequate support to all sectors and distributing land justly to all farmers irrespective of ethnicity;
17. Nationalise all essential services including water, health, public transport and energy and practice open tendering for all privatization contracts;
18. Increase oil royalties to at least 20% for the oil-producing states of Sabah, Sarawak, Kelantan and Terengganu;
19. Protect the Malaysian environment by re-gazetting all previously gazetted forests and wildlife reserves; imposing strict energy and water conservation measures; giving incentives for development of solar energy and other sustainable energy sources, and enforcing recycling measures ;
20. Implement a fair and effective public housing policy and programme to benefit the poor and marginalized communities;
21. Implement a 30% quota for women’s representation in all decision-making bodies of government;
22. Establish an Independent Broadcasting Authority which is answerable to Parliament and not to the Ministry of Information; abolish the need for annual renewal of publishing permit, and introduce an anti-monopoly law to prevent monopoly of ownership and control of the press by political parties or corporate bodies;
23. Legislate a progressive guaranteed minimum wage for all workers (local and foreign) and review labour laws to ensure they are compatible with international human rights and encourage unionization of workers in all sectors;
24. Guarantee the rights of the indigenous peoples to their Native Customary Lands to allow them to control their own land and resources and choose their own way of life; provide state support for their basic needs such as health, nutrition, water and electricity, transport as well as promoting and developing their mother tongue.
25. Amend the UUCA to allow lecturers, students and youth to participate in the political affairs of the country.
26. Review our defence policy to promote a culture of peace in ASEAN and cut the defence budget to apportion a higher budget for health and social services.
We hope the Huatuan leaders will be familiar with these basic civil rights demands, familiarize the masses throughout the country with these demands and engage with all political parties to commit to these demands before the next general elections.
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