the readviewer

That's a pretty provocative statement isn't it? Yes, I will not be surprised if some readers even leave insulting and nasty comments just because of the title itself. But I still stand by my conviction that communism has left its mark on this country's democracy until today without most of us knowing it. Read on....

The year was 1948. Malaya, under the rule of the British, was in a state of disarray, still trying to recover from World War II (WWII). To make things even worse, they were also battling communist insurgents who were organising guerrilla attacks. The British had declared a state of Emergency after 3 European plantation managers were murdered in Perak. They also passed the Emergency Regulations Ordinance 1948 which allowed the detention of person(s) suspected of being communist sympathizers or helping the communists for up to a period of 1 year WITHOUT trial. The British labelled this as "preventive detention", or today's corporate culture, it would be called being proactive.
In 1960, the state of Emergency was ended and by then, Malaya had already achieved its independance from her colonnial masters. However, the threat of these Communist guerrillas was far from distinguished and communist sympathizers were still many. The Malayan government decided that preventive detention was still needed and passed the Internal Security Act (ISA) under Article 149.

Today, 48 years later, the threat of communists planning guerrilla attacks and communist sympathizers have all but evaporated. The only communists left are those who relate to their ideology and yet still enjoy the perks of democracy. Heck, even China themselves cannot be called a true communist regime when they condone capitalism! But yet, the ISA still exists in the Malaysian Constitution.

Even more disturbing, this law that was intended to be used against terrorists and threats against national security has been abused time and time again to serve the interests of those in power. In 1987, the biggest abuse of the ISA was done under Ops Lalang. 106 Malaysian citizens were arrested and detained without trial under the ISA.


More recently, a little over a week ago actually, the ISA keris was again unsheathed and 3 people were detained under ISA. The famous internet-journalist / blogger / expose king Raja Petra Kamaruddin, better known as RPK in the cyberspace was detained along with Teresa Kok (MP Seputeh) and Tan Hoon Cheng, the Sin Chew Daily News reporter.

Besides the 3 names stated, others who have suffered under this draconian act are figures like Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng, Karpal Singh, Chandra Muzaffar, Maximus Ongkili and Jeffrey Kittingan, just to drop a few names.

The longest imprisonment under ISA was Loo Ming Liong, detailed for 16 YEARS (1972 -1988) because he was SUSPECTED to be a communist.

As far I know, none of these people have been brought to court to be tried for the charges to which they imprisoned under ISA. Some of these figures have been brought to court and charged, but the charges were either not the same, or amended. How unfair is that?


ISA was an act that was initiated because of the unrest in Malaya at that time and because of the threat of communist agendas. These agendas are gone (the Bangkok treaty is proof of that), and even Malaya is now Malaysia. Why is ISA still here? Why do we still condone it?

And that is why, the legacy of communism still lives in Malaysian democracy through the use and abuse of the ISA.

Here's a question: Have ANY of the detainees under ISA since 1960 till present day ever been successfully charged and convicted with being communists?

NOTE: This very dissatisfied readviewer is totally against ISA, regardless of who uses it and who it is used on. Anyone who is deemed to be a threat should be given their day in court and a chance to defend themselves. Until the day ISA is abolished, this readviewer readily maintains that Malaysia does not practice democracy. Rather, is only practices an illusion of what democracy should be.

PS: For those of you who would like to know more about ISA and speak up against it, there will be a forum entitled Abolish ISA tomorrow. The details are given below:


Panel of speakers include:

• Lim Guan Eng (Chief Minister of Penang, former ISA detainee)
• Teresa Kok (MP - Seputeh, former ISA detainee)
• Khalid Samad (MP - Shah Alam)
• Nurul Izzah Bt Anwar (MP - Lembah Pantai)
• Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan (Lawyer / Bar Council President)
• Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh (Chairman, Gerakan Mansuhkan ISA aka GMI)

The wives of the current ISA detainees (Raja Petra Kamaruddin aka RPK, M. Manoharan and V. Ganabathirao) wil be present and will be given the opportunity to speak