bobjots : redux

Turns out the notorious "Dr Ng Seng" posted a provocative and racist comment with the title "Bersatulah Kaum Cina" or "Chinese Unite" on the Prime Minister's Office's website. Taking a cue from UMNO in regards to the cases of Nathaniel Tan and Raja Petra, Ronnie Liu from the DAP together with some other DAP leaders lodged a police report on this article.

At least that's what the Information Minister, Zainuddin Maidin seems to think :

"Since the beginning (independence) until now, we have had such dangerous people who have no qualms about becoming the tools of foreign nations to damage our country, including the economy and national unity," he said.

Wow .. and a revert back to the good old "Asian values" argument :

Zainuddin said they (bloggers) were not Asian in thinking but were trying to ape the West because that was where they got the education and thought anything western was the best for everyone.

Excuse me, I was totally educated locally and am proud of that fact, not that I don't mind getting the opportunity to study abroad as well. Zam, oh Zam, do not denigrate Asian values by including elements like subservience, repression, paternalism, corruption et al into it. Jangan bikin malu sama orang Asia. We are much better than this.

You have something to say? Start your own blog! Otherwise the only goblok on the block is you.

I sometimes wonder why we react so predictably whenever the bogeyman of the "Islamic state" is brought up. I am not denying that legitimate concerns do exist but isn't the general response of both the Muslim and non-Muslim communities regarding this a little bit counter productive. Take for instance the Deputy Prime Minister's recent unilateral pronouncement that Malaysia is an Islamic state. Ever took the time to wonder why he said that?

I generally don't buy the New Straits Times. Yesterday was an exception as I was with my wife at the University of Malaya Medical Centre's Ante-Natal Clinic waiting for our turn with the physician and if you know how public hospitals work, it can be a long wait. The headlined article; Action against 'flaming' blogs: Belittle the king or Islam and you face the music (PDF'ed here in case link is expired); caught my attention.

The Star published a miniscule follow up on NECF's fund raising effort in conjunction with the 40 Day Fast and Prayer initiative. I didn't find the article in The Star's website so I'm reproducing it here. The brief piece can be viewed at The Star's website :

Funds from prayers
- The Star, Page N18, 26 July 2007

PETALING JAYA: The National Evangelical Christian Fellowship will channel the funds collected throught its 40-day fast and prayer campaign to the Mobile Rukun Tetannga progamme. The annual campaign started on July 22 and will go on until Aug 30. This is the sixth year the campaign is being held.

I might be reading this wrong but I don't think I saw a retraction or admission of a misquote.

Raja Petra was not detained by the police. He was however kept within the premises of the Dang Wangi police district headquarters from 11.30am until 7.15pm today, ostensibly to give a statement to the police. Turns out there was a bit of Q&A involved as well, which might explain why it took so long. The other possibility is that the police have some extremely slow typists.

Anyway, Pete informed those present after he emerged from the station that the police had informed him that he is being investigated under Section 112 of the Penal Code.

I just got a text message a while ago. As some of us are aware, Raja Petra Kamaruddin (known to his friends as Pete) of the famous (or perhaps infamous) Malaysia Today website was summoned by the police this morning to give a statement. He arrived at 11.30pm with his wife and apparently is still inside the police station at this hour.

There has been a call to join the growing crowd of supporters who are gathering outside the Dang Wangi police district headquarters in Jalan Stadium, Kuala Lumpur where Pete is currently at in solidarity. If you can make it, do turn up and make a stand against this latest attempt at denying Malaysians our freedom of speech and expression.

I have received multiple copies of an e-mail from Rev. Wong Kim Kong by people concerned that I may not have had the opportunity to get NECF's side of the story regarding the RELA controversy. I can understand that concern since not all the people I know read my blog (or want to) and hence could have missed this later post where I mentioned that I was informed that Rev. Wong Kim Kong claimed that he was misquoted by The Star. In fact, Hedonese left a comment in my post with nothing except the e-mail. I reproduce the e-mail below :

.. or at least learn to die ..

.. reading the Bible, and asking what if Jesus meant this stuff He said ..

.. dangerous act?

Michael Charles Yaconelli (July 24, 1942 - October 30, 2003) would've been 65 yesterday. He was one of the few people who were influential in keeping my faith in the Church (if not in Christ) sane and breathing, even if at times only barely.

If I were to have a heart attack right at this moment, I hope I would have just enough air in my lungs and just enough strength in me to utter one last sentence as I fell to the floor: "What a ride!" My life has been up and down, careening left then right, full of mistakes and bad decisions, and if I died right now, even though I would love to live longer, I could say from the depths of my soul, "What a ride!" - Mike Yaconelli

At least his buddy, Oon Yeoh, thinks so in his article published by Singapore's TODAY newspaper. It's already generated quite a bit of conversation in an online forum where Jeff's neighbours and friends hang out and Jeff's been dancing to the tune a bit as well.

This is a brief and very late follow up of what happened after the demolishment of the Orang Asli church in Gua Musang went public. First of all, I found this video on Youtube that went on the scene to record the demolished structure for posterity :

Taking a cue from Sdr. Jonson Chong, I thought that it might be good to post something on a more positive note as well. Despite the possible mess that some leaders in the NECF may have made (without discounting the fact that they may have been misrepresented by The Star), the 40-Day Fast and Prayer initiative is, as a whole, a worthwhile investment of time and resources.

Apparently, or at least I'm told, The Star misquoted the Rev. Wong Kim Kong in yesterday's newspaper report - naughty, naughty .. but does one seriously expect any better of "the people's paper". I'll take this clarification at face value for now but the onus is still on the NECF to clarify matters and seek a retraction from The Star.

As of posting time, neither the original press statement on the launch of NECF's 40 Day Fast and Prayer (where the original report on NECF channeling funds to RELA was based upon) or a clarification on the misquote has yet to be made available in the NECF's website.

I literally almost fell off my pew (ok .. its more a chair than a pew) today when I got a text message that informed me that the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship (NECF) was planning to raise funds for crime prevention (article PDF'ed here in case the link has expired) by channelling part of the funds raised to the Ikatan Relawan Rakyat (RELA), an armed citizen's voluntary militia. While I think its wonderful that the NECF recognises that the rising crime rate is becoming a major problem, there must have either been a serious lapse of judgement or a severe lack of information to have chosen RELA as a beneficiary.

There has been a lot of talk, debate and possibly divisive tension being generated in the wake of the Deputy Prime Minister, Najib Tun Razak's statement that Malaysia is an Islamic state. This, of course, isn't too new and is occasionally brought up by leading (and not so leading) members of UMNO especially when they feel that they are running out of political capital.

MCA's contradictory response doesn't help clarify the situation any better. I do recall that their endorsement of former Prime Minister, Mahathir's declaration that Malaysia is an Islamic state has yet to be rescinded (the so-called 929 Declaration). And the other 12 component parties in the Barisan Nasional have only been conspicuous in their silence on this matter.

Since iStuff seems to be in vogue, this seems to be almost inevitable (ht : Think Christian). A tongue-in-cheek reflection of popular Christianity's subculture (or the lack thereof) :

.. watch this in tandem with this Wall Street Journal article on the economics of faith. I don't think this was exactly what the Patristic fathers had in mind when they used the term "oikonomia" when describing the relational underpinnings of Creation and the Creator.

Since I seem to be in the mood now for this, I wonder how many of you remember this theme song for 1986's National Day. It was played very briefly on TV in a similiar format as the music video for "We Are the World". I don't really recall the artistes involved except for Amy (Search), Ella and Jamal Abdillah. But what I do recall are the lyrics (surprisingly!) and the fact that it was actually pretty good and a class apart from the normal campy patriotic songs that we have to endure every year. For some reason, it was pulled off the airwaves quite suddenly (at least that's what I thought back then).

I found this gem on Youtube after seeing an entry in the Internal Security Ministry's banned publications list from 1971 - 1999 (apparently the lyrics were banned in 1981). In the same list I found books like Napoleon Hill's "Think and Grow Rich" (banned in 1985). Go figure.

I suspect the song Terang Boelan (or Terang Bulan in contemporary Malay spelling) was banned because Sukarno used to sing it in functions to mock Malaysia during the height of the Confrontation (1962-1966).

Enjoy our heritage before we lose it forever. Timely too since we are actually 50 years old and should've outgrown such sensitivities.

When I come home to news like these :

Overturned & Expunged!
- The Sun (19 July 2007)

The Federal Court today made two rulings pertaining to the Appeal Court’s decision last year ordering toll operator Metramac Corporation Sdn Bhd to pay RM65 million compensation to Fawziah Holdings Sdn Bhd for loss of advertising rights.

Ministry bans Islamic state debate in media
- Malaysiakini (19 July 2007)

The Internal Security Ministry has confirmed that they have given a directive to all mainstream media not to publish any news on the issue of Malaysia being an Islamic state ..

.. Che Din pointed out that while the two top leaders of the country can make such statements, any reactions from political parties and the public will not be allowed to be published.

Reminds me of the story Guan Eng shared today at the forum :

The Thai media, Indonesian media and Malaysian media decided to ask God how to bring about media freedom.

After meeting God, the Thai media came out in tears lamenting how difficult it was to do so. The Indonesian media met God and came out in tears as well.

When the Malaysian media went for his audience with God, God saw who was coming ...

and God wept!

Lord have mercy! Kyrie Eleison! Maranatha!

I just opened my mailbox and saw this. Wow! This is probably one of the best gifts I've received for a loooong time.

Thanks heaps! Love you guys - with or without the gift :)!

Man .. I'm such a nerd.

It seems that Nat's own account of his detention has been travelling around the blogosphere. Have a look at the trackbacks his post has received. I was at the press conference this morning and a group of us; including Nat, his father and his sister, proceeded to a nearby Malay restaurant for lunch. As I didn't have my car with me, Nat offered to give me a ride back to PJ. I was glad I took up his offer as I would have missed one very touching postscript to this whole affair if I had not.

We have heard so much about Nat the political activist, Nat the PKR webmaster, Nat the Anwar Ibrahim aide, Nat the Harvard graduate, et al. Here's a little personal tale about my experience with Nat the person. Sorry mate, I know you didn't want me to share this but I felt I just had to.

Update - 1130

Nat is sharing his experiences and he has his full statement published in his blog (in both English and Bahasa Melayu).

Photographs available in my Flickr account (photos courtesy of Ginie Lim).

Your one vote can make a difference

- Nathaniel Tan @ 11.40 am

I was initially made aware of this initiative by a post at Nyx's blog. I find Kiva.org a fascinating project that I wished someone here thought about.

      

Nat posts a personal thank you note here. I would also like to say a heartfelt thanks to all friends, Malaysians and abroad, who have took this matter to heart.

Yesterday, Hafiz (aka _earthinc) and I were interviewed by Chris Vallance from BBC Radio's Live Five Pods & Blogs segment on Malaysian bloggers' response to Nat's arrest. The programme was broadcasted earlier today and I managed to download the relevant clip and convert it to MP3 :

You can listen to the whole programme here. And yes, we are extremely thankful for Nat's release. And now the struggle continues.

Live updates from Cheryl.

Free At Last! Free At Last! Thank God Almighty! We're Free At Last ...

... in the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

- Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr

I got a series of SMS text messages this morning telling me that Nat would be freed at 12.00 pm. As of this moment, they're still holding him although they have to do one of the following by 4.30 pm (about 25 minutes away):

• Free him unconditionally
• Charge him formally
• Extend his remand in custody

Continue to pray and those of who who can make it, camp outside the Commercial Crimes Department in Jalan Dato' Onn (behind Bank Negara).

Cheryl is in situ, blogging by cell phone - blow by blow

Update (1636)

No news yet!

Bloggers spoke out in support of Nat Tan on Sunday night's vigil. Malaysiakini carries some of the interviews :

Nine years ago, 650,000 newly registered voters were disenfranchised by the Elections Commission (EC). Apparently the EC then was too primitive to process the registrations of these new voters in time for the 10th General Elections. The same "primitive" excuse has been used numerous times to explain why this same EC has consistently been unable to purge the electors list of deceased voters (some of whom have made it a habit to turn up post-mortem to vote anyway) or to implement the use of indelible ink as part of an exercise to rebuild confidence in the electoral process.

This is from Cheryl - apparently Nat is not held at IPD Dang Wangi in the day time, only at night. Daytimes find him at the Cybercrimes Division at Bukit Perdana in Jalan Bukit Onn.

In any case, it appears that the attempt by Nat's lawyers to get him released early has failed, so another vigil will be organised tonight and we hope to have even more people than yesterday turn up:

Venue
IPD Dang Wangi
Jalan Stadium, Kuala Lumpur

Date & Time
Monday, 16 July 2007

Bring candles, placards, songs, guitars, et al and let's show Nat that he isn't alone (he can hear us from the lockup if we sing loud enough).

Here's the latest ..

The lawyers are ready to file a revision tomorrow morning to try to get a hearing later in the afternoon. There were approximately a hundred people at the vigil tonight and it will continue again tomorrow night if Nat is not released from remand in custody.

Unfortunately I was not able to join them tonight as I joined a house meeting which I had committed myself to participate in with three DAP stalwarts;Tony Pua, Liew Chin Tong and Lau Weng San ; and some bloggers and residents of Petaling Jaya.

Nat's sister, Cheryl, posts a more personal perspective of the person who is her brother here.

Update (1538)

I just caught this video of last night's vigil :

A candlelight vigil will be held tonight to show solidarity for Nat and urge his immediate release :

Venue:
Ibupejabat Polis Daerah Dang Wangi
Jalan Stadium, Kuala Lumpur
(adjacent to Merdeka Stadium)

Date & Time
Sunday, 15 July 2007, 8.00 pm

Please bring candles, placards, speeches, songs etc and pass the word around.