Rambling over one too many controversies this week

Saturday, August 16, 2008

THIS week, I am not short of subjects to write about unlike certain times when I am knocked out by writer’s block.

There are so many interesting things happening now throughout the country, including Sarawak. Here are some which caught my attention this week. I will briefly run through them and share my thoughts with you all.

Firstly, we can review the 1988 judiciary crisis — it has been 20 long years and a review would be ideal to compare the state of the Malaysian judiciary then and now. Indeed the sacking of then Lord President Tun Salleh Abas will go down in history as the ‘darkest hour’ of the Malaysian judiciary.

It’s great to read the inside stories revealed by two former Bar Council presidents Datuk Param Cumarasamy and Raja Aziz Addruce in an online daily.

In a nutshell, it tells the story of a very powerful prime minister and timid brother judges of Tun Salleh. The Lord President’s successor told Param that he feared being sacked if he did not accept the position of the head of the tribunal set up to hear the grievances against Salleh.

“This came as a shock to me,??? Param was quoted as saying. That should also shock many of us.

We now know that many judges have their own selfish interests to protect too when it comes to the crunch. We have every reason to shudder at the thought that these are the so-called highly regarded people who can send others to the gallows if they so wish.

Granted, we do have personalities in de facto law minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim and a ‘few good men’ on the bench like Justice Datuk Ian Chin who made some efforts, perhaps in futility, to better the image of the judiciary but it comes too little too late perhaps.

I honestly doubt the Malaysian judiciary will be able to revert to its pre-1988 image when it was held in such high esteem in the country and abroad. I would like to be more optimistic but I simply cannot knowing that the next Chief Justice is a former pro-government politician. Sad times indeed!

Secondly, there was the announcement of the Barisan Nasional candidate to take on Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in the Permatang Pauh by-election.

Datuk Arif Shah Omar Shah may be an unfamiliar name outside of Penang but he is considered a local Umno heavyweight.

Ha, I like his confidence. He has declared that he could beat Anwar on August 26, albeit with a slim majority.

Most of us would like to see a good fight in any election and if Arif Shah could rise to the occasion, well and good.

This Permatang Pauh is one of the rare occasions when the opposition candidate is seen as the favourite and there is no reason why Anwar could not win.

Whatever the outcome, I am happy for the people of Permatang Pauh. I’m sure the two sides will promise them ‘heaven on earth’ and it is up to the locals to make sure that Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan Nasional deliver on their promises after the polls.

Then, an old Kuching pal called me Thursday suggesting that I pen my thoughts on the controversy surrounding the exhumation of graves at the Jalan Keretapi Muslim cemetery.

I’m glad that The Borneo Post had covered the incident fairly and extensively. My take on the matter is very simple. Please let the dead rest in peace.

We can feel for and understand the emotions of relatives. Let that happen to one of our own buried there and we would react in the same manner.

It’s really poor judgment on the part of the authorities to approve a private project covering the cemetery as well. Let me make an earnest appeal to those in authority — please do not ever give away cemetery land again for any form of development. It’s a scared place and do not play with the dead.

Let the Jalan Keretapi incident be a lesson to all.

The other controversial incident which came to light this week was about the ‘racist’ teacher in a Selangor school.

The MIC including its supremo Datuk Seri Samy Vellu and a horde of Indian-based organisations were understandably very upset with the teacher and more so the non-reaction from the Education Ministry over the incident.

Two police reports have been lodged against the secondary school History teacher for allegedly uttering racial slurs against Indian students. (I will not disclose the race of the teacher concerned but I leave it to you to form your own conclusion)

The reports, lodged by two students from SMK Telok Panglima Garang last Friday, stated that a female history teacher had allegedly called Indian students ‘keling pariah’, ‘Negro’ and ‘black monkeys’, among other derogatory names.

In the report, the Form Four and Form Five student said the teacher purportedly told students during class that ‘Indians came from dogs’, Indians are ‘children of prostitutes’ and the community is stupid.

They also allege that the teacher had said the community youth ‘did not have testicles’, ‘always menstruates’ and indulged in thuggery and theft.

The teacher in the Hulu Langat school (in Selangor) had also purportedly beaten some Indian students and punished them with push-ups if they were late for class.

The Form Four student in his report said students were “ashamed and embarrassed??? by these incidents.

“She told the Indian students to stand up and said she wanted to test how we would react to the word ‘keling pariah’.

“We said we did not like it and she raised her voice and repeatedly called us ‘keling pariah’ and wrote the words on the blackboard,??? his report stated.

I agree with the contention that the exposure to such verbal abuse will only breed hatred and racial polarisation in schools.

“No one in his or her right frame of mind would have said these things. Given this, the best option would be for the teacher to be assigned to a desk job and not be allowed to be near youngsters anymore,??? said a NGO leader after handing in the police reports to the school authorities.

It’s very sad that we have such a ‘racist’ educator in our midst. Teachers are such respected professionals and shoulder a great responsibility in moulding our young people into good citizens.

But let us all be fair to other teachers and not allow this action of a ‘bad apple’ taint the name and professionalism of thousands of others in the same discipline.

I hope this is just one isolated case which should never be repeated again.