MCA: the Malay running dog

NO HOLDS BARREDRaja Petra Kamarudin

“Suhakam probes Batu Buruk shooting,” said Charles Ramendran of The Sun. The Sun went on to say:



The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) has initiated a public inquiry into the discharge of firearms by the police which injured two people during a demonstration in Batu Buruk, Terengganu, on Sept 8.



The inquiry will look into whether there was justification for the police to fire several gunshots at the assembly, given the circumstances at that time.



Suhakam has appointed three commissioners to conduct the inquiry, headed by Datuk Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, who will be assisted by Prof Datuk Khoo Kay Kim and Tan Sri Asiah Abu Samah.



In a press conference in Suhakam’s Jalan Raja Laut office today, Muhammad Shafee said the inquiry was proposed after the commission found that there was no specific probe into the shooting, except that it could have been part of the overall police investigations into the assembly and riot.



He said since the incident, the police had charged 12 participants of the assembly in court.



He said there was however no explanation on the shooting from the police’s probe into the incident.



Muhammad Shafee said since Suhakam found no court proceedings were pending on this issue, it decided to pursue it at the commission's 93rd meeting on Monday (Nov 19).



“This inquiry is solely on the use of firearms on that day and not the assembly itself. Suhakam views the usage of live ammunition at a public assembly with great concern,” he said.



“If there is no justification for the use of live ammunition, then it is a very serious issue. Since we found no court proceedings pending on this issue, we decided on Monday (Nov 12) at the commission’s meeting to pursue it,” he said.



He added that the inquiry will look into how such a violation had occurred, and the administrative directives and procedures that could have led to the incident, among others.



The police had tried to stop a rally organised by the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) on Sept 8, calling for electoral reforms. Several people were injured in the melee that ensued and a policeman in plain clothes fired several shots and injured two people.



Bersih submitted a memorandum on Sept 13 asking Suhakam to look into the matter. Suhakam conducted an investigation and decided that although the complaint had its merits, but due to the operation of the law, a panel of inquiry could not be convened to investigate the complaint.



Muhammad Shafee said measures to prevent such incidents from recurring will also be on the list of recommendations at the end of the inquiry.



“The inquiry will be carried out without prejudice to see if there was any breach of human rights in the incident,” he said.





The Star carried the same story but its headline said, “Inquiry into Batu Buruk riot.” And The Star went on to say:



The Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) will hold a public inquiry from Dec 11-15 into allegations about the use of live ammunition during the Sept 8 Batu Buruk riot in Terengganu.



Suhakam commissioner Datuk Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said the inquiry would be held in Kuala Terengganu and he urged the public to come forward to give information, documents and other evidence pertaining to the incident.



He said there has not been an inquiry on the firing of live ammunition to date, with no other court proceedings pending on the issue.



“Suhakam, therefore, found the necessity for a public inquiry to ascertain whether the use of live ammunition by the police during the riot was justified.”



Muhammad Shafee, Prof Datuk Dr Khoo Kay Kim and Tan Sri Asiah Abu Samah would conduct the inquiry.



He said the terms of reference of the public inquiry were to inquire about the circumstances of the situation, the justifiability of the police to use live ammunition on the crowd and whether it was a violation of human rights.





Now, note the difference between the two reports.



The Sun headlines: Suhakam probes Batu Buruk shooting



The Star headlines: Inquiry into Batu Buruk riot



While The Sun says that Suhakam wants to probe the shooting, The Star suggests that Suhakam wants to probe the riot. This means two different things and is clearly aimed at painting a negative picture of what happened -- meaning of course negative for BERSIH.



The Sun: Suhakam has initiated a public inquiry into the discharge of firearms.



The Star: Suhakam will hold a public inquiry into allegations about the use of live ammunition.



The Sun says that ‘Suhakam will probe the discharge of firearms’, which means it did happen. The Star says that Suhakam will probe the ‘allegations about the use of live ammunition’, which means it may not have happened at all. The Sun suggests that it did happen so they want to know how and why it happened. The Star suggests that the probe will be about whether it did or did not happen.



The Sun also said:



“This inquiry is solely on the use of firearms on that day and not the assembly itself. Suhakam views the usage of live ammunition at a public assembly with great concern. If there is no justification for the use of live ammunition, then it is a very serious issue. Since we found no court proceedings pending on this issue, we decided on Monday (Nov 12) at the commission’s meeting to pursue it.”



But The Star only said this:



“Suhakam, therefore, found the necessity for a public inquiry to ascertain whether the use of live ammunition by the police during the riot was justified.”



The Sun says that Suhakam is not interested in talking about the assembly but only about the shooting. The Star uses a different quote from that of The Sun and instead gives the impression that Suhakam want to find out whether the use of live ammunition was ‘justified’.



Two newspapers, each saying different things, and both are ‘government-controlled’ news organs mind you -- even though Umno has accused The Sun of being too much ‘pro-opposition’. But there is one difference between the two -- one, The Sun, is private-owned while the other, The Star, is MCA-owned.



This is not the first time The Star has distorted the news. One day before the 30 October 2007 Conference of Rulers, The Star reported that the Rulers will be discussing the extension of the Chief Justice’s term of office. One day after the Conference of Rulers, Bernama carried an announcement by the Keeper of the Royal Seal that the Rulers did not even touch on the subject. His Majesty, The Agong, a week before that, had rejected the extension of the Chief Justice’s tenure and that was enough for the Rulers. They supported what The Agong had decided and saw no reason for further raising the matter or to discuss it at the Conference.



Anyway, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi refuses to accept defeat. He still wants to get in the last word and show the Rulers who is boss. It appears like Penang may soon get a new Governor in the form of the recently-retired Chief Justice. I did say that the position of Governor is reserved for those who have no other place to go and this assumption will soon be proven beyond any shadow of doubt.



The Star, which is MCA-owned, and therefore can be interpreted as ‘Chinese’ since MCA claims to be the legitimate party representing Chinese interests, has also strengthened something else which I have been saying many times in the past: and that is the Chinese, in particular the MCA Chinese, are Umno’s running dogs.



Yes, the Chinese are very upset. They condemn the present government as the ‘Malay’ government. They accuse the ‘Malays’ of screwing up the country. They refer to the government as ‘Islam-Malays’. But from where I am sitting it looks like it is the MCA Chinese and not the Malays who are Umno’s running dogs.



So, the Chinese are very upset. Yeah, sure they are very upset. They are very upset with the Malays. They are very upset because the Malays are running this country. They are very upset because the Malays are screwing up this country. Then why are they the running dogs of the Umno Malays?



Yeah, sure, I know. They have no choice but to become the running dogs of the Umno Malays. Chinese are a minority. Chinese must think of cari makan first. Chinese must protect their rice bowl. Chinese want to make sure that their business does not suffer so they must become running dogs of the Umno Malays. It’s all about money, money, money. Money comes first. Money calls the shots. M-C-A; Money Controls All.



No problem then. If money is the overriding factor and if money decides what you must do then do it. Be that Umno Malay running dog if you so wish and if that will guarantee you a good and prosperous future. I have no problem with that. But stop blaming the Malays for the ills of this nation. Stop blaming the Malays when this country goes to the dogs. The reason this country is going to the dogs is because you are the running dog, not because of the Malays.