Victor Chin

Equality under the rule of law, Inequality under the ISA

The lawyers from the Malaysian Bar Council and many other civil society groups and also opposition politicians, had all declared, in one way or the other, that we have adequate laws in place to deal with the security and lawlessness in the country and that there is no need to use the ISA to arrest and imprison indefinitely any Malaysians without a proper open trial in our courts. This is an inclination towards political tyranny and inequality.

What Malaysians have been longing for, in the last 51 years, is for a time of political maturity, where, talent and hard work matters (not race and religion), loyalty is not automatically owned to any one and that respect for each other had to be earned and not demanded by using tyrannical threats and intimidation like the ISA.

Ironically, we have inherited the old form of tyranny from which we have emerged as a nation but that has been transformed by our present government to oppressive its electorates.

So, we are eagerly awaiting the next change of government (legitimate or otherwise), as this present group is not doing what they had been elected to do, which is to protect the country from abuse of power and leading us to the road to despotism and despair.

Freedom under the rule of law, tyranny under the ISA

The behaviours of our recently elected representatives in government in Malaysia are becoming increasingly authoritarian and in an arbitrarily manner. Using the Internal Security Act (ISA) they had, in this month, arrested four Malaysians and later released three (Tan Hoon Cheng a reporter, Teresa Kok a parliamentarian, Sheih a blogger) and detained one (Raja Petra a blogger) for a two year period.

These four and many thousands of other Malaysians who had  challenged their elected parliamentarians’ authority in the business of governing the country are labelled as ‘a threat to the security of the country’. The reasons for their arrest and sudden release or continued detention show that the cabinet is in disarray and autocratic, with internal ‘power struggle’ going on in the ruling party. To covering up their in-house political struggle, they have in the meantime, created a situation of fear among their electorates.

These politicians, over the years in power, had not been listening to the peoples’ concerns which are ideas that promote open debate, equality, honesty and fairness. The official responds to these request of basic Human Rights is to use the ISA on its citizens. This is what Malaysians want to change and we hope it will come soon.

The needle on my right hand draining blood down to the bag.

My friend Lee donating his blood at the UH Blood Bank

Sharing blood with our brothers and sisters

This morning, the air over the country was filled with a lot of political expectancy, there could be a new government running our nation, but what was more important to me and my friend Lee, was to answer an urgent SMS call from the University Hospital requesting O+ blood. We each gave 450ml of our blood.

There is a usual shortage of blood donors at this time of the year and it was crucial they call people up requesting blood and if you feel generous and would like to give some blood to save someone’s life, please go to the hospital, its urgent!

While lying on the bench, waiting and watching my blood flow down to the beg, I was thinking what I would like the newly elected political representatives to keep in their minds and hearts – perhaps a sense of generosity? – of giving and sharing freely with anyone, known or unknown (as in the case of giving blood to a blood bank, you do not know who will need your blood).

One of the main complains about the present government for the last 51 years is that there had been no generosity of spirit, there was only sharing of huge amount of wealth among a selected group holding power, while those majority who had elected them had been only given just ‘crumbs’ from the financial cake or else only lip service during election times.

Malaysians long to see a change of government and also a change of minds and hearts in our country.

Thinking of my father

I took this photograph, recently, at the Kowloon Public Ferry Pier at Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. This man was looking at a luxury liner docking. He had his right arm resting on the barrier and his left hand holding on to his coat and a bag. He was looking at the harbor for a long time and this setting reminded me of my father who left for Hong Kong before I was born.

Standing on the waterline, with his belongings, must have brought back all sorts of memories of his life. Before the days of air travel, getting on a sailing or a steamship was the main ways to get in and out of that place. He probably didn’t travel in such a luxurious cruise boat in the old days but in something smaller and with less passenger comforts.

The reason for his first journey to that port was probably not as a tourist wishing to see the pearl of the orient or to experience the fragrance bay. This destination was perhaps not of his own choosing and it was the turbulent circumstances forced on him at that time.

He could be longing for his family to come to visit him or he could be wondering when he could depart to see his wife and young child that he had left behind in some far away land. It may be that, finally, this man has made some money over the years and is waiting to board the ship and returning, for the first time, to his long awaiting family and home. Or this could be the last picture of this man, on land, before he jumped fatally into the sea.

Wesak

A stone stature of the seated Buddha, with its head and two lower arms severed off, was photographed in Wat Maha That, one of the many ruin temples in Ayutthaya, Thailand. About 240 years ago, the invading Burmese army, destroyed everything Thai in the city and many of the wreckages still remain today.

This picture of the Buddha, at the moment of enlightenment, with his right hand touching the earth and the left hand calling the earth to witness it, captures the mood and essence of the Wesak celebration, in May every year. This visualization, brings together, the time when Siddhartha Gautama became a Buddha, when he was born (563BC) and when he died (483 BC) and also his teachings about spiritual liberation and human insights.

Ayutthaya, in the 14th and 15th century, was the second Capital of Thailand after Sukhothai. It was the greatest inland port at that time but it was in constant war with invading neighbours, wanting to take over its power and wealth.

Some of the best Thai Buddhist art flourished during that time but in 1765 the invading army from Burma, over ran the city within two years, and in its wake, desecrated everything sacred to the Thais, including manuscripts, temples and sculptures.

The Mon people (Thais and Burmese), who were mostly Theravada Buddhist, were at war with each other constantly, in their history, and they are now still at war, not only with their neighbours, but also with their own people. This is true too of many parts of the world today; we are endlessly at war with each other, many of this conflicts are in the name of religion, race, power and greed (for oil and other limited natural resources).

When will we ever learn to live and share with our neighbours?