May 13 mooted as day of reconciliation

Based on the notion that ‘Change, Peace Starts with Me’, a conference on ‘Tools for Change’ has mooted that May 13 be turned into a day of forgiveness and reconciliation among Malaysians.
Initiatives of Change (IofC), formerly known as the Moral Re-Armament movement, has taken up the idea and is now working towards ‘National Reconciliation Day’ on May 13.

It has formed a committee, Creators of Peace Circle, following a four-day international conference held last week.

Project coordinator Regina Morris said the spectre of the racial riots of May 13, 1969 has raised fear and that many are still not willing to face it.

“A group of participants from the conference decided to lay the ghost to rest by turning the spectre of May 13 into a National Day of Reconciliation,” she explained.

The committee hopes to launch the project by providing victims of the May 13 incident with a safe space to talk about what they experienced during that week of fear and violence.

“National Reconciliation Day is designed to draw participants through personal reflection to an awareness of needs in their own lives and communities, and to encourage steps to take to create peace,” said Morris.

“It allows space for people to tell their deepest stories and to be heard without judgment and in strictest confidentiality.

 

“It is formatted to build deep listening, which is a powerful tool of release and personal transformation.

“We hope by the end of the process that those taking part will become creators of peace themselves.”

Self-transformation in working towards a peaceful nation is an expected outcome from the project, mirroring the essential truth ‘As I am, so is my nation’.

Quoting Mahatma Gandhi who inspired the formation of IofC, Morris said: “There is no way to peace – Peace is the way.”

IofC is an international movement for social and global transformation inspired by personal transformation. It was started in 1938 as Moral Re-Armament.

LAUNCHING OF MAY 13, 1969, TRUTH & RECONCILIATION BLOG

Exactly 40 years ago a great tragedy occurred in Kuala Lumpur where many people were killed or injured. This tragedy came to be known as the May 13, 1969 incident. Today the very mention of May 13 still bring shudders and strike fear in the hearts of many Malaysians. 

Generally, the subject of May 13 is a social taboo in Malaysia, at least in public discourse. It is the tacit understanding of reasonable citizens that the topic is too sensitive for public discussion, especially among mixed company thus perpetuating the fears and myths.

It is with this unhealthy closeting of truths that a blogger decided to create a blog which aims to bring out ‘TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION’ and a proper closure to the tragic incident. After all reconciliation always starts with the TRUTH.

This initiators of this blog believes that every Malaysian particularly those born post-May 13, 1969 should be given every opportunity to learn the truth about the tragic May 13 incident. As a visitor to Malaysiakini commented,

“How are we to achieve excellence if we do not allow the freedom to probe and research? Without this freedom to probe and research, we will always be a mediocre nation and a mediocre people. “

The South Africans under their first ANC government thought so. Once the native Africans came to power after a bloody and protracted struggle, they did not persecute their white minority population as Robert Mugabe did in Zimbabwe. Instead, the first ANC government established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, confronted their ugly past face to face, and wrestled their infamous national demon to the ground. ”  – Sim Kwang Yang in “Unmasking the Hornets”, Malaysiakini  

The initiators of this blog invites all Malaysians to confront their ugly past face to face, and wrestled their infamous national demon to the ground. And nothing short of an national inquiry and the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission could this past demon be overcome.

This blog also invites any eyewitness accounts of the May 13 incident to come forward and published their stories here for future generations to know. Its time for the tragedy to be demystified.

NO MORE SECRECY. NO MORE CENSORSHIP.

LET THE TRUTH BE TOLD.

DAP leaders will seek meetings with Inspector-General of Police and Election Commission Chairman on the question of public rallies in the next general election

(Retro)

Media Conference Statement (3)
- at Chai Leng Park  market, Penang on the  DAP’s Love Malaysia/Defend Secular Malaysia campaign
by Lim Kit Siang

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(Penang,  Sunday): DAP leaders will  seek  to meet with the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Norian Mai and the Election Commission Chairman, Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman on the question  of public rallies in the next general election.

Malaysians are entitled to know whether the so-called lifting of the 25-year ban on public rallies for the next general election is merely a “four-day wonder” -  full of sound and fury, signifying nothing, after the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad had virtually given his “thumbs down” to Rashid’s “greenlight” for public rallies on Tuesday?

When Rashid announced on Tuesday that public rallies will be allowed in the next general election, DAP leaders  had reacted with skepticism although the DAP had been calling for the lifting of the ban for 25 years – for the simple reason that as it was the police which imposed the ban on public rallies in 1978, only  the police can  lift the ban and not the Election Commission.

However, as events proved, even before the police had officially made any stand on the lifting of the 25-year ban on public rallies, the UMNO Supreme Council had intervened to indicate its opposition to any lifting of the ban on public rallies – raising the question whether the Police could act with independence, integrity and professionalism to safeguard the security of the people and nation without dictation or interference from UMNO leaders.

UMNO Vcie President and Defence Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said yesterday that Malaysia was democratic even without public rallies as the people have the ultimate power to determine the next government.

Muslim overseers blame Christians for ‘Allah’ row

Malaysian Insider

By Syed Jaymal Zahiid

PUTRAJAYA, Jan 28 — Islamic academics and administrators have blamed Christians for provoking Muslim anger by challenging the ban on their use of the word “Allah”.

Politicians, particularly those from Umno/Barisan Nasional (BN) were also blamed for failing to defend Islam against perceived threats.

Panellists at a forum organised for civil servants here by the Islamic Development Department (Jakim) suggested that the Barisan Nasional (BN) government was lax in defending Islam, after the High Court ruling allowing a Catholic weekly to use “Allah” in its Bahasa Malaysia section.

Zamihan Mat Zin from the Institut Latihan Islam Malaysia blasted politicians for being vocal only on Malay rights but doing little for Islam.

“Some politicians are ever so vocal when it comes to defending Malay rights but when it comes to their religion, they are quiet. What is the use of defending Malay rights if our religion is not protected?” he told about 800 civil servants at a special forum here today.

The people are reminded of May 13, yet again!!

From the People’s Parliament Blog

By Haris Ibrahim

January 28, 2010

I was too young to fully understand all that was happening when the May 13 tragedy struck.

I have since had the benefit of reading up on this dark passage of our nation’s history from every possible literature I could lay my hands on, including Dr. Kua’s “May 13″.

Until an earnest attempt to lay bare the truth about the riots of 1969 is made through a mechanism akin to that of a truth and reconciliation commission, we may never really ever know what brought about the violence and mayhem which , as we now know, made all talk thereafter of nation-building, as envisaged by our founding fathers, rhetoric and little else.

At the same time, the race-based ‘divide and rule’ blueprint laid out by the Malay nationalists of the day and carried forward by their progeny to this day has, over the years, been allowed to take root and firmly grip this nation by, again and again, playing out to a fearful people, the spectre of race and religion-based violence erupting to disrupt a peaceful existence sustained, not through genuine respect, acceptance and understanding, but the absence of dissent through fear.

Again and again, the people are reminded of the dark history of May 13.

Utusan Malaysia: Messenger of hate and spite on religion and race

CPI Writings

Written by Dr Lim Teck Ghee

Tuesday, 15 December 2009 21:27

Sitting today in a small group international meeting on the subject of the linkages between religion and development being held in Phnom Penh, I am engaged in deep discussion on how to build inter-faith synergies that can effectively address the many pressing challenges of the region. The group of 15 participants from different faiths and religions (I am possibly the sole atheist participant) includes three Muslim activist colleagues. They are the country director of Muslim Aid from Bangladesh; a Muhammadiyah senior lecturer from the State Institute for Islamic Studies in Walinsongo Semarang, Indonesia; and the executive director of a Muslim-based organization Ummah Fi Salam based in Mindanao that has been working on an interfaith programme called ‘Building Darusalam’ or ‘peace communities’. Present also is a Muslim senior lecturer from the National University of Singapore who is actively involved with giving voice to professional Muslim women in Singapore. Our two-day workshop is part of the research programme underway at Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs, and the World Faiths Development Dialogue which has to date covered North America, the Middle East, Europe and Africa, and Latin America. More information is available on the Berkley Center website: http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu What I (and others from the non-Muslim faiths) have gotten from our discussions with these Muslim colleagues is not only of their strong conviction in their religion as a religion of compassion, peace and justice; but also of their view of the need for Muslims to stand up and speak out against disrespect, intolerance or injustice, especially in instances when these actions are carried out in the name of the religion against people of other religions and faiths. As I return to my laptop to review the latest news from the Utusan Malaysia on developments on race and religion in the country, the contrast between the noble values and reasoned and rational statements of my Muslim colleagues here and the ‘Islamic supremacy’ mindset and irrational and provocative ranting of the newspaper editors makes me wonder what version of Islam the Utusan Malaysia is promoting. The contrast between these Muslim colleagues committed to values of justice, freedom, equality and peace that are common to all religions and faiths, and the Utusan proponents of a racist and religiously warped social order for Malaysia could not be more striking. In Cambodia for the workshop, these Muslim advocates for inter-faith understanding and reconciliation come from poorer and less developed societies that have much less in the way of material achievement and socio-economic goods. Yet their respect, lack of envy, compassion and positive attitudes towards other religions shines through in their writings, speeches and actions. In contrast, our Utusan Malaysia and their compatriots of similar ideology are affluent, well educated and come from the most prosperous and powerful Muslim society in the region. From them what we get are messages of hate, spite, narrow-mindedness and intolerance towards the non-Muslim and non-Malay communities in the country. How sad! See articles by Utusan Malaysia editors – English version translated by Utusan Online. Excerpts: “Are the Muslims there [in the developed countries] accorded the same so-called freedom enjoyed by others and behave disrespectfully as [Nga] Kor Ming does in this country? So what is the most logical justification for Kor Ming in kicking up the issue which is contradictive to the spirit of the Constitution? If the spirit of the Constitution is to be taken literally, the government has the right not to fork out even a single cent of allocation for other religion. However, out of respect and generosity, the government is kind enough to give out millions of ringgit in allocation for the houses of worship of other religions. But such benevolence is seen by the likes of Kor Ming with blind eyes.” Do not fool around with Islam (Utusan news editor Noraini Abd. Razak, Dec 11) “In Malaysia, everyone strives to protect the rights and interests of their respective races, but not to the extent of hurting the feelings of other races. When they are leaders who use racial issues for their political interests, then the differences that have been in existence will be obvious. Political leaders who accuse their rival as being racist and raise sensitive issues, are actually racists themselves. Questioning the Malay supremacy, for example, is racist and intent to create animosity.” What is not racist? (Utusan editor Aznan Bakar, Dec 10) “Failure in handling such issue [stirring racial sentiments] will spark racial extremism. Many of the Malays are keeping silent. But that does not mean they agree. A time will come when they are running out of patient, the outcome of which will bring disaster to the country. Awang is mixing around with the Malay at the grassroot involving all parties and can feel their overwhelming sentiment. So do not take for granted the patience and generosity of the Malays. Does the DAP leaders like Kulasegaran and Kor Ming want to be responsible when the explosion come?” Is Malaysia heading towards a republic? (Awang Selamat, Dec 13) Malaysians are deprived of a free media when industry practitioners become too close to the ruling parties and their newspapers are owned by these parties and their cronies. Journalists like The Star’s Joceline Tan clinch top awards at the inaugural Umno Media Appreciation Night for her writings, and her RM5,000 and notebook prize presented by no less than the Umno president Najib Razak himself. Whereas independent news portals are branded ‘racist’ by the likes of Utusan’s infamous Awang Selamat. Without a free media, distortions like that purveyed by Utusan news editor Noraini Abd. Razak, who refers to the great ‘benevolence’ of the federal government in funding other religions, is left unchallenged. But according to external sources, “The federal government, allocated RM428 million to build Islamic places of worship, and RM8.1 million to build Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, and other places of worship for minority religious groups between 2005 and 2008.” Contrast this with the Selangor state government under Pakatan which in January 2009 alone allocated RM6 million for non-Muslim places of worship. PAS’s embattled Perak Menteri Besar Nizar Jamaluddin rebutted Utusan saying that the Umno Malays were presently attempting to distort all statements and actions taken by the non-Malay politicians in the Pakatan Rakyat, in order to create a false impression that they were ‘anti-Malay’. “They are doing this everywhere and trying to get the Malays to believe them”. Now I’ve only just read of the threat to use the ISA on DAP state representative Nga Kor Ming for questioning the lack of government resources to other religious houses of worship between the years 2000 and 2008, compared to the RM748.26mil spent on the construction of 611 mosques. The thought then occurs to me that if the situation was reversed in Malaysia and there was a non-Muslim majority or if another religion was the religion of the Federation, surely these same people would be concerned about the extent to which the state was practicing religious equality and the extent of bias and prejudice that may be inherent in official policies against the Muslims. The Utusan Malaysia writings highlighed above have little in common with the Islamic values and norms of the great majority of the Muslim community in the country. There was a phrase used by one of my fellow participants earlier today on the need to reach out to “the religious hardliners however much they may appear to be beyond the pale”. Since non-Muslims cannot reach out to them, it is important that more rational thinking Malaysian Muslims do this and not sit by idly while their co-religionists propagate their messages of fear and hate.

BBPU: Jangan biar 13 Mei berulang lagi

TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION

by KJ John

One of the ways South Africa overcame its black-white struggle was through a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. According to Wikipedia, “The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was a court-like body assembled in South Africa after the abolition of apartheid.

“Witnesses who were identified as victims of gross human rights violations were invited to give statements about their experiences, and some were selected for public hearings. Perpetrators of violence could also give testimony and request amnesty from both civil and criminal prosecution.”

The TRC, the first of the 19 held internationally to stage public hearings, was seen by many as a crucial component of the transition to full and free democracy in South Africa. Despite some flaws, it is generally (although not universally) thought to have been successful.”

What did the TRC do? It basically was a process for “overcoming the generations of hurts and pains caused by the White Supremacists in Black Africa’s southernmost state.”

Time to be afraid

By Jacqueline Ann Surin

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Malaysians are being told to be afraid (© Marcelo Terraza / sxc.hu)

“BE afraid. Be very afraid.” That, in essence, was what the protestors against a Hindu temple relocation in Shah Alam were saying. But they were not just saying it to their Hindu neighbours in Section 23, Shah Alam. They were also saying it to the Pakatan Rakyat Selangor government. In fact, they were saying it to all Malaysians.

How else can we explain their actions? First, on 28 Aug 2009, when they demonstrated with a severed cow head outside the Selangor state secretariat, promising bloodshed if a Hindu temple was relocated to their neighbourhood. And then on 5 Sept 2009, when they acted aggressively and threatened to rape and harm during what was meant to be a state government dialogue with the residents.

What’s worse is that the Barisan Nasional leadership and the administration under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is doing little to address this threat of violence. Indeed, if Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein’s actions are anything to go by, it would seem that the Umno vice-president actually supports the threat of violence by disgruntled Malay-Muslim Malaysians in their bid to get their way.

Zaid torches Utusan for stoking racial flames

Former Umno leader and minister Zaid Ibrahim has lashed out at Malay daily Utusan Malaysia for playing up racial sentiments.

He said the articles which appeared in the daily’s Sunday edition reminded him of how far removed the paper is from the reality of life in Malaysia.

HASSAN MUTHALIB’S MAY 13 PHOTO GALLERY

The day after: Curfew; the army takes over. Viewpoint from Hassan Muthalib’s home; across the road is a Chinese Malaysian vicinity. 14 May 1969 (Pic by Hassan Muthalib)

MAY 13 – SO WHAT??

Sunday, 17 May 2009 13:32

Four decades have passed. Yet, it appears that as a nation, we have not gotten over May 13. Although much has been achieved in terms of advancing development since then, Malaysia as a whole is not a happy nation. By LILEI CHOW, mysinchew Last Wednesday over the office water cooler, I said to my colleague, “So, May 13, huh?” He looked over at me and replied, “Yeah. So?” “Don’t you care?” I demanded to know. “No, not really,” he said and shrugged. “To me, it happened. We’ve been brought up to believe that we must always remember May 13 as something awful, terrible, something we shouldn’t speak about. But it happened and a whole bunch of policies were implemented to make sure it didn’t happen again. What’s more important to me is how we move forward.”