This Monday afternoon (in another hour away while I am typing this post), i will be doing a seminar in the seminary on the ISA in Malaysia and Operation Lalang 1987. We have not disseminated any publicity about this seminar due to its highly sensitive nature in Malaysia. the seminar is also mainly for our own internal audience.
this year 2007 is the 20th anniversary of the infamous Operation Lalang in Malaysia. 'Op Lalang', as it is often called, is the codename for the extensive use of the ISA (the Internal Security Act) on 27th October 1987. The operation lasted until 14th November 1987. In that nation-wide swoop, a total of 106 Malaysians were detained without trial under the ISA for various offences. This was one of the darkest episodes of human right abuses in Malaysia.
Politicians, human right activists, academicians, Chinese educationists, social activists, ngo and enviromental activists and Christians were detained. the ISA, since its inception in 1960, has been used without fail every year to detain people under various offences. what was different for 1987 was that even Christians were detained, either on trump up charges of being marxist supporters or muslim converts to christianity or involvement in active evangelism to the muslims. the Church in Malaysia for the first time had to wake up from its age-old slumber - she was not immuned to arrests under the ISA!
together with brother hilmy noor, one of the ISA detainees in 1987, I will present the history and background of the ISA and the run-up to Op Lalang while brother Himy will share about his 14 months experiences under detention in Kamunting prison in Taiping. a little more in the next post.
this year 2007 is the 20th anniversary of the infamous Operation Lalang in Malaysia. 'Op Lalang', as it is often called, is the codename for the extensive use of the ISA (the Internal Security Act) on 27th October 1987. The operation lasted until 14th November 1987. In that nation-wide swoop, a total of 106 Malaysians were detained without trial under the ISA for various offences. This was one of the darkest episodes of human right abuses in Malaysia.
Politicians, human right activists, academicians, Chinese educationists, social activists, ngo and enviromental activists and Christians were detained. the ISA, since its inception in 1960, has been used without fail every year to detain people under various offences. what was different for 1987 was that even Christians were detained, either on trump up charges of being marxist supporters or muslim converts to christianity or involvement in active evangelism to the muslims. the Church in Malaysia for the first time had to wake up from its age-old slumber - she was not immuned to arrests under the ISA!
together with brother hilmy noor, one of the ISA detainees in 1987, I will present the history and background of the ISA and the run-up to Op Lalang while brother Himy will share about his 14 months experiences under detention in Kamunting prison in Taiping. a little more in the next post.
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