as i mentioned in the previous post, this year is the 20th anniversary of the infamous Op Lalang in Malaysia in 1987. somehow, it is surprisingly 'quiet' in malaysia. there have been no mention from the opposition groups and ngos or even church groups about commemorating the 20th anniversary. either it is a 'hot potato' topic or people are still scare of the effects of the Op Lalang. my guess is there will be something organized but to be announced at the last minute in order not to pre-empt or jeopardize the event.
we had a turn-out of 31 people for the seminar since it was not 'official' or compulsory. i took about 45 minutes to share on the background of the ISA in Malaysia and using Op Lalang as the best known example to illustrate the (mis)use of the ISA. It is important for Malaysians to remember that the ISA was originally drafted to supercede The Emergency Act (1948) which was used by the colonial British masters to combat the communist insurgency after WW2. The ISA (1960) had the same aim - to detain people without trial suspected of threatening national security in order to extract vital information. while the intention seemed to be 'good' at that time, many today feel that the ISA has outlived its usefulness.
why? firstly, the communist threat is already long over. the communists have already laid down their arms and given up their strugle to take over Malaysia. secondly, we have other preventive laws in place which can be used instead of the ISA. thirdly, there has been too many cases of the ISA being blatantly misused on people who could be arrested and detained under other laws e.g. some involved in forging the national identity cards were also detained under the ISA.
since its inception in 1960 till 2006, there has never been a year where there were no arrests made under the ISA. from 1960 till sept 5th 2001, a total of 10,504 persons were detained under the ISA (out of that number, 4,218 persons were given detention orders while 2,061 persons were given restriction orders). after Op Lalang in 1987, the total arrested from 1987 to 2006 were 1,709 persons. If we were to add up the total number of persons arrested under the ISA since its inception in 1960 to 2006, it is a staggering 12,213 persons!
if we thought that some prime ministers were not party to the use of the ISA, we are wrong:
Under the premiership of Tunku Abdul Rahman (1960-69), 1,199 persons were detained (averaging 120 a year).
Under Tun Abdul Razak (1970-January 76), 574 persons were detained (averaging 95 a year).
Under Tun Hussein Onn (Feb 1976-80), 1,245 persons were detained (averaging 249 a year)
Under Tun Mahatir Mohammad (1981-2003), 1,304 persons were detained (averaging 60 a year)
Under the present premier Dato' Seri Ahmad Badawi (2004-06), 82 persons were detained (averaging 27 a year).
we must remember that all the prime ministers also served as the Home Affairs Minister (the one who issues and signs the ISA orders).
well, one may ask 'what is this topic about Op Lalang doing on an old testament blog?' those who know me personally will know that i am a student of the old testament prophets, especially the great prophet Isaiah and his disciples, second isaiah and third isaiah (those responsible for isaiah 40-55 and 56-66 respectively).
i am an isaianic disciple standing in the long line of the great master who thundered forth rebuke and judgment on sinful Israel and Judah. like the ot prophets, my concern is also for social justice and righteousness to flow down like rivers in our land (amos 5:24). one cannot keep quiet when one sees such great injustices being perpetuated. learn to speak out or God's word will burn like fire in our bones (jeremiah 20:9)
we had a turn-out of 31 people for the seminar since it was not 'official' or compulsory. i took about 45 minutes to share on the background of the ISA in Malaysia and using Op Lalang as the best known example to illustrate the (mis)use of the ISA. It is important for Malaysians to remember that the ISA was originally drafted to supercede The Emergency Act (1948) which was used by the colonial British masters to combat the communist insurgency after WW2. The ISA (1960) had the same aim - to detain people without trial suspected of threatening national security in order to extract vital information. while the intention seemed to be 'good' at that time, many today feel that the ISA has outlived its usefulness.
why? firstly, the communist threat is already long over. the communists have already laid down their arms and given up their strugle to take over Malaysia. secondly, we have other preventive laws in place which can be used instead of the ISA. thirdly, there has been too many cases of the ISA being blatantly misused on people who could be arrested and detained under other laws e.g. some involved in forging the national identity cards were also detained under the ISA.
since its inception in 1960 till 2006, there has never been a year where there were no arrests made under the ISA. from 1960 till sept 5th 2001, a total of 10,504 persons were detained under the ISA (out of that number, 4,218 persons were given detention orders while 2,061 persons were given restriction orders). after Op Lalang in 1987, the total arrested from 1987 to 2006 were 1,709 persons. If we were to add up the total number of persons arrested under the ISA since its inception in 1960 to 2006, it is a staggering 12,213 persons!
if we thought that some prime ministers were not party to the use of the ISA, we are wrong:
Under the premiership of Tunku Abdul Rahman (1960-69), 1,199 persons were detained (averaging 120 a year).
Under Tun Abdul Razak (1970-January 76), 574 persons were detained (averaging 95 a year).
Under Tun Hussein Onn (Feb 1976-80), 1,245 persons were detained (averaging 249 a year)
Under Tun Mahatir Mohammad (1981-2003), 1,304 persons were detained (averaging 60 a year)
Under the present premier Dato' Seri Ahmad Badawi (2004-06), 82 persons were detained (averaging 27 a year).
we must remember that all the prime ministers also served as the Home Affairs Minister (the one who issues and signs the ISA orders).
well, one may ask 'what is this topic about Op Lalang doing on an old testament blog?' those who know me personally will know that i am a student of the old testament prophets, especially the great prophet Isaiah and his disciples, second isaiah and third isaiah (those responsible for isaiah 40-55 and 56-66 respectively).
i am an isaianic disciple standing in the long line of the great master who thundered forth rebuke and judgment on sinful Israel and Judah. like the ot prophets, my concern is also for social justice and righteousness to flow down like rivers in our land (amos 5:24). one cannot keep quiet when one sees such great injustices being perpetuated. learn to speak out or God's word will burn like fire in our bones (jeremiah 20:9)
Comments
Do you think the Malaysian church has learned anything from this experience? Are we still traumatized by the incident after 20 years?
in one way, the Malaysian church has learned from this painful experience - we are not immuned to persecution. somehow in the past, many Christians have thought that the government will not persecute the church. afterall, some mainline churches are gazetted by law (r.c., anglican. methodist), a benefit from the british legacy.
Op Lalang shattered that myth with the arrests of Christians and those involved in certain Christian organizations. we realized that Christians can be arrested and detained under the dreaded ISA. in a way, we are now no 'different' from other Malaysian citizens.
yet, i think we are still traumatized by that event. the Church has been stifled to some extent. after the demise of Mr. Opposition himself, the late Tan Sri Dr Tan Chee Khoon, which other Christian can write 'without fear or favour' in a national newspaper? which Christian voice today is loud enough to gather attention from the government (apart from Ramon Ravanatnam)? The Christian politicians we have today are too 'timid' and lightweight. even Christian organizations like NECF (apart from CCM) are not setting the agenda but more 'reactionary'. we have a long way to go to get the Church to move forward.
Though Ops Lallang has generally made Malaysian Christians more wary of being involved in social justice issues, I suspect another reason for our apathy may be due to our lack of knowledge of the OT in particular the Prophets. How many Christians actually bother to read them? How may preachers actually preach from them? In fact, how many pastors actually understand the OT? I think nowadays being able to handle the Word correctly is not ranked as high as leadership, management and interpersonal skills for a pastoral candidate.
You can't walk away and continue to be blind to injustice and oppression after reading the OT. It's also hard to remain apathetic after reading books such as Alec Motyer's commentary on Amos.
The church in Malaysia greatly needs more passionate OT teachers/scholars like yourself to show us a more complete picture of the God whom we worship, what is required of us, His creatures and to unfold to us the whole drama of redemption.
another factor is that Christians in Malaysia tend to dichotomize between secular and spiritual. spekaing out on freedom etc are 'secular' issues. as Christians we must be more concerned with 'spiritual' issues like evangelism, missions, discipleship, bible study etc. yes, there is truth that we must be concerned with 'spiritual' issues. yet, we often swing to that side of the spectrum and forget that there is the other side of the issues. although some Christians believe there should be no 'secular-spiritual' divide, yet i susoect behind our sub-conscious, we still operate in this manner.
if one does a review and survey of the Christian responses during the ISA, only the catholic CAN continued to print news related to the ISA and calling their faithful to continual prayer. berita necf during the months immediately after the ISA did not even contain a single reference to the ISA or the persons arrested.
today, we find NECF a bit on the slow side (i call it 'knee-jerk reactionary'). only when an issue has cropped up in the nation, then NECF makes a response and even some of the responses has been 'atrocious' (e.g. kim kong's support for the RELA!). on the other hand, ccm perhaps (adequately advised) are quicker to respond as well as coming with not knee-jerk reactions but more well-informed and well-advised responses for the Christian public.
of course, what i say is to be taken in general, so it does not mean that necf always responds 100% in this manner. anyway, i can be wrong (and I hope I am wrong on this).
As for NECF's track record, I think they have improved. At least now there is a response, albeit a bit slow. They need our prayers. Pray especially they not only will be more proactive when it comes to social justice issues but also will not do such 'silly things' (to quote Rev. Wong in his response to me) as supporting RELA