As for Gill's actions, I am in two minds here. On one hand, I believe that it is overly harsh to arrest someone for a remark made in private on social media to his friends - come on, it was not like Gill was trying to actively stir up trouble in Malaysia. That conversation could have easily happened in the privacy of one's home and Gill could have been chatting casually with his friends on the issue and the authorities would have been none the wiser about it. It is just that in 2014, such conversations now take place on the internet and so much of our social interactions have become cyber in nature. Alvin Tan's Bak Kut Teh stunt was designed to get as much attention as possible on social media to provoke a reaction - whilst what Gill said was pretty much in private amongst friends, it was not meant for the general public to read at all.
Lu tak suka, lu keluar lah: Lu = you, loanword from Hokkien, lah added at the end for emphasis
Jika kau tak suka, kau keluar: jika = if, kau = informal, somewhat rude form of 'you'
Awak tak suka, awak boleh keluar dari Malaysia: awak = more polite form of you, dari = from, boleh keluar dari Malaysia = can get out of Malaysia, can leave Malaysia
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| You tak suka, you keluar lah! |
Mind you, the PAP in Singapore operates on a similar principle. I suppose the Hokkien equivalent for Singapore would be, lu buay song, lu aysai tzao (if you're unhappy, you can leave) and you could add "Changi Airport is that way". Certainly, looking at the examples of Alvin Tan and Dalbinder Gill - the best course of action would be what I did. I wasn't happy with the situation in Singapore and I found a way out of Singapore and settled in another country without invoking the wrath of the authorities in Singapore. I had become a British citizen long before I even thought about blogging about my experiences. I had no desire to get into trouble the way Roy Ngerng or Alvin Tan has, no thanks.
Now Dalbinder Gill is a highly educated guy - he studied law at university (in England) and surely he must understand the difference between more liberal societies like England and what things are like back home for him in Malaysia. Whether you like it or not is another matter but surely, he should understand the implications of his actions in Malaysia and in hindsight, he could and should have been a bit more careful. I certainly hope that they will not bang him up in jail for a long time simply over something he said on private on Facebook - now that would be utterly ridiculous. Surely a stern warning would suffice in this case since whatever Gill said was ultimately in private, not public. Malaysia really needs to make it clear where the sedition law can apply in terms of what is said on the internet and a clear distinction needs to be made between what is said in public (as in Alvin Tan's case) and what is said in private (in Dalbinder Gill's case).
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| Are your Facebook posts private or public? What are your privacy settings? |
Is there hope for genuine change in Malaysian society? Possibly - I remember the Bersih movement which brought thousands of Malaysians out onto the streets in protest for change. This happened three times in recent memory: in 2007, 2011 and 2012. Whilst it raised a lot of hope for Malaysians at that time for a real change in their political system, ultimately, it led to little change and the political system in Malaysia is still pretty much unchanged today in 2014. Likewise, the current protests in Hong Kong are staggeringly huge - but will take lead to any change in the future political system and the way Hong Kong is governed? I don't know, I don't think so, but I am hoping for the best whilst expecting the worst when it comes to Hong Kong.
As for Singapore, sigh. No way, not in a million years. The PAP will always be in charge. People like Roy Ngerng are wasting their time - just compare the way hundreds of thousands of Malaysians and HKers have taken to the streets in their protests and the way Han Hui Hui and Roy Ngerng had that fiasco in Hong Lim Square. Sigh, To lead a protest movement like the Berish movement in Malaysia or the current protests in Hong Kong, you need to have a charismatic revolutionary leader, some kind of Che Guevara figure who can inspire and lead. I'm afraid neither Roy Ngerng or Han Hui Hui have such qualities. Sure I hate the PAP as much as Han and Ngerng, but that doesn't mean I have to like the way Han and Ngerng operate. Sorry, but neither of them have impressed me at all thus far with their antics.
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| The protests in HK have rocked the country. |
So maybe Dalbinder Gill can join the Bersih 4.0 movement if he wants to stay and take on the system in Malaysia - but had he been Singaporean, I would tell him in so many words, "you take suka, you keluar lah, Changi airport is that way." Singaporeans are nothing like HKers or Malaysians. Good luck to Dalbinder Gill. I hope he gets away with just a stern warning or no more than a slap on the wrist as nothing can possibly be gained by jailing him over a private comment like that on Facebook. Please do let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment below. Many thanks for reading.
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| Awak mau keluar dari Malaysia? |
I am of the opinion that if everyone accepts their situation as it is or chooses to leave, then the situation will always remain so. Or perhaps this is what our PAP wants-make everyone believe that they are incapable of changing any political system when the PAP is in power?
ReplyDeleteI take Mr Sun Yat Sen as an example. If he had not tried to overthrow the Qing dynasty and establish the ROC, China might still be under dynastic rule now. So perhaps in SG, it is not absolutely an impossible task for the citizens to make some difference in the policies.
In fact, the government has now allowed greater flexibilities in withdrawing lump sum monies from their CPF as mentioned in the ND Rally this year. Surely, some credit goes to Roy N for his protests and whatnots. I am definitely not advocating the actions of Roy N and gang in its recent fiasco but what I am saying is that minute reforms make way to a big one eventually.
I have a slightly different take on the situation Heidi. I think in life, one should pick battles that one can win - never fight a losing cause. So for Sun Yat Sen for example, there was already a huge groundswell of support from the populace who were sick of the Qing dynasty already - Dr Sun was riding on the crest of discontent from the people, he had popular support. Same could be said about Aung Sun Suu Kyii for example, she is undeniably popular in Myanmar. But Roy Ngerng & Han Huihui? Are they popular in Singapore? They are at best... controversial.
DeleteYou can lead a revolution unless you have sufficient support. I'm sorry, I feel for Roy and Hui Hui but let's look at the way this generation works: there is so much marketing and PR in the world of politics whereby the public are being sold a concept, a product, an ideology and whilst the PAP aren't exactly masters of PR themselves, Roy and Hui Hui are like a bull in a china shop when it comes to winning support themselves. I would love to work as a PR manager for someone who is PR-savvy and understands marketing in politics and help him/her become a credible opposition leader in Singapore.
Maybe Mr. Limpeh can try to visit Istanbul, Turkey (Recep Tayip Erdogan Regime) or even the closest to Singapore, the Malaysian State of Sarawak (under then Chief Minister and now Governor Taib Mahmud), where there are a number of "foreign" voices speaking for those who want to speak and yet find their voices forcibly muffled against their free will. The Sarawak case is quite glaring because the Opposition Coalition "Pakatan Rakyat" could almost have become the ruling coalition if not for the "fixing" of both Sarawak and Sabah to ensure the Barisan Nasional (corrupt ruling coalition in Malaysia) stays in power despite losing the popular vote (in the recent GE there held in 2013, PR won 53% of the total votes cast versus the 47% the BN gets), and since then the fixing came in hard and fast, and in styles so similar to the system in Singapore that there's uncanny suspicion of Najib Razak learning from Lee Hsien Loong on how to fix the opposition in their respective countries! The Istanbul case has been festering for nearly two years and sees no sign of hope as yet despite a much larger crowd of following from alienated groups, especially when Time Magazine pointed out FOUR groups of the Turkish public that are against the Erdogan Regime: Women, Poor, Minorities and Activists. If there is a Turkish version of Roy Ngerng and Han Hui Hui, they would probably fall into the fourth category of groups against the Regime above.
DeleteOh please Jonathan, I hate to sound incredibly condescending but I have lived and worked in Istanbul, Turkey. I even speak some Turkish after having lived there You wanna start lecturing me about the Turkish political system? Honestly, you have no idea whom you are talking to. And I'm in London, I am a British citizen with a British passport, I don't live in Singapore - so you're talking as if I am based in Singapore when I am sitting here in central London - get your facts right. In a nutshell, I tak suka Singapura, so I keluar dari Singapura a long, long time ago.
DeleteActually, because of the way facebook works, even if you have private settings that only friends can see, the question is how many friends does he have? If he just accepts any tom dick or harry as a friend then there should be no difference in approach to the Alvin case and the gill case. A parallel would be to say that you have a restrictive magazine that only 500 people can see but you make an inflamatory statement, you should still be charged with making the statement. the fact that the magazine is restricted in its publication should not affect the "crime" at all.
ReplyDeleteI'm not agreeing that the statements are inflamatory or constitute a crime at all. I do agree with you that it was very harsh and hopefully he would get off with just a warning. Just wanted to point out that saying your settings are private and only to be seen by your friends should have no bearing. Presumably if he had his settings to only show his close personal friends, he would not have been reported, either that or he should get better friends.
More to the point Ian, Gill was merely questioning the bumiputera policy (where Malays get priorities over Indians/Chinese/Pinoys etc) - yes there is this "just accept that in Malaysia, Malays come first and if you dare to question it, that's sedition". Gill is a Sikh, he is one of those others, a minority in Malaysia and effectively a second class citizen in Malaysia as a result of this policy. So the law in Malaysia states that he simply has to diam diam accept his fate as a 2nd class citizen in Malaysia or face the wrath of the law if he dares even question it on Facebook?
DeleteLet's think about Gill's 'crime' for a moment - it cannot be compared to Alvin Tan's inflammatory Bak Kut Teh saga - it is a million miles away. It reflects the sad state of affairs in Malaysia.
Had it been me, I would have keluar dari Malaysia a long long time ago. Mind you, aku sudah keluar dari Singapura a long long time ago ...
I agree it is a million miles away, but I wanted to point out that it is no defence to say my facebook settings are private and only my friends can see it.
DeleteAgree it is very stupid/harsh to prosecute him.
Due to the sad state of affair in Malaysia, that is why quite a number of Malaysian are now working in Singapore. To be exact more than 500,000 workers from Malaysia are working in Singapore.
DeleteYou had previously ask me why Singapore and not other western countries.
I am not those creme of the crop. I am only above average only. Other than Singapore, I do not I have the capital or experience to really excel in other countries even in Chinese speaking countries as I am a "Banana".
Hi Kevin,
DeleteIt is a myth that one has to be "creme of the crop" to emigrate to other countries. E.g. Australia, New Zealand, Canada. Such countries need skilled tradies / blue-collar workers (e.g. construction workers, oil/petroleum workers, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, truck drivers, etc) more than they need ordinary university grads (i.e. a significant minority of local university/college grads are unemployed and/or under-employed themselves here). If your goal is really to emigrate, and you don't mind working from bottom-up in a new country, emigration should not be an issue given that you can write decent English (based on your comment above, and I presume that you speak just as well) and if you're young enough (say, under 35?) to qualify for "youth" points.
You just have to do the hard work of shifting through each of the numerous options available and its corresponding requirements to find out how you can make yourself qualify.
Cheers, WD.
Kevin, WD is totally right.
DeleteI have also view on the situation - those who are the 'creme of the crop' will not have to move to another country as they can easily thrive wherever they are. If you look at KL, there is certainly no shortage of rich people who do have a lot of money, nice cars and lead very comfortable lives indeed. Whilst being highly educated & highly skilled does make it easier for you to move, it also reduces you need to move because it does mean you can have a good life right there in Malaysia without having to move. Such is the paradox. The people who probably want to move the most are those in the middle - not the 'creme of the crop' but are unable to get the very best jobs in Malaysia and would probably be a lot better off working in another country.
For people like that, I refer you to WD's comment above - check out her excellent blog, she writes with great authority about migrating to Canada.
I don't even know where to begin. It was facebook! If I lived in Malaysia-Singapore, surely I would have been in jail by now. Lord knows I have expressed my scorn for the PAP often enough. I have noticed that my fb friends are rather cautious about what they say on fb. I always thought they were being paranoid. Now I know they were being sensible.
ReplyDeleteYou know I was warned by my readers to expect to be at least detained for questioning when I tried to enter Singapore last year as a tourist because of my blogging activities? But in the end, no problem, I just got through, the staff at Woodlands looked exhausted as I was on a bus coming from JB late at night. I think Singapore is still way more advanced than Malaysia on this front when it comes to freedom of speech - even my Malaysian friends think so.
DeleteI don't think they can do anything to us now that we have renounced. If we still have the Singapore passport, then for sure we would have been in jail when we visited last.
ReplyDeleteI just read that a PRC man in Shenzhen got arrested and detained for talking about the HK protests on social media and sharing some photos - that's how fucked up China is. You make a comment like that on Weibo and there will be a knock on the door shortly. Crikey. That's so fucked up.
Deletehttp://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1605553/shenzhen-man-arrested-after-posting-occupy-central-pictures that's the link
DeleteIt appears like Malaysia is competing with China for the worst civil liberties award 2014. I can't even begin to espouse the absurdity of the situation. And these are the cases we hear about. There was that lesbian couple that was arrested for simply being lesbian and belonging to a particular religion.
Deletehttp://www.gaystarnews.com/article/malaysia-lesbian-couple-arrested-religious-officers-hotel-raid020914
And also someone else arrested for liking something on Facebook. Yes you heard me right limpeh liking. I can't even believe this.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4558993,00.html
Makes me sick in the stomach. Sometimes I do feel glad to be on this side of the johor strait though we too have a long way to go. Quite a long way actually. But not light years like Malaysia.