Another Malaysian Messenger in the Firing Line

By Farish A. Noor

A word, once uttered, can seldom be withdrawn. This is true for most of us
and particularly true for politicians who forget that we now live in an age
of modern communications technology where every sentence, every utterance,
even every burp, hiccup and indiscreet bodily emission will be recorded for
posterity.

What has now become a maxim of politics was amply demonstrated recently by
the remarks of the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Tun Razak, who
claimed during a press conference in Kuala Lumpur that Malaysia is an
‘Islamic state’ that has ‘never been affiliated’ to a secular position and
that that Malaysia’s development ‘has been driven by our adherence to the
fundamentals of Islam’. (Bernama, 17 July 2007) Needless to say, the Deputy
Prime Minister’s remarks were a cause of concern for many Malaysians who –
for the past fifty years or so – have been living under the assumption that
the country was a constitutional democracy and not a theocratic state.

In due course protests issued from all quarters, ranging from the Malaysian
urban liberal elite to the leaders of the mainly non-Malay non-Muslim
parties of the country; demanding clarification on the issue and a
re-statement of the fundamentally secular basis of Malaysia’s politics. As
public frustration increased, the Malaysian government reacted as it is wont
to do. While the Malaysian Prime Minister is on holiday in Australia, the
government issued a blanket media ban on all discussion of the matter, on
the grounds that it can only lead to even more public anger and
misunderstanding between the racial and religious communities of the
country; despite the fact that the source of the misunderstanding and
discomfort was the Deputy Prime Minister’s remarks in the first place.

Notwithstanding the overt ban on media discussion of the Islamic state
issue, however, Malaysia’s internet community has been active in keeping the
question alive and well on dozens of websites and blogs all over the
country. Indeed as developments over the past few years have shown, it is
the internet where most of the really interesting and meaningful political
discussions have been and are taking place.

The Malaysian authorities have been decidedly apprehensive about the role
that the internet can play in deciding the tone and tenor of Malaysian
politics, and for this reason numerous conservative politicians of the
ruling National Front coalition have been calling for a curb on the
activities of bloggers and those who post their ideas in cyberspace. The
accusation most often levelled against them being that they spread ‘lies’
against the state and tarnish the image of the leaders of the country; a
charge that resonates well in some other repressive states where dissent is
likewise treated as a security threat, such as North Korea and China.

Just a week ago a Malaysian blogger – Nathaniel Tan – was arrested and taken
if for questioning by the police due to some postings related to allegations
of corruption against politicians in the country. Now that a blanket ban has
been used to close the forum of public debate on the Islamic state issue,
worries have been raised about whether this marks yet another attempt to
clamp down on cyberspace and silence the bloggers and cyber-writers.

Following the arrest and subsequent release of Nathaniel Tan, another
prominent Malaysian cyber-writer, Raja Petra Kamarudin, who runs the hugely
popular http://www.malaysia-today.net site has had a police report filed against
him by Muhammad Taib, former Chief Minister and member of the ruling UMNO
party. The UMNO leader claims that Raja Petra, through his articles and
postings on Malaysia-today.net had insulted the king, degraded Islam and
incited hatred in the country.

As yet it is not known which of Raja Petra’s postings are said to have been
insulting to King and country, though he dismisses the accusations as being
baseless. According to Petra: ‘This has nothing to do with allegations about
misrepresenting Islam, though such an accusation is the most convenient
since when I write about religion I am expressing my personal opinions which
are subjective and can therefore be discussed. But what really upsets them
are my exposes on corruption in the country, which have been backed up with
documents I have posted on the site. How can they refute that?’

Indeed, Raja Petra’s site has been receiving hundreds of thousands of hits
daily precisely because of his exposes on corruption among politicians,
businessmen, Malaysian criminal networks as well as the Malaysian police
force; the last of which has taken a battering over the years due to a
series of scandals and exposes related to cases of police brutality, deaths
in custody and of course the now-infamous beating of the former Deputy Prime
Minister of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim.

Activists, journalists and legal experts are now worried about what this may
hold for the future, for the arrest of Nathaniel Tan and the police report
against Raja Petra would suggest that moves are being made to silence the
messengers on the internet. In the words of prominent Malaysian lawyer Malik
Imtiaz: ‘it would be regrettable if this latest action is part of a wider
campaign to close down the public domain of speech and discussion on crucial
matters such as Malaysia’s constitution and the question of whether Malaysia
is an Islamic state.’

In the midst of this, the Malaysian government’s reaction has been one of
denial and retaliation instead. The country’s state-controlled TV channel
RTM1 featured an editorial piece condemning local Malaysian newspapers that
‘cause trouble’ by raising sensitive issues on race and religion; while
leaders of the ruling UMNO party continue to mouth a rhetoric of
ethno-nationalism that is replete with communalist sentiments. The
contradictions are clear, as is the paralysis of a government whose leader
is on holiday while the messengers remain in the firing line.

End.

Dr. Farish A. Noor is a Malaysian political scientist and historian based at
the Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin; and one of the founders of the
http://www.othermalaysia.org research site.