Repeal not just review ISA

ISA evil and obselete

We welcome the recent announcement by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, that the Internal Security Act (ISA) is to be reviewed. Although it falls far short of the people’s expectations to have it repealed, nevertheless it is an indication of the government’s compromising stand that is unprecedented with regards to the ISA.Its willingness to review certain provisions of the ISA hopefully marks the beginning of the process leading to its ultimate abolition.

One of the laws that the people have opposed so aggressively over the last 20 years is the draconian ISA that empowers the government to detain anyone for up to 2 years without trial or justification whatsoever but mere suspicion of being a threat to national security. The vehement opposition not only comes from the Opposition parties,NGOs and various human rights groups from within and outside the country but most significantly of late from the rakyat themselves, regardless of their race, religion and political ideology. These groups have voiced their opposition in no uncertain ways including resorting to demonstrations and street protests but to no avail.

We have come a long way, fighting the colonialists, the communist insurgency and Japanese occupation. At that time, there was no way of identifying the enemy and we needed a law like the ISA to detain someone on mere suspicion of subversion, to protect the nation and the people. Today we do not have such enemies of the state anymore as we are all loyal citizens of an independent and sovereign nation with its own laws and code of ethics.

We have a legitimately elected government and an opposition, to represent the people in a duly established and respected parliament. We have an independent police force and judiciary to enforce and punish those guilty of subversion. We have sufficient laws to act against anyone who threatens the security of the nation, why do need to resort to arrest and punish someone without proving his guilt? Isn’t that a grievous breach of the basic human rights of an individual?

We are all aware that the ISA had been abused for political reasons by those in power. Not only politicians but professionals, members of Non-governmental Organisations(NGO),students, educationists and even religious and spiritual leaders have been detained under the ISA for questioning the injustices and abuses of the government and championing the rights of the people. Not only are they detained under deplorable living conditions but they are subjected to severe physical and mental torture like hard-core criminals.

Pak Lah has shown greater tolerance to opposing views unlike before as shown by various groups being bold to voice out controversial views including even asking him to step down as PM. It is unfortunate that this increased space for freedom granted is construed as a sign of weakness by his critics when in actual fact it reflects an increasing maturity of Malaysians.

We hope Pak Lah will take the extra step to demonstrate that tolerance and maturity not only review but ultimately abolish the much dreaded ISA. As a gesture to acknowledge his willingness to listen to the rakyat, Pak Lah should first release all ISA detainees and reassure the people that he will not resort to the draconian ISA in future for whatever reasons.

This will go a long way to win the hearts of the people which he needs very badly at the moment. The people are his greatest strength and he can only tap onto that strength by heeding their calls which is very loud and clear that they want the ISA repealed.

Dr.Chris Anthony

NS taking a toll on our children

Time to suspend and review its implementation

The dust had hardly settled after the tragic death of National Service (NS) trainee,Afiq Zuhairi Ahmat Rozal, last month we have another equally tragic death of another trainee, Too Hui Min,bringing the total so far to 16.If two deaths in less than a month is not serious enough, I don’t know how many more have to lose their lives before the government considers enough is enough.

It must be stressed that NS trainees are young healthy school leavers who have no known illness prior to joining the NS. What is common in these deaths is that they show very minimal symptoms and signs and their illness progresses so fast as to be fatal in just a few days. The most likely cause of death in all these cases is overwhelming infection of some sort.

What looks imminent is that medical personnel attending to them in the initial stages failed to appreciate the seriousness of the illness as the symptoms were non-specific and minimal. The medical personal attending to them were medical assistants (MA) or nurses who are not trained in clinical diagnosis. I am sure if those unfortunate victims were attended to by experienced doctors or specialists, they would have suspected something sinister is setting in.

Why they were not referred to a doctor on their first visit to the clinic? We are well aware that even in the smallest hospital only doctors are allowed to treat patients, not MAs or nurses however senior they may be. Why was this not practiced in the NS camps? Doesn’t this amount to negligence on the part of the medical personnel treating the sick trainees?

These deaths have obviously cast serious doubts on the quality of the training and the safety mechanisms that are in place in the NS. Is the system professional and capable enough to carry military type of training? Has it placed undue stress on the health of the trainees? How efficient and effective are the medical examinations and resuscitation facilities? How well trained, equipped and motivated are the trainers in providing the training? Have we got to sacrifice a few of our children in each session of NS?

No amount of reassurance will be able to satisfy the parents if it does not address these issues immediately. The NS Department has a lot of soul searching to do and it must do it without any further delay. It should consider the feedback from parents and public seriously. Docility on their part will only create suspicion and doubts in the minds of the people as to the real motives of the NS program

It is very irresponsible of National Service Training Department director-general Datuk Abdul Hadi Awang Kecil to reiterate that the NS training programme will not be scrapped just because of one or two deaths. I think he must put himself in the place of the parents who have lost their children before making such insensitive statements.

Abdul Hadi Awang further suggests that the trainees undergo medical check-ups before joining the training programme. He must remember that these fatal illnesses are acute and there is no way even the most sophisticated medical examination will ever detect the illness in advance. It would only be a total waste of taxpayers’ money.

The unacceptably high rate of deaths among young NS trainees is an indication of the failure of the system itself. Its risks outweigh the benefits and as an immediate measure to prevent more unnecessary loss of lives the NS must be suspended and a full scale review instituted. As the Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak says we may not be able to scrap the programme just like that as many parties are involved but the safety of the trainees should be the paramount consideration and overrule all other factors in deciding to continue with the NS.

There is undeniably a dire need for racial integration among our youth which is so badly lacking in our schools. To be effective such integration programmes should start from the time the children start schooling. If we cannot achieve racial integration over 11years they are in school, I fail to see how that can be done in just 3 months after they leave school.

Dr.Chris Anthony