Having been in the same room with kings, ministers and tycoons, I confess that not once have I felt impressed, privileged, or awed. But tonight I do. Tonight I am awed and inspired, because I am in the same room with so many good, ordinary people who do extraordinary things; women and men who risk their own well-being in order to protect the rights of others.
Tonight, we honour not the rich or the powerful. Human rights, for which we passionately gather, are about the equal importance of ordinary people, and of people who are underprivileged, oppressed or considered “disposable??? by those powerful politicians who are intoxicated with the fermented smell of their status and might.
SuaramTwenty years ago, while Tiananmen Square was spilled with blood, the Berlin Wall was brought down. Our own walls of Kamunting, however, went higher up. At that time, Suaram was nothing more than an idea, an idea that the ones in power did not pay much attention to. Today, Suaram has become one of the foremost human rights NGOs in Malaysia, hammering away at the walls of shame.
Yet, among the achievements of Suaram in the short span of 20 years are two areas of its contribution that, I think, are underestimated. First is the long-term significance of its documentation of human rights abuses in Malaysia. These, I dare predict, will one day become a foundation for historical accountability in our nation, similar to the soul-searching effects that detailed documentation of atrocities in Latin America and Eastern Europe has had for those countries.
On the 16th of last month, when I watched Kevin Rudd publicly apologizing to the “forgotten Australians???, I could feel it in my bones that the day will also come when Malaysia as a nation will openly apologize to those who have suffered injustices on our soil. When that happens, we will find Suaram’s footprints everywhere along the path leading to that necessary moment of atonement.
Secondly, Suaram (together with other NGOs and some of our media) have managed to alter the psychological relationship between those in power and those trampled by power. The transformation is from an attitude of almost total dismissal to one of sitting up and taking heed. The value of such transformation must not be underrated.
Much of the toils and accomplishments of Suaram have been outlined by Kua Kia Soong in his book that is being launched tonight. Behind Suaram’s rise to prominence is of course the dedicated perseverance of a succession of selfless workers who have spearheaded Suaram over the years, with some of whom we might not even be familiar. It is fitting that, tonight, we pay tribute to these sung and unsung heroes and heroines, not forgetting those from all other NGOs and similar organizations working for the betterment of the Malaysian society.
More importantly, however, tonight is also a night for sombre reflection on the sorry state of affairs concerning human rights in this country, and on the enormous tasks that remain ahead of us.
Therefore, our celebration this evening, and the sudden surge of spirit (of both the liquid and the metaphysical kinds), must be sobered by reflections on the plight of the Penans whose land and women folk have been raped with impunity, of the refugees, migrants and trafficked persons whose bodies are treated without dignity, of the many Teoh Beng Hocks the truth of whose cruel fate is not yet unearthed and accounted for, and of those who remain in detention without trial even though their alleged offences cannot be proved.
Think, too, about what our society has become, and how much worse it will become, when the Lingams in our midst can get away with judicial mockery, and still hold up one finger to the rest of us as if to announce the arrival of 1Malaysia.
Think about the poisonous level of pervasive corruption and scandalous wastage, matched only by the repetitious hypocrisy of the political rhetoric of pseudo-change. Think about the continuing abuse of power, the routine cover-up of scandals, the false charges, and the selective prosecutions.
But thinking about all these things alone is, of course, not enough. We must act. We must induce and spread the same awakening to all the corners of our land. And we have to do it real soon, or else the propaganda of falsehood will again win.
To act in the years ahead
The next decade will be crucial for Malaysia, and the next five years even more so.
Why? Because if the people’s awakening does not pick up pace, the self-serving pseudo awakening of those in power will overtake and overwhelm us. In some ways, change has become more difficult after 3/08. Our two-faced politicians have woken up to the fact of their new vulnerability. They will acquire and practise new tricks to hoodwink the public into thinking that they are introducing the changes that the people desire. They will seek to gain greater support, and will consolidate their power to such an extent that they may become unstoppable even by people power. If that happens, if we allow it to happen, the battle of Malaysian civil societies will be lost for another half a century or more. If Malaysians are not vigilant, Malaysia can become a failed State.
In order to stimulate or bring about more widespread awakening among the Malaysian people, may I propose the inclusion or intensification of the following urgent tasks in the agenda of Malaysian NGOs.
(1) A conscious shift of focus from the urban, well-educated population to the rural, less-informed groups. Our message of reform will not reach wider audience if we simply continue to address only the converted.
(2) A shift in target necessitates changes in the language of human rights that we use to spread our message. The language I employ in this speech, for instance, will likely be ineffective if addressing an audience less acquainted with human rights issues.
(3) There is another dimension in which a shift in the language of human rights is desirable. Many Malaysians, unfortunately, are little moved by the horrors of certain forms of fundamental human rights violations, such as detention without trial or the ill treatment of suspected hardcore criminals. They will be more receptive to our plea, if we first deal with other issues of intimate concern to them. They will, for example, sit up and listen if we talk about economic rights, and explain in simple terms how corruption is affecting their livelihood, and why it will be much worse for their children if change is not brought about soon. The result of the recent survey by Merdeka Centre and CIJ illustrates the need for much more educational work in this respect, because many Malaysians, while deploring corruption, actually think that corruption does not affect their everyday lives! Human rights advocates should make more prominent use of the arguments of economic welfare.
(4) Many NGOs concentrate their resources and attention on tackling and seeking to change the decisions and actions of those in power. More often than not they are disappointed. Armed only with the force of argument, they are blocked and beaten back by those employing the argument of force. I suggest a re-think. I suggest to you that the root obstacle to change is in fact the attitude, motivation, decisions and actions not of the authorities, but of the masses. I wish to borrow the words of the Czech writer Milan Kundera:
“We have got into the habit of putting the blame for everything on regimes. This enables us not to see that a regime only sets in motion mechanisms which already exist in ourselves.???
Therefore, I suggest that NGOs should put much more resources into changing the attitude, motivation, decisions and actions of ordinary people. That may appear to be a slower route to reform, but in fact it is a faster one. It might even be the only one.
(5) The foremost task now (in my view) is to put an end to political monopoly in our country. To use an analogy, in a surgery there is no point repairing the organs if the bleeding cannot be stopped. In the same way, no real improvement will come in our lives, if the bleeding that results from political monopoly is not stopped. To help put an end to political monopoly, NGOs and opinion shapers ought not to set an immediate standard of perfection for the substitutes to live up to at all times. Improvements begin with the creation of better choices, one step at a time. It does not start with an insistence on the ideal option right away. We will kill off all viable alternatives, if we speak as though we have room only for the perfect replacement.
(6) If in the foreseeable future Malaysia manages to put an end to political monopoly, we cannot expect things to turn better immediately. History shows that persons who have known nothing but power all their lives will use every means, proper or foul, to obstruct a peaceful transfer of power. State institutions whose might has for decades been geared towards serving the interest of the elite will not change overnight to serve the Rakyat. Instead, many who man these institutions will continue to secretly serve their old masters. Thus, to be able to implement effective changes will require careful planning way in advance. Otherwise, we might win the cultivation, but lose the harvest. For this purpose, I wish to plant the seed of the idea that a form of Truth & Reconciliation will be what Malaysia will need, if change does come. This, I acknowledge, is both a complex and a controversial subject that calls for extensive debate.
Time does not permit me to elaborate on the above suggestions. I hope civil societies will come together to brainstorm and map out strategies for the empowerment of the Malaysian people, with the view to bringing about effective change, and to ensuring that change once mandated by the people will not be brutally hijacked by the entrenched network of political thieves and robbers.
Universal struggles
Human rights struggles are universal. Central to these struggles is dissent. Dissent is not always right, but it is always necessary to be allowed.
Imagine a world without dissent and without protest, where whatever said or done by those in power cannot be openly questioned or objected to. What will such a world become?
There is no need for speculation. We know the answer. It will be a world without reason, without humanity, without progress, without prosperity, and without freedom. It will be a world of senseless suffering, except for the few untouchable elite. We know the answer, because we can see from historical as well as current precedents. China during the Cultural Revolution, and North Korea of today, are two clear examples.
In truth, therefore, the world owes much of its progress, and its humanity, to dissent, to dissidents, to protesters, and to defenders of freedom, wherever they are. Tribute be to them.
A pleaLet me end with a plea, and an expression of hope.
Suaram was born in one of the darkest hours of Malaysian history. But it was born of hope. Individuals do from time to time lose their freedom, their rights, and even their lives. But societies must never lose hope.
With globalisation and the cyberspace, the 21st century will see the rise of civil societies all over the world. It is up to us to make sure that Malaysia will not be left out. We have to count on ourselves to save ourselves. We need to convince all those around us to join us in this effort. We, each and every one of us, must go forth to spread the urgent message of the dire need for change. We must engage in what I will call “secular proselytizing???! This is my plea.
Full text of keynote address at Suaram’s 20th anniversary (Dec 6, 2009).