Malaysia’s new internal security law is as draconian as the colonial law it has replaced, but has the saving grace that it will not target political opponents of the government, say critics.

After a 52-year history of serious allegations of abuse that included the targeting of political opponents, the dreaded Internal Security Act (ISA) was replaced by the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act passed by parliament on Apr. 17.

“The new law is one of those extraordinary examples where the executive has voluntarily surrendered its powers to the judiciary,” said Chandra Muzaffar, academic and president of the Malaysia-based International Movement for a Just World.

“The power to detain a person without trial is the ultimate expression of unfettered authority and now that power has been relinquished,” Muzaffar told IPS, describing the major point contained in the new Act.

Prime Minister Najib Razak proposed repeal of the ISA in a speech delivered on Malaysia Day, Sep. 15, 2011, as part of major reforms ahead of possible snap elections this year.

The new law seeks to strike a balance between citizens’ civil liberties and the state’s need to curb terrorism, espionage and possible breakdown in racial relations in this multi-ethnic society built by British colonials who imported Chinese and Indian indentured labourers in the 1850s.

While racial and religious conflagrations cannot be ruled out, Malaysians have shown signs of being ready to bury ethnic differences and stand up for principles first, going by recent voting patterns. The new law was passed without amendments, ignoring opposition demands for better checks and balances during the debate, and the government extolling its virtues secure in the knowledge that it enjoyed a majority in the legislature.

Unlike the ISA where government critics could be detained without trial, the new law specially states that no person can be detained merely for his political beliefs. Further, it abolishes the home ministry’s powers to detain anyone without trial for any number of years.

It states that no detention without trial can extend beyond a period of 28 days, and adds a “sunset clause” for detention to be reviewed every five years and approved by three-fourths majority in both houses of parliament.

Police must also inform the detainee’s next of kin within 48 hours of the arrest, and detentions can be challenged in a court of law.

The repeal of the ISA will not benefit about 50 people at the notorious Kamunting detention centre. Nor will the centre be closed down.

Arguing in parliament, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim welcomed the changes and the repeal, saying that opposition to the ISA had reached a very high level. But, the new bill was not much better, he added.

“Provisions in the new bill are against the spirit of democracy and contravene human rights principles,” Anwar said. “A special court will be formed for this purpose…detention is still detention whether court orders it or the (home) minister decides,” he said.

Most people, while thankful that the old ISA has been repealed, are undecided whether they should express support for the new Act when they get to vote in the general elections.

Najib is banking on reforms, that the opposition claims merely scratch the surface without making real and fundamental changes, to fetch him votes.

The 13-party National Front government lost badly in the 2008 general elections and all eyes are on a return match that will decide who rules the country for the next five years – the Pakatan Rakyat opposition coalition led by Anwar or the Najib-led ruling National Front.

Anwar, once a senior leader of the National Front, was himself the victim of a political vendetta which saw him spending several years in jail.

Voters had, out of frustration with the slow pace of reforms under former prime minister Abdullah Badawi, voted for the opposition in large numbers.

Opinion is also divided among former ISA detainees with some saying they became more radicalised while under detention like Uthayakumar Ponnusamy, a lawyer and Hindu Rights activist and others like Ibrahim Ali, a parliamentarian who was detained twice, who says the ISA did a lot of good to the country.

The ISA was first enacted to fight communist insurgency in the 1950s and 1960s, but its wide “catch-all” provisions were turned against political opponents especially under the long 22-year-rule of Dr Mahathir Mohamad as prime minister.

The worst case of ISA misuse was in 1987 when Mahathir had over 100 parliamentarians, critics, and opposition lawmakers arrested and incarcerated in detention camps.

One worrying aspect of the new law is the role of a judge when detaining a person – all it takes is for police to make an oral request.

But the government says detentions can be challenged in court. “Earlier there was no judicial review (under the ISA) but now you can turn to the courts,” Najib said in parliament on Apr. 16.

As Prime Minister Najib Razak prepares to dissolve parliament for snap polls, Malaysia’s socialists are seeing an opportunity to make a comeback after nearly five decades in the political wilderness.

Socialists, an important part of the political landscape in the 1960s, were eclipsed by extensive state action against left-wing groups. Internal bickering and infighting among leftists took care of the rest, leaving people without an important voice in this Muslim majority country.

“We will contest in four constituencies,” said Arulchelvam Subramaniam, secretary-general of the Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) – a party registered in 2008 after 15 years of struggle to gain recognition – in an interview with IPS.

After the ruling party rejected PSM’s application to register as a political party, saying the party was represented a threat to national security, the matter went before a court of appeal which, on Aug. 16, 2006, ruled that security was a bad reason to deny the constitutional right to form a political party.

“Winning in the elections is not the sole criteria for us,” Arulchelvam said. “The more important task is to sensitise opposition colleagues to the plight of the masses and empower them in meaningful ways.”

In the wake of the 1979 Iranian revolution Islamism expanded tremendously in Malaysia and became a new political ideology promoted by the National Front, which has ruled the country since independence from Britain in 1957.

By the 1990s Islamism had become entrenched and became the main ideology of the United Malay National Organisation (UMNO) party, the bedrock of the ruling, 13-party National Front government.

The opposition Malay party, PAS, directly uses Islam as its ideology and campaigns for an Islamic theocracy. While UMNO professes secularism using Islam as a tool for mass mobilisation, PAS is openly theocratic.

The PSM is not a member of the three-party opposition People’s Alliance or Pakatan Rakyat coalition that is challenging the National Front’s monopoly on power. It does, however, support the coalition in parliament and outside on issues and policies that benefit the working class and peasants.

“We support them (People’s Alliance) but we are not beholden to them. We chart our own independent course in parliament and outside,” said Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj, the PSM’s sole legislator in parliament told IPS.

Socialists hope to double their standing in parliament and state assemblies in the general elections, which must be called before May next year but are widely expected before September.

Socialists have to battle their own colleagues who often mirror National Front MPs in their thinking and in the “handout mentality” that runs deep in the political system.

Currently, the Prime Minister and his deputy are crisscrossing the country announcing new local projects like the building of a mosque, upgrading old schools and handing out cash to voters.

Patronage is an effective political tool not only for the National Front but also for the Pakatan Rakyat, which uses the same methods to influence voters in the states where it is in power.

“We socialists are opposed to it (patronage) and want to educate the people that such handouts are temporary and do not solve problems in a permanent and effective manner,” said Arulchelvam.

Last week, parliament was informed that close to Malaysian ringitt 650 million (212 million dollars) in “urgent allocation” were given out in the form of small local projects by the Prime Minister and his deputy in the ten weeks to Mar. 15.

PAS leader Mohd. Firdaus Jaafar has criticised the government for spending “profligately” in the short term without regard to the rising cost of living and high inflation in the country.

“They just want to win the elections at any cost,” he told IPS.

“Part of the job of a socialist politician is to sensitise opposition colleagues in the Pakatan Rakyat against handout policies,” Arulchelvam said. “At the same time, socialists have to be clean and above suspicion to educate and empower the masses while campaigning to win elections.”

Unlike many opposition politicians who have not declared their assets, socialists declare their assets annually and maintain a frugal lifestyle in keeping with an image of being the people’s champions.

“What we need are long-term, fundamental changes in policies that benefit the workers, not the employers,” said Arulchelvam. “We tell our colleagues to ‘give if you have to give’ but educate the masses as well.”

Political analyst Ong Kian Meng said the handout policies of the National Front are having a big impact on the masses who are expected to vote for the National Front. “Handouts have an immediate and direct appeal to the people,” he told IPS.

Prime Minister Razak is openly using a direct “I help you, you help me” approach with voters.

“I can improve your lives if you vote for me,” he says in his almost daily public meetings, where he announces funds for small local projects or hands out cash, bags of rice and other food materials or cement and material for house construction.

Socialists have a tough job countering such tactics and the brave band of leftists that has emerged after the long struggle for acceptance has little to offer but an alternative political voice.

By - - and Baradan Kuppusamy
KUALA LUMPUR, Mar 25 2012 (IPS)

Malaysia plans to introduce a national minimum wage for its workers against stiff opposition from employers and manufacturers who warn that such a policy would shut down nearly 200,000 small and medium enterprise (SME) units.

Human resources minister Subramaniam Sinnapan has dismissed the manufacturers’ claims as “false and alarmist,” but Prime Minister Najib Razak appears rattled and has delayed an announcement until May 1.

“I will study the matter in-depth and make an appropriate announcement on Labour Day,” he was reported as saying by the ‘The Star’ daily on Mar. 20.

The government is caught between having to shore up votes in an election year and meeting the demands of manufacturers.

Najib cannot ignore warnings by Malaysia’s Employers Federation that the closure of 200,000 SME units would mean the loss of four million jobs in a population of over 28 million people.

Adding to the pressure, the opposition-ruled state of Selangor declared a Malaysian ringitt 1,500 (487 dollars) minimum wage for its employees, starting Jan.1.

But, Selangor has had to set aside 97.5 million dollars to assist state-owned companies that are unable to pay the new wages.

“Four million of them earn less than 162.5 dollars a month,” said Arulchelvam Sinnaiyan, secretary-general of the Parti Sosialis Malaysia, a small but vocal party that has two lawmakers in parliament.

According to a UNDP country report, Malaysia is one country in Asia that has a wide income gap, with the top 20 percent people enjoying 70 percent of the wages and the bottom 60 percent earning 20 percent.

A middle class of 20 percent struggles to pay off loans on houses, cars and credit cards.

In the 2008 general elections, the bottom 60 percent of voters, many of them SME workers, rebelled, choosing the opposition Pakatan Rakyat over the ruling National Front (NF) in the biggest upset since independence from Britain in 1957.

The ruling NF government wants to fix minimum monthly wages at 292. 60 dollars for SME workers, but manufacturers say they are already struggling to stay afloat on a profit margin of three to six percent and will lose out to competitors in Asia, especially China and India.

The country is trapped in a low-cost economy and has to move out to higher skills and higher cost manufacturing as neighbouring Singapore did in the past two decades.

But the biggest hurdle is the upcoming general election whose outcome can go either way. While Najib is popular, he has a lot of baggage carrying the NF, especially corruption issues.

In the latest of a series of scams, a minister was forced to resign after her family diverted funds meant to make the country self-sufficient in beef production into buying plush condominiums and expensive cars.

Najib sees the four million SME workers as potential voters, many of whom are struggling on wages that are way below the official poverty line of 247 dollars a month.

“A minimum wage of 293 dollars is great news and shows how desperate they are to win. It shows the power of our votes,” said factory worker Muniandy Ramasamy, 42, of Kajang, a city about 30 km south of the capital Kuala Lumpur.

“I can now take home a decent wage with that,” he said, adding that while his basic pay is low, he earns more by working overtime.

He also gets other incentives to take home 390 dollars, barely living wages in Malaysia.

Najib has been giving ‘One Malaysia’ aid to low-income families totalling nearly 650,300,764 dollars and has promised more doles if the economy improves.

“Giving minimum wages is a smart move considering the opposition from employers…it forestalls potential protests and wins him votes in the crucial election,” says Denison Jayasooria, head of the Social Strategic Foundation, a government-funded entity.

“Employers have said before that they would rather die than agree to a minimum wage policy, but Najib has to win them over,” he told IPS.

Jayasooria said having a minimum wage policy would also help lift the economy out of a low-cost morass.

Many of Malaysia’s neighbours have minimum wage packages and use them as a social safety net to help lowly paid workers manage in tough times.

These countries, including Thailand and Indonesia, plan to raise wage levels to counter the widening income gaps and prevent possible political upheavals.

Labour advocates are already calling for minimum wage deals in Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

China, the world’s manufacturing hub, is raising its minimum wage by 13 percent in stages over the next five years.

A minimum wage policy is one of Najib’s most important reform planks. He needs to convince SME workers that the government stands for them and not just for the rich, powerful and well connected.

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