Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement takes its Rara to Penang

The Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM) recently hit the road to bring its Rakyat Reform Agenda (Rara) to Penang.

At the Balai Rakyat Bayan Baru, Penang, some 40 people turned up to hear Dr Joseph Kitingan, Haris Ibrahim, president of MCLM and Jayanath Appudurai of Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia speak about Rara, which are:

1. To honour the agreement made in 1963 between the Federation of Malaysia and Sabah and Sarawak prior to the formation of the new Federation of Malaysia.
2. To restore the national institutions to the Rakyat – the Judiciary, Election Commission, Police Force, Attorney-General.
3. To restore the liberties guaranteed to the rakyat under the Federal Constitution by repealing the ISA, OSA, PPPA, UUCA and Sedition Act.
4. To adopt the MCLM’s Social Inclusion Agenda, designed to improve race relations in Malaysia.

Jeffrey Kitingan spoke on the first Rara pillar, the Malaysia Agreement, 1963 and the 20-point agreement. His presentation was titled ‘From equal partnership to takeover’.

0n 9 July, 1963, the UK, the Federation of Malaya, North Borneo ( now Sabah), Sarawak and Singapore entered into an agreement that gave rise to the formation of the Federation of Malaysia. Related to this are two documents on a 20-point agreement relating to Sabah and an 18-point agreement relating to Sarawak.

“Sabah was cheated and became a subservient state,” claimed Kitingan. “As you know, Sabah is now the poorest state in Malaysia. It was only after March 2008, that we have seen emerging political maturity in Sabah and Sarawak.”

The MCLM’s Social Inclusion Agenda was explored by Jayanath Appudurai, who explained that this is programme is to address the economic and social needs of the poor and the marginalised, including migrants.

“For over 40 years, NEP has failed to address the real cause of poverty and inequality. Forty percent of Malaysians fall into this group,” he asserted.

Haris Ibrahim spoke on national institutions and civil liberties.

“The Judiciary, Election Commission, Attorney General, MACC need to be restored to the rakyat, to serve the rakyat. Right now, the institutions seems to be serving their political masters,” said Haris. “For example, the judges are pro-BN, and if PR get into Putrajaya, they will elect judges that are pro-PR,” he continued, adding that, “we don’t want that. We want judges that are pro-rakyat.”

Haris said laws such as the Internal Security Act (ISA), Official Secrets Act (OSA), Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA), Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA) and the Sedition Act should be repealed.

“We will back any non BN political party that pledge to implement the Rara. We want politicians with integrity. We need politicians who can look at money and say no, I serve the people, not money … They want power, we want change, so we say to them – if we put you in power, you have to pledge to implement Rara.”

MCLM was launched in London on 30 October 2010 and its chairman is Raja Petra Kamarudin. To find out more on MCLM,  go to http://mclm.org.uk/

To the people of Johor, do not forget to keep the 3rd December free to attend MCLM’s Rakyat Reform Agenda forum. Come and learn about the movement, come and learn about your rights as a rakyat and as a human being to claim your civil liberties.