Press Statement: Raja Petra's 2 year detention order is puzzling
Contributed by Ambiga Sreenevasan
Tuesday, 23 September 2008 06:50pm
The Malaysian Bar is deeply disappointed that the Government
has seen fit to issue a 2-year detention order under S8 of the ISA against Raja
Petra. The issue of the order on the eve of the hearing of his habeas corpus
application is troubling, as it undermines the application.
Raja Petra is being detained for writing articles, which have long been in the
public domain. Police reports have been lodged against him by various parties. If
offences have been committed, he can be charged in Court for them as he has been
in the past.
Raja Petra’s continued detention is therefore puzzling. The ISA is being used
against an individual where other avenues that afford him a chance to defend
himself, exist. It confirms the impression that the ISA is being used for
purposes other than national security. It is being used to stifle dissent.
USE OF I.S.A. SPELLS FAILURE written by Stephen Tan Ban Cheng,
Tuesday, September 23 2008 07:36 pm
This is indeed a very sad day for Malaysia. Every time the Internal Security Act (ISA) is invoked, it means that the powers-that-be have failed the rakyat jelata.
That the draconian ISA has been invoked - this time against prolific writer Raja Petra, the grandson of the first and illustrious Governor of Penang, the late Raja Tun Uda - is indeed an unadulterated shame.
From Bapa Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haq's writings, it was the late Raja Tun Uda who, as Menteri Besar of Selangor, alienated a piece of land to Umno for its first headquarters.
To me, Raja Petra has consistently shown through his voluminous writings that he is as patriotic as any Malaysian can ever hope to be.
Even assuming that Raja Petra has committed any offence - and no one is conceding that at this moment in time just as no one claims human infallibility - the ordinary laws of the land should suffice in dealing with such offences.
Raja Petra has never been known to be a violent man. Why is this unconscionable ISA intended for armed terrorists and armed subversive elements being invoked against Raja Petra?
Is the ISA the price that Malaysian patriots have to pay?
I pray for my country ... and I cry while praying and ...
Stephen Tan Ban Cheng
Time to remember George Orwell written by Visvanathan Murugiah,
Wednesday, September 24 2008 01:13 pm
During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act - George Orwell.
Its confirmed then, the thought police is marching full steam ahead in the land of Boleh. All views/opinions not sanctioned by Big Brother must be eliminated at all costs!
Visvanathan Murugiah
ALDOUS HUXLEY'S BOOK A GOOD POINTER written by Stephen Tan Ban Cheng,
Wednesday, September 24 2008 07:04 pm
My dear Visvanathan
George Orwell, who wrote, among others, The Animal Farm, Nineteen Eighty-Four and Down and Out in London and Paris, was a former policeman in colonial Burma.
There are other methods of state control. For instance, do read Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. A variation of such a thing may well be occurring in a neighbouring country.
Incidentally, Orwell died at the age of 46 on Jan 21, 1950, the very day after I was born.
Stephen Tan Ban Cheng
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News 
The Malaysian Bar is deeply disappointed that the Government
has seen fit to issue a 2-year detention order under S8 of the ISA against Raja
Petra. The issue of the order on the eve of the hearing of his habeas corpus
application is troubling, as it undermines the application. 
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This is indeed a very sad day for Malaysia. Every time the Internal Security Act (ISA) is invoked, it means that the powers-that-be have failed the rakyat jelata.
That the draconian ISA has been invoked - this time against prolific writer Raja Petra, the grandson of the first and illustrious Governor of Penang, the late Raja Tun Uda - is indeed an unadulterated shame.
From Bapa Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haq's writings, it was the late Raja Tun Uda who, as Menteri Besar of Selangor, alienated a piece of land to Umno for its first headquarters.
To me, Raja Petra has consistently shown through his voluminous writings that he is as patriotic as any Malaysian can ever hope to be.
Even assuming that Raja Petra has committed any offence - and no one is conceding that at this moment in time just as no one claims human infallibility - the ordinary laws of the land should suffice in dealing with such offences.
Raja Petra has never been known to be a violent man. Why is this unconscionable ISA intended for armed terrorists and armed subversive elements being invoked against Raja Petra?
Is the ISA the price that Malaysian patriots have to pay?
I pray for my country ... and I cry while praying and ...
Stephen Tan Ban Cheng