While many are in the dark about the real reason for the PSM 6’s detention, Bersih steering committee member Dr Toh Kin Woon postulates his own theory on why they are being held.
He said the PSM had been the most consistent party in recent years, articulating clearly its position on issues affecting the rakyat, especially the poor and marginalised groups.
It has taken principled and unyielding positions on a whole range of socio-economic issues, and its pro-people, pro-workers stand is clear, he said. This cannot be said of some of the other political parties, including even certain of the Pakatan parties.
No one is in any doubt over the PSM’s stand against GST, the US FTA agreement, the privatisation of hospitals, and the removal of subsidies for essential goods and services. The party has also campaigned for workers’ rights including calling for a minimum wage. Their clear pro-rakyat position against neo-liberal policies makes them a constant irritant to the government and associated corporate/Big Business interests.
As the global economy falters and as the local economy loses lustre, support for the PSM’s stand for its stand on these issues could gain momentum.
I cannot help but agree with Kin Woon’s analysis. After all, the PSM 6 were certainly not the prime movers behind the Bersih 2.0 rally; so that is unlikely to be the real reason for their detention. The prime movers of the 9 July rally were the Bersih coalition’s steering committee, comprising only civil society reps.
Kin Woon was speaking at a ‘Free the PSM 6’ forum organised by Suaram at the Caring Society complex in Penang last night in a room packed with 150 people. Aliran exco member Dr Prema Devaraj (Dr Jeyakumar’s sister) provided a moving personal insight on each of the PSM 6 while lawyer Clement Ong explained what the Emergency Ordinance was all about.
Those present broke out in loud applause when speakers said the only way to change the present situation was to vote out the BN.
The event was ably chaired by Amnesty’s International’s Nora Murat. Indeed, women were very much in the limelight at the forum last night. Kin Woon paid tribute to Ambiga and Maria Chin Abdullah for their courage in pushing the Bersih 2.0 agenda. Women lawyers such as Lim Kah Cheng, Agatha Foo and Karen Lai were the first lawyers to rally to the aid of the PSM 31 on the night of their arrest on Saturday, 25 June.
Speaking from the floor, Karen praised the Penang Legal Aid lawyers, many of them young adults, who were deployed to court and various police stations during the dates of the court hearings.
The next big dates for court hearings are 5 August (habeas corpus hearing for the PSM 6) and 10-14 October (Sessions Court hearings in Butterworth for the PSM 24).
In the latest development, PSM Central Committee member Rani Rasiah, who is Kumar’s wife, announced that he is believed to have commenced a hunger strike today.
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How could a small vocal minority of not even a million out of 27,000,000 be anything other than an unrepresentative vocal self interested minority whose rights can only be proportionate to their numbers? is this not a vocal minority with a populist agenda financed by self interest groups in the west and therefore deserving of being locked up? Why should any self respecting nation tolerate a rebellion financed by outsiders with as much credibility as street whores? The government’s mistake is not to take each of these fools like Ambiga to court to prove her point. But then again why… Read more »
Disagree. There is a more basic reason than PSM fighting for social justice. To fight for this, first you must overcome racist divisions. PSM has been consistent in ignoring race-baiting and race labels. BN is founded on racism. This is why they neutralised Gerakan and PPP. The greatest danger to BN is people seeing through the bigotry to these kleptocrat … and demanding rights and SERVICE FROM THEIR PUBLIC SERVANTS. Ultimately, racism will be defeated. Even Zionism nurtured so carefully to manipulate USA like a puppet is crumbling. But do you want to keep waiting for this to happen here… Read more »
Hi everyone, I’ve personally spoken to Dr Toh K W on a number of occasions, though he may not know me! He comes across as a very rational and brave person and definitely very intellectual. He’s very principled as even as a Pg State Exco member, he still continued to visit AI’s family during the times when the family was under duress. During those times, AI’s purported BN and UMNO friends deserted him and treated AI and family like lepers! These are only fair-weather friends!! I agree with Dr Toh here that ironically the PSM 6 are being detained for… Read more »
The reason PDRM won’t release Dr.Jeyakumay is simple.
PDRM made a mistake and is now trying to save face.
Remember when the demonised Hindraf and lied when they said they had links to Tamil Tiger Terrorists from Sri Lanka?
This is the low depths of depravity to which our scurillous PDRM has sunk.
“waging war against the King and resurrecting Communism”? Rosemajib’s big fat …!
We have truly become a police state.
dpp
we are all of 1 Race, the Human Race
If the reason they are being detained is because the issues they fought for now are now important concerns, then its the most STUPID thing to actually keep them locked up! By locking them up, they are making MARTYRS of them..Jeyakumar is already talked as the Madiba of the marginalized in this country..All his years of quiet hard work is now suddenly being trumpetted as the stuff of legends – the stuff our children and grandchildren should learn and look up to..
Give the emailing address of those in UN Human Rights and pressure groups so that we can write how hipo is Malaysia which says one thing and does the180 deg rock and twist. What human rights is UMNO Government sitting in the UN Human Rights? Telling UN to dehuman rights instead.
What does it take to be free, once and for all, of repressive misrule? Why do we tolerate a police state answerable to the greediest, most arrogant and most unenlightened? Do we seriously believe the nation is unsafe without a Special Branch or … enforcement agencies like MACC? How about the armed forces? Why is so much energy bogged down in lose-lose scenarios like defence systems? When can we open our hearts to the rest of the world instead of seeing everybody around us as potential enemies? Human consciousness is a very recent development in evolutionary terms. It took billions… Read more »
Anil,
What does it take to be free, once and for all, of repressive misrule?
Malaysia Is So…ooo REPRESSIVE That The Rakyat Have To Be Tagged Like Animals???
What is the meaning of being FREE???
Does It Mean That You Can Do What You Want WITHOUT Bothering About Others???
Does It Mean That You Do Not Have To Abide Laws and Orders???
Remember “Born Free”???