Calling For Urgent Support

URGENT APPEAL: 19 MAY 2009

Release 11 Individuals Arrested During Candlelight Vigil

The police have arrested 11 individuals including two elected representatives at a candlelight vigil held outside DAP MP Teresa Kok’s office to mourn the death of democracy of Perak crisis.

The 11 individuals were arrested around 8.20pm and were taken to IPD Brickfields. This is an indication of the authority’s continual intolerance to peaceful assembly continued even after the arrests of 119 people in relation to the Perak political situation between 5th to 7th May 2009.


Those arrested (7 men and 4 women) includes:

1. Jenice Lee (Teratai state assemblyperson)
2. Teo Nie Ching (Serdang Member of Parliament)
3. Lam Kah Hon
4. Alax L. C. Ling
5. Koh Weng Ken
6. Chua Yew Choong
7. Lim Jen Yow
8. Tan Hak Lian
9. Fong Kok Leong


SUARAM condemns the police for their ongoing attacks and intimidation on freedom of expression and right to assembly, fundamental rights which are guaranteed under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Federal Constitution of Malaysia.We demand the police to release the 11 individuals immediately and unconditionally. We also demand that police stop harassing the Malaysian people from exercising their rights to assembly and stop the assault on freedom of expression.

Released by,

Wong Chai Yi
Coordinator

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Urgent action needed:Please write protest letters to the government and the police to express your strongest condemnation of the arrests and the ongoing denial of rights of expression. Please also demand the Malaysian government for the immediate and unconditional release the three activists.


Your protest letters should be sent to:


1. OCPD ACP Wan Abdul Bari Wan Abdul Talib
IPD Brickfields
Ibu Pejabat Polis Daerah Brickfields
Polis Diraja Malaysia
Jalan Tun Sambanthan
50470 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-22742222
Fax: 03-22730885



2. Inspector-General of PoliceTan Sri Musa Hassan
Ibu Pejabat Polis Diraja Malaysia,
50560 Bukit Aman,
Kuala Lumpur ,
Malaysia .
Tel: +603 2262 6015
Fax: +603 2272 5613


3. Dato' Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak,
Prime Minister of Malaysia,
Prime Minister's Office,
Main Block,
Perdana Putra Building ,
Federal Government Administrative Centre,
62502 Putrajaya ,
MALAYSIA
Tel : 603-8888 8000
Fax : 603-8888 3444
E-Mail: ppm@pmo.gov. my





SAMPLE LETTER

[Letterhead of your organization]


Prime Minister,Dato' Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak,
Prime Minister's Office,
Main Block, Perdana Putra Building ,
Federal Government Administrative Centre,
62502 Putrajaya ,
MALAYSIA
Tel : 603-8888 8000
Fax : 603-8888 3444


E-Mail: ppm@pmo.gov. my


Dear Sir,


Re: Release 11 Individuals Arrested During A Candlelight Vigil

We are writing to you, once again, to express our outrage and our strongest condemnation over your government’s ongoing crackdown on freedom of expression.


We are appalled by your government and the police’s latest actions and view this as yet another attempt by your government to intimidate Malaysian citizens from exercising their freedom to express their views.


We demand that the 11 individuals should be released immediately and unconditionally. We further demand that your government stops the assault on freedom of expression.


We strongly urge you, once again, to stop bringing shame to Malaysia. We would like to remind you that freedom of expression and assembly is guaranteed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as the Federal Constitution of Malaysia.


Yours sincerely,

[Name]

Freedom Of The Press

The Selangor state government is moving into the right direction to disseminate unbiased news to the people for assessment.

Be it the state or federal government, the secrecy laws especially OSA (Official Secret Act) should be obsolete because it is the breeding ground for corruption to infest.

Today, Malaysia ranks 31 in Asia Pacific and 143 global ranking which signify “not free” in the Freedom of the Press 2009 ranking.

Note:

1. Each country is ranked on a scale of 0 to 100. 0 is the best and 100 is the worst.

2. A combined score of 0 – 30 is Free, 31 – 60 is Partly Free, and 61 – 100 is Not Free.

When freedom of information is curbed, then transparency is missing. To be able to access to correct information is the basic right of the people. This will then be an avenue to gauge and evaluate to what extent the people could support the administration.

The state government of Selangor is leading by example by launching “tvselangor” on the 19 May 2009 at Dewan Sivik. An open government will always be the choice of the people.

Taniah and syabas to the Selangor State Government!

Arrival Of Selangor Mentri Besar

TELEVISION SELANGOR

The Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Dato' Abdul Khalid Ibrahim launched "tvselangor" at MPPJ Dewan Sevik on the 19 May 2009.

More reporting on the launch will follow with video clips.

Mystery - Stolen Childhood

These are the faces we should be seeing everyday no matter where we are in this world. Unfortunately, not all the children are that lucky to be able to put on their smiling faces.

In Asia alone, 22 % of children below 18 years are child workers. In Latin America 17 %, and 1% in US, Canada and Europe. In both these continents, only a tiny proportion of child workers are involved in the formal sector and the vast majority is for their families, in homes, in the fields or on the streets. – Unicef’s 1997 State of the World’s Children Report.

With a little luck, I managed to pick up this latest news.

Five assistant labour commissioners appointed under State Action Plan prepared by Labour and Employment Department

In A bid to eliminate child labour from Gujarat, the government has appointed five additional assistant labour sommissioners under the State Action Plan for Elimination of Child Labour prepared by the Labour and Employment Department. May 16, 2009

People cry for specific reason especially emotion related factors. Hunger does not make people cry, but the bondage of exploitation (physically, mentally and morally) will.

Child labour is often mistaken by its nature of work. Young children are seen in hawker centres or night markets helping their parents after school. This is not forced and bonded labour, but family obligation for survival.

But in different parts of Asia or the world, children live differently.

In the Indian subcontinent, which includes India, Nepal, and Bangladesh, there are people living on less than a dollar a day. Poverty drives the children out of home to look for cheap and exploited employment.

The prime cause of poverty derives from the pressure of rapid population growth. With high illiteracy rate, health care and birth control are beyond their understanding.

Caste discrimination still prevails, where weak governance and corruption are the added miseries to this marginalized group of people.

The emphasis on education is lost because to work for money to buy food to fill the stomachs is more important than going to school with empty stomachs.

However, to say that the exploitation for cheap labour is despicable is rather contentious because of the excess “manpower”. When there are more mouths to feed, more jobs are in demand, and to be able to hire more it means the wage to pay a single worker is used to pay for a few.

Is this call exploitation or opportunity given to those who are in the dire need to survive? The argument here does not lie in the exploitation of cheap labour, but good governance is missing which subjugated the people to such deplorable condition of living a decent life!

Blame it on corruption and the greed to remove the resources that people are much depended on.

Working for pittance has become a way of life for these unfortunate children. Such vicious cycle can only end when birth rate is controlled and proper education is emphasized by the government.

Such unfortunate children did not ask to be born and yet they are here to live a deprived life. Child labour will not end because the young girls will get married off and the production of the next generation of child labour will continue.

Such young girls will fall prey to child trafficking for sexual exploitation. When poverty and unemployment set in, the legal system provides little legal protection especially for these vulnerable young girls.

There must be a great stride in poverty reduction otherwise the fate of such children will end up like commodity to trade for their survival.

Illiteracy will not give anyone the voice of freedom. Beggars cannot be choosers so to speak. Any unwanted “crumbs” that are offered will be grabbed instantly, and that is the little luxury that makes the difference in their kind of life.

Why me? This is the question that is difficult to answer. Is it their karmic repercussion to be born into poverty or are they here for a purpose – a purpose to be in the league of stolen childhood of deprived children?

Skill And Experience

Contributed by : Estrelita.