When constructive criticism is sedition By Aslam Abdul Jalil Jun 24, 2014 COMMENT As a citizen of Malaysia, I am bewildered at the accusation by the Malaysian Public Services Department (PSD) office in Sydney, Australia, of being seditious in a way that may harm Malaysia and the interests of my educational institution”. I strongly believe that I am entitled to academic freedom as well as freedom of speech and expression in the democratic process as guaranteed by the Australian National University’s (ANU) ‘Academic Freedom and Protected Disclosure’, the ‘Australian National University Enterprise Agreement 2013-2016, ‘Article 10 of the Malaysian federal constitution’, ‘The Australian constitution’ and ‘Article 19 the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights’. As a final year student at the Australian National University I was invited as a forum panellist by the Canberra organisers (the Malaysian Interest Group and ANU Malaysian Students’ Organisation) to represent the students and young generation on the topic of ‘Race, Religion and Royalty in Malaysia’ on April 22, 2014 with visiting YB Tony Pua, Member of Parliament for Petaling Jaya Utara, and Dr John Funston, visiting fellow for the Department of Political and Social Change, College of Asia Pacific, ANU. In the forum I advocated reforms in Malaysia to stop racial and religious hatred and discrimination as well as to uphold the constitution and respect for the rule of law. Apart from that, I also urged more political freedom to be given to the mahasiswa and the youth so that our voices can be heard. Based on my speech and answers during Q&A session, I can see no basis to accuse me of being seditious, let alone giving ‘harm’ to ANU, Malaysia, Australia or the world. In fact, I tried hard to be politically neutral so as not to promote or defame any political party or propagate extremism. Actually, this is the second time I have received such a ‘show-cause’ letter from this office, and I think more may come due to my involvement in other educational forums on topics some would consider ‘controversial’. Not satisfied by my explanation about my involvement in a forum which was held last year and, without due consultation, two Special Branch officers went to my aunt’s house in Penang, Malaysia, (they mistakenly thought that my parents still lived in the house) with the intention of meeting my parents to discuss ‘scholarship matters’. I think this was a blatant attempt at intimidation and breach of the privacy of myself and my immediate family, especially as it was timed to occur during my exam period. This attempt at intimidation happened aside from the phone calls that I received from the Malaysian authorities in Australia questioning me about my involvement in such ‘controversial events or forums’. This intimidating and threatening behaviour has been an ongoing message from the office in Australia. Students are constantly warned in person or via email not to get involved in any event that is seditious, according to their interpretation. Gaining experience we can’t get at home As Malaysian government scholars, we really want to utilise the taxpayers’ money by not only striving to get qualifications but also to learn and experience the democratic principles and values in Australia so that we can improve our country when we return to Malaysia. Indeed, why would Malaysia send us here if not to gain experience that we could not gain at home? Part of what we learn in Australia is to always be constructively critical about what is happening around us, and this includes Malaysia. Constructive criticism is not about blaming each other, it is a pathway towards finding solutions. Discussions and forums are the means for us to voice our opinions in a civilised and intellectually stimulating way, and are actively encouraged within the Australian education system. Great ideas can be gathered and practical solutions can be achieved through this process, and it is, I believe, holding to the same principles under which the Malaysian Public Services Department office and the Malaysian government fully support the annual Malaysian Aspiration Programme (MAP) and Malaysian Summit of Australia (Masa). Now is the time for us, the younger generation, to be heard, with our voices based on our intellectual capacity rather than ideology, to contribute to the achievement of a mature democratic Malaysian society as outlined in ‘Vision 2020. • ASLAM ABDUL AZIZ is a PSD scholar and a final year undergraduate at Australian National University. He received a show-cause letter for being on a panel discussion involving DAP’s Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua in April.
Posted on: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 22:56:31 +0000
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