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Conflict & disaster Liberty Photography Science & technology

[770] Of old train station in Kuala Lumpur

It’s been clear in the morning for the past few days. The sky has been blue, dark turquoise or something similar, dotted with some clouds but clear nonetheless and it inspires me to go out more often. That means more photos!

When I went out yesterday, I knew exactly where I wanted to be – Jalan Hishamuddin. It’s past beyond the Sultan Abdul Samad Building where the National Mosque, the old railway station, Malayan Railways headquarters and a few other prominent architectures of federal capital stand .

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved

This facade belongs to the old Kuala Lumpur railway station. Since all but one rail system have been diverted to the ultramodern KL Sentral that tries to centralized Kuala Lumpur mass transit system, life at the old station is becoming really quite. The only exciting events there are tourists, the building itself and electric trains that jog pass the old station towards KL Sentral.

Looking back, I kind of missed the olden days when I was younger, when this building was busier with life. But progress is necessary. Still, I very much wish to see restoration done on this building. The last restoration was done in 1986 and from the condition of the building, another comprehensive work is due.

This building needs to be preserved. It survived the Second World War. It would be a shame if it does not survive us.

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved

p/s – I learned through CNN earlier today that another suicide attack had occured in Israel. I’m relieved that it wasn’t done by Hamas. If it were, it’d only validate what the US, EU and Israel’s position. If it were, I’d have to throw my current trust of Hamas that I found a couple months ago away down the drain.

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved

pp/s – I want to stress this again: TMNet sucks!

Categories
Humor Liberty

[760] Of Pakistan temporarily blocked Wikipedia

Yesterday, in celebration of April Fools’ Day, lots of people, blogs, forums, you name it, played a joke. One of them was AsiaFinest – it claimed that the People’s Republic of China government banned the forum. Pretty convincing but it was April Fools’. But, hilariously, some fell for it!

But on the day before April 1st, it was all serious and so, Pakistani government went to work – they blocked all things Wikipedia. Not even a page about cuteness was accessible from Pakistan. The domain was blocked in entirety. From Blogcritics.org:

Today, 31 March 2006, the entire domain of Wikipedia.org, the free online encyclopaedia was blocked because one article of the massive 3.5 million topics covered on the website contained information pertaining to the controversial cartoons on the Prophet Muhammad. While the block appeared to be limited in duration, having been lifted at 20:00 (PST) seven hours after the initiation, the real issues remain about the future censorship of education and knowledge in Pakistan.

On Wikipedia:

…I don’t know if I should feel proud or embarassed…

Amen.

Categories
Liberty Politics & government Society

[757] Of Jill Carroll is free

Yes, she is. I saw a report on Bloomberg just now and Bloomberg says Al-Jazeera and Reuters have confirmed the news. I however have yet to see an online report. Should be up soon, I presume. She’s from Ann Arbor and would probably be on her way to Ann Arbor soon.

Jill Carroll was kidnapped sometimes ago in Iraq and was feared dead earlier.

p/s – remember my post entitled [754] Of the strengthening role of religion within the government?

Well, in that entry, I wrote in jest that “through extrapolation, maybe, the government would send Muslims to jail for missing prayers in the future.” I didn’t quite believe it was possible. Apparently, I was wrong.

There is already such provision in Kelantan. It’s Section 101 of the Kelantan Islamic Council and Malay Customs Enactment 1986 (Amendment 1994). More:

In a rare case, a 68-year-old man was fined RM300 or one month’s jail for not attending Friday prayers in his mukim (sub-district).

Mohamad Taib, from Kedepal here, pleaded guilty to not attending Friday prayers at a mosque in his area three consecutive times, an offence which in Kelantan carries a maximum RM1,000 fine or a six-month jail term.

Religious prosecution is not all. Civil liberty was also threatened; privacy intruded:

The labourer was caught by Pasir Mas Religious Affairs Department officers after two months of surveillance at the mosque.

Pasir Mas Lower Syariah Court prosecutor Rohani Kadir said the officers and mosque officials found that Mohamad had not attended Friday prayers at the mosque between June and July last year.

And I thought the presence of CCTVs in Kuala Lumpur is already bad. Thank goodness, Kelantan is not my home. In a way, I’m grateful that Malaysia is a federation. If it were a unitary state, it would get really ugly to have such law.

If there a similar federal clause on that, those green cards would start to be overly attractive. Imagine the reason to emigrate: escaping religious prosecution. LOL!

Or maybe, it’s not so funny after all.

pp/s – two hours to the tabling of the Ninth Malaysian Plan and what am I doing? Trying to convince my mom into buying equities of major Malaysian construction-based firms. Well, correction – a buying frenzy.

ppp/s – alright. Not A2 but Boston.

Categories
Liberty Politics & government

[736] Of reductio ad absurdum and selective free speech

A lot of us Malaysians consider our government as the main bulwark towards greater free speech in this country. I thought so too until the Non Sequitur and New Straits Times (NST) controversy occured. As the issue unravels, it’s becoming clear that the principle hurdle towards free speech is not the government. Instead, it is the society itself; us.

The more I look at it, the more convinced am I of the fact that Malaysians, even the urbanites that on the surface are for free speech, are unprogressive and illiberal wherever the ideal is concerned. Instead, they practice selective free speech, which is an act of hypocrisy. In this controversy, same people that chastise the government for blatant disrespect of free speech are calling for censorship of NST. It’s scary to see these people working to undermine free speech. A fifth column in the most unexpected vocal camp – bloggers like Jeff Ooi!

Jeff Ooi is probably a free speech icon in Malaysian blogosphere. Worse, he seems to be jumping up and down seeing NST getting into trouble. It will be crucial to keep the whole episode in mind the next time Jeff Ooi get into trouble.

While bloggers don’t represent the Malaysian society as a whole, it does give a glimpse of what’s happening. And while not all Malaysians are supporting actions against NST, it seems to me, a sizable numbers are.

All I want to say is that, if we ourselves, Malaysians disrespect free speech and criticize other for disregarding free speech, then we shouldn’t blame the government for practicing censorship. We shouldn’t even get mad whenever the government practices it. After all, it’s we that elect the government into office. The government is an image of us, the people, the majority.

The right thing to do in the name of free speech is to come to NST’s defense. No censorship whatsoever.

Finally, in form of reductio ad absurdum: if NST is guilty of publishing and republishing the strip, then Jeff Ooi is also guilty of republishing it. If NST is being punished for publishing the strip, so should Jeff Ooi. Since Jeff Ooi supports action against NST, then Jeff Ooi must support actions against himself.

Absurd? If yes, then there must be a flaw in reasoning somewhere. Right?

Categories
Liberty Politics & government

[733] Of doublespeaking about free press and free speech

Sarawak Tribune made itself infamous in Malaysia by publishing the 12 cartoons that were produced by The Jutland Post. After so much pressure, Sarawak Tribune closed down. And now, New Straits Times (NST), a newspaper which garners greater influence than Sarawak Tribute in Malaysia, published a Non Sequitur comic strip that tried to squeeze the humor out of the controversy started by a rightwing Danish newspaper. Apparently, some Malaysians got upset by a comic strip that doesn’t even start to draw Muhammad, the Islamic prophet. And guess what those Malaysians want?

They want to censor the NST. Even those bloggers that claim to speak for free speech.

To me, the comic does not even come close to the level of The Jutland Post. The strip doesn’t even make fun of the prophet. But that is not the case and I doubt those that are pushing for censorship care about that. This is not a case whether I, or anybody, loving or abhorring the strip. This is a case of free press and speech.

Regardless, the Malaysian government however risks of being hypocritical to the offended by the strip if the government won’t act against NST. I’d rather have a hypocritical government than living a society that develops a knack for censorship.

If a person is actually for free press and free speech, that person shouldn’t and wouldn’t want NST to be censored, regardless of how NST had reacted to the suspension of Sarawak Tribune. So, if you’re one of those out there that support the move to censor NST, please, don’t call yourself as a person that is for free speech or free press. Else, you would be as hypocritical as your government.

Those that are for free press and speech should defend NST from any censorship. This is especially so when NST is one of Malaysia’s principle newspapers. If we allow NST to be censored, what do you think will happen to the other papers?

Think of the scenario Singapore. Alright, alright. Just taking a cheap shot. Sorry Singaporeans. I love you all!

Let’s do it better. Think Union of Soviet Socialist Republic. Of People’s Republic of China. Or North Korea. We’ll be in league with them. Hell, our ranking in Reporters’ Without Borders would probably take a nose dive.

A systematic erosion of free press. Is that what you want?

I know we should strive for consistency. But do we want a government that censors everything for the sake of consistency? The only consistency here is the continuing erosion of free press and speech and I don’t want that consistency.

If you want consistency, then think in the way that “if NST is allowed to offend some people that and gets away, then Sarawak Tribune should be allowed to operate“. Not in the way of “if Sarawak Tribune’s license was revoked because it offended other people, then so should NST’s.”

Observe the difference.

In this scenario, New Straits Times is a city wall. If the city wall is breached, there goes free press in Malaysia. Therefore, think before you speak. Think before you take the next step. Free press and free speech are at stake here.