*8 random things about me*

nad just tagged me for this 8 random thingy…hmm..about me??nothing fancy, nothing new, and the list goes:

1. I’m a sleep-a-holic-I sleep a lot..a lot as in A LOT!!…I can go on sleeping for one whole day without eating anything…I still remember when I was in my secondary school, on every Monday we were forced to assemble and listen to our principal’s endless yap, and the torturous part was, we had to remain standing, sometimes for hours…and that never stopped me from sleeping while I was standing…

2. My resistant force is quite illuminating, (at least for me)..for instance, I’ve banned carbonated drinks and starbucks for almost 2 years..(like what Kak Lat said “yah..starbucks??it’s politically wrong..)..I have my reasons to impose such restrictions on myself..people can guess I figure!

3. I’m one hard case for my family to deal with…hardheadedness has gone beyond repair, particularly when it comes to principle…I don’t ask permission from my parents whenever I wanted to do something. More of notifying them, giving notice kinda thing..all that they can do is pray for me and my safety..:)

4. I’m such a cry baby…all the so called “macho konon” thingy seems to fail the moment I see someone’s crying, war victims, my mom getting her finger cut, 12 year old boys celebrating 8As in UPSR exam..weird!

5. Sensitive. Particularly to people that I’m close to…I still remember when I was in boarding school, for God knows what reason triggered me not to call home just because my mom said something about being tough and not to be carried away by homesick syndrome, I decided not to make calls home at all..and after a week I got a letter from my brother—“ke hadapan adindaku yang disayangi…telefonlah kami di rumah dan usahlah merajuk hati lagi”…God, how funny that was!

6. Independent. Yeke? Let’s see. I’m so used to doing things all by myself…It’s just not me to be too dependant on others because I don’t like the feeling of putting people in a position of having to do something because I ask them to…a BIG NO!…ill find my way…

7. I am an old school kinda person- hence the IT illiteracy, doing things old school, conservative sentiment!

8. Passionate.passion keeps me alive..passion gets me going, passion makes me happy! passion is my drive! Passion teahes me to have some faith…:)

NEW YEAR

how time flies...2008 is approaching and i still remember Toni saying "next year we'll be 25, and another 5 years we'll be 30"..it strikes me in the head, God, how time is ticking fast and I'm so afraid that i couldn't keep up...there are so many things on my "achievement list" that i have to work on..and i keep telling myself that everything is gonna be just fine because dreams keep oneself alive and they are capable of being materialized..it's just a matter of determination..for me, what really matters is to have people who are supportive and willing to be with you no matter how hard things get...

I'm blessed:)

happy new year every one! [having too much lamb at edmund's christmas party makes me all pumped up today, hence this early new year greetings]

traffic jam = mental torment

Wednesday, 19/12/2007

9.00pm -everyone hoped in the car, everyone was so thrilled to be going home to celebrate aidil adha...and I said earlier "we take off a lil late, as in around 8 pm, just to escape heavy traffic in kl"..i was right, the traffic was ok around bangsar, and the moment we were in Sg Buloh, there was a long stretch of cars..."accident kot, jap lagi ok la ni (in denial)...

10.00pm -still in rawang...30km/hour, "God, why am I not living in Uganda??"(wishful thinking)...everyone in the car stopped talking...non-stop laughing session stopped for a while and suddenly kenny rogers radio ad was played..for the first time in my life, the song is in played in Malay- "ayam panggang kurang lemak"...the moment the song ended everyone's laughter broke the silence...we were wondering, who on earth translated the song and came up with "ayam panggang kurang lemak"..it was darn funny and I bet the translator applied literal rule of translation and he/she must be proud every time the ad is aired..

1.00 am - I just couldn’t stand driving 60km per hour that I decided to stop at Tapah RNR and sleep...Toni, Faj, Far and my cousin wanted to grab something to eat and suddenly everyone was like “it smells like KFC, and we were jumping like little kids…and we kept on singing “ayam panggang kurang lemak” over and over again, eating the fried chicken….

1.30am -it was Toni’s turn to drive…the traffic was still the same…I tried to sleep and every time toni applied the brake, I’d be awake and “ayam panggang kurang lemak” was sung from the top of my lungs…and I kept on telling everyone that once I got home, the first thing that id do before going to bed was to hang a parang on my door knob (an implied sign that ill run amok if anyone tries to wake me up).

5.00 am - Penang Bridge seemed deserted, we dropped far and faj off and headed to alor star.

6.00 am -finally we got home safely (zombi mode)…it took 9 hours instead of 5 hours to reach home…I figure we could have reached zimbabwe by that time (over exaggerating)..over exaggerating is forgiven, given the mental state of everyone that was involved or rather stuck in this madness!

11.30am -I got up from sleep, (parang on the door knob thing??-just a metaphor)..took a shower, put on baju raya, and balik kampung… I had a great time with family and friends. Home sweet home:)

23/12/2007, Sunday

7.00pm-took off from alor star

3.00am-got home…again..the traffic was such a nightmare…slept at 4am, woke up at 8am, went to work..

11.07am-Monday blues mode…God, I need a miracle today!

BEING TYPICAL?

“Dying for Freedom is nobler than living in The shadow of weak submission, for He who embraces death with the sword Of Truth in his hand will eternalize With the Eternity of Truth, for Life Is weaker than Death and Death is Weaker than Truth”.-Kahlil Gibran.

Life is not always fine and dandy…I know that my recent activities and postings have been classified as “serious” by certain individuals. I have not changed. It has always been me all along. My housemates (and not forgetting nad) can confirm on this.

Last week crackdown on peaceful march to celebrate international human rights day has a real big impact on me and my comprehension on what I believe in. it’s a sad fact that justification is longer based on justified reasons (talking about doing something for the right, justified, and legal (the legality of law is important as we are capable of having unjust law too) reasons). Superficiality and arrogance have transcended sacred values of justice.

When we speak so much of justice, it’s as if we speak of bombing the whole world. When we speak so much of justice, it’s as if we are going against the government. When we speak so much of justice, it’s as if it is so alien to us that it is never revealed by God in the Holy Quran and other Divine Scriptures.

Again, perception is the real issue here. To be more precise, understanding which is resulted from the process of proper deliberation, through a process called education or in brief, the antipode of ignorance. Education is not only confined to going to schools, colleges or universities, it’s more of a process of liberating your inner self from ignorance by searching for the truth, and the closest source that you can access to in the history of humankind is religion.

“Be practical, idealism won’t work!change won’t happen overnight”-only God knows how often these words are uttered these days…I respect the concern and it’s a true contention that change can never take place overnight…so does human perception! The struggle to educate the people is never and has never been a walk in the park…

As day passes by, being fooled by our own definition of a civilized country, we will be surprised that a lot of people still do not comprehend the basic principle of justice hence these typical statements:

1) “ why do lawyers represent these criminals, it’s for sure they are bad people”- the misunderstood principle : one is presumed innocent until proven guilty (concept of justice under criminal law)

2) “when we say/criticize/against something that is inconsistent with the current ruling system, we are deemed to go against the government – the misunderstood principle : there is no superior authority over any individual except God (by Syed Qutb on social justice in Islam)- (the core principle of a democratic system)-we ARE against the system, NOT the government!

3) “illegal assembly”- the misunderstood principle: Article 10 of Federal Constitution affirms the right to PEACEFULLY assemble, therefore the requirement for permit under Police Act is UNCONSTITUTIONAL. Period!(you can make reference to the statement issued by SUHAKAM on this issue—when the PM said no one is above the law, it must also mean that the Government must not also be above the law. The second misunderstood principle: “Be steadfast witnesses for Allah in equity, and let not hatred of any people seduce you that ye deal not justly. Deal justly, that is nearer to your duty. Observe your duty to Allah. Lo! Allah is informed of what ye do”. (Sourat al Ma'eda, 8).3

FREEDOM by Kahlil Gibran

And an orator said, 'Speak to us of Freedom.'

And he answered:

At the city gate and by your fireside I have seen you prostrate yourself and worship your own freedom,

Even as slaves humble themselves before a tyrant and praise him though he slays them.

Ay, in the grove of the temple and in the shadow of the citadel I have seen the freest among you wear their freedom as a yoke and a handcuff.

And my heart bled within me; for you can only be free when even the desire of seeking freedom becomes a harness to you, and when you cease to speak of freedom as a goal and a fulfillment.

You shall be free indeed when your days are not without a care nor your nights without a want and a grief,

But rather when these things girdle your life and yet you rise above them naked and unbound.

And how shall you rise beyond your days and nights unless you break the chains which you at the dawn of your understanding have fastened around your noon hour?

In truth that which you call freedom is the strongest of these chains, though its links glitter in the sun and dazzle the eyes.

And what is it but fragments of your own self you would discard that you may become free?

If it is an unjust law you would abolish, that law was written with your own hand upon your own forehead.

You cannot erase it by burning your law books nor by washing the foreheads of your judges, though you pour the sea upon them.

And if it is a despot you would dethrone, see first that his throne erected within you is destroyed.

For how can a tyrant rule the free and the proud, but for a tyranny in their own freedom and a shame in their own pride?

And if it is a care you would cast off, that care has been chosen by you rather than imposed upon you.

And if it is a fear you would dispel, the seat of that fear is in your heart and not in the hand of the feared.

Verily all things move within your being in constant half embrace, the desired and the dreaded, the repugnant and the cherished, the pursued and that which you would escape.

These things move within you as lights and shadows in pairs that cling.

And when the shadow fades and is no more, the light that lingers becomes a shadow to another light.

And thus your freedom when it loses its fetter becomes itself the fetter of a greater freedom.

Kahlil Gibran

Comment: “Stop. You’re under arrest for taking a walk!” (re-posted:from the Bar Council website)

Contributed by Shanmuga Kanesalingam

Monday, 10 December 2007, 01:27am

Malaysian Lawyers have been arrested, and are being held in a police lock up without bail, just because they dared to hold a walk to celebrate International Human Rights Day. PS Malaysia sits on the United Nations Human Rights Council. It’s Sunday night, 9 December 2007. It’s not yet Human Rights Day as I now wait in Perth airport for my flight home to Kuala Lumpur. I have been receiving a flurry of text messages all day about my lawyer friends, who have been arrested at the Human Rights Day Freedom Walk in Kuala Lumpur held earlier today. Amer Hamzah Arshad, Latheefa Koya, N Surendran and Sivarasa Rasiah were walking to get to the Bar Council auditorium, where the Festival of Rights was held in conjunction with International Human Rights Day. Together with them was Eric Paulsen, a non practising advocate and solicitor and several others. I received these messages as I witnessed Falun Gong practitioners hold a peaceful march in Perth, where the police accompanied them with a police escort to ensure they were not disturbed. I saw Burmese refugees peacefully demonstrating in the middle of Perth’s busiest shopping district with not a policeman in sight. On 10 December 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Malaysia celebrated the 50th year of its endorsement of this noble charter for human dignity when we had our Merdeka celebrations earlier this year having joined the United Nations as an independent nation in 1957. The Bar was celebrating International Human Rights Day, together with the entire community of civilized nations. Malaysia, who now incongruously sits on the United Nation’s Human Rights Council despite not having ratified most of the defining international covenants on human rights, will on International Human Rights Day charge these advocates and solicitors of the High Court in Malaya for the grave crime of walking without the permission of the government. Edmund Bon, another friend of mine and Chair of the Human Rights Committee of the Malaysian Bar who recently won the thirs highest number of votes in elections to the Bar Council, was arrested as he tried to reason with DBKL enforcement officials who were attempting to trespass onto the Bar Council’s premises to remove banners. As I write, these lawyers are spending the night in a police lock up because they have been denied bail. After all, the Constitution allows the police to detain suspects for investigations for up to 24 hours so the police obviously feel they should use the full time period to make their guests feel the full might of their brute force. Never mind that all those arrested are well established lawyers. Who cares that all have close links to the community? Does it really matter that all would no doubt have willingly offered themselves to the police at everyone’s convenience for further questioning and investigations, if necessary? Of what consequence is the certainty that all would have obeyed a summons to Court to face charges against them? What is important to the police is this: Malaysian lawyers must be taught a lesson. They are beginning to show the rakyat that Malaysians have rights. They have begun to display - overtly and effectively - a fierce independence. They constantly call for reform to ensure justice and fair play (hitherto unknown qualities in the machinery of the State in Malaysia since the full onslaught of Mahathirisation) become once again integral parts in the administration of this country. Knowing my friends, however, I know they must be loving their time in the police cells. They know what to expect, having heard the horror stories from clients all these years about the gross conditions of detention. The police will be at a loss to see my friends cheering, laughing and singing. Those lawyers know they have won a great moral victory. They have done absolutely nothing wrong. They walked peacefully in order to get to a destination to celebrate an international festival of the United Nations. For this peaceful walk, they are being abused by the Government of Malaysia - a grim testimony indeed to the state of our democracy and the so called liberalisation of rights in Badawi’s Malaysia. Malaysia Boleh .. tapi tak boleh Jalan! (Malaysia Can* .. but cannot walk!) *Malaysia Boleh or Malaysia Can is the national feel good chant propagated by the Government. It is a phrase that evokes a wry and cynical smile from most thinking Malaysians.

UPDATES: HUMAN RIGHTS DAY ARREST.


News Update (8): Judge allows bail, court now hears arguments on quantum

In reply, P Valen asked the AG why is he taking an inconsistent stand when he did not even object to any bail application or ask any condition to bail in the Altantuya murder trial.

He went on to say that to refuse bail would be tantamount to punishing an accused before conviction and to send a message to society that unlawful assembly attracts preventive detention.

Ragunath Kesavan then submitted that the burden is upon AG to show why bail ought to be refused. Even in ISA cases, some form of evidence must be afforded to the court as there is no averment before the court that the 8 accused will be involved in further unlawful assembly.

Tommy Thomas argues that when deciding whether to allow bail or not, one should look at the Federal Constitution. Article 4(1) recognises the supremacy of the Constitution, and therefore the Penal Code and Police Act are subordinate to the Constitution. So, when discretion is exercised, the Constitution must be taken into account.

Fundamental liberties start from Articles 5-12. Art 5(1) says liberty of person should be upheld in accordance with law. Article 10(1)(a) refers to freedom of expression and Article 10(1)(b) refers to peaceful assembly. The words used are "peaceful assembly" and these are constitutionally enshrined subject to restrictions to Article 10(2) which are the security of Malaysia and public order.

Therefore, the burden is on the prosecution to show how security of Malaysia is threatened when 100 people assembled outside SOGO and walked about 400 yards and further if they are released on bail, how is the security of Malaysia will be worsened by granting the bail.

Tommy went on to say when court interprets fundamental liberties in Nordin Salleh v Dewan Undangan Kelantan, it says when testing the validity of state action, the court is required to look at the state action. Nordin Salleh says the court must look at the effect and consequence of the state action which is bail application. So, the effect would be personal liberty and Nordin Salleh compels the court to look at it.

With regard to the words "in accordance with law", Tommy says section143 which provides: "Whoever is a member of an unlawful assembly, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine, or with both."

From these words, the trial court is not obliged to imprison an accused. It is not mandatory imprisonment, and it will be a great injustice if someone who is not found guilty or fined, he is imprisoned.

Tommy submits these constitutional provisions should be taken into account whether to grant any bail.

AG then replied that if one follows Tommy's argument, then there is no issue even about arresting any person for simple reason that there is a likelihood of him being acquitted.

The issue is whether the judge to grant bail that is when refusing bail the nature of the offence will be continued or repeated.

AG argued that this is not a case of lawyers celebrating Human Rights Day and one would know just by looking at the names and this statement drew disapproval sounds from the lawyers present.

The judge then asked whether there is evidence to suggest that the 8 accused would repeat the offence. By looking at the names, the judge surmised that probably the only notorious name is R Sivarasa and then lawyers present clapped in response. The AG replied that that he was not able to guarantee that they would not repeat the offence. Again, this statement drew loud disapproval from the public gallery and the judge threatened to instruct the police to clear the gallery if those present did not keep quiet.

The judge further asked the AG whether he had any reasonable grounds to believe that they would repeat the act. Tan Sri Gani argued that despite all the warnings, they went ahead. Further, Tan Sri AG argued that no one was prevented by the police to enter the Bar Auditorium for the Human Rights celebrations.

In reply, P Valen submitted that AG should just charge them in court instead of opposing the bail applications.

After hearing all the submissions, the Judge said she would not accept the AG's arguments and would grant bail.

The court now hears arguments on the quantum.

MBW

*Please note that we do not have time to edit the report, and it may contain typos and errors.

Pictorial Chronology of Human Rights March & Arrests

Pictorial Chronology of Human Rights March & Arrests

To see a pictorial essay on the march and arrests of lawyers during the
Human Rights March on Sunday, 9 December 2007, download the (3Mb) Word
document from the following Gmail account:

www.gmail.com

and login with the following details:

username: colin.images2
password: colinimages2

INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS DAY: WE WILL MARCH ON SUNDAY/09/12/2007!

The Bar Council has called off the December 9 Human Rights Walk. I think it was a mistake to have done so, but I have no interest in debating here the rights and wrongs of that decision. I write solely to declare that Iawyers who are determined to defend the freedom to peacefully assemble will nevertheless march on Sunday Dec 9 at 7.30am from Sogo to Central Market in commemoration of Human Rights Day.

We will march for the following reasons :

a) because it is our inalienable right to do so;

b) because Article 10 of the Federal Constitution gives us the right;

c) because they've got some cheek telling us we've got to petition the constabulary before exercising our fundamental rights.A right which can only be exercised with the consent of the District Police Chief is a shrivelled up and pitiful kind of right. It is a shadow of the shadow of a right;

d) because we're not inclined to be part of a culture of obedience to the high-handed directives of a tainted and unjust state apparatus;

e) because we're even less inclined to be menaced by a State which is so pathetically terrified of its citizens peacefully assembling.

Let us be clear about this: Any march/walk that is carried out under the authority and indulgence of the local police chief is not an assembly of free citizens. It is then nothing more than a chain-gang of miserable citizens marching under a cloud of fear.

The Bar Council as an institution has decided to cancel the march; but there is no reason why lawyers in their individual capacities and civil society groups should not carry on with the Sunday march. In view of the increasingly strident attacks by the authorities on the right to peacefully assemble, we have formed " Lawyers for Freedom of Assembly" to defend and protect that right. Caving in to the threats and hard tactics of the authorities will seriously set back the ongoing struggle for a just and free Malaysia.

All lawyers and civil society groups are welcome to join the " Lawyers for Freedom of Assembly" for our march on Sunday. Support this move to preserve the basic rights of all Malaysians.

Written by: N Surendran

For Inquiries:

N Surendran

0123207066

Latheefa Koya

012 3842 972

it's Monday and accute Monday blues syndrome strikes again..there was some miscommunication in Court this morning...yah..that's life...complaining won't do much help...last nite i coulndt stop thinking about "idealism"..and i actually had a few lines of arranged words in my head,thought of writing in down today...but like i said to Fahri during the Brazilian BBQ dinner last week "i hafta wait for some kind of revelation to start writing"..the monday blues is all that i have to put the blame on for holding me back (ahh..lame excuse fad!)eheh..

but i guess now i have all reasons in the world to smile about...Kiran just came to my room and passed a parcel to me...thanks Fahri for the book, really appreciate it!:)now i have regained my moment of enlightenment!:)