The Empire Strikes Back:

After the initial shock from its heavy losses in the recent general elections, the ruling BN government has started to find its bearings again and is becoming a vindictive monster going all out to settle scores with its political opponents and those perceived to be against the BN. In short it is going into an "Empire Strikes Back" mode, to borrow that famous quote made in Parliament by YB Lim Kit Siang. 

One of the victims has been prominent blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin who has recently been charged with sedition for his article "Let's Send the Altantuya Murderers to Hell". I do not intend to discuss the contents of the article here but rather the justification of using the Sedition Act and whether it is relevant in this day and age. 

The Sedition Act was introduced by the then British Colonial Government in Malaya in 1948 to stifle dissent and the struggle for independence. It was previously introduced in India and amongst those charged for sedition was none other than Gandhi who was subsequently sentenced to 6 years imprisonment in 1922. So it is quite ironic indeed that this UMNO led government, which was instrumental in gaining independence in 1957 is using this archaic, obsolete colonial era law against its own citizens. 

I fully agree with YB Lim Kit Siang that if any member of the ruling government has felt undermined, insulted or has his/her credibility brought into question, that person reserves the right to seek redress in a court of law via  a civil suit. However, using the Sedition Act to silence one's critics is akin to hitting below the belt in my opinion, and a blatant abuse of power. In fact, the opposition MPs should call for  a motion in Parliament to abolish the Sedition Act. It goes against the principle of freedom of speech and contradicts the current government's policy of promoting greater freedom of speech. On the other hand, I have suspicions that the recent charge against Raja Petra is a politically calculated move in order to bring down a certain personality in the ruling government. Have you noticed that the case has been splashed on the front pages of all the mainstream newspapers and there's hardly anyone these days who has not read the article "Let's Send the Altantuya Murderers to Hell". If the government wanted to charge Raja Petra for sedition, they could have done it a long time ago and before the general elections when their grip on power was much stronger. That fella has been whacking the government left right and centre in his articles for more than 3 years; why suddenly charge him? Is it because they've finally had enough of him or is there something more sinister going on? Well, let's just see how things unfold. What is certain is that things are definitely going to get more and more interesting over the next few months. 

Coming back to my earlier argument, the Sedition Act definitely has no place in 21st century Malaysian society or anywhere else  for that matter. More than 50 years ago, we won the struggle for freedom against our colonial masters. Unfortunately they've left us some "gifts" like the Sedition Act which has been happily exploited by our new colonisers, the UMNO led Barisan government . It is time for a new dawn; in fact one has arguably already taken place in the form of the "Political Tsunami" after the recent general elections. We have to continue the struggle until the day every Malaysian has the right to express themselves without fear (of course within the limits of civility and good sense).

After a massive break from blogging (more like 2 year indefinite break), I'm finally back. It took much persuasion on the part of my friend Poh Pei Kee @ Foo Puo Chee , also known as Poh Kee to get me back on my blogging feet. The picture above is a token of appreciation to Poh Kee. Thanks Poh Kee!

Guess I've succumbed to peer pressure. After seeing my friends start their own blogs one after the other, I've decided to start my own. From my observation, there are several genres of blogs, so to speak. One is the "online diary" type, where the blogger gives a chronicle of his/her day -to- day activities, such as what they ate, how long they spent in the loo etc etc or rant about how miserable their lives have been. On the other hand, I've encountered posts which can pass off as dissertations. So where does this leave me in this "blog spectrum"? To be honest, I haven't got a clue. I guess it'll be a bit of everything; "semua pun ada". However be warned my dear reader, inconsistency is one of my fortes. If you are the type who likes to check other people's blogs on a daily or even hourly basis, then you'll be disappointed. How often I update my blog would depend on how well I can crank up my brain to produce some randomised thoughts. This could be as frequent as once a day, once a week, once a month, or God forbid once a year! Thing is, I really do not know if I can sustain this blog or not. If I'm able to, then do indulge me my dear reader with my infrequent rants and scribblings. Otherwise, it'll be "adieu".