In 2005, a few individuals, led by Dato Zaid Ibrahim, set in motion efforts to register an NGO called the Malaysian Civil Liberties Society (MCLS).
The objectives of MCLS : to champion the cause of civil liberties in the country.
After an inaugural meeting of intended members to approve the proposed constitution and to appoint a protem committee, an application, together with all the requisite support documents, was submitted to the Registrar of Societies (ROS) that very year.
Despite numerous trips to the ROS office, MCLS remains unregistered to this day.
The reality is that any proposed NGO or political party has little likelihood of being registered unless the same is perceived as pro-government, or BN or UMNO-friendly.
Remember how the Makkal Sakhti Party took only two weeks from the time of submitting the requisite papers to the ROS to secure registration?
How long has Uthaya’s Human Rights Party been waiting on their application to the ROS?
How many years did Parti Sosialis Malaysia wait before they finally secured registration?
Consider PERKASA.
Formed soon after the 12th GE, PERKASA held its first AGM on 27th March, this year, which would suggest that it was registered as a society some time last year, or even as early as 2008.
A day after BN lost the Sibu by-election, MCA Youth chief Wee Ka Siong blamed PERKASA for the rejection by the Chinese community in that by-election and called on the BN leadership to sever its ‘ambiguous relationship’ with PERKASA.
“If BN fails to make a strong stand in this respect, the public will only continue having the perception that BN is associated with Perkasa, and this will cause a huge damage to the coalition” , Malaysiakini reports Wee as saying.
If you ask me, Wee’s statement only makes sense if you substitute ‘BN’ with ‘UMNO’. Certainly, ‘BN leadership’ can only mean UMNO.
Nazri has now come out to say that PERKASA is not linked to the BN government.
“The organisation is an NGO and is in no way related to the Malaysian government” , Malaysiakini quoted Nazri in a report yesterday.
At first blush, it might appear that Nazri’s assertion is technically correct, until you substitute ‘Malaysian government’ with ‘UMNO government’, which is the reality today.
And then you begin to see through Nazri’s half-truths.
On 2nd April, this year, on Al-Jazeera, Najib defended PERKASA as being “not so extreme…They can shout about Malay rights as long as they are not extreme in their views…” , and then went on to confirm that PERKASA “…are by and large supportive of Umno and they believe that Umno is the only vehicle that can really, not only promote Malay interest but really hold this country together”.
Which would probably explain why, one month before, as reported by Malaysiakini, the UMNO government approved to ‘not so extreme’ PERKASA a permit to publish its own fortnightly newspaper, Suara Perkasa, so that they can ‘shout about Malay rights’.
Or why the Staronline reported on 18th February, this year, that the 500 people who protested outside the Australian High Commission the day before against interference by Australian MPs in the matter of Anwar’s sodomy trial were led by Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, his deputy Datuk Razali Ibrahim, Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club deputy chairman Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin, Perkasa president and Pasir Mas MP Datuk Ibrahim Ali, Makkal Sakhthi’s R. Thanenthiran and MIC Youth chief T. Mohan. The PERKASA website has an account of its involvement with UMNO Youth at the protest.
The objectives of MCLS : to champion the cause of civil liberties in the country.
After an inaugural meeting of intended members to approve the proposed constitution and to appoint a protem committee, an application, together with all the requisite support documents, was submitted to the Registrar of Societies (ROS) that very year.
Despite numerous trips to the ROS office, MCLS remains unregistered to this day.
The reality is that any proposed NGO or political party has little likelihood of being registered unless the same is perceived as pro-government, or BN or UMNO-friendly.
Remember how the Makkal Sakhti Party took only two weeks from the time of submitting the requisite papers to the ROS to secure registration?
How long has Uthaya’s Human Rights Party been waiting on their application to the ROS?
How many years did Parti Sosialis Malaysia wait before they finally secured registration?
Consider PERKASA.
Formed soon after the 12th GE, PERKASA held its first AGM on 27th March, this year, which would suggest that it was registered as a society some time last year, or even as early as 2008.
A day after BN lost the Sibu by-election, MCA Youth chief Wee Ka Siong blamed PERKASA for the rejection by the Chinese community in that by-election and called on the BN leadership to sever its ‘ambiguous relationship’ with PERKASA.
“If BN fails to make a strong stand in this respect, the public will only continue having the perception that BN is associated with Perkasa, and this will cause a huge damage to the coalition” , Malaysiakini reports Wee as saying.
If you ask me, Wee’s statement only makes sense if you substitute ‘BN’ with ‘UMNO’. Certainly, ‘BN leadership’ can only mean UMNO.
Nazri has now come out to say that PERKASA is not linked to the BN government.
“The organisation is an NGO and is in no way related to the Malaysian government” , Malaysiakini quoted Nazri in a report yesterday.
At first blush, it might appear that Nazri’s assertion is technically correct, until you substitute ‘Malaysian government’ with ‘UMNO government’, which is the reality today.
And then you begin to see through Nazri’s half-truths.
On 2nd April, this year, on Al-Jazeera, Najib defended PERKASA as being “not so extreme…They can shout about Malay rights as long as they are not extreme in their views…” , and then went on to confirm that PERKASA “…are by and large supportive of Umno and they believe that Umno is the only vehicle that can really, not only promote Malay interest but really hold this country together”.
Which would probably explain why, one month before, as reported by Malaysiakini, the UMNO government approved to ‘not so extreme’ PERKASA a permit to publish its own fortnightly newspaper, Suara Perkasa, so that they can ‘shout about Malay rights’.
Or why the Staronline reported on 18th February, this year, that the 500 people who protested outside the Australian High Commission the day before against interference by Australian MPs in the matter of Anwar’s sodomy trial were led by Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, his deputy Datuk Razali Ibrahim, Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club deputy chairman Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin, Perkasa president and Pasir Mas MP Datuk Ibrahim Ali, Makkal Sakhthi’s R. Thanenthiran and MIC Youth chief T. Mohan. The PERKASA website has an account of its involvement with UMNO Youth at the protest.
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