Homeless say rounded up by DBKL, left miles outside city

Around midnight, Mala was rudely awakened by a group of Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) officers, who then bundled him into a lorry packed with other homeless people.

After a long drive and being clueless as to what was happening, he was dropped off along the Karak highway with several others.

“I walked back to Kuala Lumpur in the dark. By the time I reached, it was morning,” he said.

Malaysiakini had contacted Mala through Pertubuhan Kebajikan dan Persekitaran Positif Malaysia (Seed) after being alerted of the incident.

Mala and several homeless people claimed that on May 22, DBKL officers had rounded them up and dropped them at various distant locations.

Relating what happened to him, Eddy said he was also put into a lorry with some 30 others. He and three others were later dropped at Rawang.

"They (DBKL) didn't tell us anything, they just gathered us and put us in the lorry," he said.

Eddy said that he and the others spent close to four hours walking back to Kuala Lumpur.

The incident was first highlighted by (Seed) exco member Lalita Abdullah through her post on Facebook.

"On May 22, after having the opportunity to watch the fundraising concert organised by Seed, some members of our homeless community were picked up in a massive DBKL raid in KL.

"They were herded onto a lorry and driven off out of the city...," she said.

A Seed representative later clarified with Malaysiakini that the raid had nothing to do with the concert, but some of those picked up were clients of Seed.

"It was just a round-up of homeless people in Masjid Jamek and places like that. Picking them up and chucking them outside of the city.

“I think they (DBKL) did not expect them to walk back," he said.

Contacted later, Kuala Lumpur mayor Mohd Amin Nordin Abdul Aziz said he was not aware of the incident.

Previously, he had launched a homeless shelter in Medan Tuanku in Kuala Lumpur and urged more NGOs to utilise it.

Kg Railway: DBKL plans to sue FMT

Deputy FT Minister Loga Balan said DBKL has done everything possible to relocate the remaining 30 families in Kg Railway, Sentul, but they have rejected the offer.

PETALING JAYA: The Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) is contemplating to sue FMT over a report on the demolition of houses in Kg Railway, Sentul, by enforcement officers yesterday.

Federal Territories deputy minister Loga Balan said DBKL was planning to sue FMT and Tamil daily Makkal Osai for carrying misleading news.

Earlier, Loga told reporters that the matter had been brought to his attention three months ago at a meeting with Federal Territory MPs.

Loga said the initial offer of PPR flats without rental and RM18,000 for each family were given.

About 120 families accepted the offer and remaining 30 took the matter to court and lost.

“On Dec 5, in a public programme in the presence of the media we gave out the offer letters to the 120 families.

“We gave the remaining 30 families until Dec 15 to vacate their homes and extended the deadline to Dec 20 and postponed it further to Dec 26 so that the villagers will have more time to move out.

“The 30 families then came with Batu MP Tian Chua on Dec 18 to meet me.

“On humanitarian grounds, we decided to give them PPR flats in Bukit Jalil but they had to pay the rental,” said Loga.

He said the families had taken to matter to the Federal Court and lost so they were not entitled to the PPR flats.

“But City Hall did the 30 families a favour by offering the flats.

“I also assured the villagers help in transferring their children to the school in Bukit Jalil.

“So the issue that we did not offer flats and assitance is a lie.

“I have even instructed the 30 villagers to move out before the demolition to transit homes in Dewan Perdana Satu,” said Loga.

He said if the 30 families rejected the City Hall offer nothing could be done.

Malaysian Bar Wins Case Against DBKL

​​

LoyarBurok

​​

by Shanmuga K

The Grounds of Judgment in Badan Peguam Malaysia v Datuk Bandar Kuala Lumpur (2013) is now out, and vindicates the Bar’s stand that they did nothing wrong in putting up banners without a DBKL licence on the Bar’s premises in Leboh Pasar Besar. A link to the judgment is in the article. To find it, you have to read the article and see the two pictures of Edmund Bon.

A little less than 6 years ago, I penned the piece “

​

Stop. You’re under arrest for taking a walk

​​

” about the events that had happened in Kuala Lumpur on the eve of Human Rights Day 2007.

6 of those arrested for walking were 

​

acquitted

​​

, and later awarded 

​

RM10,000

​​

 each for wrongful arrest. They were LoyarBurokker 

​

Amer Hamzah Arshad

​​

, founders of Lawyers for Liberty Latheefa Koya, N Surendran (now MP) and Eric Paulsen, R Sivarasa (now MP), and activists Johny Andu @ Abu Bakar Adnan and Nooraza Othman.

But there was another arrest that happened that day which I alluded to in my previous article. LoyarBurokker 

​

Edmund Bon

​​

, at that time also the Chair of the Bar Council’s Human Rights Committee, got himself 

​​

arrested

​​

for obstructing a DBKL officer in the course of his duties. He had tried to stop the DBKL taking down banners that were part of the Human Rights Day celebrations. (Those of us who know him joke that he purposely got himself arrested, so as not to be outdone by Amer and Latheefa. Well, ok – I am the only one who makes that joke, which is not very funny. And I am sure that it’s not true. Really.)

Here’s a picture of him before he was arrested:-

Here’s a picture of him being arrested:-

Edmund was charged, but later given a 

​​

discharge not amounting to an acquittal

​​

 by the Sessions Court when the Deputy Public Prosecutor decided to offer no further evidence.

Well, anyway, to cut a long story short, the Bar Council in 2009 decided to sue DBKL for taking away the banners that were hung at the Bar Council’s premises.

A few days ago, the Bar Council won. Judicial Commissioner SM Komathy Suppiah’s grounds of judgment are 

​

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​here. (The original Word document can also be found at the 

​​

KL Courts website

​​

).

The High Court held that the requirement for a licence for a banner is only required when the banner is advertising a commercial product or service. The Judge gave this brilliant example of a banner that does not need a licence:-

“An example that readily comes to mind is the gigantic banner that was displayed at the entrance of the Court Complex in Kuala Lumpur in 2009, with the words “BUAT KERJA”. This banner was displayed for  12 to 15 months or so. A  wide interpretation would mean the Court would require a licence to put up a banner to motivate the staff  or to state the ethics of the judiciary. Was the banner said to be running foul of the By-Law as it was put up without a licence?  I think not. There is no compelling reason to give  the phrase a wide meaning as sought by the defendant.”

Having found the relevant by-laws only applied to commercial advertisements, the Court held:

“This ruling means that the DBKL officers had entered the plaintiff’s premises unlawfully when they went in to remove the banners. On the claim based on trespass ,  I therefore enter judgment in favour of the plaintiff and award special damages of RM320.00 and general damages of RM12,000.00. The plaintiff is also entitled to costs which are to be taxed unless otherwise agreed”

So the Bar wins, but doesn’t get much money. But as I understand it, the principle the case establishes will greatly advance the cause of freedom of expression in this country. The DBKL and other local authorities with similar by-laws cannot just take down the banners of protestors just because they have not paid a fee for the banner to the local authority. Of course for banners put up on a building, permission must still be obtained from the building’s owners.

Nice work, Bar Council, and its team of lawyers comprising Ranjit Singh, Razlan Hadri and Jamie Wong!

Ku Nan: I've studied Hinduism too, 'won't fight' with Waytha

Ku Nan steps away from apology call

When asked to comment on P Waythamoorthy’s criticism, the FT Minister asks reporters if they are trying to pitch him against a fellow Cabinet member.

KUALA LUMPUR: After coming under fire for allegedly insulting Hinduism and Hindus by interpreting on what constituted a Hindu shrine or temple, Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Mansor today alluded that no apology was needed.

Instead, he turned on the reporters accusing them of trying to pitch him against his fellow cabinet member. He also claimed to be some sort of a religious expert by saying: “I’ve studied Hinduism, I’ve studied Buddhism, I’ve studies Christianity.”

Yesterday, Hindraf chairman and Deputy Minister in the PM’s Department P Waythamoorthy said Tengku Adnan should stay away from Hindu religious matters since the minister had no knowledge on practices and beliefs of Hindus.

He called Tengku Adnan to immediately apologise to the Hindu community for the demolition of the 101-year-old Hindu temple, Sri Muneswarar Kaliyaman Alayam, at Jalan P Ramlee in Kuala Lumpur, merely a week after the Deepavali festival, and also for his unwarranted interference with Hindu religious affairs.

Tengku Adnan however refused to comment on Waythamoorthy’s demand for apology for allegedly insulting their religion.

“Why do you want to pitch me against him? He’s a Cabinet member…it’s up to him (to say what he wants),” the Umno secretary-general said when met by reporters in Parliament.

“I don’t want to comment on his statement. There is no need for me to comment. I do not want to start a fight with him.”

Tengku Adnan said: “I’ve studied Hinduism, I’ve studied Buddhism, I’ve studies Christianity. There are rules and regulations when it comes to building a temple…for example, there are some places where we allow some people to operate, like a car park.

“But towards the end, when it’s people’s land, when people want to develop (that land), they start to protest and say you can’t do that. It’s not fair (on the developers).

“I do not like to make people unhappy. I don’t like to hurt people’s feelings. Your religion (is) your religion, my God is my God,” said Tengku Adnan.

Abusing religion

When asked to respond to the fact that some quarters were unhappy with his remarks on what constituted a temple and a shrine, Tengku Adnan suggested that those people were “using” religion for their own gains.

“Certain people, maybe they don’t follow (the religion), but they just use the religion for their own gain. Same like people in the mosque who use religion for their own gain.”

He then turned on opposition party PAS, whom he claimed used Islam to gain votes. “You ask PAS. (The party says) if you don’t vote for PAS, you don’t enter heaven.”

On Sunday, an estimated 300 DBKL enforcement officers and police personnel demolished the temple without proper notice.

The temple had been issued an eviction notice on June 13, ordering it to vacate the premises before June 26. The order was issued so that a developer could build a multi-storey building.

Sri Muneswarar demolition - 'What kind of temple stores alcohol?'

Ku Nan, here's a reminder on Hindu temples

COMMENT The issue surrounding the Sri Muneswarar Kalayaman temple on Jalan P Ramlee in Kuala Lumpur has to be dealt with sensitively and imaginatively.
Otherwise, it will boil over, into the face of not only Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, but also his boss, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Najib has publicly acknowledged past policy lapses that resulted in problems for the Indian Malaysian community.

One of these has been the lack of sensitivity to the fact that when you demolish a temple, you are not just taking down bricks and mortar and the representations of deities within; you are hitting at the core of the psyche of millions of ordinary people.

The general erosion of Indian Malaysian support for the BN started with the mindless demolition of Hindu temples up to 2008. It looked like the BN had learnt its lesson after 2008.
And the ordinary Indian Malaysian vote did help the BN retain Putrajaya in the 13th general election. But it now looks like all of this has been forgotten.

Now, the question Tengku Adnan has asked is: why do only Hindu temples face a problem, and not churches, mosques and Chinese temples?
This only indicates the stubborn lack of knowledge of the problem.
It is also for this reason that P Waythamoorthy (left) has been inducted into cabinet as deputy minister.
He understands the problem best and there are clear ways of resolving the issues in a win-win fashion.

He should be allowed to function and not be myopically told to be silent, all in the name of collective responsibility when things are obviously being handled inappropriately.
Set up special committee

Tengku Adnan should expedite the special committee that was agreed upon in the memorandum of understanding (MOU) that the BN signed with Hindraf that is to look into the issue of temples and burial grounds for Hindus.

In fact, Tengku Adnan (right) had signed the MOU on behalf of the BN.
Surely he must have at least read what he was signing.
Let me quote from Section 1.4 of the MOU as a reminder:

1. A sub-committee shall be set up by the head of the New Unit and will work under the purview of the ESC, to conduct a detailed audit on Hindu temples, shrines and burial grounds throughout Malaysia and subsequently, to develop detailed proposals to totally eliminate the problems surrounding the locations of Hindu temples, shrines and burial grounds.

2. The main objective of this programme is to ensure that there shall be no more Hindu temples, shrines and burial grounds located on land other than which has been gazetted for their specific purpose by 2018.

Tengku Adnan, the solution is there - right where you had signed. Please maximise the government’s resources and deal with the problems.
Put Waythamoorthy to work. He is in the cabinet specifically for that purpose. Let me also quote from Section 3 of the MOU:

• A New Unit shall be established within the Prime Minister’s Department chartered to expressly implement the five-year blueprint, and to which full executive authority will be devolved and budgets allocated to carry out the charter in an effective and expeditious manner.

• The New Unit will be fully accountable for the delivery of the blueprint targets and will contract services and act as monitor and supervisor, as needed, to execute its charter from all related government bodies.

Tengku, if you want Hindu temples not to give you any more trouble, surely you cannot go about it the way you are doing now. Cool down, use a little wisdom and do the right thing.

The nation can hardly afford more of the current insensitivity.

---

N GANESAN is adviser to Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia.

Tengku Adnan draws fire from Hindus for suggesting only their temples cause problems

At the centre of the storm, the temple which Tengku Adnan has downgraded to a 'shrine' in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. The Malaysian Insider pic by Nazir Sufari, September 9, 2013. 

Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor stepped into a minefield when he "downgraded" a century-old Hindu temple into a shrine and then pointedly asked why the authorities "always had problems with temples and not churches, mosques or Chinese temples".

The attitude of the Federal Territories minister to a sacred Hindu spot hit a raw nerve among other politicians and the head of the Malaysia Hindu Sangam, who responded strongly today.
They questioned if Tengku Adnan knew enough about Hinduism to make comments on what is a shrine or a temple and on the Sri Muneswarar Kaliyaman Temple, in particular.


The Malaysia Hindu Sangam, the MIC youth chief, an Indian opposition politician and a lawyer took the minister to task.

On Tengku Adnan's suggestion that only Hindu temples were problematic, Malaysia Hindu Sangam president Datuk R.S. Mohan Shan shot back that it was because the government did not provide Hindus a proper site to build their temples.

"This is a ridiculous statement by the minister. We are the victims here. We are not the trouble-causers," Mohan responded.

"I have written a letter to Tengku Adnan on this matter and I am hoping for a speedy response," he revealed to The Malaysian Insider today.

MIC Youth chief T. Mohan, who was arrested when he tried to stop City Hall officers from demolishing part of the temple last week, was also upset by the remark that only Hindu temples caused problems.

He said, "If Hindus were given the proper avenue to fulfill their spiritual obligations in peace, issues such as this would have never occured."

Parti Keadilan Rakyat vice-president N. Surendran said Tengku Adnan has failed to realise that a shrine is the sacred spot of any Hindu temple.

"Tengku Adnan is simply mocking Hindus," he said.

Former Teluk Intan parliamentarian M. Manogaran said, "We have been sidelined and marginalised and this is why we remain a 'problem' according to Tengku Adnan.

"It is such a shame that Indians who are in the country's mainstream politics and economy get bullied this way."

Manogaran said this is the main reason that Indian leaders from the opposition pact had called for an “Indian Affairs Department” or a “Minority Affairs Ministry” under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's purview.

MIC’s Mohan also was disappointed with Tengku Adnan for claiming that political parties were exploiting this issue for mileage.

Mohan said, "When the Pakatan Rakyat state government in Selangor had demolished a shrine inside a home in Sepang, MIC Youth had intervened to condemn the act. We were then hailed as heroes. Now we are being accused of playing politics."

Tengku Adnan told reporters today that the Hindu temple in Kuala Lumpur's Golden Triangle in Jalan P. Ramlee has always been a shrine and not a temple.

"I know what a temple and shrine is all about. I am also a pious man. I pray. I would not want to break something which people pray to,” he had said.

The temple sits on reserve land meant for roads or walkways and the Kuala Lumpur City Hall had wanted to claim back some eight feet of land.

This was resisted by scores of worshippers who rushed to protect the temple, raising the temperature in Malaysia's religious landscape and pitting the ruling Barisan Nasional government against politicians from its own coalition.

Tengku Adnan said the ministry will be upgrading the temple into a tourist attraction and look into gazetting the land where the “shrine” sits.

He had also said the temple, which he insisted be called a "shrine" from now on, will not be given the entire land on which it is currently situated.

"The allocation will be only for the size of a shrine as we would need the rest of the space... the whole land belongs to us and we need to build a drainage system and carry out other necessary construction work." – September 9, 2013.

'DBKL has no SOP on action at places of worship'

There are no special provisions governing the conduct of Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) personnel who carry out enforcement at places of worship, according to the Federal Territories Ministry.

Deputy Minister Dr Loga Bala Mohan (left) said any provisions or standard operating procedure (SOP) will only be formulated in discussion with DBKL.

"Their SOP is general, there's no special provision for temples. There have been complaints about DBKL (personnel) wearing shoes (into places of worship), we admit that," he told a press conference at the ministry today.

Referring to the action taken at the Sri Muneswarar Kalyamman temple in Jalan P Ramlee on Sunday, he claimed that the part of the premises that was barricaded by the officers was “originally a canteen”.

"It's an annexure that had (statues of) deities placed there after last November. It's not a shrine per se," he said.
“After we started engaging with them (about relocation), they had started placing deities at what used to be the canteen. But this is not part of the temple shrine. This was more like a hall,” he said, referring to the annexure.

Loga Bala also said that DBKL officers did not demolish any deity but merely removed it and placed them elsewhere.

He said that the court order issued on July last year had not expired as claimed by certain quarters but was still in effect.

“A court order doesn’t expire,” he said.

He however gave an assurance that the remaining portions of the temple will be “beautified” and “gazetted” as temple land.

“I assure that we will not demolish any temples in Kuala Lumpur. This was in the BN manifesto and we will follow to that. The prime minister has told us to gazette the land as temple land,” he said.

He said that the ministry and DBKL would engage with the temple committee in order to gazette the temple, but said that the next move has to be initiated by the temple committee.

“After this, we wait for them to come and talk to us. We have already said that we are ready to beautify the temple,” he said.

He explained that the 8-feet annexure of the temple was needed in order to build proper drainage in view of the neighbouring development there.

“We decided that this was the best way to build the drainage,” he said.

“While with the hoarding now, it might look messy, but we will beautify it in the future. Even the developer, Hup Seng Consolidated Bhd, had agreed to bear the costs,” he said.

The temple, according to the committee, is 101 years old.

The authorities have offered to move the temple to Setapak since 2010 when Hup Seng was given a development order at its private land next to the temple, an idea rejected by the temple committee.

Subsequently, DBKL and the ministry had offered to only claim the 8-feet annexure of the temple.

Loga Bala said that DBKL and the ministry had conducted 43 engagements with the temple committee since 2010 before a cabinet decision was made on Aug 28 this year to claim the annexure.

‘Minister should take blame for temple demolition’

Federal Territory Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor should be blamed for the demolition of part of a temple in Kuala Lumpur by DBKL officers, said MIC Youth.

PETALING JAYA: MIC Youth said today Federal Territory Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor should take responsibility for demolishing part of the 101-year-old temple in Jalan P Ramlee, Kuala Lumpur, yesterday.

Its chairman, T Mohan, told FMT that Tengku Adnan had failed to stop Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) enforcement officers from demolishing the wall of the Sri Muneswarar Kaliyaman temple despite a cabinet decision not to do so until a solution was found.

“Earlier, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has ordered the Federal Territories Ministry and DBKL officers not to demolish the temple.

“It seems like Tengku Adan and DBKL officers are trying to challenge the prime minister,” said Mohan.

He said Tengku Adnan had promised to allocate funds to beautify the temple before.

“But yesterday, Tengku Adnan broke his promise by demolishing part of the temple,” he added.

Mohan was one of the eight people arrested by police after they tried to stop the demolition.

The others are temple caretaker R Nalini, PKR leader P Jayathas, MIC Youth secretary C Sivarraajh, MIC Federal Territory Youth chief D Tharmakumaran and temple photographer known only as Prem.

Mohan said the temple had been issued an eviction notice on June 13 ordering it to vacate the premises before June 26.

It is reported that the eviction order was issued so that a developer could build a multi-storey building.

Political leaders from both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat along with temple devotees staged several protests to stop the demolition.

Finally, the notice was put on hold after the matter was brought to the prime minister’s attention and it was decided in a cabinet meeting not to demolish the temple until a proper solution was found.

“So, who made the mistake now?” asked Mohan.

“There will be no compromise in this issue,” said Mohan, adding that the temple demolition was a “Merdeka Day gift” to Indians by Tengku Adnan.

MIC Youth secretary Sivaraajh urged DBKL officers to be polite when engaging the public.

The special officer to Perak Menteri Besar Zambry Abdul Kadir said the enforcement officers were rude and unprofessional during the demolition work.

“The officers must respect the places of worship of other religions,” said Sivaraajh, adding that to go into the temple wearing boots and smashing the statues with sledge hammers cannot be forgiven.

“Worse still is they used derogatory words against the temple caretaker who is a woman,” he said.

Sivaraajh said action must be taken against the officers involved in the incident.

DBKL: No burger stall when we visited

While an array of photos and videos show some traders operating a burger stall in front of Ambiga's house two weeks ago, DBKL says the stall did not exist when its officers came calling...three days later.

PETALING JAYA: The Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has done it again.

Despite news of a burger protest in front of S Ambiga’s house on May 10 splashed across news pages and websites, the City Hall has denied that there was ever a burger stall set up in front of her residence.

Responding to an e-mail query by FMT on action to be taken against the stall operator, DBKL enforcement division spokesperson Abdul Syatar Abdul Halim said :”Based on a complaint received on May 14, this department conducted an investigation at the location in Bukit Damansara only to find no burger hawkers operating in front of Ambiga’s house.

“According to Ambiga’s personal body guard, the hawkers left on May 10,” said Syatar.

On May 10, by a group of burger stall operators from an NGO called Malaysia Small and Medium Entrepreneurs Alliance (Ikhlas) set up their stalls in front of Ambiga’s home and distributed free burgers.

They resorted to this action because they claimed that the Bersih rally for free and fair elections in the federal capital on April 28 had disrupted their livelihood.

The police, on their part, had said that they were powerless to act against the burger protesters as these hawkers did not break any laws that was criminal in nature.

The attention then turned towards DBKL, which enacts and enforces local council by-laws in Kuala Lumpur.

On Wednesday, lawyer K Shanmuga pointed out that the protesters flouted by-laws 11(1) and 22(2) of the Licensing of Hawkers and Stalls (Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur) 1989 which was enacted under the Local Government Act.

With the DBKL’s reply today, it is very unlikely that the burger protesters in front of Ambiga’s house would face the law.

Lawyer: Burger protest flouted DBKL by-laws

Contrary to what DIG Khalid Abu Bakar has said, a lawyer claims the protesters flouted the law.

PETALING JAYA: The protest by burger sellers outside Bersih co-chairman S Ambiga’s house last week had flouted two Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) by-laws.

According to lawyer K Shanmuga, the protesters violated the Licensing of Hawkers and Stalls (Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur) 1989 which was enacted under the Local Government Act.

He said the by-laws stipulated that hawkers are allowed to operate only at certain locations

“DBKL does not issue roving license. The business must operate at a fixed location,” he added, citing by-laws 11(1) and 22(2).

Bylaw 11(1) states that a stall licence should be in respect of a specified site whereas by-law 22(2) states that itinerant hawkers cannot remain stationary in any place except when selling food.

The by-laws are enforced by the DBKL and those found guilty can be fined RM1,000.

FMT had sent an email to DBKL regarding this matter, but had yet to receive a response.

Last Thursday, a group of burger stall operators from an NGO called Malaysia Small and Medium Entrepreneurs Alliance (Ikhlas) set up their stalls in front of Ambiga’s home and distributed free burgers.

They claimed to have suffered losses amounting to RM200,000 due to the Bersih 3.0 rally led by Ambiga on April 28.

Following this, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said that the burger stall operators did not commit an offence since they did not breach the Peaceful Assembly Act.

“What offence? If you want to sit in front of her house without disrupting other people, there is no offence. As long as they don’t commit any offence such as trespassing on private property, we will not take action,” he had said.

Demos had Putrajaya’s okay

In another development Human rights watchdog Proham criticised the two protests held in front of Ambiga’s house as “an insensitive act [that] had unfortunately received the endorsement of some individuals in the federal administration.”

“What is more worrying is the insensitivity of selling beef burgers in front of an individual who is a vegetarian and a Hindu,” the NGO said in a statement.

It likened the demonstration to the notorious August 2009 incident in which a group of Muslims used the severed head of a cow to protest against the relocation of a Hindu temple in Shah Alam.

The statement carried the signatures of former Suhakam commissioners Simon Sipaun, Ramon Navaratnam, Hamdan Adnan and Denison Jayasooria.

The burger protest, carried out by a NGO called Malaysia Small and Medium Entrepreneurs Alliance (Ikhlas), happened on Thursday. Yesterday, retired soldiers followed suit when they assembled in front of Ambiga’s house and did mock physical exercises, bending so that their buttocks faced the house.

Proham said the two protests were “improper, inappropriate and in bad taste” and that they invaded the privacy of the Bersih leader.

Proham also took the police and local council to task, noting that policemen were present during the buttock show.

“The authorities, including the local council and police, seemed to have turned a blind eye, especially towards the threat issued by army veterans,” the statement said.

“Proham also calls on both the police and local authorities to ensure that the perception of apparent selective enforcement and justice is not created in the public mind. On the contrary, the authorities concerned should be careful to take proper action to enhance responsible policing and local government enforcement.”

The mayor’s Bersih 3.0 headache

Kuala Lumpur Mayor Ahmad Fuad Ismail seems to be caught in a dilemma and expressed his frustration to FMT in an interview last night.
INTERVIEW

KUALA LUMPUR: In the game of “chicken”, two drivers would accelerate towards each other on a collision course: one must swerve – and be deemed a coward – or both may die in the crash.

Kuala Lumpur Mayor Ahmad Fuad Ismail, who likened the current deadlock over the use of Dataran Merdeka for the Bersih 3.0 sit-in rally on Saturday to the popular game theory, said that City Hall (DBKL) has already conceded defeat.

“If this was a chicken game, we [City Hall] have already chickened out, because we want to avoid chaos. But they [Bersih 3.0 organisers] are so hardcore. What if anything untoward happens? They’ll blame the government, ” Ahmad Fuad told FMT in an interview last night.

Yesterday, Bersih organisers met with Ahmad Fuad but remained hell-bent on using Dataran Merdeka to hold the protest despite the government’s suggestion to use four different stadiums (Stadium Cheras, Stadium Titiwangsa, Stadium Bukit Jalil or Stadium Merdeka) as alternatives instead.

Ahmad Fuad confirmed that City Hall officers could make arrests if protesters go to Dataran

Merdeka. However, the chief of the city’s local authority took pains to explain that he was, and is still, trying to avoid such a confrontational situation.

“I don’t want to use the word arrest, it’s a very strong word. Plus, I don’t want to pre-empt what’s going to happen on Saturday. Maybe we can still try to talk them out of it, there may be those who are not so kepala batu (stubborn),” he said.

On what to expect on Saturday, Ahmad Fuad said “just wait and see. What will happen… I believe there will be a confrontation. We will take action then.”

He again questioned why the organisers were so adamant in sticking to one location despite his offers to negotiate.

“I told them not to rally but they argued that they can guarantee it to be peaceful. When I asked them how ‘can you really guarantee safety? Anything can happen’. They claimed to have 6,000 personnel who will manage the crowd.”

“But at the same time when we suggested four other alternative locations, they say there’s not enough time to inform their people, and that it’s hard to explain to their people and they can’t control their people. Aren’t those two statements contradictory?”

Distorted information

“They said it’s too late, but we replied on the same day we received their letter. They said they announced it much earlier in the media, but to me, it’s like I told everybody I have a kenduri but I don’t state the venue and time and don’t send out invitations,” he said.

“I’m not convinced by their argument; it’s full of distorted information,” said Ahmad Fuad.

“Why not Stadium Merdeka? They say that Dataran Merdeka is chosen because of its historical relevance, but Stadium Merdeka was where Tunku Abdul Rahman shouted ‘Merdeka’, that’s where you have the spirit of independence,” he argued.

Ahmad Fuad lamented that the organisers turned down his offer of an alternative site despite his willingness to work with the police to help manage the crowd, provide ambulances, parking spaces at the stadium, and even to announce together with Bersih to the media.

“But they insisted [on Dataran Merdeka]. They said that if we don’t agree, they will sit on the roads.”

“Is that what you call peaceful? You would disturb others if you sit on the road; cars could ram into you or would have to avoid you. It’s causing fear. DBKL’s responsibility is not to disrupt the daily lives of people, including those who are not interested in Bersih,” Ahmad Fuad said.

“Why do you want to do things that would cause trouble? Why do you want to break the law? Does it mean that [just because] you have a massive crowd, you can do illegal things en masse? Is the law like that? Unless we [the authorities] close one eye and ignore it,” he said, referring to the Local Government (Dataran Merdeka) (Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur) By-Laws 1992.

The by-law specific to the iconic site prohibits assemblies at the premises and violators can be fined up to RM2,000 or jailed for a year, or both.

He also pointed out that there is the new Peaceful Assembly Act, which officially came into force on April 23, though the enforcement of the law comes under the police.

Racial incidents

Ahmad Fuad said there are those who called him “barua” (idiotic) but he dismissed it, saying: “Yes, I’m a government servant, but you think I have no principles? There are laws. And I’m in charge of enforcing them. If you think the laws are no good, when you [opposition] take over [the government] you can change it.”

“The 1992 by-law is not new. Nobody questioned it. Now suddenly you tell me it’s an irrelevant law or merely a ‘undang-undang kecil’ [by-law]. A small law is still a law,” Ahmad Fuad said.

“I’ve been a career officer for 36 years. My job is to make sure the city is bersih [clean]: how to beautify it, how to keep business going, how to make it work fast. Anybody who takes power, I will do the same thing. There is no difference.”

“Why am I doing all this? I feel responsible, I don’t want unwanted things to happen. You say there won’t be a repeat of racial incidents like we’ve seen in the past, but maybe now it’s not the races clashing but two sides with all races – Malay, Chinese, Indian – who don’t see eye to eye,” he said.

“How can you guarantee there won’t be outside forces? There may suddenly be people who come and sabotage your gathering. Someone start throwing punches, people get angry… We never know and we hope this won’t happen,” he said.

Ahmad Fuad said there are people who are opposed to the Bersih rally, including traders and taxi drivers, and they are the “majority”.

“For me, you need to think of the traders, the person who sells fish. He doesn’t earn much in a day. Rich people never mind, they aren’t affected, but the fish seller would lose his day’s earnings,” he said.

Ahmad Fuad said the gathering would also cause traffic havoc along roads going into the city like Jalan Kuching and Jalan Raja.

‘Don’t provoke people’

“It’s very straightforward, but they [Bersih organisers] are manipulating it. We’ve talked with the advisory council, and as far as we’re concerned, it’s a no for Dataran Merdeka.”

Referring to the Occupy Dataran movement, Ahmad Fuad said that if he had allowed students and activists to stay there, there will be ‘tonnes’ of homeless who will start to sleep at Dataran. “Very syok [nice] you know, then what shall we do?”

He said the same applied to Bersih. “If we allowed this [sit-in at Dataran Merdeka], then all the other NGOs would want to start assembling there. We had actually turned down the anti-gay and Perkasa protests and didn’t even give them any alternative sites.”

Ahmad Fuad also dismissed claims by Bersih that it was apolitical, saying: “You see posters saying we must bring down the government, is that not political?”

“Don’t provoke people. It’s not healthy and not good for the country,” he said.

“But if they are stubborn, we are also stubborn. Everyone wants to show how powerful they are, but ordinary people who don’t want to get involved are affected,” he said.

Ahmad Fuad also described the current situation as “lose-lose”.

“It’s like the prisoners’ dilemma… where two person plotted and stole chickens and both got caught. If they cooperated together, both sentences can be reduced, but if both betray each other, it’s a lose-lose situation. We wanted to avoid this lose-lose situation, but…”

“They [Bersih organisers] claim this is for the rakyat, and that there are over 80 NGOs, but there are other rakyat who are against this. I don’t care if it’s the whole world you represent… you can’t do something that goes against the law. There are repercussions if you break the law. If we don’t care about it, then there might as well be no government,” he said.

DBKL: Bersih to blame for any ‘chaos’ at Dataran Merdeka

The mayor said DBKL would deal with Bersih attendees as it has the Occupy Dataran activists. — Picture by Choo Choy May

KUALA LUMPUR, April 25 — Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) threatened today to forcefully bar demonstrators from using Dataran Merdeka for this Saturday’s Bersih 3.0 sit-in protest for electoral reforms, with Mayor Tan Sri Ahmad Fuad Ismail dismissing the activists as unreasonable.

Both sides stuck to their guns today in an hour-long meeting at City Hall, with Bersih leaders insisting that it was too late to change the venue of the protest from the historic square to Stadium Merdeka.

Speaking to reporters after meeting Bersih representatives, Ahmad Fuad also pointed out that he would hold Bersih responsible if chaos ensued this Saturday.

“Action was taken against those students at Dataran Merdeka. The same action will be taken against (Bersih) if you do the same.

“If there is chaos, blame Bersih,” he said.

Yesterday, City Hall enforcers detained four Occupy Dataran activists, hours after evicting the movement from Dataran Merdeka.

DBKL officers had earlier seized tents and camping equipment belonging to the activists, and put up steel barricades to stop them from camping there.

Occupy Dataran’s stated aim is to reclaim public spaces for the purpose of promoting participatory democracy.

Earlier, Bersih co-chairman Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan said the movement was still hopeful that City Hall would changed its stand.

“We have a grave problem here with time; we cannot change the location because it is already Wednesday. Even if we make an announcement by tomorrow, that leaves two days,” Ambiga told a press conference today.

“We believe that if we change the place now, it’s going to cause a bigger confusion. People will gather here (Dataran Merdeka) as well as Stadium Merdeka,” she added.

Ambiga stressed there would be less likelihood of chaos if the rally were to go ahead at Dataran Merdeka as planned.

“If there is any change now, there will be more chaos. There is just too little time to inform people.”

However, Ahmad Fuad dismissed Ambiga’s justification as “unreasonable”.

“If their problem is not having enough time to inform their supporters, we can hold a press conference together to make sure the public knows about our mutual understanding,” he said.

Reiterating the offer of Stadium Merdeka as an alternative venue, Ahmad Fuad said the site has more “historical value” as well as “bigger space, more parking, and seats for them to sit on”.

“Stadium Merdeka is a win-win situation for all.”

Bersih said yesterday it would consider calling off Saturday’s rally if Datuk Seri Najib Razak can guarantee the electoral reform movement’s demands are met before the next federal polls.

The movement said early this month a third rally was necessary to warn Malaysians that the country is about to face its “dirtiest” polls to date.

The coalition said it was disappointed by the recently concluded Parliamentary Select Committee on electoral reforms, saying that despite Putrajaya’s repeated assurances and promises, the panel had failed to introduce meaningful reforms to the election system.

The bipartisan panel was formed following the July 9, 2011 rally for free and fair elections that saw tens of thousands flood into the streets of the capital.

The Najib administration was widely condemned for a clampdown on the demonstration in which police fired water cannons and tear gas into crowds during chaotic scenes that resulted in over 1,500 arrested, scores injured and the death of an ex-soldier.

Bersih’s eight demands are: a clean electoral roll, reform to postal voting, the use of indelible ink, a minimum campaign period of 21 days, fair access to the media, the strengthening public institutions, a stop to corruption, and an end to dirty politics.