Letter From Johore NGOs to the Johore People_Eng_with Photo

7/31/2019 Letter From Johore NGOs to the Johore People_Eng_with Photo

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from enjoying the fruit of development, thereby sending the ethnic minorities to the depthsof despair. The Indian community and the minorities in East Malaysia are cases in point.

Over the past 4 years, the broad masses of the people are still suffering under the BNshegemonic rule, corruption and abuse of power, ever rising cost of living, andmarginalization in culture, education and religion of ethnic minorities.

Only when a general election is looming would the BN regime allocate meager sums as asweetie, for the development of culture and education of ethnic minorities in order toassuage their widespread discontentment, and at the same time allow MCA, Gerakan,SUPP, MIC and PPP to claim credit for the allocations, in the hope of fishing votes andprolonging their political rule.

From the nasty experience of more than 50 years rule by BN, the oppressed ethnicminorities, especially the Indians in the peninsular Malaysia as well as the Dayaks,Kadazan-Dusuns and others in East Malaysia, have finally awakened.

Within the Chinese community, (except for those bigwigs with vested interests in the

ruling regime and the upper strata of the community) wide-spread discontent towardsUMNO-led hegemonic rule has never been more intense.

The Chinese primary schools and the Chinese independent secondary schools wereestablished and have been maintained with huge sacrifices made by the forefathers of theChinese community. The broad masses of the Chinese community have witnessed thegradual changes in character of these schools. They have learnt well of the true coloursof MCA leaders and their cronies, who would not hesitate to sell out Chinese educationfor their personal gains and position.

People of all ethnic groups have realized that any democratic reform can only be brought

about when various communities of any class, political party or religion do not entertainany illusion about the deceptive transformation programs of the BN/UMNO cliqueindulging in hegemonic rule. They must not harbour any illusion about the upper echelonof BN component parties intention to safeguard the interests of the various communities.

The people of various ethnic groups must unite, regardless of class, political party orreligion, and be prepared to consign UMNO and BN (including its main component parties)to the dustbin of history, so that the popular aspirations for any democratic reform willbecome a reality.

For the coming 13th General Election, NGOs from various sectors have put forward CivilSociety 13GE (20) Demands following discussions based on equal and democraticprinciples. These demands represent the common aspirations of people of all ethnicgroups as well as their concrete requests in the light of current political, economic, socialand cultural situation in Malaysia.

These demands constitute a reform agenda for a fairer and more democratic country,proposed by the non-partisan civil society to all democratic political parties andindependent candidates. It is hoped that such demands will be agreed upon by alldemocratic political parties and independent candidates.

As a member of civil society striving for democracy and human rights, we, Friends ofSuaram (FOS) Johor, will spare no effort to promote this reform agenda in the State ofJohore. We are of the view that though the 20 demands represent a set of General


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Election demands, they are more akin to a working agenda of civil society for the next20 to 30 years, as it covers far and wide the various aspects of life.

We feel that it is necessary to apply the spirit of these 20 demands to the concreteconditions of the State of Johore, since the people of Johore will constitute a democraticforce in the southern part of Johore, aimed at capturing the stronghold of UMNO whichregards Johore as its frontline.

Within the next 5 years or so, from the eve of the coming GE13 to the eve of the nextfollowing General Election, we propose to realize at least basically or partially thepressing Johore Demands.

After some discussions and studies, we together with several civil society groups,consolidate the numerous demands into 3 pressing demands. We hope that candidates ofall democratic political parties and independent candidates will endorse them. We alsourge the Johore people to vote for the candidates who have committed themselves to theJohore demands.

We firmly believe that people of all ethnic groups will abandon and reject the candidatesof UMNO and BN component parties. The population has had enough of the bitterexperience of 55 years hegemonic rule under the UMNO /BN.

The Johore demands are concrete. The democratic political parties and independentcandidates must honour their promises after winning the elections, to safeguard theinterests of the people. We together with other civil society groups in Johore will overseethe performance of the elected state assemblymen, in order to ensure that they live up totheir commitment to the Johore Demands.

1. Eliminate racial oppression and work towards equality for all ethnicgroups.

Repeal the unequal provision in Article 153 of the Federal Constitution

Facts have substantiated that Article 153 of the Federal Constitution lays the legal basisfor the UMNO-dominant BN ruling clique to practise institutionalized racism. It has createdtwo classes of citizens, namely, Malays and non-Malays, resulting in national inequalityand disharmony, thereby impeding and damaging nation-building and social development.

Thus, Article 153 of the Federal Constitution has to be repealed in order to achieve unityamong all ethnic groups as well as social harmony and prosperity of the country.

Abolish NEP and bumiputera quota system

Since 1970s, NEP and its related policies allow the BN ruling clique and its cronies toenrich themselves, and to create a few super-rich and well-connected Malay capitalists.But the broad masses of the Malay community at large remain poor and live in abjectpoverty.

The quota system favouring bumiputras is a sweetie for the Malay masses, and a tool to

disrupt national unity. NEP and the quota system must therefore be abolished to stopbrain drain and outflow of capital, so as to encourage inflow of talents and influx of capitalinstead.


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Repeal s.17(1) of the Education Act 1996 and its related policies

s.17(1) of the current Education Act 1996 has been premised upon the ultimateobjective of one nation, one language, and one medium of instruction (Malay)implemented since the 1950s. The existing Education Act and its related policies have ledto confusion and fiasco.

In this era of China and India emerging as big powers, any attempt to eliminate totally theeducation conducted in Chinese and Tamil language in Malaysia (with a population of6.96 million ethnic Chinese and 2.07 million ethnic Indian) is wishing thinking, and it is theheight of absurdity.

Therefore, s.17(1) of the Education Act should be repealed. More Chinese primaryschools must be established immediately in areas densely populated by the Chinesecommuinity, and more Tamil primary schools should also be established in Bukit Indah,Mount Austin, Kota Tinggi and other areas in Johore. Application for the revival of theSegamat Chinese Independent Secondary must be approved, and United ExaminationCertificate (UEC) and the degree of the Southern College University should be fully

recognized. Mother tongue education in Chinese and Tamil must be allocated withsufficient funds under the national Budget.

Respect and protect religious beliefs and customs of ethnic minorities

Although the Federal Constitution safeguards freedom of religion, UMNO-dominated BNgovernment has been imposing unreasonable restrictions on this right. As a result,freedom of religion of ethnic minorities has been curtailed; statues and places of worshipof minority groups demolished or the construction thereof prohibited. This has causedanxiety and resentment among the community.

The religious beliefs and customs of ethnic minorities should be respected andsafeguarded, only then can racial harmony and unity be achieved. The country will thenbe able to enjoy stable development.

The Indian (Hindu) cemetery at Masai has hardly any more vacant burial land left. Thestate government should therefore allocate sufficient land for such purpose. This will go along way to prevent Indian poor families from falling prey to loan sharks who collectexorbitant interest on loans taken for the purpose of defraying high cost of cremation.These poor families can hardly pay back the loans taken, and they are forced to lead amiserable life.

2. Stop Project M and eliminate source of corruption in lawenforcement agencies

Stop Project M - prejudicial to the rights of our citizens

UMNO-led BN ruling clique has through Project M (Mahathirs Project) legalized illegalimmigrants in Sabah. Such project is now extended in its application to the peninsularMalaysia by way of legalizing more than 3 million illegal immigrants (according to

conservative official statistics) giving them long-term work permits and even citizensidentity cards.


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parties, NGOs and individuals opposed to the UMNO hegemonistic rule, to form ademocratic united front in the State of Johore.

This democratic united front includes the three parties in Pakatan Rakyat, i.e. PartiKeadilan Rakyat (PKR), Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) and Democratic Action Party(DAP) as well as all parties, including Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM), Parti SosialisMalaysia (PSM), Human Rights Party (HRP), etc., NGOs and individuals from all walks of

life who are opposed to the UMNO-BN rule.

Besides, we also welcome the higher echelon of leaders from BN component parties topull out from BN, and all grassroots leaders and members from the BN component partiesto spurn or reject BN if they are opposed to the corruption and the racist hegemony ofUMNO-BN, and join the democratic united front.

We sincerely call upon all Johoreans from all walks of life to unite!

Together we put an end to the UMNO racist hegemonistic rule, andform a democratic coalition government in the State of Johore!

Friends of SUARAM (FOS) Working Committee Johor and Hindu Rights Action Force (HINDRAF

MAKKAL SAKTHI) (Johor) release this letter together on 19 October 2012.

For any organisation that wishes to endorse, please contact:

Y. Mohan (019-710 2895, [email protected])

Ang Pei Shan (013-770 8320, [email protected])

Visit hindraf.org or suaramjb1.blogspot.com for other information.

Letter From Johore NGOs to the Johore People_Eng_with Photo

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