Internal Security Act to be abolished, says PM

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 15 (Bernama) — The Internal Security Act (ISA) 1960 will be abolished and two new laws will be introduced to safeguard peace and order, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said.

The prime minister also announced that the government would repeal the Banishment Act 1959 and reviewing other laws to be in line with current needs.

A comprehensive study will be carried out on the Restricted Residence Act 1993 and the Printing Presses and Publication Act 1984 where annual renewals would be done away with, and replaced with issuance of licence until it is revoked.

Announcing the matter Thursday night in his special Malaysia Day message, Najib said the two new laws would be formulated “under the spirit and umbrella” of Article 149 of the Federal Constitution to prevent subversive elements as well as fighting organised terrorism and crime, in order to safeguard peace and public order.

In the message delivered in front of 800 people at Angkasapuri and aired live over TV1 and TVi, the prime minister said the new laws replacing the ISA would provide for a shorter detention period.

He added that extension of detention can only be done through a court order, except in the law concerning terrorism where the power remained with the minister.

“Generally, the power to extend the detention period will shift from the executive to the judiciary, except in matters concerning terrorism,” he said.

Najib had promised when he first took over the helm of the country’s administration on April 3, 2009 that he would carry out a comprehensive review of the ISA.

Najib said tonight that the government would ensure that the rights of those being taken action under the new law would be safeguarded in line with the spirit of the Federal Constitution.

He said the government also assured that individuals would not be detained because of their political ideologies.

“The government will also review Section 27 of the Police Act 1967, taking into account the provision in Article 10 of the Federal Constitutions concerning freedom of assembly,” he said.

Najib stressed however that stern action would remain against street demonstrators.

He said that the permit to assemble would be given under certain set of criteria to be determined later, taking into consideration the norms at the international level.

Najib said the government would not hesitate to amend or repeal laws which are no longer relevant.

Source: http://malaysianlaw.my/news/internal-security-act-to-be-abolished-says-pm-20012.html

Emergency Laws 1969 – http://genderandtrade.org/Shared_ASP_Files/UploadedFiles/682B259F-937B-4944-B7E1-186B23329DCF_EmergencyLaws1969.pdf

Politicization of Everything

One of the prominent characteristics of political communication practiced by politicians in Malaysia is that they tend to politicize everything. Initially, only the opposition are the players of creating politics out of thin air. Nowadays, Barisan Nasional or UMNO to be exact are catching up in the method of building up a story on a perspective that nobody would perceive.

In a recent trend, UMNO has been attacking Mat Sabu mercilessly for glorifying communist terrorists as heroes of the country’s independence. Despite of condemnation by angered by certain parties such as ex-military men who have put their lives at stake fighting with the communists, fellow Pakatan Rakyat leaders have vehemently defended Mat Sabu. The debate between Mat Sabu with Khairy Jamaluddin will not be the final straw of this controversy but to some extent it will affect the public’s perception on the issue.

Today, UMNO faces the lash by the opposition querying on the death of a Bernama cameraman during a humanitarian mission with Putera UMNO in Somalia. One of the questions raised was that if Putera UMNO did take all the required precautionary measures for the safety of its humanitarian members. In Twitter, people are starting to relate that the Malaysian government does not care about its people by letting their citizens die without prior concern. The Prime Minister’s statement “Even international journalists get killed… If you don’t want to become a journalist, stay at home.” was spinned as being in support of this idea.

It is unfortunate that the culture of rabid-politicization has engulfed the Malaysian political scene. Nevertheless, it remains an interesting trend to be observed as a case study.

Cyber Political Communication

I have been anticipating political communication in the cyber sphere since 2004. Throughout the years, I have witnessed the evolution of how the internet is utilized as a medium of communication on political issues by the Malaysian netizens. The usage of new media has not only changed the peoples’ lifestyle but also transformed their perspective on Malaysian politics and their position in the domain.

Prior to the active use of the new media, the general public had relied on books, papers and magazines to obtain information on politics and policies. The 21st century was then welcomed with the key to unlimited knowledge– the internet. The nature of the internet in terms of accessibility was an encouragement for people to use it in fulfilling their human needs; information and entertainment. Firstly, the internet is fairly cheap to use. Secondly, information can be retrieved ad hoc. It is also convenient where with only one click of the mouse, the information appears on the computer screen, ready for the user’s perusal.

With the rapid advancement of technology, computers have become cheaper and smaller in size which makes it more convertible. Internet service providers have also been designing cheaper broadband plans. It has enabled those with limited budgets to subscribe them so that they can have access to the cyberworld anywhere they go.

This has driven the increase of internet users to a colossal number. Hence, leading to the rise of exposure of information to the general public. The people may access the internet for various reasons. It may or may not be for political related activities. Nevertheless, to access the internet itself gives them a higher probability to be exposed to political information. (Note: The situation has made people more informed on politics, BUT this does not guarantee that they are better informed or have become better educated in politics on a macroscopic perspective)

The way people utilize the internet for political activities have gone through phases of evolution. During the late 90s, netizens had engaged in political discussions in chatrooms on the then popular messenger service known as the mIRC (Internet Relay Chat for Windows). Even though free website services had already existed at that time, personal sites had only began to mushroom during the blogging era. This was because blog services were more user friendly than their site-setup predecessors by websites like Tripod and Angelfire.

Blogger and WordPress were among the most popular blog services that hosted sites by Malaysian bloggers. In 2008, the unexpected results of the 12th Malaysian election had changed the country’s political landscape. For the first time in history, the ruling party won a slim 2/3 majority of the electoral seats. According to research, blogs have played a salient role in influencing voters to change their choices in voting. The event signified the nascence of the new media as a platform for political communication in Malaysia.

Service providers on the internet create their innovative products based on the principles of basic human nature. One of the nature of man is that he is a social creature. Human beings are unable to grow normally if they live in seclusion. They have an urge to communicate and live in a group or network. One of the online services that fulfills this purpose is social network sites. The biggest social networks on the internet are Friendster, MySpace and Facebook. Today, Facebook is the biggest empire in the business with  billions of users worldwide. Amongst those three networks, Facebook is the most effective cybernetworking tool in political communication. Its functions encompasses all facets of activities relevant in catalyzing  political communication on the internet. Thus, it became the social network that gave the biggest impact on Malaysian politics and international relations.

The gist of news reporting is that it has to be “new” and “served hot” to its consumers. Microblogging has immensely changed the flow of news reporting and the speed of information-sharing in our daily lives. Twitter allocates spaces for users to post sentences with a maximum of 140 words per post. People have turned to microblogging from their mobile phones to spread information and also to keep updated on the latest news on politics.

The Iran election in 2010 was the first political event that was followed by its local citizens and the international community.  News on the election were reported realtime by news agencies and even participants in the election themselves. Pictures and videos were uploaded through their cellphones depicting the happenings during the events.

All these internet and telecommunication services are tools of catalyzing change in the malaysian and international political arena. There will be more upcoming cyber technologies that have the potential to affect the political scenario of our world today. The main question is that will it make the world a better place for us to live in? Or will it only be the same old story again, where certain group of people or individuals who will take advantage on using those technologies to control man for the achievement of their personal interests. While the rest of the people, keep on fighting with each other.

Strategic Framing

Political Leadersrecognize the power of framing to strategically shape public discourse and public understanding, and try to exploit it to their own advantage, especially to promote a future course of action

Benford, Robert D., and David A. Snow. 2000. “Framing Processes and Social Movements: An Overview and Assessment.” Annual Review of Sociology 26: 611-639.

The Handbook of Journalism Studies ( pg. 179)

Next Step: PhD

I have finally graduated last year after four amazing years of doing my masters degree. I know, four years is a little too long for an MPA. However, I have never regretted for the unusually extended period of studying for my thesis. My experience of resuming my studies in the University of Malaya gave me a whole different perspective in the academia and also in understanding society. Studying part time and working simultaneously gave me a greater advantage of weaving theories with our reality.

After a year of focusing on my career, I have this irrepressible urge of pursuing another study on our Malaysian society. There are a few inter-related case studies that are playing in my mind for the past few weeks. I have formulated a particular hypothesis and in still in a process of designing a particular framework for my baby thesis. One thing for sure is that I will be returning to my old playground; Communication. It is Political Communication to be exact. I will have to start from scratch to pursue this field just like I did in Public Administration. The struggle will be extra but I will strive for this bit by bit.

I am more convinced that my study is feasible as my ex-supervisor had concurred with my idea when I told him about it. Alhamdulillah, he is willing to advise me on my thesis. Whereas my ex-lecturer in the IIUM communication department has shown great interest in supervising me when I enroll for my PhD later.

Writing a doctoral thesis is not a simple affair. It has to be taken seriously with a grain of salt. I will register for my PhD when I am well equipped with my proposal and related materials for the study. As for the time being, I shall keep on doing my own exploration and revisions. May Allah Guide me and give me strength, insyaAllah.