Why should we be surprised? A day after the sodomy ruling against Anwar was upheld, celebrated political cartoonist Zunar is arrested for Sedition (Channel News Asia 'Malaysia cartoonist arrested for criticising Anwar ruling'). It is, of course, hardly a surprise. The cartoonist, famous for his critical stance towards Malaysia's authoritarian regime has a huge following. To make things worse, not only is he well-loved by the politically conscious within Malaysian, his works have received critical acclaim in the international community. According to The Online Citizen, he's had exhibitions in places like the US, UK and Sweden and done commissioned work for The Washington Post. His latest collection was even accepted into the Congress Library’s Collection in Washington, DC. Judging by the general opinions of political commentators and ordinary netizens alike, the judgment's pretty clear: like the Anwar case, there seems to be little confidence in the fairness and independence of the Malaysian Judiciary.
 |
| Credit: Zunar.my |
It might seem like deja vu for Malaysians, and of course, us Singaporeans who follow the news of our political siblings. The accusation that UMNO uses the Sedition Act against its political rivals is nothing new, though that doesn't mean we shouldn't take notice of the issue. If anything, our eyes should open wider than ever. We should be surprised. Arresting opposition leaders might not be a new fashion trend in the Malaysian political scene, but the scale of arrests and potential arrests is. The fact that the police are now planning to investigate another two opposition leaders who made critical tweets in response to the latest Sodomy conviction against Anwar only means that the drama has only just begun. A new wave of fear is about to sweep across the Malaysian Peninsula.
Can we imagine the same happening in Singapore? Technically, it's possible since both countries, in spite of their half-a-century long rivalry, share so much judicial heritage. Both inherited from the British the Sodomy laws and have both maintained that the Sodomy laws would remain in the books. However, I guess the role the Sodomy law plays in Singapore and Malaysia is somewhat different. Whereas in Malaysia the Sodomy law's trotted out whenever there seems to be a need to get rid of political opponents, in Singapore, it's kept on the books to placate religious conservatives in what is allegedly a conservation Asian society. Whereas Malaysia actually shows that it will use the law, the Singapore judiciary seems to be averse to using it. Case in point: Prime Minister Lee pointed out the Sodomy law would remain on the books to reflect social mores, but would not use it. When Tan Eng Hong was charged under S377A for having oral sex with another man in a public toilet and the issue went public, the Attorney General office quickly withdrew the charge and replaced it with a charge on public indecency.
But it's not that the ruling party in Singapore doesn't make things difficult for alternative voices. Just look at the whole media circus act that is Aljunied-Hougang Town Council incident. Prior to that, consider the machinery the state marshalled to deal with the allegations of political blogger like Roy Ngerng. More recently, M Ravi, the acclaimed human rights lawyer of Singapore Mr M Ravi, got neutered by the Law Society for apparently not being fit to practice law since his bipolar condition was allegedly acting up again (M Ravi told to stop legal practice). He plans to challenge the ruling of course.
 |
| Photocredit: M Ravi, Kampung Boy |
I suppose I'm in no position to argue that specifics of the case. The Singapore government might well be right about all the above mentioned cases. Returning back to the Malaysia case, it might even be true the Anwar did sodomize his aide and Zunar is deliberately being incendiary to destabilise Malaysian politics. But then, when the state marshals all the media, legal and political machinery to 'gets things done', one can't help but be left with the impression that there's something to hide. That perhaps all these opponents might have spoken truth to power, further eroding any public trust in the ruling parties. As it is, both the UMNO party of Malaysia and the People's Action Party of Singapore, are more than ever facing the prospect of losing electoral support.
Politics will always be dirty so I'm not about to suggest Anwar's a nice guy and wouldn't have done the same to Najib Razak. But different times require a different kind of dirty politics. This I think is even more so for Singapore, as she aspires to be a truly global city mentioned in the same breathe as New York and London. In the new world order, where voters are increasingly exposed to fairer versions of dirty politics elsewhere, the dirty politics of old is likely to backfire. And that is definitely no laughing matter!
No comments:
Post a Comment