The Spirit is Willing, and the Force is Young

By Kee Thuan Chye

I was hoping thousands would show up last Wednesday at the rally in Universiti Malaya (UM) to show their solidarity with Azmi Sharom, the law lecturer who had been charged with sedition the week before. I was hoping the majority of UM students would heed the call of their student council to boycott classes in its declared hartal and come forward to protest against the continued existence of the archaic Sedition Act. A solid show of numbers would have rattled the Umno-BN federal government that has apparently gone berserk in its recent abuse of the Act to throttle Opposition leaders and a few activists.

My hope was not realised, but neither was it diminished. The spirit of the 500 or so who did show up – more than half of them comprising students – was more than enough to signify healthy resistance. The young protestors present will likely lead future fights against political oppression and the patriarchy of the state. They appear well taught in the principles that make up the foundation of our nation.

As for the academics who were also present, some of whom addressed the rally, they were fervent in demanding their freedom. Azmi in particular was passionate in his speech in which he also said that there was nothing more gratifying in all his 24 years as a lecturer than to see his students stand up for democracy, human rights and freedom of speech.

The academics were at one with the students, both united in a common cause. It marked a phenomenon that has rarely been seen till now. And yet it was something waiting to happen – because for too long, academia has suffered, starting from the 1970s when students were banned from participating in politics and vice-chancellors were appointed out of favouritism rather than merit, sparking a patronage system that even affected the career prospects of lecturers. Still in place today, it has spawned a culture of sycophancy at the expense of academic merit and, certainly, freedom.

Is it any wonder then that the standard of our public universities has dropped, and that not a single one of them figures in the top 400 of the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2013-14?

But back to the sedition charge against Azmi, it seems the Attorney-General (A-G) has now realised that it doesn’t quite hold water. On the eve of the UM protest, he came out to announce that the charge may be reviewed, along with a few other recent sedition cases.

It must have been shameful for the A-G to admit that. But then, even an informed layman could have told him and his colleagues that the charge against Azmi was, to begin with, plainly ridiculous. There is no evidence of seditious tendency at all on the face of it. I wonder how the public prosecutor appointed for the unenviable job would have argued his case.

Nonetheless, some mistake has been committed. But an even worse one is that of taking on an academic. It’s one thing to persecute Opposition politicians but quite another to do it to a university lecturer. The action – perceived as unjust, to boot – has, as we have seen, riled up academic staff and students and drawn them together. This could be the beginning of more resistance by academia against interference and oppression by the state. Now that UM has started the ball rolling, other public universities may follow suit.

To put it in a nutshell, academic staff and students of public universities can now feel empowered to rise up against injustice and oppression.

It may not be long before we harken back to the heydays of the 1960s and the 1970s, when student activism against the Government’s oppression and injustice was integral to the social narrative. Then, students were not merely book-muggers ensconced in ivory towers; they were socially committed individuals who fought for the betterment of the community. Apart from demonstrating for the release of political detainees or against U.S. imperialism, they helped the poor to stand up against Government oppression, by campaigning for the peasants in Teluk Gong, the squatters in Tasik Utara, the farmers in Baling.

The students were persecuted for their efforts, as they are now. For instance, we have lately seen the Sedition Act used against Adam Adli and Safwan Anang. But this will only spur the young to defy the Government even more. Safwan’s conviction for sedition on September 5, for which he was sentenced to 10 months’ jail, will alienate the young from the Umno-BN coalition. So it seems that at a time when the ruling party needs to woo the young to consolidate its position, it is instead winning their distrust.

These days, too, things are different from the way they were 40 or 50 years ago, but Umno-BN doesn’t seem to realise it. Defiance can be more easily mobilised now with the existence of new technology, and repressive measures against defiance are more likely to backfire than to produce results favourable to the oppressor.

Hence, Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin pitched it dreadfully wrong when he called on UM students not to boycott classes to show solidarity with Azmi. His fuddy-duddy plea sounded more worthy of an old fart, of which he is surely too young to be. Azmi, in his speech at the protest, responded to this and nicely put the minister in his place with an appropriately sarcastic jibe. His audience roared with laughter.

No, the Sedition Act must go. And yet now we hear Prime Minister Najib Razak equivocating over it. Two years ago, he made the promise to repeal it and replace it with the National Harmony Act (whatever that may be). He is caught on video making that promise. But a few days ago, he said the matter would now be discussed with stakeholders first, especially the Malay groups.

What? This is backpedalling – and playing favourites. He should simply keep his promise. Otherwise, how is he to be trusted? What kind of a prime minister reneges on his promise, whether he be flip-flopper or not? Did he not mean it when he said it two years ago? Was it an election ploy? Is he now backpedalling because the Umno General Assembly is taking place in November and he wants to appease the right-wing members of his party in order to secure their support?

Meanwhile, two other individuals with Opposition party links have been arrested for sedition in two days – Wan Ji Wan Husin, a Muslim preacher and former committee member of Selangor PAS’s Ulama wing, and Ahmad Baikalani, a PAS ustaz. It seems to be happening almost every day.

No wonder The Economist ran an article on September 6 headlined ‘If you can’t beat them, charge them’. It begins by asking: “Is Najib Razak … a reformer?” and ends with: “It is hard to be the face of progress and moderation while leading a government that seeks to jail its critics.” The weekly newspaper seems to be getting sceptical of the PM’s orientation.

We could have told The Economist outright, “Who ever said he was a reformer?”

* Kee Thuan Chye is the author of the new bestselling book Can We Save Malaysia, Please!, now available in bookstores.