Real Tigers & Paper Tigers

By: Natalie Shobana Ambrose

theSun, Malaysia (pg 12) June 14, 2013

http://www.thesundaily.my/news/columns/onpointe

A Few weeks ago, Turkey was a peaceful country in the eyes of the world, today we read about chaos, tear gas, water cannons and bulldozers being used on protesters. On the whole, we have become sensitised to the Arab Spring and the fighting in Syria but just like that, issues in Turkey have come to the fore.

To the rest of the world, this discontentment came just like that because of displeasure to redevelop Gezi Park in Istanbul's Taksim Square. But to those in Turkey, the park issue highlights deep-seated unhappiness towards the government. Surely there were signs – one of which might have been the intention of holding a May Day march which was met with riot police clashing with tens of thousands of people.

Just as tigers lurk with stealth-like ability before attacking their prey, brewing discontent needs to be paid the right amount of attention and leaders should base tactical thinking on differentiating between real tigers and paper tigers.

One potential threat that we seem to easily disregard are migrant workers, not the workers themselves but the situation in which Malaysia accords them. Migrant workers make up 2.3 million of the population – that's just the legal figure which accounts for more than the third main race in this country. Malaysia is reported to be the largest importer of migrant labour in Asia. Yet, we have failed to acknowledge their needs.

Every day we are in contact with migrant workers, they work on our roads, markets, as cleaners, security guards and the list is endless and yet we know so little about their communities and our laws do not accommodate their rights. We also need to be aware of how the happenings in their home country affect us here.

The religious conflict in Myanmar has seeped into our country with multiple clashes and killings among Myanmar nationals reported at Selayang wholesale market and parts of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor since the end of May. How do our authorities deal with these instances? Detaining hundreds of Myanmar nationals does not solve the issue, neither is it ethical. What may seem to some as a solution is only a short-term measure.

The reality is that Malaysia is dependent on migrant workers and we are not looking at the long-term implications of such a need. Gone are the days where rights could be overlooked.

As a country going all out to secure our place on the United Nations Security Council and a country that sits on the Human Rights Council, what a disservice we do by not being party to conventions like the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

What then will our excuse be when our representative stands in front of the world to report on our human rights track record as part of our Universal Periodic Review report in October?

What we need is foresight; leadership that is able to set the stage, shape policies and identify the real tigers. We need to go past the thinking that human rights is zero sum in nature. Instead of being reactionaries, we need to start becoming progressives without giving up or acting in a contrarian manner towards our core values and beliefs.

Our short-term reactionary thinking is now laid testament to all the evidence that the Royal Commission of Inquiry on illegal immigrants in Sabah is churning out. What a mess it has become. Staying silent once the RCI has concluded will only add discontent within the country – can we afford it?

In a 1946 interview with American journalist Anna Louise Strong, Mao Tse-tung talked about living tigers, iron tigers, real tigers, who are powerful in appearance but in the end turned out to be paper tigers, dead tigers, and bean-curd tigers – nothing to be afraid of.

What Malaysia and Malaysians need is that ability to tell the different tigers apart.

Natalie hopes that Malaysia's new parliamentary mix will be wise enough to work together in dealing with the different tigers.

Comment: letters@thesundaily.com

http://www.thesundaily.my/news/742021

Security At Home, Security Abroad

By: Natalie Shobana Ambrose

theSun, Malaysia (pg 13) May 30, 2013

http://www.thesundaily.my/news/columns/onpointe

Wednesday last week seemed to be a high-crime rate day within my circle. It was disturbing, worrying and the stories were raw and retold with a deep vein of fear running through them which morphed into a different type of fear – a transferred fear that if it can happen to him or her, it can happen to me, and it can happen again and again.

All the reasons can be laid out, it was dark, they were walking, she was alone, it was too early, the lap top bag was on the seat, the place was quiet, they were parked and distracted, they were in a fancy car or a in a "high-demand" car – but if we counter these reasons, the reality is that the crime would still take place.

What struck me though was the number of people affected. After the victim, the story permeates through the office, and then each person in the office takes it home to their family, friends, neighbours and then it spreads to yet another layer of acquaintances, and self-paralysis is inflicted.

While the story is being passed on, one question is commonly asked or thought of – what race were the perpetrators. Our own personal racial profiling mechanism kicks in.

It's an evolved version of our historical migration. Roughly put, one race came as miners, another as rubber tappers or road builders, now one race are thugs.

Then on the other hand one race dominates the police force and civil service. It has not always been this way but this is today's reality. But is this a problem?

I think it is. In the past the police force better represented the racial makeup of society and this was very important especially to build trust and confidence in a multicultural society such as ours.

This is because another form of racial profiling takes place and it brews racism in a different form. We start becoming suspicious of officers, it adds to the layer of them versus us, and soon it becomes one race locking up another race, one race shooting another race.

It does not just stop there. This profiling then extends to political alliance or allegiance also. Just as the suspicion questions the neutrality or xenophobic tendencies of the security force, we start questioning their political slant with every arrest made and any obstacle put in place – even if they are just doing their job.

Soon the force loses credibility, something we cannot afford. Sadly this is not something that happens suddenly. Thieves are not made in a day, neither do institutions crumble on cue, nor people's perception and confidence change overnight. It's a slow fade.

So what can be done? Will a quota system work to create diversity in the force? Perhaps but how does it get enforced and will this stop the informal codes of slanting towards your own race and political allegiance instead of merit?

It's not just about making the cut, but changing the force to be less mono-ethnic, less discriminatory and progressive.

Most pressing however, is the need for an independent body to monitor the police. The police are said to have an ultimate goal of zero-tolerance towards crime. Yet this decade has seen an increase in security companies being employed to guard housing areas and makeshift guard posts line our suburbs.

Why is this so if our crime rates are low? Is it low on paper because of how victims are treated when they make police reports? Also, how many robbery victims recover their belongings? Once stolen, consider it lost forever is not a good testament to the quality of our police force.

To add, there have been too many custodial deaths and no form of recourse for the families further eroding the people's belief in our justice system. If we look at those who have died in remand all fingers point to the minority races.

How many of these families have got answers, how many of the cases were handled above board and why were the people left in the dark?

How then do you build trust in our police force to ensure that all people will be respected and treated fairly? Criminals or not, justice is given by the law in a courtroom, not with your fist and definitely not while in remand.

Public trust and confidence is the core of policing. There used to be a time when it was endearing if a child would say they wanted to be a policewoman or a policeman when they grow up. I wonder how Malaysians would feel about that statement today.

Natalie is grateful to all police personnel who act with honour, courage and self-sacrifice.

Comments: letters@thesundaily.com