theSun | MONDAY JANUARY 12 2009
speak up!
Not by rhetoric alone
THE atrocities inflicted on
the Palestinian people are
foremost on the minds of
most Malaysians. Visuals
on television and newspa-
pers are filled with news
on innocent children and
women being killed or in-
jured; the lack of food and
medicine, and above all,
the people being helpless
as the violence carries on CitizenNades
unimpeded, no thanks to
a world which is watch- by R. Nadeswaran
ing it all happen with their
arms folded. Our sympathies are and misused in the name of justice
with our fellow human beings. But and I will put up my hands and
war or violence, wherever it be, in “plead guilty” to such a charge.
Palestine, Sudan, Congo, Sri Lanka, About 15 years ago when the
Colombia or even at our doorstep, price of dressed chicken spiralled
in southern Thailand brings no
letter
letters@thesundaily.com
Single state call
IT SHOULD be noted that as Israel
commits ever more despicable war
crimes in Gaza, Jews around the world
are standing up in loud protest, and
shouting “not in our name!”
There have been large demonstra-
tions in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem,
demanding not only “stop the war!
/ stop killing civilians!” – but calling
for an opening of Gaza’s borders and
an end to the vicious blockade. These
benefit to anyone except
the perpetrators.
Almost every local
politician worth his salt
has given his views on
what’s happening in
the Middle East and his
solution which inevitably
centres on one magic
word which all of them
think is the only way to
stop the carnage which
is going on. That magic
word – boycott – has un-
fortunately been abused
demonstrations also demand that
the Israeli government negotiate with
Hamas. Many smaller demonstrations
in Israel, from the first hours of the
bombardment, have gone unreported
in the international media.
An open letter from anti-Zionist
Jewish youth in Canada brands the
Jewish state as racist and articulates a
total rejection of what it represents.
Their declaration ends: “Let us not
be silent bystanders while humanity
suffers ... demand a single, democratic
state, with equal rights for everyone in
Israel/Palestine.”
B.N.
Kuala Lumpur
upwards, I spearheaded a “No
Chicken Day” campaign in a column
in another newspaper. I reasoned
that if every Malaysian did not touch
chicken for a day, we would be able
to bring the breeders, the wholesal-
ers, the middlemen and the retailers
to their knees. They would be sad-
dled with hundreds of thousands
of chicken and they would have to
bring the prices down. To cut a long
story short, it did not happen. While
a group of hardcore supporters went
vegetarian or opted for fish, I think
99.999% of Malaysians couldn’t re-
sist the ayam madu in Bangsar; the
chicken perattal in Jalan Gasing, the
ayam goreng in Kampung Baru or
the kai fan in Birch Road.
From that one and only “boycott”
campaign, there were several les-
sons to be learnt. Firstly, if there is
nothing beneficial for them, gener-
ally Malaysians do not want to walk
the extra mile. Secondly, the feeling
of “can one man make a change”
syndrome is still in place in the
hearts and minds of people. Thirdly,
and more importantly, the attitude of
“why should I give up something I
like” is prevalent in our society.
I can only guess that the vocifer-
ous politicians and their cronies who
were issuing press releases used Mi-
crosoft Word to compose them. So, if
they are screaming blue murder and
asking for a boycott of US products,
shouldn’t they have ought to have
used an Olivetti typewriter or written
their press releases? To those who
used Coral Draw or Adobe for the
posters and banners, where did you
think these programs come from?
They want us to stop consum-
ing Coca-Cola but not Pepsi but
the irony is that both are US-based
products albeit bottled locally. They
want us to boycott McDonald’s but
don’t utter a word on other fast-food
chains which are franchises of US
food chains. Sometimes, you begin to
wonder whether there is an “udang
sebalik batu” because of such selec-
tive “persecution”. Are competitors
behind the smearing of well-known
brands and companies which have
nothing to do with what’s happening
in Gaza with their might, influence
and money?
The boycotts won’t work; the
demonstrations won’t help; the
rhetoric will fall on deaf ears and
Israel has taken a “shout till your
hearts’ content and we don’t care”
attitude. So, what will work?
If anything is needed, it is affirma-
tive action by our leaders a’la our
first prime minister, Tunku Abdul
Rahman Putra who spearheaded
the international campaign against
apartheid policies by getting South
Africa expelled from the Common-
wealth in 1962.
In confidential papers kept by
the Canadian government on the
Tunku’s official visit in 1962 (which
have since been declassified) they
say the following:
“The Tunku has been anxious to
demonstrate by concrete action the
opposition felt in Malaya to the racial
policies of the South African Govern-
ment. In a speech to the Malayan
House of Representatives on June 20,
the Tunku disregarded precedent and
quoted excerpts from the confidential
record of the 1960 Prime Ministers’
Conference in order to show that
he had made every effort to force a
11
discussion of South Africa’s racial
policies. He then announced that he
was writing to the prime ministers
of all democratic countries asking
for their views on positive action to
be taken against apartheid. He also
suggested informally that limited
representation for Africans should be
introduced in the South African par-
liament — possibly 10 members on a
limited franchise. This representation
could later be gradually enlarged.
“Subsequently in a letter, the Tunku
reiterated his concern about apartheid
and announced his country’s prohibi-
tion of the import of South African
goods. He suggested that other na-
tions might wish to consider taking
positive individual action as well,
or alternatively they might prefer a
conference to discuss at greater length
what action should be taken. Malaya
was prepared to act as host to such a
conference if it were generally felt it
would be useful.”
In this instance, rhetoric will not
work. The answer lies in a global
stance against not only Israel but
any nation or group which indulges
in violence against its own people.
Are we ready to spearhead a United
Nations resolution to expel nations
which carry out crimes against hu-
manity? If the Commonwealth joined
hands to keep Pakistan out and later
expelled Zimbabwe, the question is:
Why can’t Malaysia seek support to
pressure the Commonwealth nations
to move such a UN resolution?
R. Nadeswaran has seen enough
violence of war the world over and
the destruction and harm it inflicts
on innocent people, thanks to satel-
lite television. He’s disappointed that
there’s more talk than action. He can
be reached at: citizen-nades@thesun-
daily.com