theSun | WEDNESDAY JUNE 17 2009 13

speak up! RUKUN NEGARA: THE PRINCIPLES

BELIEF LOYALTY TO KING THE SUPREMACY THE RULE COURTESY AND
IN GOD AND COUNTRY OF THE OF LAW MORALITY
CONSTITUTION

THE OBJECTIVES
TO achieve greater unity TO maintain a TO create a just society in TO ensure a liberal approach TO build a progressive society
among Malaysians democratic way of life which the wealth of the nation to her rich and diverse which shall be oriented to modern
shall be equitably shared cultural traditions science and technology

Where there is a will ...

AS WE left for the airport in
Hongkong last Friday, the
headlines in all the news-
papers was the closure of
schools in the territory fol-
lowing fresh discoveries of
Influenza A (H1N1) cases.
As Terence and I had to
attend the wedding dinner of
a former colleague, she was
told to be prepared for two
“no-shows”. “Maybe, we’ll CitizenNades on your flight. Several pas-
be quarantined and Nades’
smoker’s cough is not going by R. Nadeswaran
to help either,” Terence said
in a text message to her.
On board Flight MH 072 from Hong-
kong, the flight attendants were busy
handing out disembarkation and health
declaration forms. Passengers dutifully
filled them. The aircraft landed near the
main terminal building of KLIA, hence
averting a trip on the aero-train.
The short walk towards the im-
migration counters was uneventful
except that a video camera to screen
passengers for body temperature was
trained at those coming off the aero-
train. No soul was in sight and the
camera appeared that it was there for
decorative purposes. The desk beside
it was empty.
Clearing immigration is always a
breeze, going through the automatic
gates. With the passport and the health
declaration in the pocket, I walked to
the duty-free shop, did my purchases
and headed to collect the baggage.
When I returned home, the form, neatly
folded was in between the pages of the
passport.
So, if they have a suspected case
who flew on the same plane, how are
they going to trace me? So, with the
hullabaloo over the swine flu scare,
and with the Health Ministry claiming
letters
letters@thesundaily.com
they have systems in place,
how did they slip up? I can
only guess that scores of
other passengers would
have gone home with their
forms.
On arrival in Hongkong
last week, the medical staff at
the aiport wanted every de-
tail filled, including the seat
number that you occupied
sengers had to dig through
their carry-on bags to trace
their boarding passes for
such details. Each declaration was
scrutinised by at least two people.
As one steps out of the arrival hall at
KLIA, the scene can only be described
as “organised chaos”. Cars were
parked, the guys with the Kancils and
the Protons were either issued sum-
monses or shooed away by two traffic
policemen while the BMWs and the
Benzes appeared to have been given
immunity. The same can be said of the
scene outside the departure gates. If you
drive a luxury car or one with a special
numberplate, you are above the law.
As I later remarked to a friend, what
one sees at the airport, is an epitome
of the country – first class facilities,
excellent laws and even state-of-the-art
equipment – but a lack of the will and
determination to carry out duties.
There still exist pockets of people
who have made apathy their way
of life. How do we change attitudes?
How do we send the message that if
not for the people’s requirements, they
wouldn’t have their jobs? How do you
make them passionate about their
jobs? I have often been reminded that
our civil servants are among the lowest
paid. I agree. But for any wage review,
there must be a proportionate increase
in efficiency.
When it comes to the immigration
department, I have often wondered
why it was not possible to do it earlier.
Not very long ago, one had to wait for
three days to get a new passport. Now,
it takes less than three hours. Couldn’t
it have been done in three hours two
years ago? The answer lies in the
leadership and the courage to push the
limits.
To the many readers who sent con-
gratulatory messages, a big terima kasih.
Unfortunately, due to space constraints,
I am unable to reproduce all of them.
But this one from Datuk Paul Low of
Transparency International Malaysia,
speaks for all of you: “On behalf of
Transparency International Malaysia,
I congratulate both of you for receiving
the Editorial Excellence Award from
the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA)
for your work in investigative journal-
ism. We appreciate your commitment
and your diligence in this area of
journalism where not many Malaysian
journalists dare to take part. Your stand
for righteousness and integrity is one
that we at TI-M appreciate and admire
especially in a media environment that
is controlled.”
Terence and I are humbled by all
the kind words that have been written
and spoken of our achievements. As I
said in Monday’s column, we can only
bring to light the wrongdoings. We do
not have any power to do anything
more than that. We will continue to do
what we have set out to do and we will
do it with passion and commitment.
R. Nadeswaran is editor (special and in-
vestigative reporting) at theSun. He can
be reached at citizen-nades@thesundaily.
com.
Big Brother still
has the final word
by Daniel it needs to be
Chandranayagam said that fund
managers of
INTERESTING ethical funds
employment news look into the
seems to be shunted sustainable
to the dark recesses practices of a
of Malaysia’s dailies. business. As
For this month’s mentioned, this
column, I found a includes labour
little nugget entitled practices and
“Cabinet approves the protection,
union for employ-
Freespace cultivation and
ees in electronic Where young views rule enhancement
sector”, reported at of a business’s
the end of May. Now, workers workforce. Of course, this
in the electronics sector can might not interest many busi-
form unions in their respective nesses, especially SMEs, but it
regions. should interest larger corpora-
What came to my mind was tions and the government.
why does the cabinet need to When I was a young boy,
“approve” the formation of a I recalled the union of Metal
trade union? Article 10(1)(c) of Box Malaysia having peaceful
the Federal Constitution states: and cheerful protests along the
“All citizens have the right to Federal Highway. My parents
form associations.” were involved in a march
Checking more thoroughly, which resulted in female
it came to light that this right teachers getting equal wages.
may be eroded if Parliament As a country develops, one
deems it “necessary or ex- would have thought that trade
pedient in the interest of the unions would flourish rather
security of the Federation or than diminish, and a tripartite
any part thereof, public order respect develop and be culti-
or morality.” Article 10(3) of the vated among employers, work-
Federal Constitution makes it ers and the government. In my
even clearer that associations view, this sadly does not seem
related to labour and educa- to be the case in Malaysia.
tion are specifically subject to Unions are important. They
Parliament’s scrutiny. have been responsible for
While our laws remain in the advances made by working
dinosaur age, we have already people, including rises in the
experienced what interna- standard of living, employment
tional standards expect of our benefits, insurance and health
local businesses. For example, benefits. While my economist
last year, Nike came rushing friends might balk, put simply,
in to do some fire fighting on unions help to redistribute
reports of abuse on foreign income. Unchecked and un-
labour in Malaysia. protected, the rest of us have
Now, the UN Global to struggle to just keep up with
Compact has been established, inflation, while the rich keep on
and seeks to motivate busi- getting richer.
nesses to behave responsibly. Unions are the means for
One of the key principles for workers to organise and pro-

Are women the sole guardians of morality?
I WAS flustered by two news
reports recently. One, about the
Kota Baru Municipal Council
imposing restrictions on what
women should wear in recrea-
tion parks and the other on the
ban on women wearing jeans
to college in Uttar Pradesh
state, India.
I am vexed, but not surprised
that the PAS-run state govern-
ment has gone for women’s
clothes, after the slapstick on
lipstick and heeled shoes. I
laud Wanita MCA head Datin
Paduka Chew Mei Fun’s plucky
statement criticising this lat-
est attempt to further thwart
women’s freedom, or the little
they have in the state.
She rightly pointed out that,
“… no one had the right to in-
fringe on the way people dress
whether for sports or work and
even when resting at home.”
Asians are brought up with
the cultural values that define
what is decent and what isn’t
and going by this we should
be given the liberty to be what
we are. I am sure an average
woman on the street would
know when she had infringed
on public decency without
having the municipal council
playing the schoolmaster.
In the news on June 11, we
had colleges in Uttar Pradesh
enforcing a blanket ban on
women wearing jeans to col-
leges, supposedly as a crack-
down on sexual harassment.
I fail to understand why the
burden of maintaining culture
and tradition always falls on
women and not men, mostly in
Asian cultures?
We are living in a cyber
world today and have far more
important things to busy our-
selves with than to be fussing
over women’s clothing in the
park and in colleges.
Sadly, save for Chew, the
few women we have in power
and position have chosen to be
silent on this.
Bhavani Krishna Iyer
Petaling Jaya
signatories to the compact tect their employment rights.
is labour rights, derived from Unions will put together a
the International Labour collective agreement, which
Organisation’s Declaration on establishes basic terms and
Fundamental Principles and conditions of work. Trade
Rights at Work (1998). unions pursue strategies and
Under principle three of the activities that serve their
Global Compact, businesses members’ interests, including
should uphold the freedom of representing members and
association and the effective negotiating with employers. In
recognition of the right to most developed or developing
collective bargaining. Funnily countries, unions also engage
enough, the Global Compact in political action to support
appears to assume that the policies that improve working
business might restrict the conditions for all workers.
formation of a union, and not From the above, I wonder
the government. To my mind, whether I have stumbled on
this is because the formation any reason why the formation
of a union is such a fundamen- of unions is controlled by the
tal right that the UN had not cabinet.

Keep track of barter trade boats and ferries
A SURVEY carried out in the
first half of last year, indicated
that about 2,000 barter trade
boats enter and leave the
country followed by 1,500
ferry boats transporting about
4,800,000 passengers.
This shows the high number
of foreign barter trade vessels,
fishermen and passenger ships
entering the country using non-
Solas ships (Solas: Convention
on Safety of Life at Sea for ships
above 500 gross tonnage).
These ships do not have a
tracking device and most do not
even have a VHF radio. Since
those vessels do not fall within
the ambit of ISPS ( International
Code on Security for Ship and
Port Facility) enforcement
regime, they do not use the
security system. The non-Solas
ships are vulnerable.
Malaysia should develop
comprehensive maritime se-
curity measures for non-Solas
vessels that would need to com-
bine a system that contributes
to the defence of the vessel, a
system that contributes to the
identification of the vessel and
a system to share information
on vessel security by taking into
account the nature of the area
the vessel is navigating in.
Defence measures are like
the one provided by the ISPS
code facilitating the protection
of vessels from the threats
posed by others.
Measures to transmit the
identity and the position of the
ship (AIS) for identification of
non-Solas vessels should be
emphasised. These are meas-
ures to identify the vessels
through the low-cost AIS (sim-
plified automated identification
system) to prevent unlawful
acts. The system which costs
between RM1,000 and RM2,000
would be required to be fitted
on every non-Solas vessels
above 100 gross tonnage and
below 500 gross tonnage. The
system could be enforced first
envisaged that it would require
cabinet’s approval.
All signatories to the UN Daniel freelances in writing
on vessels requesting for pilot- Global Compact need to dis- and publishing, and has a deep
age exemption and later for close sustainability practices passion for sleeping, eating and
other vessels. Malaysian ports related to its four core areas, labour law. He can be reached
have the AIS system to track which includes labour and at pottedplot.com.
ships entering and leaving the the right to form unions
port and thus no extra cost and collective
would be incurred to install the bargaining.
transponder and receiver in the H o w e v e r,
port facility. I wonder We believe that the young
Sharing information on ves- whether should have a say in how
sels is essential to evaluate the Malaysian things are run, because they
risks of vessels. It is time for businesses have everything at stake in
the government to enhance its would allow
capability to detect and deter unions to be
our future. This column cre-
the illegal movement of boats formed, or ates that space for our panel
ferrying illegal immigrants. whether these of bright young sparks to de-
are “illegal”. bate issues.
Capt Rakish Suppiah In addition,
Kuala Lumpur