PRESS STATEMENT PARTI SOSIALIS MALAYSIA 21ST JAN, 2020

In response to climate crisis, Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) passed a motion during 2017 National Congress conduct a study on reducing greenhouse gases. After in depth consultations with civil societies (CSOs) and PSM’s researchers in the last two years, PSM has completed a policy document to address several aspects of climate crisis.

In 2019 National Congress PSM passed a motion to launch a national campaign to address the urgent need to tackle climate change. Based on this document, PSM is launching a nationwide campaign demanding the government to “Declare Climate Emergency.”

Malaysia’s ‘business as usual‘ attitude is prevented from taking drastic but necessary measures to tackle the climate crisis.

Why we need to declare Climate Emergency Now?

1. Deforestation is happening at an alarming rate, with land and natural resources under purview of the state, we are unable to regulate deforestation effectively.
2. Our path to economic progress is unsustainable, with contradicting policies that demand exploitation of natural resources and preservation at the same time.
3. Complete disregard for environmental effects by approving over-development Penang South Reclamation (PSR) is approved with ‘kelulusan bersyarat’.
4. Failure by the government to reduce Malaysia’s absolute greenhouse gases emission.

Hence, PSM will launch “Declare Climate Emergency !” with the Phase 1 (January-2020 until May-2020) consisting of;

1. First 10 Demands to six (6) Ministry which is crucial to reduce our GHG emission (letters sent to respective Ministries). Refer to Table 1 below.
2. Social Media and mass media campaign to educate public about climate crisis.
3. Conduct regional activities such as roadshow, forums and roundtables (refer Table 2) with communities, PSM branches, campuses and CSOs on GHG in;
   a. Seberang Perai, Penang
   b. Ipoh, Perak
   c. Pasir Gudang, Johor
4. Call for action with members of public, grassroots and CSOs for Earth Day 2020.
5. Political pressure for Pakatan Harapan to enact Declare Climate Crisis in Parliament.

Phase 2 will commence in other state(s) such as Pahang, Selangor, Kedah, Terengganu, Kelantan and Perlis.
PSM will be monitoring the progress of the First 10 Demands by respective ministries. PSM’s Climate Crisis Campaign 2020: “Declare Climate Emergency” was meant to empower grassroots and communities to push necessary change.

PSM calls upon the Pakatan Harapan led government to execute fast pace actions to reduce greenhouse gases to avoid catastrophic impact due climate crisis. Malaysia could only push developed and hypocritical nations after setting good example by becoming a carbon neutral nation.

Members of publics and organization who wish to get involved, volunteer and/or support could do so by contacting 019-4479734. Alternatively, follow Parti Sosialis Malaysia at our social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) and website.

Issued by;

SHARAN RAJ
Central Committee
Bureau for Environment & Climate Crisis
Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM)

21 January 2020.

oleh Nik Aziz Afiq

Kita dikejutkan dengan pengumuman Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Perdana Menteri merangkap Pemangku Menteri Pendidikan, baru-baru ini yang mahukan Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran subjek Sains dan Matematik dalam Bahasa Inggeris (PPSMI) dikembalikan. Kami merasakan kesal kerana selaku orang yang berpengalaman, nampaknya Mahathir tidak belajar dari sejarah dan bakal mengulangi kesilapan yang sama lagi. Mangsanya nanti adalah pelajar kita terutama pelajar sekolah luar bandar.

Tidak dinafikan bahawa ada terdapat kebaikan dalam pelaksanaan PPSMI, tetapi kita juga harus melihat implikasi buruk yang bakal dihadapi. Ia tidak sukar untuk diagak kerana kita pernah mengalaminya sendiri sebelum ini dan akhirnya memansuhkannya pada tahun 2009. Mengapa mayat yang sudah dikuburkan mahu dihidupkan semula?

Lupakah Tun pada tahun 2007, dalam kajian Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study oleh Sekolah Pendidikan Lynch, Boston College di Amerika Syarikat, menunjukkan Malaysia mengalami kemerosotan mata paling signifikan dalam kalangan 59 buah negara yang mengambil bahagian dalam kajian tersebut?

Kajian 2007 tersebut yang membandingkan dengan data tahun 2003, menunjukkan kemerosotan ketara dalam kalangan pelajar untuk penguasaan subjek Sains Matematik sejak PPSMI diperkenalkan. Kita jatuh 34 skor mata untuk penguasaan Matematik dan penurunan kepada 40 mata bagi matapelajaran Sains.

Kami mendesak sebelum apa-apa dasar berkenaan pendidikan hendak dilaksanakan, ia mestilah dilakukan kajian terperinci terlebih dahulu dengan mendengar pandangan pelbagai pihak, terutama kesatuan guru-guru yang akan terlibat terus sebagai pelaksana dasar ini.

Tindakan tergopoh-gapah pihak kerajaan pada tahun 2002 dulu telah memangsakan pelajar generasi tersebut, maka apakah kerajaan mahu bereksperimen lagi dengan halatuju dan nasib pelajar masa kini?

Pihak kementerian harus mencari fomula lain dalam meningkatkan tahap penguasaan Bahasa Inggeris di kalangan pelajar, PPSMI bukanlah formula tersebut. Ia telah diuji dan telah ternyata gagal.

Tidak perlu khuatir pelajar akan keliru kerana Sains Matematik ini datang dari Bahasa Inggeris dan bukan bahasa asal tempatan. Ini ditegaskan lagi melalui kajian UNESCO lama dahulu pada tahun 1958, bahawa pendidikan dalam bahasa ibunda lebih berkesan.

Kami mendesak pelaksanaan ini tidak diteruskan dan pihak kerajaan wajib membuat penilaian semula terhadap langkah ini. Jangan pisang berbuah dua kali. Akhirnya kami berharap ini bukanlah satu tindakan untuk sekadar puaskan hati atau ego PM dan akhirnya nanti akan mengambil langkah U-turn semula selepas peralihan kuasa.

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Nik Aziz Afiq Bin Abdul ialah Ketua Pemuda Parti Sosialis Malaysia.

By Arveent Kathirtchelvan

Photo of Mahathir is by the Tasnim News Agency, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Prime Minister and newly minted Education Minister, Dr. Mahathir Muhammad recently mentioned that growing inequality between the rich and poor, particularly along urban and rural lines, could lead to class conflict and the re-emergence of communist and socialist ideologies. Whilst promoting his shared prosperity concept, he continued to speak of leftist ideologies as if their emergence would be bad, stating that a country’s growth would be stunted by it.

Unfortunately for Mahathir, he is incorrect. Looking back to the USSR as an example, under Bolshevik rule, economic growth was at an impressive pace. From a mainly agrarian society in 1928, the USSR became a major industrial powerhouse by the 1950s. From working the fields, the USSR sent men to space, invented the light-emitting diode and even the human kidney transplant procedure. Maintaining an economy only second in size to the United States of America for a great portion of its history is hardly stagnant growth. In fact, only after the USSR’s dissolution was the most drastic fall of GDP for the Russian Federation. Even now, in many former Soviet states, people long for the USSR, claiming their lives have become worse since it’s dissolution. Ironic, then, that when capitalism came, the economy suffered massively, unlike what Mahathir would have theorised would happen.

Current models of market socialism continue to prove effective. China, for example, has become the richest country in the world in terms of Purchasing Power Parity whilst Vietnam is identified as one of the Next Eleven countries. Both employ market models to lay the foundations of socialism by increasing production capacity to one day fully become socialist states. Of course, socialism’s opponents will try to paint these countries as secretly capitalist, yet fail to understand that they are exhibiting socialist systems relevant to the 21^st century, adjusted to their stage in development.

Another country showing great success is Cuba, which is still continuing a centrally planned economic model similar to the USSR. The Cuban economy has grown steadily and specific sectors show impressive results. Famously, Cuba was the first country to eliminate mother to child HIV transmission and created a vaccine for lung cancer. Cuban doctors also are exported to various countries for humanitarian purposes. Yet another example where a socialist state proves to be successful. This does not even touch on the Nordic model, another hybrid system that is suited for the countries practising it.

If Mahathir is interested in shared prosperity, he shouldn’t be looking down upon socialism, rather should look towards it for inspiration. This is because it is socialism that teaches to redistribute wealth equally to workers as primary generators of wealth, not capitalism. It is socialism that calls for greater trade union representation to ensure balanced power distribution between employers and employees. Affordable housing, free healthcare and free education are all calls of socialism to ensure class imbalances do not affect the quality of life of individuals. Even more relevant is the call for progressive taxation to ensure the hoarding of wealth at the top 1% of society can be prevented, a key part of any true plan to achieve shared prosperity.

Mahathir wants none of these. He is the destroyer of trade unions, champion of privatisation and the greatest stumbling block in raising taxes for the rich or minimum wages for the poor Malaysia has ever seen. What Mahathir wants is to give vague notions of wealth distribution without actually delivering it. We can already see this in his multiple attempts to undermine the poor by accusing them of being unproductive, whilst he unironically stresses his disagreement with increasing the minimum wage or increasing taxation for the wealthy because of fears of capital flight. He has not been on the streets with the poor asking for their rights to understand their plight.

On the other hand, Malaysian socialists marched to the parliament at the end of 2018 to ensure minimum wages were increased. The same socialists ran and are still running housing campaigns to ask for affordable council houses be built for the common man. When urban pioneers found their houses being demolished by greedy developers, it was socialists that stood by organising them to get adequate houses from the government. When students were being oppressed by overbearing management officials, socialists were the ones on the ground building their capacity to push back against those that undermine their rights.

From climate change to human rights, socialists are there with the people, empowering them as much as they can. Why, then, does Mahathir feel threatened? Perhaps it is because his regime has so far failed in ensuring that which is most desperately needed by the common man. It was under him and his proteges that the people became forced to choose between paying for food or rent as prices have risen but salaries have stagnated. It was under him that trade unions were broken, ensuring the capitalist employer class free reigns to bully and undermine their workers. He is the one that destroyed forests to plant palm trees, burnt coal unreservedly and chained university students like dogs to a post. Mahathirian capitalism is a crony-infested, corruption-soaked, and anti-poor. Why then should we remain shackled? When capitalism chained us, why should we not be freed through socialism?

Source: Malay Mail Online

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 10 ― About 50 people representing non-governmental organisations staged a protest outside the United States’ embassy today, calling for an end to military action against Iran.

Led by Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM), the group managed to submit a memorandum to the embassy which stated five demands.

The five demands are ― to put an end to the belligerent actions and war-mongering rhetoric coming from the US; the immediate withdrawal of US troops from Iraq; restraint on the part of both the Iran and the US to avoid another war happening in the Middle East region, end to sanctions on Iran and close down all US foreign military bases outside of its country.

The memorandum was undersigned by 47 NGOs which include Suarat Rakyat Malaysia, Aliran, Muslim Youth Movement Malaysia (Abim), G25, Kuala Lumpur-Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall Youth and Socialist Alliance (Australia), among others.

“Those who will die, like the soldiers are ordinary people, not those in high places sitting at the comfort of their offices.

“We want to urge everyone to speak up. Injustice is injustice, it doesn’t matter what race or religion. People of all races must come out otherwise these problems will continue to happen,” said party chairman Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj when met by reporters on Jalan Tun Razak.

“Like the war in Iraq, it will destabalise the regime and create very extreme groups.

“When you push, this will cause chaos. Especially when you back one militia against the other militia (arm the Sunni to fight the Shiah, arm the Shiah to fight the Sunni). These are the problems that will arise, and you cannot turn it off,” Dr Jeyakumar said.

He also pointed out that the whole Islamic State and extremism is caused by Americans and Britains, not due to the religion itself.

“After 30 to 40 years of mishandling the issue, it takes a long time to negotiate peace.

“We are a global community, what happens there will affect us. Malaysians will also get pulled there and get radicalised,” he said.

The protest today came after the US government’s assassination of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani with a drone strike in Iraq last Friday.

The general was one of 10 individuals killed as he departed from his plane at the Baghdad International Airport, where he had just arrived from either Lebanon or Syria. Largely considered a national hero in his homeland, Qasem was alternately held by the US government to be a terrorist who assisted Iran’s allies in their attacks on American troops based in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, PSM central committee member S. Arutchelvan, who was also present at the protest ,said peace can only be achieved in the Middle East when US military bases are removed.

“If we want world peace, the US troops must leave the Middle Eastern countries.

“As long as they are there, problems in relation to Syria, Libya, and most recently Iran, will continue.

“For the first time to date, we see that the Iraq community is calling for the US troops to leave the country. This is a strong message indicating that the US troops are no longer welcomed in Iraq,” he said.

He added that there was no reason for the US military bases to be stationed in Iraq anymore.

“What’s the point of the US remaining there (Iraq). Just to sell their weapons?” he questioned.

It was reported in the Washington Post that in the immediate aftermath of Soleimani’s killing, Iraq’s Parliament had voted to expel the estimated 5,200 US forces stationed in the country to fight the Islamic State group. This is a nonbinding measure that needs the approval of the Iraqi government.

Source: The Star

Source: The Star

Niat syarikat Edgenta UEMS Sdn Bhd untuk menghancurkan kesatuan pekerja dengan taktik kotor dan keji nampaknya tidak pernah dibatalkan.

Edgenta UEMS, anak syarikat kepada UEM Edgenta, sebuah syarikat berkaitan kerajaan (GLC), telah mengambilalih kontrak pembersihan 22 buah hospital di negeri Perak dan Pulau Pinang daripada syarikat NS Medik mulai 1 Januari 2020.

Namun, Edgenta UEMS telah berniat jahat untuk menghancurkan kesatuan dari awal lagi dan sudah mula membuli pekerja yang menyertai Kesatuan Pekerja-pekerja Swasta Perkhidmatan Sokongan di Hospital Kerajaan Semenanjung Malaysia (KPSPSHKSM) sejak bulan 2019 lagi, iaitu sebelum ia mengambilalih kontrak kerja pembersihan.

Pelbagai taktik kotor telah digunakan oleh Edgenta UEMS untuk mematikan kesatuan. Pekerja telah diugut dan dipaksa oleh penyelia atau penolong penyelia syarikat Edgenta UEMS di setiap hospital untuk mengisi borang permohonan kerja UEMS, surat berhenti kerja, dan surat tawaran kerja UEMS yang telah dikurangkan faedah. Para pekerja tidak puas hati dengan pengurangan faedah dalam surat tawaran kerja oleh Edgenta UEMS dan telah menyatakan bantahan mereka.

Pihak telah membawa isu ini kepada perhatian Kementerian Kesihatan. Selepas perundingan pada 26 Disember 2019, di mana telah dipersetujui oleh semua pihak bahawa pekerja-pekerja yang diupah di bawah NS Medik sebelum ini akan disambungkan perkhidmatan di bawah Edgenta UEMS dan bukannya sebagai pekerja baru, para pekerja mula meminta surat tawaran baru yang mematuhi persetujuan yang dicapai untuk diisi kerana bantahan secara keseluruhan telah dibuat oleh kesatuan melalui surat bantahan kepada Edgenta UEMS. Namun demikian, penyelia dan penolong penyelia Edgenta UEMS di hospital masing-masing telah sengaja melambat-lambatkan pemberian surat tawaran baru dengan alasan mereka tidak menerima apa-apa maklumat daripada pihak atasan. Pekerja terpaksa berulang alik beberapa kali ke pejabat untuk mengambil surat tawaran baru. Penyelia Edgenta UEMS langsung tidak menghiraukan pekerja.

Pada 1 Januari 2020, 6 orang pekerja (4 orang dari Hospital Batu Gajah dan 2 orang dari Hospital Parit Buntar) yang juga merupakan ahli kesatuan KPSPSHKSM, termasuk pemimpin kesatuan setempat, tidak diberi surat tawaran kerja baru dan tidak dipanggil ke kerja. Ini merupakan satu tindakan yang memungkir janji dan berniat jahat.

Amat jelas sekali, Edgenta UEMS memang berniat jahat untuk menghancurkan kesatuan dan memangsakan pekerja.

KPSPSHKSM akan memfailkan kes terhadap pihak majikan Edgenta UEMS di Jabatan Perhubungan Perusahaan (JPP) berkenaan dengan perkara ini dan terus melawan pemangsaan terhadap pekerja yang menyertai kesatuan.

Source: Malaysiakini

COMMENT

| I am inspired to write this article after reading all the comments bashing Maszlee Malik and I am sure this piece will end up in the same tone too.

Maszlee’s sudden resignation took many people, and me, by surprise. It seems that he was forced into the resignation by the prime minister. One wonders what the plan is as until Maszlee was appointed, the only other person who was interested in the job was Mahathir himself. Maszlee’s resignation speech – reading between the lines – would confirm that Mahathir wanted him out.

Maszlee has definitely been made a scapegoat here. He has been always made to look like a dumb minister who doesn’t know his job. Sensational media reporting, and often unfair headlines, put him always in a defensive mode.

He was polled as the second-lowest – 27 out 28 in Malaysiakini’s poll on ministers’ performance. This is understandable because most of the readers are middle-class, mostly non-Malay, and have a definite bias against him. They feared that Maszlee with his Islamic credentials was going to turn our education system into an Islamic one. Most DAP leaders scored high points in the poll. Now imagine if Harakah conducted a similar poll – you will know how the outcome would be.

The “black shoe” labelling never left Maszlee and it was always used to ridicule and undermine him. I am sure if we took a vote among students, they would prefer black shoes to white. Anyway, that is not the point here.

Mahathir has decided to replace him and therefore it would be easy now to put all the blame on Maszlee for the Jawi issue, matriculation and other controversial stuff. Two of Mahathir’s staunch supporters Daim Zainuddin and Rafidah Aziz have constantly taken swipes at Maszlee and that was a further indication that he has fallen out of favour with the “Mighty M”.

Let me share a personal experience and tell you why some of us have a soft spot for Maszlee. JPKK – which is a network of contract workers in government departments – had been campaigning over the years to improve the plight of contract workers who are mainly cleaners and security guards in schools. We have previously tried in vain to meet with the previous education minister. The only people who met us were some officers and department heads who were not in a position to make decisions.

But Maszlee quite readily gave us an appointment to meet and have a dialogue with us. I was very sceptical before the meeting based on the bad image formed in my mind about him. Before the meeting, his office asked for our memorandum and proposal which was itself quite out of the ordinary.

At the meeting, we were pleasantly surprised to note that he had actually read our memorandum beforehand. He was not pretending as if he knew everything, which most ministers only try to do. He addressed each of our proposals and directed his officials to act on them. He then told us that he will bring up our proposals in the cabinet meeting the next day.

I thought he was pulling a fast one because that is what most ministers will tell you. True to his promise, he issued a media statement after the cabinet meeting, saying that he had raised the issue of parasitic and underperforming crony contractors and they would be blacklisted and replaced.

He also said the whole system needed to be relooked at and agreed to look into our proposal to employ workers directly and not through a middleperson who in many instances ended up taking a portion of workers’ salaries. This was the first minister who actually looked at the fundamental issue rather than giving the usual excuses.

Since then, we had the pleasure of working with some of his officers, specifically “Shaza”, who used to update us on a weekly basis, working past office hours, listening to the many complaints we raised about the problematic contract system in school. This attitude changed our view that most of those working in the government were “makan gaji buta” and just worked form 9 to 5. For that, let me salute them.

Now let me touch on other issues not raised in the current petition going around supporting him. For example, under Maszlee, student activists were more protected; he prevented university authorities from taking action against students each time they expressed themselves through protests and other actions. In the previous administration, the minister always stood with the establishment and not the students. Maszlee did something which helped students to express themselves knowing well that they had protection from disciplinary action.

I was also told by many teachers that Maszlee made many reforms in the school system but many of his reforms did not go well on the ground because the bureaucracy was not assisting. It is not surprising that the teachers’ union, NUTP, speaks so highly of him. Many teachers, too, have since expressed how Maszlee did actually address some of the main issues raised by teachers.

True, he made many U-turns after bringing matters to the cabinet. This can be seen with the matriculation issue and Jawi. It is maybe that he is inexperienced (as he has always stated himself) or maybe he should have talked less like the many Pakatan Harapan ministers who don’t say much, preferring to be silent in order to survive.

Most of these issues were tough issues like Jawi, matriculation and the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) – all difficult issues. These are issues which have been there for six decades which Harapan as a team have been unable to address as they will end up playing the same racial game like BN. Therefore, it is unfair that Maszlee is blamed when on all occasions, the cabinet took the decision with, of course, “Ayahanda Mahathir” sitting at the helm.

On other issues – free quality breakfasts, opening up of hotel swimming pools for students, doing away with streaming and exams, making education accessible to OKUs (the disabled) and undocumented children, these are huge achievements compared to the black shoes for students, all which hardly got mentioned.

It was reported that he opened 10,200 classes to cater for 24,998 OKU special children. On all these initiatives, I am with him because he has contributed towards creating a more caring society and opening up public spaces for the common people.

Since coming to power, he has resigned twice. Once, after being appointed as the president of the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) when students and many spoke about conflict of interest and now. On the first occasion, even Mahathir supported his appointment but Maszlee took the right decision to resign but this time it is a no-choice situation as Mahathir called for his resignation and it could be likely part of a cabinet reshuffle.

Maszlee should feel happy that he was not removed due to corruption or other scandals. He went in without a datukship and came out without one.

To Maszlee, all the best.

S ARUTCHELVAN is PSM deputy chairperson.

KUALA LUMPUR – 11 DISEMBER 2019: Dr. Jeyakumar Devaraj, Pengerusi Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM), telah dipanggil polis untuk diambil keterangan di Ibupejabat Polis Bukit Aman pada hari ini, berkenaan dengan siasatan polis terhadap Perhimpunan Memperingati Perjanjian Damai Hatyaiyang diadakan baru-baru ini.

Pihak polis sedang membuat siasatan terhadap perhimpunan untuk memperingati ulangtahun ke-30 Perjanjian Damai Hatyai yang diadakan pada 1 Disember 2019 di Kajang. Siasatan tersebut dibuat di bawah Sekyen 505 Kanun Keseksaan (kenyataan-kenyataan yang mendatangkan khianat awam) dan Seksyen 233 Akta Komunikasi dan Multimedia (Penggunaan tidak wajar kemudahan rangkaian atau perkhidmatan rangkaian, dan lain-lain lagi).

Sebelum ini, Ronnie Liu, Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri Selangor untuk kawasan Sungai Pelek, juga telah dipanggil untuk rakaman percakapan di Bukit Aman berkenaan dengan kehadirannya dalam program memorial Perjanjian Damai Hatyai. Selain Dr. Jeyakumar dan Ronnie Liu, program tersebut juga dihadiri bekas Timbalan Presiden Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Syed Husin Ali dan Profesor Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Abdul Rahman Embong. Program tersebut dianjurkan oleh beberapa persatuan masyarakat termasuk sekumpulan bekas ahli Parti Komunis Malaya (PKM), untuk memperingati ulangtahun ke-30 pemeteraian Perjanjian Damai Hatyai yang menamatkan konflik bersenjata di negara kita yang berlarutan selama lebih 4 dekad.

Menurut Dr. Jeyakumar, beliau dimaklumkan bahawa terdapat 72 aduan polis telah dibuat terhadap perhimpunan tersebut, khususnya dibuat di balai polis di Melaka. Dr. Jeyakumar percaya bahawa adanya pihak cuba mewujudkan isu daripada satu perhimpunan yang sekadar memperingati detik sejarah yang membawa keamanan kepada negara kita. Dr. Jeyakumar berkata, “saya tidak mendengar sesiapa bercakap tentang membangkitkan semula perjuangan bersenjata dalam perhimpunan itu.”

Terdapat sesetengah pihak cuba membuat spekulasi dan menuduh bahawa Perhimpunan Memperingati Perjanjian Damai Hatyai itu cuba menghidupkan semula “komunisme”, sedangkan program tersebut hanya memperingati satu perjanjian penting yang menamatkan konflik bersenjata dan membawa keamanan berkekalan kepada negara kita. Perjanjian Damai Hatyai ialah satu perjanjian yang ditandatangani secara bersama oleh Kerajaan Malaysia, Kerajaan Thailand dan PKM. Perjanjian Damai Hatyai ialah satu proses pendamaian yang diiktiraf oleh Kerajaan Malaysia sendiri, tetapi masih adanya pihak menjadikan isu PKM sebagai isu perkauman untuk agenda politik sempit.

Konflik bersenjata di negara kita yang melibatkan PKM, adalah sebahagian daripada Perang Dingin yang sudahpun berakhir sejak 3 dekad yang lalu. PKM sudah meletak senjata 30 tahun dahulu, dan satu perjanjian damai sudah dimeterai. Adalah tidak memberi apa-apa makna kepada kemajuan masyarakat kita sekiranya masih membangkitkan semula naratif anti-komunis zaman Perang Dingin yang biasanya digunakan sebagai alasan untuk melenyapkan suara yang mengkritik golongan berkuasa.

Siasatan polis terhadap satu program yang meraikan ulangtahun satu perjanjian damai yang membawa keamanan kepada negara kita adalah sesuatu yang membuang masa. Adalah tidak masuk akal untuk negara kita masih terperangkap dalam kerangka pemikiran sempit zaman Perang Dingin dan mewujudkan halangan mental untuk maju ke depan.

Bacaan lanjut: Perjanjian Damai Hatyai 1989: Pengakhiran tragedi sejarah yang dipaksakan imperialis Zaman Perang Dingin