FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

Addendum to “Freedom of Expression”, updated Sept 19, 2012

1. Hillary Clinton says the film insulting to Muslims cannot be stopped because of freedom of expression.

2. The French and Italian papers published photos of a naked Duchess of Cambridge. Now a French court has ordered the publishers to surrender all the pictures to the royal couple and to stop publishing them. The Italians are also going to do the same.

3. So freedom of expression is selective, not to be used against a countess but okay for the prophet of the Muslims.

4. I know there are many hypocrites in the West but this is the mother of all Western hypocrisy.


ORIGINAL POSTING FOLLOWS;

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at Che Det on September 18, 2012

1. Hilary Clinton defends the film which insults the Prophet of the Muslims because of freedom of expression, a part of human rights. I think Western values have gone crazy. In the name of human rights and free speech one can insult anybody. What kind of human society will we have if everyone can curse and denigrate everyone else? There will be no peace either between countries or religions or races or members of the public anywhere.

2. How would one feel if someone comes up to you and calls you “a bastard, the offspring of sex between your mother and some man who is not your legally wedded father.”

3. Well how would one feel? The Americans would feel nothing because in their society this is normal. Their mothers sleep around with just about anybody. That is the norm, they would say. So do their fathers. It is an expression of the equality of the sexes.

4. Asians, and Muslims would feel insulted. They would probably kill the persons who say such things of their mothers. Free speech, yes. But insulting speech, no! Certainly no Asian would like to be called a bastard even as a joke.

5. It would seem that the liberal West believes that free speech is licence to curse and insult other people without limit.

6. They can enjoy this licence among themselves. That’s okay. But they cannot insist that everyone accept their coarseness and lack of manners. If freedom is a part of human rights, not the rights of the West alone, Asians must have their rights to their own norms and code of morality. Otherwise Western freedom would be about denying others their freedom.

7. If that is what Western freedom is about then how others react to Western freedom must be accepted by the West as the expression of freedom of these others.

8. Western values are not universal, no matter what the Westerners claim or believe about their values. Other people and Asians have their own values. If the West believes that freedom must be enjoyed by all, must be universal, then that freedom must be extended to the values subscribed by others.

9. If you don’t believe others should have freedom to enjoy their own values then you do not really believe in freedom as a part of human rights. Of course certain events we are seeing today seem to indicate that the West has arrogated freedom to themselves only. The freedom to kill people, including innocent people, is obviously a part of Western freedom.

10. That would mean the West is more authoritarian and undemocratic than the very people they accuse of being authoritarian and undemocratic.

11. It is about time that the West rethink their beliefs in freedom. If you really believe that freedom should be enjoyed by all, then respect other peoples’ rights to their faiths, their values and their freedoms.

12. I deplore the extremely violent reactions to the film and killing of the American consul but I fully understand that some people’s feelings are stronger than some other people. In a free world the strength of these people’s feelings is their right. If there is such a thing as human rights then there should also be respect for the sensitivities of other people.

13. Otherwise stop talking about human rights and certainly stop violently promoting these so-called rights. You have no right to take the moral high ground.

ISRAELI JUSTICE

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at Che Det on September 14, 2012

1. An Israeli court hearing a case brought by the mother of Rachel Corrie, the American girl who was deliberately run over and killed by an Israeli soldier driving a bulldozer to destroy the home of a Palestinian in Gaza, found the case to be an accident because the Israeli soldier claimed he could not see the girl standing in the way of the bulldozer shouting for it to stop.

2. I have often enough sat in the driver’s seat of a bulldozer or mechanical hoe and I have always been able to see everything in front of me. Certainly a person standing in my way would be clearly seen by me.

3. But the Israeli court believed the soldier when he said he could not see the girl Rachel Corrie standing in front of his bulldozer. And so he ran over her crushing her under the bulldozer.

4. Even the Chinese Communist soldier stopped his tank when, in Tiananmen Square, a young man stood in the way of his vehicle. The view from the tank must be less clear. But the Israeli was driving a bulldozer which is designed to enable the driver to see clearly what is in front of him.

5. If he ran over the girl, it must be deliberate; it must be because he wanted to kill the girl.

6. It is a travesty of justice for the court to decide it was an accident, that the soldier driving the bulldozer could not see the girl.

7. The judge must be as cold-hearted as the soldier for the pain he inflicted on the grieving mother.

8. I am glad to be labelled anti-Semitic. How can I be otherwise when the Jews who so often talk of the horrors they suffered during the Holocaust show the same Nazi cruelty and hard-heartedness towards not just their enemies but even towards their allies should any try to stop the senseless killing of their Palestinian enemies.

9. Our concern and disgust over the cruel killing of Rachel Corrie is not new. When the Perdana Global Peace Foundation bought a ship to send food, medicine and construction material to the Palestinians in Gaza, she was named Rachel Corrie.

10. We were intercepted by the Israeli Navy in Gaza waters and forced to go to El Arish in Egypt. The supplies were sequestered and after some months were taken by others to Gaza. But we do not know if the people in Gaza ever got the supplies meant for them.

11. We had sympathised with the victims of the Holocaust. That sympathy was wasted and misplaced.

MERDEKA

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at Che Det on September 06, 2012

1. We are 55-years old. This blessed multi-racial country of ours has been free for 55 years. For some Malaysians of 55 years and under, to be free of foreign rule is no big deal. Of course we are free, so what?

2. Jalur Gemilang! Just a rag – a strip of coloured cloth. It can be of any colour. What’s so great about the stripes, the star and the moon. Why must we be loyal to a piece of coloured cloth?

3. And the anthem. Is it relevant? Why cannot we sing some other song?

4. These are said to be symbols. Symbols of what??

5. Of course we are free of foreign rule. For these 55 and under, it is unthinkable to be under foreign rule. What we know is rule by some Malaysians. And they deny us freedom. We cannot demonstrate. We cannot step on pictures. We cannot change the colour of our flag – that rag. We cannot sing other anthems.

6. We cannot do this; we cannot do that. So where is the freedom?

7. I am past 55 years. I lived under foreign rule. I lived under the British when all white men must be addressed as Tuan (master) and white women Mem (a corruption of Madame I suppose). Ours was to obey, theirs was to command. Politics was out of bounds.

8. I lived under the Japanese. We feared for our women. They had to cut their hair short and wore men’s clothing. They hid in the attic, fearing being raped by Japanese soldiers.

9. The Kampetai or military police had a list of Chinese who had actively supported China against the Japanese. Many were executed by decapitation with the curved Japanese sword.

10. Many were arrested and tortured. Water was hosed into their stomach and then forced out through their mouths and noses. They either died or they confessed to whatever crime they were accused of. Then they were taken out and shot.

11. Thailand allowed the Japanese army to land on its beaches and to march down the Isthmus of Kra into British Malaya. After two months of retreat, the British surrendered.

12. As a reward for their cooperation, the Thais were given four northern Malay state – Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan and Terengganu.

13. I experienced Thai rules. We had to respect their flag and anthem.

14. One evening as I was passing the Alor Star Police Station I heard the anthem and I froze, looking up at the Thai flag being lowered.

15. An old Malay man cycled slowly past apparently unaware that he had to get off his bike and stand at attention.

16. The anthem ended as the flag came down. I heard a shout and a Thai soldier who had been standing at attention ran after the old cyclist. He gave a flying kick to the face and the old man fell off his bicycle, lying still on the road.

17. I did not go to his help. I was afraid of the soldier who seemed about to kick the man again. He changed his mind and went away.

18. The Allied forces won the Pacific War and the British returned. They had promised to defend us from foreign attacks. They had failed. We had to live under the Japanese and the Thais.

19. No apologies were offered. They merely threatened to depose the Malay rulers if they did not sign the MacMichael Treaty surrendering their states outright to the British. In the meantime we were ruled by the British Military Administration. No democracy.

20. Then the worm turned. The docile Malays united as never before and forced the Malayan Union to be aborted. Eventually the states of the Peninsular and then the states of Sarawak and Sabah achieved independence as Malaysia.

21. To me being independent will always be something I will cherish. As a Malaysian I don’t have to call foreigners “Master” or Tuan. We don’t have to fear foreigners in our country. We will not have our heads chopped off. We will not be kicked by foreigners in our own country.

22. Yes, our Governments are not perfect. I was expelled from my party. I was ostracised. When I retired I was treated like an enemy of the Government.

23. Others were detained without trial. A few claimed they were tortured. Maybe they were. But that is not the policy of our Governments. The law does not permit that though there are more advanced countries where torture is legalised.

24. There are good things and bad things, good governance and bad governance in independent Malaysia. It is not perfect. But which country is perfect. In America there is much inequality with 1% being extremely rich and 99% poor according to Nobel Laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz. Europe has been in financial crisis since 2008 and appears unable to get out of it.

25. In the Middle East there is the so-called Arab Spring. Many have died. Revolutionary successes have not brought the promised good Governments and prosperity yet. It will take time.

26. Where else? Africa! I don’t think the Africans are better off than Malaysians. Latin America! Yes Brazil. It’s doing well, that’s all I know. The others are not.

27. And in ASEAN. Singapore has done well. But the people seem unhappy. 15% of the population are treated as second class citizens. They are poor. The other countries are so so.

28. Am I stupid? But really there is nowhere else I would like to be other than Malaysia. It’s not a perfect country. I don’t like some of the things I see or experience. But on balance there is more good in independent Malaysia than there are bad things.

29. So I will celebrate Merdeka days. I will fly the Jalur Gemilang and I will sing the National Anthem. I am proud I am a Malaysian, a citizen of an independent country. I will not step on the pictures of people who only know how to hate and have done nothing to make this country better. By doing what they did they have demonstrated that they and the people who lead them are unfit to rule this independent country. They only know hate. Hatred does not develop nations.

30. So I will shout “Merdeka” Malaysia for Merdeka means a lot to me.

TAK AKAN MELAYU HILANG DI DUNIA

As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at Che Det on September 04, 2012

1. Kata Hang Tuah “Tak akan Melayu hilang di dunia.” Dapatkah kata-kata keramat ini menentu yang Melayu tak akan hilang di dunia?

2. Di Singapura kerana tidak ada lagi sekolah Melayu dan bahasa penghantar di sekolah-sekolah di Republik itu ialah Inggeris dan China; segala urusan rasmi dan tidak rasmi menggunakan Bahasa Ingggeris atau China, maka orang Melayu sudah pun tidak menggunakan Bahasa Melayu. Mereka menggunakan Bahasa Inggeris walaupun semasa bercakap dengan anak pinak, keluarga dan kawan-kawan Melayu.

3. Budaya, adat istiadat Melayu juga terhakis. Yang tinggal hanyalah agama Islam mereka.

4. KeMelayuan mereka sudah tinggal separuh. Kita boleh ramal yang hakisan keMelayuan mereka akan berterusan sehingga akan hilanglah Melayu di Singapura.

5. Di sebelah utara pula kita dapati orang keturunan Melayu yang tidak dapat bertutur kata dalam Bahasa Melayu. Mereka Islam dan bangsa rasmi mereka ialah Thai. Maka hilanglah juga Melayu disitu.

6. Tetapi di Malaysia juga kehilangan Melayu sedang berlaku. Ada anak muda Melayu yang tidak lagi ingin dikenali sebagai orang Melayu. Mereka orang Malaysia. Ada pula yang hanya akui mereka orang Islam dan tidak perlu dikaitkan diri mereka dengan kaum Melayu.

7. Tetapi yang akan menghilangkan Melayu di dunia ialah dakwaan bahawa sesiapa yang bercakap berkenaan dengan bangsa Melayu, mereka akan dituduh “racist”. Oleh itu orang Melayu sudah tidak lagi berani menyebut perkataan Melayu kerana tidak mahu dituduh “racist”.

8. Kasihan Hang Tuah. Besar kemungkinan kata-katanya tidak lagi akan menjadi kenyataan. Demikianlah apabila kita bergantung kepada kata-kata hikmat untuk nasib kita, akhirnya akan hilang hikmatnya.