KEEPING THEM HONEST SERIES - BAN ON THAI CHICKEN LAUDED BY CONSUMER GROUP!

BAN ON THAI CHICKEN LAUDED BY CONSUMER GROUP! 

The Consumers Association of Subang and Shah Alam Selangor (CASSA) lauds the timely move by the Agriculture and Agro based Industry Ministry to freeze the issuing of permits for import of whole chicken and chicken parts from Thailand!

CASSA supports and hails the move as it was taken in the public interest and as a precautionary measure following the spread of the bird flu or the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in the South East Asia region.

The ministry’s response we understand was spearheaded by the World Organization for Animal Health report of a bird flu outbreak in Sokhotai, Thailand.

It is pertinent that no quarters attempt to politicize this move undertaken in the consumer interest as on record we have in the past imported 769 tonnes of chicken from Thailand for the period between September and November this year!

CASSA also welcomes the confirmation from the Agriculture and Agro based Industry Ministry that the situation in the country was under control, with no report on the HPAI received by the Veterinary Service Department so far!

It is pertinent that we remain vigilant and it is pertinent that there be cross ministerial cooperation between the Ministry of Home Affairs, Defense, the Health Ministry and the Agriculture and Agro based Industry Ministry to make certain that the situation remains so on the ground and the marketplace and that irresponsible smuggling or imports will not put Malaysian consumers are risk to death or disease!

It is crucial that stakeholders in the industry are informed that their cooperation and support is vital for this and any irresponsible and wanton act to put Malaysian consumer at risk will be severely punished to the full extent of the law!

CASSA hopes with the present freezing of the permit, regular and comprehensive checks at the entry points along the border would be stepped up to prevent smuggling of the chicken into the country.

It is also pertinent that Malaysian consumers living along the border areas play their rightful role of informing the relevant authorities of any attempts by any quarters to undermine this ministerial move taken to protect the rights and interests of Malaysian consumers! 

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OBAMA WIN SHOULD BE A LESSON FOR CHANGE THAT WE CAN ALL BELIEVE IN!

OBAMA WINS - HE BECOMES THE USA’s 44TH PRESIDENT!

It is a pity that while most countries are fast changing some continue going backwards - and most importantly, show they have learnt nothing from past events nor history!

In a fast changing world with its new economics, free of race politics  - these fools will suffer ‘a fool’s death!’

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SMOKE FREE ZONES ENFORCEMENT - ENOUGH TALK WANT MORE ACTION PLEASE!

I have heard this before so it does not stimulate me as what said over the press and the reality on the ground are too far a difference!

But since, the newly minted Health Minister, Liow Tiong Lai (see pix) is ‘going on record’ to say that the Health Ministry is stepping up enforcement against smokers who light up in non-smoking areas, I will hold this against him, if he fails to live up to the expectations created in the consumer mind!

The key word in his statement was that ACTION - would be taken against restaurant owners who allowed smokers to puff away at non-smoking sections!

We are all aware that according to the law - Air-conditioned places such as restaurants must have separate smoking areas with their own vacuum system to prevent other parts of the premise being polluted but in reality is this done?

The only way out is for massive operations of raids and checks to ensure that the law is applied strictly and those violating this penalized!

It must be remembered those caught smoking at prohibited places and premise owners who neglect the rules face a maximum fine of RM10,000 or two years jail or both.

I will suggest a jail term to show that we mean business!

Any thing less is plain ‘poppycock and hypocrisy!’

And while we are talking about anti smoking strategies and actions - what happened to the proposed - ‘No Smoking in all Public Areas’ that is being enforced all over the world and the latest in India?

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ITS NAJIB AS EXPECTED AND UNCONTESTED! WELL DONE!

As expected, deputy premier, Najib Abdul Razak today won the Umno president post uncontested by virtue of being the only candidate having the necessary nominations from the party divisions to qualify for the election.    He picked up his 133rd nomination from the 191 Umno divisions this afternoon, ensuring that rival candidate Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah will not be able to get the 59 required to qualify for the contest. We wish the Najib and look forward to working with his administration in the near future! MAY GOD HELP US ALL! PLEASE JOIN THE PRAYER CHAIN!    Our campaign against RACISM of all forms!

KEEPING THEM HONEST! - BUY CHINA PRODUCTS LAST!

WILL ANY THING GOOD COME OUT OF CHINA?

I know that many will be upset with my statement but in all honesty can anyone state otherwise?

It is shocking that these things keep reoccurring and causing a real risk to consumer’s world wide not just in China! 

Of course, China is still reeling from the melamine-tainted milk scandal, we have not forgotten the meat products, or lead in toys (see pix left), contamination in pet food and the list can go on!

According to reliable sources I am advised that China may next impose limits on the industrial chemical in animal feed after it was also found in eggs exported to Hong Kong.

Truly now - Agriculture Ministry sources do state that Chinese authorities might revise production standards for animal feed following the tainted eggs episode but is it too little too late?

Has the various industries in China grown too large to monitor and regulate?

I am aware that current rules and legislation set no limit for melamine content in animal feed and there is the problem.

For example, authorities in northeast China are stating that the tainted eggs were produced by a local company on Sept 6 and vowed ’severe punishment” of those responsible and investigations are underway – what you want to shoot the buggers behind this?

Reports strongly indicate that the eggs produced by a unit of China’s Dalian Hanwei Enterprise Group based in the northeastern Dalian port city contained excessive melamine and it may be related to chicken feed.

The content of melamine discovered was 4.7 parts per million (ppm) of melamine in the eggs, above the Hong Kong limit of 2.5 ppm.

According to medical reports and observations - Melamine, which boosts protein level readings in adulterated milk, was also at the centre of a tainted milk scandal that led to the deaths of at least four babies and left 53,000 with kidney sickness.

As a result of this fiasco – there was massive ban and recalls of China milk-related products including biscuits, chocolates and other snacks worldwide not just in China!

Just imagine the fear and anxiety these events cause the average consumer worldwide!

Malaysians and our health authorities must always bear in mind the facts and the facts that over 3,600 infants across China are still hospitalized after the scandal broke in early September and dozens of milk dealers and melamine producers have been detained in northern Hebei province and Inner Mongolia where several of China’s biggest dairy producers are based.

Will there be no end to these risks?

So it is fair for me to say – Lets buy China products LAST!

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KEEPING THEM HONEST - REVIEW PARKING SYSTEM NATIONWIDE!

CONSUMERS GROUP: REVIEW NATIONWIDE PARKING SYSTEM! 

The Consumers Association of Subang and Shah Alam Selangor (CASSA) today called upon the Ministry of Housing and Local Government to initiate a plan of action to audit, review and implement a more transparent, accountable and ‘consumer friendly’ system in its outsourcing of all parking services in the country. 

The present system operating is an ‘abuse and lopsided’ serving only the interest of politically connected outsourced companies - Dr Jacob George (CASSA PRESIDENT/LEGAL ADVISER)

In many areas the format and procedure of its operations violates the vary by-laws upon which it is supposed to operate. 

Among the serious alleged violations and abuse are the following: 

Does the by-laws and contract say that for each 15 parking bays there should be one machine? If this is so – why is there today only one machine for every thirty parking bays? 

Are the machines being calibrated every year and its calibration supervised and confirmed by independent third parties? 

Are the machines operating on legally gazetted roads? And is this procedure consistent in all local council jurisdictions nationwide? 

Why is the government being ‘shortchanged’ when payments for summons issued for parking violations are given to outsourced parking operators? In some jurisdiction it is on a 50-50 basis while in others, on a 70-30 basis? It is our contention that all penalty payments must go to the government! It is revenue for the government! 

The government should also explain why the contractual agreement on this concession starts only on the day of its ‘operation on the ground’ and not on attestation of the said contract? There are allegations of abuse when contracts signed are immediately not carried out but allowed to only ‘as and when’ the said operators decides to start – sometimes taking several years! 

It is therefore pertinent that an immediate accountable review must be initiated by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government. It is pertinent that impartial and independent members of the civil society be invited to sit in all review committees to ascertain that transparency and accountability is the hallmark of this exercise.

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KEEPING THEM HONEST - PLEASE DO NOT REPEAT PAST MISTAKES!

Bleak outlooks from world carmakers and more news of big job cuts at major companies the world over deepens fears in corporate boardrooms and trading floors of an extended global recession!

Are lessons being learnt or are we repeating past mistakes for political and personal expediency?

The next 120 days crucial!

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IN RETREAT AND PRAYER!

Thank you for all your e-mails and sms! No I am not unwell but taking my much needed ‘retreat in prayer!’

And for how long? 

I am not sure - but - when I am ready I will return with HIS BLESSINGS AND ANOINTMENT!

PRAISE GOD! 

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THIS EID WE SAY NO TO THE ISA!

MY PRAYER AND PLEA - LETS SAY NO TO THE ISA! LETS RELEASE ALL WHO ARE DETAINED UNDER THIS DRACONIAL ACT! INSTEAD LET THOSE WHO ARE UNDER THE ISA BE CHARGED IN OPEN COURT!

MOST OF ALL I PRAY THIS EID CELEBRATIONS THAT MY DEAR FRIEND

AND A FRIEND TO MILLIONS - RPK WILL BE RELEASED UNCONDITIONALLY!

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WISHING ALL A BLESSED HARI RAYA ADILFITRI - 1429!

I WISH ALL MY BROTHER AND SISTER MUSLIMS ALL OVER THE WORLD A BLESSED AND PRAYERFUL HARI RAYA ADILFITRI 1429 - MAAF ZAHIR DAN BATIN.

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GAME OVER?

With all the day’s happening one thing kept coming up by ‘all and sundry’ - what now happens in the UMNO Youth elections?

Will it be ‘game over’ for some while ‘new faces’ and ‘teams’ emerge as they always do in others?

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KEEPING THEM HONEST - I APPEAL THAT MY FRIEND RPK BE FREED!

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KEEPING THEM HONEST - I SAID IT ON SEPT 23 AND I SAY IT AGAIN TODAY!

I did say the following on September 23 2008!

‘It is paramount that Umno deputy president, Najib Tun Razak and senior vice president, Muhyiddin Yassin take control of Umno as acting president and acting deputy president this coming week without fail or delay prior to the Dec general assembly.

This will create a ‘chain reaction’ of stability and when Parliament reconvenes, and for that matter, at the Umno general assembly, whoever wants to challenge the ‘status quo’ can do so.

I am certain the ‘status quo’ will survive.

But for the ‘status quo’ to survive and most importantly survive the next general election, Najib and Muhyiddin must make more than just cosmetic changes.

They need to work immediately in setting up a high powered select committee to initiate a comprehensive look at all the issues that need immediate handling, especially issues pertaining to race relations, polarisation and racist bigotry and plan regular audits and post mortems.

They need to repeal draconian legislation like the Internal Security Act 1960, the Official Secrets Act 1985 and similar other acts.

We need to close down the Kamunting detention centre and release all the ISA detainees or charge them in an open court with the legislation that we already have.

Najib and Muhyiddin should warn all Umno members that it is not ‘business as usual’ and that they will see real changes, most importantly, the new leadership’s zero tolerance to racist statements.

This will show that the new administration is serious in tackling racial bigotry both in the party and the country.  

A third group can initiate all forms of action that will address the various ‘abuses of power and corruption’ in the nation and in particular the civil service.

The agenda here is zero tolerance for corruption and abuse of power.

We must return to the ‘good old days’ where the Federal Constitution was supreme and honoured, there was separation of powers between the organs of state and government, the judiciary was independent and the civil service was professional and impartial, before  ‘Mahathirism’ ruined it all.

Unless these become the immediate framework of change – a change that we can believe in – we will not be able to stop a new political reality in Malaysia.’

And in todays UMNO supreme council meeting it looks like my script is ‘on target!’

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KEEPING THEM HONEST - ENOUGH JUST BAN ALL CHINA PRODUCTS!

IT IS EASY – JUST BOYCOTT ALL CHINA PRODUCTS! 

Well the Malaysian government has widened its ban on Chinese dairy products to include candies, chocolates and all foods containing milk! 

Is it a case of doing a comprehensive ‘mop-up’ or just another ‘knee jerk reaction’ one that I call ‘too little too late!’ 

I do not wish to comment about the statement that the Health Ministry’s food safety and quality division are now being deployed nationwide to enforce the ban on foods from China! 

It may be a reaction to the mess but I have always spoken of having a data bank of all importers, their points of entry, their warehouses, their distribution and marketing arms, their distributive network nationwide and most important the contact numbers so that any government agency can initiate a ‘product recall mechanism!’ 

No sir it has not happened and will not happen because we still subscribe to the ‘close one eye policy?’ 

This is not the first for China and I will say it would not be the last! 

What we do now is keeping it simple – BAN ALL CHINA PRODUCTS! 

Why – our neighbor Singapore has found the potentially deadly chemical melamine in the popular White Rabbit Creamy Candy from China! 

If you remember - Melamine is at the centre of a widening food safety scandal in China!

The chemical has sometimes been added into food products to boost the apparent protein content. 

The protein levels of food products are done by measuring the nitrogen content, and adding nitrogen-rich compounds such as melamine can mislead the tests. 

More reason than that is that about 53,000 Chinese infants have become sick after drinking formula laced with melamine, a chemical used in plastics which can also make milk appear to be full of protein. 

Four children in China have died. 

And if that is not bad enough - Melamine can cause kidney stones and lead to kidney failure as well!

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KEEPING THEM HONEST - WILL THE TRUE LEADER EMERGE TO TAKE US FORWARD?

MALAYSIA AT A CROSS ROADS?

NOTHING BUT A CHANGE THAT WE CAN BELIEVE IN WILL MAKE!

SO WHO WILL BE THE LEADER TO LEAD US ACROSS!

CERTAINLY NOT THE ‘LIKES OF ZAKARIA DEROS OR AHMAD ISMAIL?”

IT IS TIME FOR CHANGE - HOLISTIC CHANGE! LET US ALL PRAY FOR A HOLISTIC CHANGE AND MAY GOD HELP US ALL!

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KEEPING THEM HONEST - NAJIB AND MUHYIDDIN MUST TAKE CONTROL IMMEDIATELY!

The stage is set!

It is paramount that deputy premier, Najib Tun Razak and Muhyiddin Yassin take control of UMNO as acting president and acting deputy president this coming week without fail nor delay!

This will create a ‘chain reaction’ of stability and when Parliament reconvenes, whosoever wants to challenge the ‘status quo’ could do so!

I am certain the ‘status quo’ will survive!

But for the ‘status quo’ to survive and most importantly survive GE13th, Najib and Muhyiddin must get to do more than just cosmetic changes!

They need to work immediately in setting up a high powered select committee to initiate a comprehensive look at all the issues that need immediate handling, especially issues pertaining to race relations, polarization and racist bigotry and along set time lines with regular audits and post mortems!

They need to repeal draconian legislation like the Internal Security Act 1960, the Official Secrets Act 1985 and similar others from the ‘map and face’ of Malaysian statutes!

We need to close down ‘Kamunting’ and release all the ISA detainees or charge them in open court with the legislation that we already have!

Najib and Muhyiddin should warn all UMNO members that it is not ‘business as usual’ and the changes that is being ‘put to form’ most importantly the new leaderships zero tolerance to racist statements and that immediate action of being expelled from the party becomes the hallmark to those who continue with no right to appeal!

This to show commitment and a political will of zero tolerance!

A second team can be initiated to look at drawing up a ‘plan of action’ to lure in foreign investments and looking into fundamental changes in the way we have been doing business and making radical changes so that we will draw in huge FDIs and the country will become more competitive as we face insurmountable challengers from our neighbors in the region to attract the same!

A third group will initiate all forms of actions that will address the various abuses of power and corruption in the nation and in particular the civil service!

The agenda here is zero tolerance for corruption and abuse of power – period!

We must return to the ‘good old days’ where the Federal Constitution was honored, there was seperation of powers between the organs of state and government, the independence of the judiciary, the professionalism and impartiality of the civil service before the ‘advent of Mahathirism’ ruined it all!
Unless these become the immediate framework of change – a change that we can believe in – we will not be able to stop a new political reality in Malaysia!(see pix left!)

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KEEPING THEM HONEST - KUDOS TO THE MALAYSIAN BAR!

EGM on ISA: To realise that which is in our collective ability to achieve and accomplish

Contributed by Andrew Khoo Chin Hock

Friday, 19 September 2008 10:26am

To my brothers and sisters at the Bar, Roman Catholic priests do it, Cabinet Ministers do it, MPs from both sides of the aisle do it, the Mufti of Perlis does it, even the former Prime Minister of Malaysia does it. So let’s all do it. Do what? No, not fall in love (though they may all do that too). No, let’s oppose the existence of the ISA. I know, I know, you will say, it’s yet another Malaysian Bar EGM on the ISA. So what else is new? What is so different about this time that we should give up a very nice Saturday to attend? And it’s not that there will be breakfast – the notice says only water will be provided. Well I could tempt you with the promise of a new Malaysian Bar anti-ISA badge. (I myself haven’t seen it but I’ve seen the mock-up). Or new anti-ISA t-shirts that will be sold by volunteers from Gerakan Mansuhkan ISA (GMI). But I won’t. I would have liked to attend. But for a pre-arranged trip to Myanmar, I would be there. So for all those of you who are in the country and are able to attend, please do. Please come, and speak out. Come to stand up and be counted. If nothing else, it is to say, yes once again, that we are against the ISA. That the ISA represents such a departure from even the minimum standards of decency to our fellow human beings and citizens which any self-respecting society should aspire. But it is for so many more reasons. At the last count, 67 of them. Some are husbands and fathers and brothers, all but one of them sons. Separated from their families, loved ones and friends, their lives torn apart, unable to test the veracity of and respond to the very serious allegations made against them which have deprived them of their liberty because they have been unconscionably denied their fundamental right to a fair and open trial. And incarcerated indefinitely with no knowledge, let alone certainty, of release. The longest detainee is now in his 6th year and 9th month of detention, and will remain locked away until at least January 2010. Another reason? Because the use of the ISA in this manner, and under these circumstances, is clearly no longer simply about whether or not the ISA is an immoral piece of legislation (which it is). Instead it is about the attempt by the executive branch of government to justify the ill-thought through use of the ISA for purely self-serving (and self-surviving) partisan political reasons. And if doubt can be (and it certainly has been) cast about the true nature of the motives on the part of the executive in using the ISA this time, then it seriously calls into question the true nature of the motives on the part of the same executive in using the ISA all those times before. Yet another reason? At this juncture of our history and our country’s political development, separate segments of society have been brought together and united in opposition to a cruel and inhumane piece of legislation. I may have started humorously. But the truth of the matter is that leaders from all sides of the political divide, leaders representing the major religions in this country, leaders of civil society organisations, and the average person in the street, have all voiced their disapproval of the ISA. Its patent unfairness and injustice have been so vividly brought home into the living rooms of millions of households up and down our country. In a way that has never occurred before, ordinary people have sensed for themselves the evil violation of their civic rights and have responded to their civil responsibilities. Their righteous indignation has rightfully drawn them out into the streets, in silent candlelit protest against the abusive nature of the powers that be. The sound of their silence has been deafening. That the authorities feel threatened could be sensed in the order of a police officer to those attending the Bukit Aman vigil not only to disperse but to snuff out their candles. For the light of their candles shines brightly to expose the dark moral bankruptcy of those who would cling to and protect and defend a decadent remnant of colonial rule in order to continue to subjugate a people struggling for meaningful freedom. But our protests will not be snuffed out. Of course the Bar has spoken. Our President has issued a statement on our behalf. Our brothers and sisters at law continue the busy task of representing the detainees in the courts and review boards of our land, but to little or no avail. Even though we may not agree with their politics, in detaining one the executive detains us all. The detention of one diminishes us all. As the poet John Donne once wrote: “No man is an Island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. So we can and should do more. When we came face to face with injustice last year, we bravely took to the streets. In the face of continuing injustice, we can, indeed society expects us to, do no less than to come forward and let our collective voice be heard through the overwhelming and unanimous endorsement of the resolution placed before the EGM. I therefore urge as many of you as possible to attend. To show support and solidarity with those whose liberty has been snatched away, often in the darkness of the night. To speak out for those whose voices have been silenced. To stand up for those who are unable to do so for themselves. In the words of Friedrich Gustav Martin Niemoller: “In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up.” May we always strive and never cease to rise above ourselves, in spite of ourselves, to realise that which is in our collective ability to achieve and accomplish.

KEEPING THEM HONEST - THE STATE OF MALAYSIAN POLITICS!

The true and honest state of Malaysian politics!

This - see below 

  this see next   or

truly this -

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KEEPING THEM HONEST - ENOUGH IS ENOUGH PLEASE LIE NO MORE!

OBAMA THE SYMBOL FOR A CHANGE THAT WE CAN BELIEVE IN!

THIS IS PERHAPS MY LAST POSTING FOR QUITE A WHILE - I HAD ENOUGH OF LIARS AND LIES - I HAD ENOUGH OF SEING THE CORRUPTION, THE ABUSE OF POWER. RACIST BIGOTY AND ALL THINGS POLITICALLY PERVERT AND DESPICABLE!

ENOUGH BULL SHIT - ENOUGH SPINS AND OUTRIGHT DECEPTION!

MY SINCERE BELIEF - THE ONLY WAY THIS NATION CAN AND WILL GO FORWARD IS BY ADOPTING A DRASTIC CHANGE - A CHANGE THAT ALL OF US MALAYSIANS CAN BELIEVE IN - PERIOD!

THE FOLLOWING DAYS I WILL CONFINE MYSELF TO PRAYER WITH ALL THOSE WHO ARE PRESENTLY PRAYING FOR A CHANGE THAT WE CAN ALL BELIEVE IN!

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KEEPING THEM HONEST - AN ADVICE THAT MUST BE TAKEN!

PAK LAH, REPEAL THE ISA.

Prime Minister, at your press conference yesterday you were reported to have said, among other things, that Anwar Ibrahim “has become a threat to the economy and possibly security” meaning national security. When asked by journalists what action the government would take against Anwar, you were reported to have said “I will not indicate what plan I will take, what I do will be in the best interests of the people and the country”. These remarks have caused considerable speculation that the repressive draconian Internal Security Act 1960 may be invoked to arrest and detain Anwar particularly in the current environment where there is a prevailing climate of fear after the arrest and detention of a prominent blogger, member of parliament and a young journalist, though the journalist has since been released. With respect, let me remind you that detention under the ISA is meant to deter a substantial body of persons to cause fear by engaging in organised violence to procure the alteration of the government lawfully established. This is clearly expressed in the preamble to the ISA.    In this regard, the assurance given by Tun Abdul Razak, the then deputy prime minister and minister of defence, to the Dewan Rakyat when he moved the second reading of the Internal Security Bill on June 21, 1960 on the two aims of this legislation must be borne in mind. He said, among other things:   “The honourable prime minister and other members of the government, including myself, have made it quite clear on a number of occasions that, because the emergency is to be declared at an end, the government does not intend to relax its vigilance against the evil enemy who still remains as a threat on our border and who is now attempting by subversion to succeed where he has failed by force of arms. It is for this reason that this bill is before the House. It has two main aims; firstly to counter subversion throughout the country and, secondly, to enable the necessary measures to be taken on the border area to counter terrorism”. Tun Razak further assured ,“The government has no desire whatsoever to hinder healthy democratic opposition in any way.  This is a democratic country and the government intends to maintain it as such. It is the enemies of democracy who will be detained”, adding, “Nor will these powers be abused”. In the absence of any evidence of any organised violence to remove your government, any measure taken to detain Anwar or any more members of the opposition parties under this draconian legislation, particularly in the current environment, will be seen as your government not only abusing the power of detention under the ISA but also using the ISA meant in essence for the protection of the security of the state being used for the protection of the security of the political party currently in government. Such perceptions will not go down well with right thinking Malaysians and the international community.   Please do not resort to this legislation to detain Anwar or anyone else. As part of your programme for reform, please repeal this repressive and draconian legislation which has long outlived its purpose and aims. The writer Param Cumaraswamy is former UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers