PARTI RAKYAT MALAYSIA - PRM

Left-wing parties hoping to soar(Star, 17/11/2011)

2011-11-17T22:29:00.000-08:00

Thursday November 17, 2011(Star)

Left-wing parties hoping to soar

Analysis
By Baradan Kuppusamy

Left-wing parties are making a comeback in a political environment dominated by both race-based and multi-racial parties all pushing the same democratic centralism political ideology.

PARTI Rakyat Malaysia, a small but tradition-rich party, is causing some consternation among top PKR leaders with its announcement this week that it will contest in three parliamentary constituencies held by PKR.

Its newly elected president Dr Rohana Ariffin said that the party, founded in 1955 by Ahmad Boestaman upon his release from ISA, would contest in the Balik Pulau, Selayang and Petaling Jaya Selatan constituencies in the forthcoming general election.

In an interview, she said PRM was against three-cornered fights but hoped to hold discussions with Pakatan Rakyat leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and find an amicable solution.

“We are keen to contest in the three seats,” she told The Star, adding that Balik Pulau in Penang was a traditional PRM seat while Selayang was also a former seat with hardcore members and Petaling Jaya was where the party's headquarters was located.

“We have many supporters in the three constituencies,” she said. “We are only asking for three seats out of 222 in the country.”

Dr Rohana said if an Opposition government were to be elected in the next general election, their participation would be crucial because they would offer alternative views from within.

“Diversity should be promoted and encouraged and many contrasting views make up a good government unlike with Barisan Nasional where Umno's views dominate,” said the academician.

All well and good but PKR is in no mood to concede three of the best constituencies now held by party veterans just because PRM is asking for it, tradition-rich party or not.

The Selayang constituency is held by PKR treasurer William Leong, who did well in 2008 defeating his opponents in a three-cornered fight, including a PRM candidate Koh Su Yong, who polled about 2% of the votes.

Koh had stood in 2004 under a PKR banner and polled over 17,000 votes, losing nevertheless. His 2008 performance was lacklustre under PRM, a measure of what the right party can do for a candidate.

Although PRM has traditionally contested in Balik Pulau and never won, it believes it has a better chance now.

Currently, it is held by PKR newcomer Yusmadi Yusuf, who is very active in Balik Pulau as well as in Penang and in Parliament.

Petaling Jaya Selatan, on the other hand is held by Hee Loy Sian, who keeps a low profile.

PRM is hallowed in the left-wing history of the country, having been founded by Ahmad Boestaman and brought together all the Malay left in various organisations like KMM, API and other small groups.

The party was a member of the Socialist Front and contested in various municipal councils and in general election in the 1960s but the winning results were mixed.

It had to watch out for the Special Branch on one hand and convince the people to win elections on the other, making for difficult choices.

PRM survived the 1970s under Kassim Ahmad and after him, Datuk Kampu Radjoo, and finally came under the control of Dr Syed Husin Ali in the 1980s.

In 2003, he dissolved PRM and led its members into PKR but a small faction opposed the move and carried on under the PRM banner, which had a cow's head as the party symbol.

The breakaway faction was recognised by the Registrar of Societies and in the election for PRM office bearers held in Petaling Jaya last week, Dr Rohana, the acting president since 2010, was elected PRM president.

Another small, left-wing party, the Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM), is also having trouble with Pakatan Rakyat, especially DAP, over seat allocation.

In 2008, it contested under the PKR banner in three seats and won one with its president Dr Nasir Hashim in Kota Damansara and Dr D. Jeyakumar in Sungei Siput Parliamentary seat but secretary-general S. Arutchelvam lost in the Semenyih state seat in Selangor.

The tussle with the DAP in 2008 was for the Jalong seat in Perak which the PSM wanted to contest because of years of grassroots work there.

In the end, they contested as an independent after negotiation with the DAP broke down. In the three-cornered fight that followed, PSM lost to DAP's Hew Yit Fong who, a year later, defected to Barisan Nasional together with two PKR assemblymen, giving away the state.

In retrospect, left-wing parties are making a comeback in a political environment dominated by both race-based and multi-racial parties all pushing the same democratic centralism political ideology.

They have no socialist trappings to speak off and only want to run a better government with the same foreign investment and development strategies.

The left parties are making a comeback in a big way overseas but without the violent themes of the past.

Their ideologies and policies would provide a fresh alternative to the dominant political parties on both sides of the divide here.

Both Barisan Nasional, that is trying to win hearts and minds with its many 1Malaysia reforms, and Pakatan Rakyat - with its “me-rakyatkan” economy initiatives in Selangor - could well use another party with a socialist bend to speak for and champion the people.

The left-wing parties have important things to contribute to the debate on national issues like privatisation of healthcare, food security and even on the government service tax.

Their re-emergence on the political scene should be welcomed and encouraged as these left parties have dedicated leadership who will go the extra mile for the people.- Star, 17/11/2011, Left-wing parties hoping to soar

PRM Welcomes Offer from Anwar, Yusmadi to Work Together with PKR

2011-11-15T21:05:00.000-08:00

PRM Welcomes Offer from Anwar, Yusmadi to Work Together with PKR

by Haider Yutim

PETALING JAYA, 16 NOVEMBER, 2011: Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) Dr Rohana Ariffin today welcomed the warm gesture made by both Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) leaders Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Balik Pulau member of parliament Yusmadi Yusoff in willing to work togther with PRM.

"PRM has been in the Opposition for a long time and will continue be in the Opposition.

"And we do want to work together with Pakatan Rakyat and PKR, although not join them.. nevertheless will work closely with them," said Rohana when contacted by Malaysian Digest.

Rohana described Yusmadi's statement as a good response from the Opposition, pointing that PRM will continue to work with the Opposition until the next general election.

She also took the opportinity to thank PKR especially Yusmadi for opening the door for PRM, as the party has always wanted to work with the Opposiion.

Yesterday, Yusmadi welcomed PRM' intention to contest its candidates in Balik Pulau for the next General Election (GE).

However, he said for the benefit of the voters in Balik Pulau constituency, he invited PRM to work with PKR in facing Barisan Nasional (BN).

He said, as the PRM has the same agenda with PKR which is to defeat the BN, he suggested for Dr Rohana to discuss over this issue in order to benefit Balik Pulau voters.

- mD - Malaysian Digest, 16/11/2011, PRM Welcomes Offer from Anwar, Yusmadi to Work Together with PKR

"PRM Among First Political Parties to Reject ISA, Emergency Ordinance"

2011-11-15T20:51:00.000-08:00

"PRM Among First Political Parties to Reject ISA, Emergency Ordinance"

by Haider Yutim

PETALING JAYA, 11, NOVEMBER 2011: To say that Parti Rakyat Malaysia's (PRM) members consist of socialists who do not believe in God is totally untrue, said its president Dr Rohana Ariffin.

PRM celebrated its 56th anniversary since its formation in 11 November 1954, being one of the oldest political party in Malaysia, which had contributed to the nation's political growth including becoming the first political party to reject the ISA and Emergency Ordinance.

"Many leaders and members of PRM were detained for years in Kamunting, Taiping under the ISA (Internal Security Act)," said Rohana in a speech at the party's headquarters today.

Rohana said the rulers have been endlessly oppressing and breaking the spirit of PRM by portraying that PRM is joined by people who do not believe in God,".

"This is an image that they had damaged which is difficult to get rid of until today despite PSM (Parti Sosialis Malaysia) have been gaining lots of support... but I feel that the word 'socialist' has lost its stigma," said Rohana.

She refuted the accusations, saying that PRM's struggle has always been in tune with the demands of every religion that exists in the world which is to fight for justice and freedom for all.

Rohana said the purpose and ambition of PRM since it formation has always been to defend the rights, interests and the sovereignty of the people regardless of race, religion or class under a peaceful, united, prosperous and democratic government.

She added that even though the political environment has changed throughout the times, PRM would still remain with its multiracial way and fight for justice for every oppressed rakyat.

Besides that, Rohana said the party now would focus more on the youths by providing motivation, drive and training towards these group.

"Our aim is to give education to our young supporters and also the young members, and lots of our programs involve training," she said.

Rohana also announced the party's website which is www.partirakyat.com in which she hopes to reach out more to the people through the website as well as the party's Facebook page which was created two to three months ago.

The celebration was closed by a cake cutting ceremony by Rohana herself and poem recital by an 18-year-old youth named Seth entitled, 'Parti Rakyat Malaysia'.

Meanwhile, Rohana when met by Malaysian Digest said since after the court case the party had elected new leadership in order to mobilize.

She said in order to mobilize, it takes a lot of challenge for example to get people to accept the party as there are some political who refuse to admit that PRM exists, and some NGOs don't invite them.

"But within a year many have invited us like MCLM, Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia, Bersih.

"So we find that now our name is being known more in Malaysia and also we realized that if the central committee (JKP) works hard enough, we will be known once more as a party who really wants to fight for the common people," said Rohana.

Jayanath Appudurai from Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia said although it will take some time due to the re-grouping, but he feels that the party has the support of the rakyat and said that a non-ethnic party is the way to go for Malaysia as we are too overshadowed by all ethnicity and religion that people are being held back.

"Basically it is good but there's still a lot of hard work that needs to be done to recapture the old flames and passion," said Jayanath when asked about the future of PRM.

He also suggested that PRM documents its struggles since 1955 in a proper publication because a lot of people have forgotten about it and history books have failed to capture it, and this is the way how the ordinary would know the great people like Boestamam who struggled for a better Malaysia.

- mD - Malaysian Digest, 11/11/2011, "PRM Among First Political Parties to Reject ISA, Emergency Ordinance"

On PRM's intention to contest, Anwar said they will discuss the matter with PRM

2011-11-15T20:45:00.000-08:00

Anwar Wants Constitution Amended Fast to Allow Use of Indelible Ink

by Haider Yutim

KUALA LUMPUR, 15 NOVEMBER, 2011: The Pakatan Rakyat leadership council today agreed to support the amendment of the Federal Constitution for the usage of indelible during the next General Election.

Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said in 2008, the Attorney-General (AG) Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail claimed that in order to use indelible ink in the voting system an amendment must be made on the Federal Constitution.

He said generally all other law practitioners do not agree with Abdul Gani's view.

Nevertheless, he said Abdul Gani’s claim was intended as a trick by the AG to delay this process.

Meanwhile, the Pakatan leadership council said they are ready to accept Abdul Gani’s claim as long as the necessary amendment is done immediately.

"We suggest that the Attorney-General prepare an immediate draft to amend the said provisions... on condition that it would be tabled in Parliament immediately during this session so that it would not be a trick or excuse to delay or foil the plans of using indelible ink.

"The Pakatan council through the leaderships of PAS, DAP and Keadilan, agree to support this amendment should it requires a two-thirds majority," said Anwar during a press conference after Pakatan's leadership council meeting in Parliament today.

Anwar also urged that the committee and the government to take immediate steps to not delay the motion because if it is done next year, it would not bring any effect or meaning.

Meanwhile, commenting on the intention of Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) to contest in three parliamentary seats, Anwar said they will discuss the matter with PRM if the party is willing to talk over it.

"Yes, relevant parties... not necessarily me," said Anwar when asked on whether he will be the one to negotiate with PRM.

During its 56th Birthday Celebration PRM President Dr Rohana Ariffin announced that her party will be contesting for parliamentary seats in Balik Pulau in Penang, Selayang and Petaling Jaya Selantan in Selangor. She said the list of its candidates for these three constituencies will be announced in the near future.

The Pakatan council meeting also discussed about electoral roll, voting and the usage indelible ink.

- mD - Malaysian Digest, 15/11/2011, Anwar Wants Constitution Amended Fast to Allow Use of Indelible Ink

PKR MP Wants to Team Up with PRM to Fend Off BN from Balik Pulau

2011-11-15T20:44:00.000-08:00

PKR MP Wants to Team Up with PRM to Fend Off BN from Balik Pulau

by Aidil Syukri

KUALA LUMPUR, 15 NOVEMBER, 2011: Balik Pulau MP Yusmadi Yusoff said he welcomes Parti Rakyat Malaysia’s (PRM) the intention to contest its candidates in Balik Pulau for the next General Election (GE).

Speaking to reporters in a press conference in Parliament today, Yusmadi said, however, for the benefit of the voters in Balik Pulau constituency, he invited PRM to work with Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) in facing Barisan Nasional (BN).

He said, as the PRM has the same agenda with PKR which is to defeat the BN, he suggested for PRM President Dr Rohana Ariffin to discuss over this issue in order to benefit Balik Pulau voters.

“I am confident that PRM has a good faith in contesting in the GE that is to defeat BN. I welcome their intention to contest the at Balik Pulau because I know that PRM has a long history in Balik Pulau, especially Rohana who has competed in Balik Pulau on PKR ticket, but lost,” said Yusmadi.

“I suggest that since we have the same agenda that is to defeat Umno/BN in Balik Pulau, I recommend that Rohana and I to sit together to discuss further for the benefit of the voters in Balik Pulau in the coming election,” he added.

“So I am pleased to invite the leadership of the PRM to work together with me in dealing with Umno/BN,” he added.

He said he did not feel threatened at all by the PRM proposal to compete in Balik Pulau but what he is worried about is the fate of the voters in the constituency.

During its 56th Birthday Celebration PRM President Rohana announced that PRM will be contesting parliamentary seats in Balik Pulau in Penang, Selayang and Petaling Jaya Selantan in Selangor. The list of its candidates for these three constituencies will be announced in the near future.

Earlier, Dr Rohana, when contacted by Malaysian Digest this morning, said that it is the party's democratic right to contest in the next general election.

However, she said if the opposition is not willing to negotiate then “that's their problem”.

Nevertheless, Dr Rohana hopes that the Opposition would not treat them the same as what the government had been doing which is oppressing them.

Explaining the reasons to contest in the three constituencies, she said for Balik Pulau, they have contesting there for a long time except in 2008 and felt that they should contest again.

She said the party feels that it still has many supporters in that area, so that's why they decided to contest.

- mD - Malaysian Digest, 15/11/2011, PKR MP Wants to Team Up with PRM to Fend Off BN from Balik Pulau

PRM Holds 43rd National Congress

2011-11-15T20:41:00.000-08:00

PRM Holds 43rd National Congress

PETALING JAYA, 13 NOVEMBER, 2011: Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) held its 43rd National Congress yesterday two days after their 56th anniversary celebration last Friday. The left-wing political party was formed on the 11 November 1955 by its founder Ahmad Boestamam.

The event was held at its headquarters in Petaling Jaya Selatan attended by high profile guests in the likes of PAS Deputy President Mohammad Sabu, Nibong Tebal MP Tan Tee Beng, Kelana Jaya MP Loh Gwo Burne and SAMM leader Badrul Hisham Shaharin popularly known as Chegubard.

The highlight of the Congress was went party members elected their new leadership to face new challenges especially in the upcoming General Election in which they will be actively involved.

Below are the names of the new PRM leadership :

President: Dr Rohana Ariffin

Deputy President: SK Song

Vice Presidents: G Palaniandy, Tan Chin Hong, Koh Swee Yong

Secretary General: Al Jafree Md Yusop

Treasurer: Mohd Yusuf Che Ya

During its 56th Birthday Celebration party President Rohana announced that PRM will be contesting parliamentary seats in Balik Pulau in Penang, Selayang and Petaling Jaya Selantan in Selangor. The list of candidates will be announced in the near future.

- mD - Malaysian Digest, 14/11/2011, PRM Holds 43rd National Congress

PRM tetap mahu rampas tiga kerusi PKR (Malaysiakini)

2011-11-15T20:21:00.000-08:00

Tajuk berita adalah keputusan pihak media, dan boleh mengelirukan pembaca. Apa yang berlaku adalah pernyataan PRM niat mereka bertanding dalam pilihanraya akan datang menentang Barisan Nasional - dan bukan untuk menentang PKR. PRM memilih kerusi yang bakal ditandingi berasaskan sejarah kerja parti di kawasan terbabit dan sokongan, serta juga wujudnya calun sesuai untuk kawasan tersebut.

PRM tetap mahu rampas tiga kerusi PKR

12:25PM Nov 15, 2011

Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) menegaskan mempunyai hak demokratik untuk bertanding di tiga kerusi yang kini dikuasai PKR dalam pilihan raya umum akan datang; dan sekiranya Pakatan Rakyat menolaknya, itu "masalah mereka".

"Sekiranya pembangkang tidak bersedia berunding, itu masalah mereka," kata Presiden PRM Rohana Ariffin.

Beliau berkata, pembangkang tidak seharusnya menekan "seperti yang dilakukan kerajaan".

Parti itu semalam mengumumkan akan bertanding di Balik Pulau, Selayang dan Petaling Jaya Selatan yang dipegang Yusmadi Yusof, William Leong dan Hee Loy Sian.

Sekiranya perkara itu tidak dapat diselesaikan, maka pilihan raya umum yang dijangkakan seawal tahun depan akan menyaksikan pertandingan tiga penjuru antara kedua-dua parti berkenaan dan BN. - Malaysiakini, 15/11/2011, PRM tetap mahu rampas tiga kerusi PKR

PKR bakal berdepan PRM di Balik Pulau, PJS, Selayang (Malaysiakini)

2011-11-14T20:25:00.000-08:00

PKR bakal berdepan PRM di Balik Pulau, PJS, Selayang

1:06PM Nov 14, 2011

Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) hari ini mengumumkan bahawa ia akan bertanding di tiga kerusi yang sekarang ini dipegang oleh PKR pada pilihan raya umum akan datang.

Dalam satu kenyataan media, presiden PRM yang baru dilantik, Rohana Ariffin berkata, parti itu akan bertanding di Balik Pulau di Pulau Pinang dan kerusi Selayang serta Petaling Jaya Selatan di Selangor.

Ketiga-tiga kerusi itu kini dipegang oleh Yusmadi Yusof, William Leong dan Hee Loy Sian.

Melainkan PRM mampu menyelesaikan perkara itu dengan PKR, maka pilihan raya umum kali ini yang dijangkakan seawal tahun depan, akan menyaksikan sekurang-kurangnya pertandingan tiga penjuru di antara kedua-dua parti berkenaan dan BN.

Adalah difahamkan bahawa buat masa ini belum ada pertemuan di antara PRM dan PKR bagi membincangkan perkara itu tetapi PKR dijangka mengeluarkan satu kenyataan apabila biro politiknya bermesyuarat pada Rabu ini.

PRM dikatakan telah bergabung dengan dengan ahli serpihan PKR, iaitu Parti Keadilan Nasional pada tahun 2003 selepas perbincangan yang berlarutan antara kedua-dua pihak.

Beberapa pihak dalam PRM mendakwa sebilangan besar ahli-ahlinya menentang penggabungan itu dan ia masih berfungsi sebagai sebuah parti politik,dan terus diiktiraf sebagai sebuah entiti yang berasingan oleh Pendaftar Pertubuhan.

Walau bagaimanapun, pemimpin PKR, termasuk mereka yang pernah menganggotai parti berhaluan kiri yang ditubuhkan oleh oleh pejuang kemerdekaan Ahmad Boestamam pada tahun 1955 itu, menegaskan bahawa PRM tidak lagi wujud.

Dakwa mereka sesetengah pemimpin, seperti bekas presiden, (kanan) dan setiausaha agung SK Song - yang merupakan antara mereka yang berkeras mempertahankan kewujudan PRM - juga telah bertanding pada pilihan raya umum 2004 di bawah tiket PKR. - Malaysiakini, 14/11/2011, PKR bakal berdepan PRM di Balik Pulau, PJS, Selayang

No bowing out for the seladang (Star)

2011-11-13T22:20:00.000-08:00

PRM, the only left-wing party in the country, is looking for a resurgence in the coming general election

A DIE-HARD Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) supporter trudged up a long flight of stairs to the party headquarters on the third floor of a shoplot in Petaling Jaya.

I could literally hear the 57-year-old man’s knee creaking as he spiritedly - one step at a time - advanced towards where PRM was celebrating its 56th birthday on Friday.

On the way up, he talked about the days in the 1960s when, as a boy, he put up PRM posters during the election campaign against the “kapal layar” (the sailboat logo of the Alliance, predecessor to Barisan Nasional).

Quiet celebration: Joining Rohana in cutting the PRM anniversary cake are (from left) treasurer Teh Soon Ming, secretary-general R.N. Rajah and central working committee member Zulkarnain Abdullah at the party headquarters in Petaling Jaya last Friday.

“It was during the Vietnam War era when anti-Americanism was the rage and support for the party was at its height,” he recalled.

PRM won the parliamentary seats of Kuala Lumpur and Johor Baru in the 1959 general election.

At 11am sharp on 11.11.11, PRM president Rohana Ariffin and her comrades cut a cake with the party’s logo - the head of a seladang (the Malayan gaur), witnessed by about 50 people, including two party members who were ISA detainees.

After the party, I spoke to Rohana, a retired associate professor of Universiti Sains Malaysia.

A bit wary of attending a party with leftist leanings as it is the season to attack all things linked to Socialism, I asked the president to explain her party.

“The socialist party - as far as we know it in Malaysia - believes in the democratic process of being elected into power and not through armed revolution,” said the 60-something who was wearing a red bandana.

“If you ask what socialist ideology is, it believes that all production of the country should be for the consumption of the rakyat first and not so much for profit.

“You can make a certain amount of profit but the rakyat’s interest comes first, especially that of the working class.”

PRM is one of Malaysia’s oldest political parties. It was founded as Parti Rakyat on Nov 11, 1955 by Ahmad Boestamam, Dr Burhanuddin Al Helmy and Ishak Mohamad.

“The party was strong in the 1960s and 1970s. But since it was the only legitimate left-wing party in the country at that time, the Government came down hard on people with socialist ideologies,” said Rohana.

“When you look at the evolution of the party, most PRM leaders (such as Boestamam, Kassim Ahmad and Syed Husin Ali) have been detained in prison.”

In 2003, PRM was thought to have been dissolved when it merged with Parti Keadilan Nasional to form Parti Keadilan Rakyat.

“At that time, the party leadership was quite ‘tired’ because society would not accept us as they saw PRM as left-wing and there was a popular movement which was Keadilan, so they decided to merge.”

However, like the seladang, PRM stubbornly refused to become extinct.

“The only problem with the merger was that we should have had a last delegates’ meeting to dissolve the party in an honourable manner,” Rohana recalled.

But in the haste to merge, the leadership “forgot” to do so.

In 2005, die-hard supporters convened a national congress and “resurrected” the party as it was never de-registered.

During the interview with Rohana, PRM supporters would quietly slip RM10 or RM50 to the party president as they bid goodbye to her.

“This is our culture,” she explained. “We are a very poor party and we rely on financial support from our members. Usually what we do is pay with our own money for an event we organise and then our members will give donations.”

It is heart-warming for Rohana to see die-hard supporters climb the steps to attend the party’s event.

“For example, there was a 70-something member who came from Sungai Tembiling (in Pahang) by boat and bus and he told me, ‘Parti Rakyat is my party and I will never change’,” Rohana related.

“And even among the young the spirit is there. Our party is rejuvenated by the young who are interested in left-wing politics.”

The young, she said, were fed up with the infighting in Parliament between the Government and the Opposition.

“There is no compromise or middle ground in any issue that the two coalitions can’t see the trees for the forest.”

The party is seeking relevance in the next election.

It is targeting to contest in seats like Selayang, Balik Pulau and Petaling Jaya Selatan.

The seladang, which can’t be put to pasture, is hoping left-wing politics will make a resurgence.- Star, 14/11/2011, No bowing out for the seladang

PRM to challenge PKR in Balik Pulau, PJS, Selayang

2011-11-13T22:15:00.000-08:00

PRM to challenge PKR in Balik Pulau, PJS, Selayang

12:36PM Nov 14, 2011

Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) has announced it would contest in three parliamentary seats currently held by PKR in the upcoming general election.

In a statement issued today, PRM said its newly-elected president Dr Rohana Ariffin (left) had announced it would contest in Balik Pulau in Penang, and Selayang and Petaling Jaya Selatan in Selangor.

The three constituencies are represented by Yusmadi Yusof, William Leong and Hee Loy Sian, respectively.

Unless PRM can resolve the matter with PKR, therefore, there will be a three-corner fight between the two parties and BN in the next polls, which some expect to be held early next year.

It is understood that there is currently no deal between PRM and PKR. The latter is expected to issue a statement when its political bureau meets on Wednesday evening.

PRM was said to have merged with PKR precursor Parti Keadilan Nasional in 2003 after protracted discussions between leaders of the two parties.

A faction within PRM, however, claims a significant number of its members were against the merger, that it is still functioning as a political party, and is still recognised as a separate entity by the Registrar of Societies.

PKR leaders, however, including those formerly in the leadership of the leftist party founded in 1955 by independence fighter and one-time MP Ahmad Boestamam, have insisted PRM no longer exists.

They point out that some of its leaders, such as former president Hassan Abdul Karim ( right) and secretary-general SK Song - who were among those who insisted on PRM’s continued existence - had even contested the 2004 general election under the PKR banner.

They had also attended the first merged congress of PKR in 2005 held in Ipoh and witnessed the democratic process of the election to elect committee members.

In the statement today, PRM also announced its new lineup following party elections held over the weekend at its headquarters in Petaling Jaya Selatan.

Beside Dr Rohana, the others elected to PRM's new leadership were Song (deputy president) and G Palaniandy, Tan Chin Hong, Koh Swee Yong as vice presidents.

Al Jafree Md Yusop was elected secretary general, and Mohd Yusuf Che Ya as treasurer.

Among those in attendance at the congress were PAS deputy president Mohammad Sabu, Kita's Nibong Tebal MP Tan Tee Beng, PKR's Kelana Jaya MP Loh Gwo Burne and ex-PKR youth leader Badrul Hisham Shaharin. - Malaysiakini, 14/11/2011, PRM to challenge PKR in Balik Pulau, PJS, Selayang

Parti PRM, Puan Rohana Ariffin tidak berbelah bahagi menyatakan sokongan akan hadir menjayakan Perhimpunan Bersih 2.0 pada 9 Julai 2011

2011-11-06T00:13:00.000-07:00

Parti PRM, Puan Rohana Ariffin tidak berbelah bahagi menyatakan sokongan akan hadir menjayakan Perhimpunan Bersih 2.0 pada 9 Julai 2011

YB Teresa Kok dari DAP menyelar tindakan PERKASA untuk berhimpun membantah Perhimpunan Bersih 2.0 yang termaktub dalam perlembagaan Malaysia tentang hak untuk berhimpun

YB Syed Azman dari PAS menyatakan sokongan 100% dan akan mengerahkan 100,000 ahli PAS hadir ke Perhimpunan Bersih 2.0

YB Nurul Izzah mewakili PKR menyatakan sokongan 100% terhadap Perhimpunan Bersih 2.0

Pengerusi Bersih 2.0, Datuk S Ambiga menyatakan akan meneruskan Perhimpunan Bersih 2.0 walaupun mendapat tentangan yang hebat daripada pelbagai pihak

Sebanyak 8 tuntutan dikemukakan sempena Perhimpunan Bersih 2.0

Dianggarkan lebih 2,000 orang telah hadir di majlis Perasmian Perhimpunan Bersih 2.0

Saari bersama Aliza, Pak Long dan rakan-rakan dari Segamat Johor yang hadir di Majlis Perasmian menyatakan sokongan kepada Bersih 2.0

Saari bersama seorang kanak-kanak istimewa, anak kepada seorang aktivis yang hadir menyatakan sokongan

PRM President: Public's Suspicions Over Abolishment of ISA Due to Govt's Low Credibility

2011-09-25T20:55:00.000-07:00

PRM President: Public's Suspicions Over Abolishment of ISA Due to Govt's Low Credibility

by Dajmarizal Zolkipli

DAMANSARA, 22 SEPTEMBER, 2011: Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) president Dr Rohana Ariffin said that the public’s suspicions over Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s recent announcement to abolish the Internal Security Act (ISA) is mainly due to the low credibility of the ruling government.

Dr Rohana however believes that the repealing of the ISA is a positive move for a better democratic country.

“In the next couple of years, if the government is sincere and the ISA is abolished, then it is a very positive move towards the betterment democracy of Malaysia,” Dr Rohana said.

“The government have been using a lot of oppression tools of laws in its 54 years of ruling the country. So when the government gives the ISA up, the people becomes highly suspicious and think that this might be a political ploy for general elections, whenever it is it might be held,” she added.

She also said she is certain that Najib will keep to his promises to repeal the ISA along with other oppressive laws seeing as the government currently needs to improve its credibility.

“The credibility of the government is rather low at the moment, especially in the urban areas therefore I am sure that the announcement made by the prime minister will go through,” said Dr Rohana.

She added that even if the government having two-third of the seats in parliament, its proposal for the abolishment of the ISA will still go through as opposition MP’s would be debating against it should the government make a U-turn.

“Politics in the country politics has changed since the last general election in 2008. The government cannot afford to be flip flopping as, in the parliament, there are other MPs that will debate for the abolishment causes, and the civil society and the third force will surely be holding protests if the announcement to abolish the ISA didn’t go through,” said Dr Rohana.

“The public now must change their mindset knowing that the opposition will do their best in ensure that the abolishment of the ISA will become a reality,” she added.

Dr Rohana also welcomes the two new laws that will be proposed by the government to substitute the ISA.

“We need a preventive law, because if we don’t have it, the country will be exposed to terror,” said Dr Rohana.

“But the two laws must not be arbitrary. We need a new law that is clear, not like the ISA,” she added.

- mD - Malaysian Digest, 22/9/2011, PRM President: Public's Suspicions Over Abolishment of ISA Due to Govt's Low Credibility

PRM to Field Candidates in the Next GE

2011-08-24T21:01:00.000-07:00

PRM to Field Candidates in the Next GE

KUALA LUMPUR, 22 AUGUST, 2011: Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) will be fielding candidates in Selangor, Johor, Perak, Kedah and Penang in the next general election (GE), said its president Dr Rohana Ariffin.

"In Selangor we will be contesting for two parliamentary seats which are Selayang and Kelana Jaya, four state assembly seats which are PJS1, Templer, Kuang and Rawang.

"In Johor, one parliamentary seat which is Johor Bahru and two state assembly seats which are Johor Jaya and Stulang.

"In Perak, one state assembly seat which is Behrang, in Kedah one parliamentary seat which is Sg petani and one or two seats in Penang which will be announced later," she said in a press statement today.

According to Dr Rohana, the names of their candidates will be announced later by the Central Working Committee.

- mD

Kerdau By-Election :- A possible coming out event for the 'new' PRM?

2011-02-12T19:33:00.000-08:00

Will PRM consider contesting in Kerdau? Maybe, it should because Temerloh is and was the birthplace of the Malay left, and clearly PAS who contested in the last elections seems not to have the support of the people. Maybe, PRM should start campaigning and run in Kerdau - it could also be a coming-out moment for Parti Rakyat Malaysia.

A by-election also do get the attention of the Malaysian public ...and that is more reason why PRM should really consider fast the possibly of running.

TEMERLOH: Kerdau assemblyman Datuk Zaharuddin Abu Kassim died of a heart attack at his home near here, paving the way for the country’s 16th by-election.

Zaharuddin, 63, had slipped in his bathroom at about 6.45pm yesterday after complaining of being unwell.

He was rushed to the Sultan Ahmad Shah Hospital, but doctors failed to resuscitate him.

The first-term assemblyman was pronounced dead at about 7.15pm at the intensive care unit.

OCPD Asst Comm Mohd Nor Mansor confirmed that Zaharuddin had collapsed in the bathroom of his Kampung Kerdau home.

Kuala Krau MP Datuk Ismail Said said the assemblyman, who was supposed to attend a Chinese New Year event, had felt unwell.

Sultan Ahmad Shah, who was attending a 1Malaysia Chinese New Year gathering in Raub, left the event early to visit Zaharuddin’s family and offer his condolences.

Mentakab assemblyman Datuk Chuah Boon Seong, who was also at the gathering, said: “It is truly sad for all of us in Pahang in the midst of celebrating Chinese New Year.”

In May last year, Zaharuddin was warded in critical condition at the National Heart Institute following complications after an operation to treat intestinal ulcer.

He recovered after two months.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is expected to attend the burial ceremony, which will be held after afternoon prayers at the Kampung Paya Taram Muslim cemetery.

Zaharuddin won the Kerdau seat in a straight fight against PAS’ Hassanuddin Salim in the 2008 general election, gaining a 1,615-vote majority. - Star, 13/2/2011, Kerdau rep dies, 16th by-election on the cards

Kerdau assemblyperson Zaharuddin Abu Kassim, 63, from Umno died at Temerloh's Hospital Sultan Ahmad Shah at 7.15pm today.

The Pahang state representative, who had been in and out of hospital over the past one year, had earlier fell in his bathroom at his home in Temerloh.

Zaharuddin had previously been admitted to the hospital twice due to kidney
complication as well as a heart ailment and unstable blood pressure in May and
November last year.

"Datuk Zaharuddin was confirmed as having suffered a heart attack," Temerloh OCPD, ACP Mohd Noor Mansor told Bernama.

His passing sets the stage for the 16th by-election - and the first in Pahang - since the 2008 general elections.

Under the election laws, the Election Commission will have to call a by-election within 60 days.

At present, rival political parties are preparing for the 15th by-election in Merlimau, Malacca on March 6, which has been called due to death of state assemblyperson Mohamad Hidhir Abu Hassan.

Of the 14 by-elections so far, Pakatan Rakyat has won eight, while BN six.

Given that both Merlimau and Kerdau are BN strongholds, the ruling coalition is expected to even the score ahead of the upcoming general elections.

12 elected reps died since 2008
Since the 2008 general elections, 12 elected representatives had died from various illnesses, including heart problems, cancer, stroke and lung infection.

Of the remaining four, three by-elections were held after incumbent representative quit their seats in the Permatang Pauh parliamentary and Penanti and Bukit Selambau state seats.

One other by-election was held in Batu Sapi, Sabah after its MP Edmund Chong died in a road accident.

The number of by-elections in the past three years is the highest in the country's electoral history.

Kerdau is an overwhelmingly Malay-majority seat with the community comprising 89 percent of the 8,451 voters, while 5.6 percent are Chinese and 3.6 percent Indians.

In the 2008 general elections, Zaharuddin beat PAS candidate hassanudin Salim with a majority of 1,615 votes.
In 2004, Umno's Redzwan Harun won the seat with a much higher majority of 2,565.

He suddenly lost conciousness

Zaharuddin had also been treated at the National Heart Institute for two months for kidney complication and heart ailment after undergoing surgery for intestinal ulcer at the Hospital Sultan Ahmad Shah Temerloh in May last year.

Meanwhile, Kuala Krau member of parliament Ismail Mohamed Said said Zaharuddin was taken to hospital and admitted to the intensive care unit, but was confirmed dead while receiving treatment.

"According to his aide, Zaharuddin had earlier complained of stomach ache and his aide had taken him to the bathroom, where he suddenly fell and lost consciousness," he said when met at the hospital.

Ismail said Zaharuddin was then preparing to attend a Chinese New Year gathering in Temerloh.

He said Zaharuddin would be laid to rest at the Kampung Paya Taram Muslim Cemetery, Kerdau after the Zohor prayer tomorrow. - Malaysiakini, 12/2/2011, Kerdau state rep dies, 16th by-election beckons

Parti Rakyat Malaysia Press Statement on 30 December 2010

2011-02-01T19:43:00.000-08:00

Parti Rakyat Malaysia Press Statement on 30 December 2010

For the coming years, Parti Rakyat Malaysia shall re-emerge like a breath of fresh air into the political arena of Malaysia.

We still firmly belived in the struggle of our forefounders like Dr. Burhanuddin Al-Helmy, Ahmad Boestamam, Shamsiah Fakeh in bringing about a progressive and equitable society and the PRM will always remain a multiracial political party.

We will continue to struggle with the people against any form of exploitation, violence and corruption. We believe that the capitalistic and neo-liberal systems will continue to exploit the working class and the general population. Many of our social problems like all forms of crimes, unwanted pregnancies, corruption and selfish attitude are mainly rooted in the system that are dominant in Malaysia.

We will have a Barisan Bela Rakyat(People's Front) to go to the ground to struggle alongside the people. In that we are now building our youth section, working with youth groups and NGOs. Our youth shall be called Pemuda Rakyat (People's Youth).

PRM is willing to work with all parties and vehicles (political and others) to strengthen the democratic process in the country. This will be through dialogues, networking and joint actions and struggles. We shall struggle against all forms of fascism, be it political or racial fascism or religious fascism. The people shall live with a sense of duty and responsibility to society and shall not be subjected to any form of immitidation from any groups with power.

Last but not least, we call upon all interested parties to join us. In addition, we welcome the youth who may be searching for a political party that is progressive, multiracial has been historically resilient and with steadfast integrity. This appeal goes also to our former PRM members who may want to come back into the fold of PRM.

In the recent 42 PRM Congress, a restructuring was called for and agreed by the majority in the Congress and in the first Central Committee meeting the new line-up are as follows:

President: Rohana Ariffin
Deputy President : Song Sing Kwee
Vice President: Gary Nair, Salleh Ahmad, Goh Chuin Loon
Secretary General : Koh Swe Yong
Assistant Sec Gen : Kamarul Adnan
Treasurer: Teh Soon Meng
Committee Members: Tan Chin Hong, Yem Ahmad, Ariffin Salimon, Zulkarnain Abdullah, Sivakumar Balakrishnan, Aidit Abdullah, Palaniandy Kunchi, Nadarajah Ramasamy, M. Rizal Ibrahim

Tolak UMNO- BN Tolak dasar poket UMNO-BN didahulukan, kroni UMNO diutamakan

2010-10-27T08:36:00.000-07:00

Tolak UMNO- BN

Tolak dasar poket UMNO-BN didahulukan, kroni UMNO diutamakan

Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) menyeru kepada rakyat supaya menolak regim UMNO-BN, dan menolak dasar UMNO-BN, kerana di bawah dasar ekonomi baru dan politik baru ini poket UMNO-BN didahulukan dan kroni UMNO diutamakan. Inilah kelanjutan dasar dan skim cepat kaya Dr Mahathir untuk mengkayakan segelintir kerabat dan kroni mereka supaya menjadi bilionwan dan pada masa yang sama memiskinkan rakyat jelata.

Pada Parti Rakyat Malaysia, arah tuju UMNO-BN amat jelas sekarang, apa-apa jenis transformasi yang diuar-uarkan dan diketengahkan oleh regim UMNO-BN di bawah kepimpinan Najib Tun Razak adalah semata-mata untuk meraih balik kepercayaan dan sokongan rakyat yang telah hilang , seterusnya untuk memancing undi rakyat, dan dengan demikian untuk memanjangkan dasar mengaut keuntungan dan kekayaan banyak-banyak dengan mengorbankan wang pembayar cukai dan kekayaan negara.

Apa yang terpapar, projek-projek mega yang telah diumumkan baru-baru ini seperti projek 100-tingkat Warisan Merdeka yang akan dibina atas pembinasaan tapak bersejarah di tengah-tengah Kuala Lumpur dan memakan berbilion-bilion ringgit, mengingatkan kita projek-projek mega yang tidak memanfaatkan rakyat semasa Dr Mahathir memimpin kerajaan UMNO-BN. Sebaliknya pelaksanaan GST dan penarikan subsidi untuk kesihatan rakyat dan lain-lain ditangguhkan buat sementara ini.

Jika rakyat terus percaya akan kata-kata manis UMNO-BN setelah 55 tahun memerintah dan memberi undi sokongan kepada UMNO-BN, nasib rakyat dan negara kita pasti menjerumus ke arah daif miskin dan negara kita akan hilang daya persaingan dan jauh tertinggal dalam arus perubahan deras dunia.

Jika UMNO-BN diberikan kepercayaan dan kuasa , rancangan GST dan penghapusan subsidi bagi barangan keperluan dan perkhidmatan asas seperti kesihatan dan perubatan untuk rakyat akan dilaksanakan kelak kerana kekayaan asli untuk dikaut oleh UMNO-BN makin hari makin habis.

Pada masa itu, bukan sahaja harga barangan akan melambung naik, bahkan pengangguran dan masalah undang-undang dan keselamatan masyarakat pasti menjadi lebih buruk, rakyat tidak akan hidup dalam suasana berpendapatan tinggi, malahan tidak wujud lagi suasana hidup yang selamat dan selesa, kebajikan rakyat akan dihapuskan.

Oleh itu, PRM menyeru rakyat menolak UMNO-BN dalam PRK Galas dan memberikan sokongan kepada calon PAS, dan juga menolak UMNO-BN pada PRU ke-13 kelak untuk mencetuskan “transformasi” tulen kepada negara ini.

Yang benar,

(Koh Swe Yong)

Setiausaha Agung

012-2766551

Joint Statement (71 Groups): JVC Unjustly Discriminates Against Burmese Migrant Women Workers Who Claim Worker Rights

2010-10-21T03:09:00.000-07:00

Media Statement – 21/10/2010

JVC Unjustly Discriminates Against Burmese Migrant

Women Workers Who Claim Worker Rights

We, the undersigned 71 civil society organizations and groups, would like to express our serious concern that JVC has indicated that they will not re-new the employment contracts of Pa Pa Aye and 15 other Burmese women migrant workers, who lodged a claim at the Labour Department claiming worker rights that the JVC company had violated, amongst them the wrongful deduction of their wages to recover levy that employers have to pay when they employ foreign workers. The other 7 workers, who complained, whose contract was renewed in August, will also be terminated and repatriated. The information contained in this statement has been provided by the affected workers.

JVC has its factory at Lot. No.1, Persiaran Jubli Perak, Jalan 22/1, Section 22, Shah Alam, 40702 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia, and they manufactures cameras, video cameras and audio equipment components, amongst others.

On 21/7/2010, Pa Pa Aye and 22 other women migrant workers lodged a complaint at the Subang Jaya Labour Office in Malaysia. Amongst their demands were for the return of monies wrongly deducted from their wages for levy the employer had to pay to the Malaysian government for employing migrant workers, other unlawful deductions like transfer fees, saving funds, etc amounting to about RM3,500-00, and for the return of the Passports which are still wrongly being held by the employer . They were also claiming for the balance of the wages that they were entitled. According to the workers, the employer was to pay them much more about RM50 per day but they were only paid the sum of RM23.

On 6/8/2010, after night shift when the women workers were being transported back to their homes, their bus took a different route, and suddenly stopped where the agent was waiting. The agent then called one of the Burmese women migrant workers who had complaint to the Labour Department and asked her to leave the bus and follow him. The workers suspected that the agent was trying to get the worker sent back to Burma, and they stood together and prevented the agent from taking the worker. The workers then lodged a police report about this incident. There have also been other cases of harassment, whereby in one incident 3 men entered the women’s hostel and threatened them.

The workers, through their representatives, which included an officer from the Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC) also complained about this incident to JVC, and JVC gave the assurance that this will not happen again and they guaranteed that all workers could continue to work in JVC.

On 12/8/2010, the agent tried to force the workers to sign a new contract, but all workers refused to sign it. The pressure on the workers to sign the new contract took place at the factory compound. Later on the same day the JVC’s Human Resource Manager, one Mr. Mazlan, and the HR Assistant Manager, one Ms. Ida, also tried to pressure the workers to sign the new contracts. The new contract was written in English only (just like their old contract). The workers to date do not have a copy of their old contract, as they were never given a copy. The new contract allegedly stated that their daily salary will be reduced to RM21, which is RM2 less than what the workers have been getting until now.

On 25/8/2010, the Burmese workers informed us that JVC had summarily dismissed 30 Sri Lanka women migrant workers in retaliation for their demand that JVC pay them their promised monthly salary of RM750. After the dismissal JVC and the agent, Fast Link Trans, began forceful repatriation of the workers. On 28/8/2010, 8 Sri Lankan workers were allegedly sent home. These workers apparently never received the amount owing them and/or any compensation for premature termination of their contract.

On 8/9/2010, JVC’s Human Resources Officer, in the presence of the Labour Officer and the agent’s representative from a company known as Fast Link Trans, tried to return to the Burmese workers the amount they said was the levy that had been wrongfully deducted from the wages and asked the workers to sign a document which was in English. The workers refused as the amount offered was far less than the sum deducted, and they did not want to sign any document which was in a language they did not know.

The company also refused to give a copy of the document to enable them to get an independent person who spoke Burmese to translate its contents to them.

On 28/9/2010, the agent informed the workers that when their current annual contract expires, their contracts will not be renewed and they will all be sent back to Burma. The contracts of 15 of these workers’ contract will expire in October, and the rest by the end of the year. Pa Pa Aye’s own contract expires in early November. The contracts of 7 others which expired in August have already been renewed. Later, on about 7/10/2010, the agent informed the workers that all 23 of them will be terminated and sent back to Burma. The process of forced repatriation of the Burmese workers has already begun with one worker being sent back to Burma on 9/10/2010.

It must be stated that according to the workers, when they came to Malaysia to work with JVC the agreement was that they will be employed for a period of at least 3 years, but when they arrived and started working, they were made to sign 1-year contracts with the verbal assurance that it will be renewed every year for at least a total of 3 years. The threat of early termination and deportation is also wrong and discriminatory as JVC has continued to renew contracts of others who had started work around the same time as these Burmese migrant workers.

Any early termination, and/or non renewal of the 1-year employment contracts by JVC can reasonably be seen as a retaliation of the company against workers who have elected to claim their rights as workers. Their case at the Labour Department is pending, and a termination and repatriation back to Burma will mean that the workers will not be able to continue to pursue their claim in the Labour Department/Court as the presence of the worker in the hearing of their claims against the employer is compulsory, and their absence will mean that their case will just be struck off,

We, the undersigned groups, call upon JVC to respect worker rights and their right to access to justice and not cause these 23 Burmese workers to be terminated and deported.

We urge that JVC to respect the law and the legal process initiated by the lodging of the complaint by the workers at the Labour Department, and to respect and abide with the outcome of the hearing at the Labour Court. Workers should not be terminated and/or discriminated against by reason of the fact that they choose to demand for their rights or better rights as workers. For those who have already been repatriated back to their country of origin, including those workers from Sri Lanka, JVC must compensate them for their expenses in coming to Malaysia to work, and for the early termination of their employment.

We call on JVC to act justly and not to terminate these workers, and to renew their contract so that they can pursue their claims until completion. JVC should also adhere to their earlier promise that these workers will be employed for a period of at least 3 years, for migrant workers do expend a lot of money (850-1,000 USD) when they do come to Malaysia to work and any early termination and breach of rights will only leave these workers in a worse situation as they may not be even to settle the debts they incurred in coming here to Malaysia to work.

We call on Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) to inquire into this complaint concerning the violation of worker rights by JVC.

We also call on the Malaysian government and the Human Resource Minister to ensure that no workers are terminated and/or discriminated against by reason of the fact that they have stood up to claim their rights as workers.

The Malaysian government should also ensure that no migrant worker is terminated and/or repatriated back to their country of origins until the employer has fully settled all outstanding worker claims and/or payments. If migrant workers are terminated, the Malaysian government must ensure that these workers are allowed to stay and work legally in Malaysia until all outstanding claims and legal processes are settled. If special passes and visas are required to ensure workers ability to stay and work legally, it must be given gratis without requiring the workers to pay anything. Worker cases must be expedited, and independent translators should be available at all Labour Departments and courts.

Labour rights must take precedent over immigration law. Do not deport until worker claims are determined and settled by Labour Department and/or courts.

Charles Hector

Pranom Somwong

For and on behalf of the following 71 organizations

ALIRAN,

Asia Pacific Forum on Women ,Law and Development ( APWLD)

Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM)

Asian Migrants Center (AMC)

Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma)

BAYAN USA

BUGKOS

Building and Wood Workers International Asia Pacific Regional Office

Burma Campaign, Malaysia

Burmese Women's Union (BWU)

Coalition To Abolish Modern-Day Slavery In Asia

Committee for Asian Women (CAW)

Community Development Services (CDS), Sri Lanka

Coordination of Action Research on AIDS & Mobility (CARAM-ASIA)

Democratic Party for a New Society (DPNS), Burma

FICAP – Aichi

Filipino Migrants Center – FMC

Forum for Democracy in Burma

GABRIELA – Japan

Gabriela-Taiwan

Grassroots Human Rights Education & Development (GHRE-FED), Thailand

Human Rights Education Institute of Burma

IHI Action Group (Iwi Have Influence), New Zealand

IMA Research Foundation, Bangladesh

Kachin Women's Association, Thailand

KAFIN – Nagoya

KL & Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall Youth Section

League of Filipino Seniors (LFS)

Legal Support for Children and Women (LSCW), Cambodia

MADPET - Malaysians against Death Penalty and Torture

Malaysia Youth and Students Democratic Movement (DEMA)

MAP Foundation, Thailand

May 1st Coalition, Co-Coordinator, USA

Mekong Migration Network ( MMN)

Migrante Aotearoa New Zealand

Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA)

Migrante-Denmark chapter

Migranteng Ilonggo sa Taiwan

Migrante International

Migrante international - Hsinchuang chapter

Migrante International - Taiwan chapter

Migrante-Middle East and Migrante-Saudi Arabia chapter

MIGRANTE – Nagoya

Migrants Trade Union (MTU), Korea

Migrant Workers Network – New Zealand

National League for Democracy [NLD (LA)], Malaysia

Nepal Institute of Development Studies( NIDS) ,NEPAL

Network for Empowerment of Women in Vietnam

Network of Action for Migrants in Malaysia (NAMM)

Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM)

Penggerak Belia Zon 23 MPSJ, Malaysia

Persatuan Masyarakat Selangor & Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia

Persatuan Penduduk Taman Muhibbah, Malaysia

Persatuan Prihatin Komuniti KL & Selangor

Philippine Society in Japan – Nagoya

PINAY (Montreal)

Pusat Komas, Malaysia

Persatuan Sahabat Wanita Selangor, Malaysia

Shan Refugee Organization (Malaysia)

Shan Women Action Network (SWAN), Thailand

Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM)

Tenaganita, Malaysia

The Federation of Trade Unions Burma (FTUB)

The Filipino Women's Organization in Quebec

The National Human Rights Society (Persatuan Kebangsaan Hak Asasi Manusia, HAKAM), Malaysia

The Shwe Gas Movement

Unite Union New Zealand

Women Empowerment Association

Workers Hub for Change (WH4C)

Yaung Chi Oo Workers Association ( YCOWA)

Yayasan Annisa Swasti (YASANTI), Indonesia

Activists decry changes to Employment Act (Free Malaysia Today)

2010-10-02T11:47:00.000-07:00

Activists decry changes to Employment Act

Fri, 01 Oct 2010 17:32, Free Malaysia Today

By Rahmah Ghazali

KUALA LUMPUR: Draconian, oppressive, inhuman, a suck-up to the rich and a betrayal of the working man—these are some of the epithets civic groups are using to describe proposed amendments to the Employment Act that the Human Resources Ministry will soon table in Parliament.

R Ravindrakumar, a member of the Malaysian Bar’s Industrial Law Committee, said the amendments would put a halt to workers’ industrial freedom.

Speaking at a press conference in the presence of other labour activists, he said some of the proposals would have the effect of restricting workers’ access to justice when their employers unlawfully dismiss them.

Under the current law, he explained, “when an employee’s termination is unlawful, the chairman of the industrial court will determine whether the employee’s termination was done with just cause.”

The proposed amendments, however, identify several groups of employees that will not have the benefit of seeking redress through the industrial court.

These groups would include those who earn RM10,000 and above a month, those who have accepted retrenchment benefits, and those on fixed-term contracts, such as probationers.

This would go against the Federal Constitution, which provides for equality before the law, according to Ravindrakumar.

He said: “If the constitution says that everyone is equal, why exclude certain people? When you exclude them, what remedy to they have?

“At best, they could go to civil court, which has no power to reinstate an employee back to his job.”

The amendments will go through their second reading in Parliament this month.

There are also plans to amend the Industrial Relations Act and the Trade Union Act.

Draconian

S Parameswari, a representative of Gabungan Membantah Akta Pekerjaan, said the amendments would be detrimental to local workers employed in factories because they will have to go through sub-contractors instead of dealing directly with their employers.

“The ultimate implication is that the direct relationship between the workers and the employees will be lost,” she said.

She also pointed out that under the amendments, employers would get an extension of 30 days to remit overtime payment to their workers, compared to seven days under the current law.

Furthermore, employers will get more freedom in setting working hours. “If they call you up at 3am, then you have to work at that hour,” Parameswari said.

Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) secretary-general S Arutchelvan said the proposed amendments were the most draconian in 40 years of Malaysian industrial history.

“For more than 10 years, civil society has been asking for other policies, such as minimum wage, funds to be given to those who have been retrenched and automatic registration to trade unions, but the government has not passed any of these laws,” he said.

“What they are doing now is making the laws favourable to big corporations.”

He added that workers were beginning to lose faith in the government’s promise to institute a minimum wage regulation.

“We feel that it is not going to happen because minimum wage is opposed by the employers’ federation. They have delayed this for many years and all they do is please the foreign investors.”

Arutchelvan also accused the Najib administration of insensitivity to the rights and needs of the poor in removing subsidies for essential items and proposing the Goods and Services Tax.

“But the government does not touch subsidies to the big corporations,” he said.

Other groups represented at the press conference were Suaram, Jaringan Rakyat Tertindas (Jerit), Joint Action for Gender Equality (JAG), Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) and Gabungan Anak Muda dan Pelajar (GAMP).

PRM : Mansuh ISA bukan pinda [Abolish the ISA not amend]废除内安法令，不是修改

2010-07-30T21:12:00.000-07:00

Media Statement - 31/7/2010 [Bahasa Melayu, English, Chinese]

Mansuh ISA bukan pinda

Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri atau lebih dikenal dengan nama ISA harus hendak dimansuhkan, bukannya dipinda. Inilah pendirian Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) terhadap ISA semenjak ISA diperkenalkan dan dikuatkuasakan pada 1 Ogos 1960. Pada 1 Ogos 2010, ISA genap dilaksanakan selama 50 tahun. Pelaksanaan ISA sendirinya sudah memperlihatkan warna sebenar ISA.

Jika seseorang memandang balik ke masa perdebatan dan hujah-hujah perkenalan ISA pada 1960, adalah amat nyata ISA adalah untuk menangani perjuangan bersenjata komunis. Oleh sebab kerajaan Barisan Nasional telah menandatangani perjanjian damai dengan Parti Komunis Malaya pada 1989, dan Parti Komunis Malaya telah menghentikan perjuangan bersenjatanya, ISA sepatutnya sudah hilang sebab musabab dan asas untuk terus wujud.

Akan tetapi, Kerajaan Barisan Nasional tidak ada niat untuk memansuhkan ISA. Sebaliknya, Kerajaan Barisan mengemukakan pelbagai dalih untuk menjustifikasikan perlunya ISA supaya kewujudannya disambung-pakai walaupun 50 tahun penggunaan ISA oleh kerajaan Barisan telah menceritakan semuanya iaitu undang-undang boleh menahan seseorang tanpa pembicaraan itu sudah tanpa segan-silu dan terang-terangan disalahgunakan dengan sewenang-wenangnya dan ISA adalah bertentangan dengan semangat pemerintahan undang-undang (rule of law).

PRM adalah satu-satu party dengan pendirian konsisten atau tidak berubah-ubah menentang habis-habisan pelaksanaan ISA. Oleh itu, adalah tidak hairanlah dalam masa 50 tahun pelaksanaan ISA, beribu-ribu anggota PRM daripada presiden nasional ke lapisan akar umbi menjadi mangsa kezaliman utama ISA.

Pemimpin-pemimpin nasional PRM seperti Allahyarham Ahmad Boestamam (Presiden, Ahli Parlimen), Tajuddin Kahar (Setiausaha Agung), Hasnul Hadi (Presiden Barisan Sosialis, Pengerusi Majlis Perbandaran Melaka yang dipilih oleh pengundi), dan mendiang Karam Singh (ahli Parlimen), Sivasubramaniam (Adun), dan Tan Hock Heng (Adun) meringkuk bertahun-tahun dalam kem-kem tahanan, antara contohnya Tan Hock Heng telah ditahan selama 16 tahun dan dibebaskan tanpa syarat) . Bahkan kebanyakan anggota PRM sekarang seperti Pemangku Presiden Ariffin Salimon, Naib Presiden S K Song, Setiausaha Agung Koh Swe Yong dan Bendahari Teh Soon Ming juga menghabiskan masa hidup yang terbaik dalam kem tahanan.

Oleh itu, PRM mendesak supaya kerajaan Barisan di bawah kepimpinan Najib Razak memansuhkan dan bukan membuat pindaan kepada ISA, dan juga undang-undang boleh menahan tanpa pembicaraan lain. Dengan berbuat demikian, kerajaan Barisan boleh menunjukkan amalan bikin serupa cakap dan memperlihatkan kesungguhan dan betul-betul komited pada usaha mentransformasi Malaysia kepada negara yang maju dan demokratik.

Yong benar,

Koh Swe Yong

Setiausaha Agung PRM

012-2766551

21B(F) Jalan SJ 6 Taman Selayang Jaya 68100 Batu Caves Selangor Malaysia

31-07-2010

Abolish the ISA not amend

The Internal Security Act or the ISA must be abolished and not amended. This is the stand of Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) or The People’s Party of Malaysia towards the ISA since the ISA was introduced and in force on the 1 August 1960. By tomorrow, the 1^st of August 2010, the ISA will have been in force for 50 years and 50 years of the implementation of the ISA truly reveal its colours.

If one were to look back into the debates surrounding the arguments for the introduction of the ISA in 1960, it was very obvious that the ISA were meaned to deal with the communists’ armed sstruggle. Since the Barisan Nasional or National Front government had signed a peace accord with the Communist Party of Malaya in 1989, and the Communist Party of Malaya ceased its arms struggle, the ISA has lost the very pretext and reason for its continued existence.

But, the Barisan Nasional Government has no intention to abolish the ISA. Instead, the Barisan Government looks for excuses to justify the need of the ISA and its continued existence eventhough 50-year of the uses of the ISA by the Barisan Government tells all that this peace of the detention without trial law has been grossly and starkly abused and against the very spirit of rule of laws..

PRM is the only political party that has consistently opposed the ISA and it is no wonder that in the past 50 years thousands of PRM members right from the top national presidents to the very grass roots were the main victims of the ISA.

PRM national leadership like the late Ahmad Boestamam( President, MP), Tajuddin Kahar (Secretary General), Hasnul Hadi (President Sosialis Front, elected Malacca Municipal Council Chairman) , Karam Singh (MP), Sivasubramaniam ( State Assemblyman), Tan Hock Heng (State Assemblyman) have spent years in the detention camps, some as long as 16 years like Tan Hock Heng who was finally released unconditionally after spending 16years under the ISA detention. Presently, even many of the present members like acting President Ariffin Salimon, Vice President S.K. Song, Secretary General Koh Swe Yong and Treasurer Teh Soon Ming and many others have spent the best part of their life in detention camps.

Thus, PRM demands that the Barisan Nasional Government under Najib Razak leadership to abolish and not amend the ISA together with the other detention without trial laws to show that the Barisan Nasional Government walks the talk, and is seriously and genuinely committed to wanting to transform Malaysia into an advance and developed democratic state.

Yours truly,

Koh Swe Yong

Secretary General PRM

012-2766551

21B(F) Jalan SJ 6 Taman Selayang Jaya 68100 Batu Caves Selangor Malaysia

31-07-2010

废除内安法令，不是修改

“内安法令必须废除，而不是修改。”

这是马来西亚人民党对内安法令的一贯立场。这个法令在1960年由联盟政府提出并于1960年8月1日正式生效。明天即2010年8月1日内安法令的实行已经50年了。50年的内安法令应用本身已经暴露了内安法令的真正颜色。

如果我们回头看看1960年内安法令在国会提出时的辩论，我们可以很明显地看到，内安法令的提出和订立理由和根据是应付共产党人的武装斗争。由于国阵政府已经在1989年和马来亚共产党签署了和平协议，而马来亚共产党已经停止武装斗争，内安法令便已经失去继续存在的理由和根据。

但是，国阵政府没有任何废除内安法令的意愿，反而提出种种理由和借口作为支持内安法令不能废除的论据，内安法令必须继续存在和使用，虽然国阵政府用了内安法令50年本身已经说明一切，无需审讯扣留的内安法令已经在毫无羞耻和赤裸裸的状况下，随心所欲被滥用，内安法令也完全违反法制精神。

过去和现在，马来西亚人民党反对内安法令的立场始终是一贯的，是现存政党里唯一一个在内安法令被提出开始，就坚决反对内安法令的。因此，并不令人惊奇，在实施内安法令的50年里，数以千计的人民党党员，从全国主席到基层党员都成为内安法令主要的牺牲品。

人民党全国领导人如已故波斯达曼（主席，国会议员）、达祖丁加哈（总秘书）、哈斯奴哈迪（社阵主席，马六甲民选市议会主席）、卡南星（国会议员）、西华苏伯马廉（州议员）和陈福兴（州议员）等都在内安法令下被扣留无数个年头，有些甚至被留了16年，如陈福兴最终在内安法令下扣留了16年后在无条件下释放。

因此，马来西亚人民党强烈要求以纳吉为首的国阵政府废除，而不是修改内安法令，以及其他的无需审讯扣留法令。如果国阵政府这么行动，可以让人们看到，国阵政府言出必行，并且是认真和真正要把马来西亚改变成为一个先进和发达的民主国家。

马来西亚人民党总秘书

辜瑞荣

012-2766551

21B(F) Jalan SJ 6 Taman Selayang Jaya 68100 Batu Caves Selangor Malaysia

REVOKE EMERGENCY DECLARATION & RESTORE HUMAN RIGHTS AND RULE OF LAW IN THAILAND

2010-07-27T01:41:00.000-07:00

Media Statement 26/7/2010

REVOKE EMERGENCY DECLARATION & RESTORE HUMAN RIGHTS AND RULE OF LAW IN THAILAND

We, the undersigned 30 organizations, groups and networks, are extremely perturbed about the deterioration of human rights and universally recognized freedoms in Thailand.

In response to people’s exercise of their freedom of expression, opinion and peaceful protest, the government of Thailand had responded with force and violence, that to date has resulted in about 88 deaths, majority of whom were civilians, and injured some 1,800 people.

On 7/4/2010, the Thai government invoked Thailand's Emergency Decree on Public Administration in Emergency Situation, B.E. 2548 (2005), and placed Bangkok and 23 other provinces under a State of Emergency, allegedly to deal with the anti-government peaceful protests led by the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship(UDD). The ‘red-shirt’ protest was crushed by the Thai government using the military on 19/5/2010. On 6/7/2010, the Thai government has unreasonably extended the state of emergency in 19 provinces, including Bangkok citing, the reason for doing so was "to prevent possible violent or unlawful activities."

On 13/7/2010, the Thai government announced that the emergency decree in the three southern border provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat for another three months, from July 20 to Oct 19. These regions have been under a state of emergency for the last 5 years.

Thailand

's Emergency Decree On Public Administration In Emergency Situation

The declaration of a state of emergency allows the Prime Minister and his Council of Minister wide powers that include prohibition of movement, assembly, peaceful protest, freedom of expression, flow of information, restriction on press freedom, arrest and detention without trial for up to 30 days, power to summon persons to go to the authorities and/or to produce documents, power to violate privacy of personal communications and to suspend any contact or communications.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee that considered Thailand’s Emergency Decree, and in their report [CCPR/CO/84/THA/2005] did say that it , “….does not explicitly specify, or place sufficient limits, on the derogations from the rights protected by the Covenant [International Covenant on Civil and Political rights] that may be made in emergencies and does not guarantee full implementation of article 4 of the Covenant. It is especially concerned that the Decree provides for officials enforcing the state of emergency to be exempt from legal and disciplinary actions, thus exacerbating the problem of impunity. Detention without external safeguards beyond 48 hours should be prohibited (art. 4)….” As the Emergency Decree has not been amended, these observations are still valid today.

On 18/7/2006, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, issued a press release calling on

Thailand

"to repeal emergency regulations that violate human rights law". The Special Rapporteur also noted that the government had "failed to act on previous calls to bring its emergency regulations into compliance with human rights law" and that, "The emergency decree makes it possible for soldiers and police officers get away with murder… Impunity for violence committed by the security forces has been an ongoing problem in Thailand, but the emergency decree has gone even further and makes impunity look like the official policy."

Arrest & Detention

The government, using the powers it has under the Emergency Decree, have arrested and detained over 400 persons without charge for up to 30 days in unofficial places of detention. The Emergency Decree removes the right to challenge a detention before a court (habeas corpus). Moreover, the Emergency Decree fails to provide sufficient protection to prevent abuse and mistreatment. Unlike Thailand's Criminal Procedure Code, the Emergency Decree provides no assurance of prompt access to legal counsel and family members, or effective judicial and administrative safeguards against the mistreatment of detainees, as required by international law.

What is most disturbing is that these arrests are still continuing, and it has now extended to persons who were not even directly involved in the unrest but also persons who have expressed some opinion on the situation in Thailand. Human Rights Watch recently also stated that they have “…received disturbing reports that journalists, photographers, and medical volunteers have also been ordered to report to the authorities after they publicly stated that they witnessed abuses committed by the security forces.”

The numbers of persons that have been arrested by reason of a violation of a Regulation, Notification or Order under the Emergency Decree, which is an offence that, if convicted, carries a penalty of ‘…imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine not more than forty- thousand baht, or to both…’. is also not known.

Press Freedom & Freedom Of Expression

The right to freedom of expression is essential for the functioning of democracy and guaranteeing other fundamental human rights. However, section 9(3) of the Emergency Decree allows censorship for extremely vague reasons such as "causing misunderstanding of the emergency or affecting the public morals of the people", which can easily be used to limit legitimate political expression. We are troubled by the fact that the government’s Center for the Resolution of Emergency Situations (CRES) has applied restrictions on free expression rights both in the area where an emergency situation has been declared and throughout the entire country. There are reports that more than 1,000 websites, a satellite television station(PTV), online television channels, newspapers, magazines, and community radio stations have been closed down.

PTV (also known as People Channel), a satellite TV station, has been closed under the state of emergency.

The government had also blocked at least 36 websites under the state or emergency including Prachatai (www.prachatai.com), Sameskybooks (www.sameskybooks.org), Norporchorusa (www.norporchorusa.com) and Weareallhuman (www.weareallhuman.net). It is said that the order came from the Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies (MICT). Any attempt to access the affected sites from within Thailand yields the message “This website has been blocked by ICT & TOT.”

The recent violence has also resulted in the deaths of 2 foreign journalists, Hiroyuki Muramoto and Fabio Polenghi and injuries to at least 8 other journalist. The recent Investigation Report issued by Reporters Without Borders in July 2010 entitled ‘Thailand License to Kill’ raises much unanswered questions about actions of the Thai military and other unidentified persons during the recent unrest. It is disturbing to note that to note that autopsies are still not available, and investigations into these incidents have yet to be completed.

On 13/7/2010, Prachatai said that as the government was hunting for people making comments online, it had decided to close the web board for the safety of users. This is yet another example of the killing freedom of expression and violation of privacy in Thailand using the Emergency Decree.

Transparency requires that the Thai government reveals in detail the list of websites, blogs, e-mail accounts and other internet services that they have invaded, hacked and/or tampered with in its exercise of the powers it has under the Emergency Decree.

Independent Inquiry

There is a need that there be an independent inquiry into all the deaths, injuries and damages to property caused during the recent unrest. It is not proper and will be unsatisfactory for the Thai government to have their own internal investigations, given also the fact that many of the accusation of wrong doing seem to be levied against the current government and its military. It may be best that the United Nations or the ASEAN, be called to conduct an open public inquiry into the unrest, which must definitely include separate inquiries into each of the deaths and serious injury cases. Alternatively, an international panel of reputed persons could be tasked to do this.

This inquiry must also try to identify the alleged armed persons, who the Thai government claims are part of the red shirt protesters, and is the justification for the use of live bullets in the crackdown on the protesters. The inquiry must also identify those responsible for the actions of damaging public and private property. The possibility that ‘agent provocateurs’ were involved must be considered.

In the interim, Thailand must assure that the evidence is not tampered with and/or destroyed. Proper autopsies need to be conducted. It was disturbing to note that in the case of Fabio Polenghi, the Italian photographer, his body was cremated even before the family members were supplied with a thorough autopsy – thus, depriving them the right to request/conduct a second autopsy.

Adequate Compensation For Victims

Whilst the Emergency Decree states the officials protects from ‘civil, criminal or disciplinary liabilities’, it ‘…does not preclude the right of a victim to seek compensation from a government agency under the law on liability for wrongful act of officials…’ A closer reading states that these persons are not protected if their actions/omissions were not done in good faith or was discriminatory or excessive or unreasonable. There should be no protection certainly for those who shot unarmed persons, and in some cases more than once. There should be no justification for the shooting of medical personnel and members of the press.

As such, we the undersigned organizations, groups and networks called upon the government of

Thailand

to :-

* Immediately revoke the declaration of emergencies in Thailand;

* Immediately and unconditionally release all persons detained under the Emergency Decrees;

* Restore full press freedom and freedom of expression by allowing all television/radio stations, publications, media portals, blogs, etc, especially those that were shut down by reason of the Emergency Decree and/or the recent fiasco in Thailand, to immediately function normally without any conditions and/or restrictions.

* Reveal in detail the list of websites, blogs, e-mail accounts and other internet services that they have invaded, hacked and/or tampered with in its exercise of the powers it has under the Emergency Decree, and provide adequate compensation.

* Constitute an independent international panel of inquiry to conduct an open public inquiry into the unrest, which must definitely include separate inquiries into each of the deaths and serious injury cases.

* Pay adequate compensation for the loss of life and injury to victims and/or their families/dependents during this fiasco,

* Pay adequate compensation for the deprivation of liberty under the Emergency Decree,

* Pay adequate compensation for loss and damage of property, including also loss of business and/or income which was caused by reason of actions and/or omissions of the government and its officials during this fiasco and/or during the period of Emergency,

* Repeal immediately the Emergency Decree on Public Administration in Emergency Situation, B.E. 2548 (2005)

Charles Hector

For and on behalf of the following 30 organisations

ALIRAN,

Malaysia

Asia Pacific Mission For Migrants

Asia Pacific Research Network

Asian Regional Exchange for New Alternatives (ARENA)

Association Of Indonesian Migrant Workers In Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Burma Campaign Malaysia

Center for Orang Asli Concerns (COAC), Malaysia

Clean Clothes Campaign - International Secretariat

Community Development Centre (CDC),

Malaysia

Friends of Asia,

South Korea

IMA Research Foundation, Bangladesh

JERIT (Jaringan Rakyat Tertindas), Malaysia

Labour behind the Label

Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture (MADPET)

Migrants Center in Gyeonsan, South Korea

Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA)

Migrants Trade Union( MTU),

South Korea

Network of Action for Migrants in

Malaysia

(NAMM)

Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM)

Persatuan Masyarakat Selangor & Wilayah Persekutuan (PERMAS), Malaysia

Persatuan Sahabat Wanita Selangor,

Malaysia

Pusat KOMAS, Malaysia

Shan Refugee Organization (SRO) Malaysia

Solidarity with Migrants, South Korea

Tenaganita, Malaysia

The Filipino Women's Organization in Quebec

UCCP CO-mission worker with PRRK, Philippines

Writer Alliance for Media Independence (WAMI), Malaysia

Workers Hub For Change (WH4C)

Working People Association, Indonesia

Human Rights Party, PRM should join others in the struggle

2010-07-22T04:55:00.000-07:00

Human Rights Party, PRM should join others in the struggle

Saturday, 26 June 2010 00:00

In the absence of a proportional representation system, the best strategy for any small party is to work together with other parties under a collective desire to get rid of injustices - and in the process touch the hearts of the long-suffering poor, says Choo Sing Chye.

As the general election looms closer, I would by most humble means try to provide some comments on the Human Rights Party’s (HRP) and Parti Rakyat Malaysia’s (PRM) strategies in the coming elections.

Your party's 15/38 strategy "to create, win in and create politically empowered 15 parliamentary and 38 state Indian majority seats" and Koh Swe Yong, secretary-general of PRM's plan (The Star, 7 June 2010) to contest as many seats as possible in the coming elections will test or better still crack the iron-clad feudal first-past-the-post electoral system to ‘empower’ the minorities – this had never happened before in history, either in Malaysia or in Great Britain.

One of the main factors that makes British politics lag behind other European countries is the first-past-the post electoral system.

Many political scientists had described this first-past-the-post electoral system as faulty. Is this the reason why: in the 1983 British General Election, the Conservatives won only 40 per cent of the votes but obtained 60 per cent of the Commons seats. [1]

The first-past-the-post electoral system is the most undemocratic electoral system ever devised and it is ludicrous that it is still in existence today. It has never given the minority a voice like yours a chance to flourish in our political system. It should have disappeared long ago along with the ending of the feudal system in Great Britain.

Any good electoral system should encompass the principle of ‘one person, one vote, one value', but unfortunately it is not to be in the case of first-past-the-post system. Sadly we are stuck with this deformed electoral system, which we inherited since Merdeka from the British.

In Great Britain, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) - or as most Malaysians might call ‘the third force’ - has been consistently unrepresented, "gaining about 30 per cent of the votes in some elections but no more than just over 1 per cent of the seats (in the region of 20 to 30 seats") [2]

The 1992 British general election saw the LDP securing more than 20 per cent of the votes, winning only a measly 20 seats. Ironically, the Labour Party, which secured only 34.4 per cent of the votes, won 271 seats in the House of Commons. [3]

If the principle of one person, one vote, one value were to be applied to this election, LDP should have got around 130 seats instead of 20. It thus lost out on a whooping 110 seats in the 1992 general election alone. In turn, the Labour Party should have got around 224 seats and not 271.

Apparently it took less than 40,000 votes for one Conservative MP to be voted in, slightly more than 40,000 for a Labour MP but for the Liberal/Alliance (only in 1983) it needed more the 338,000 votes (seven times as many votes) just to get an MP into the House of Commons. [4]

In Pennsylvania, USA, in 1924 the Republican Party won about one million votes and took 36 seats in the state election, while the Democrat Party won over half a million votes and took not even a single seat. [5]

In the case of Malaysia, where the first-past-the-post system is coupled with the lopsided media, the biased Election Commission has kept Barisan Nasional in power for the last 50 over years.

In our country, as it is known that there is not a single Indian majority seat. Not because it has none. It is the product of Barisan Nasional’s gerrymandering.

Here is one example, the Buntong State seat (Perak) has a voters’ population of 21,682 (Malays 6.1 per cent, Chinese 47 per cent, Indians 46.2 per cent). Compare this with the Pengkalan Hulu seat won by Former Menteri Besar, Tajol Rosli which has only 11,717 voters (Malay 72.6 per cent, Chinese 12.1 per cent Indians 9.3 %). In other words, the vote value of Pengkalan Hulu is twice that of Buntong’s.

If the concept of one value is applied, Buntong should be split into two constituencies – one with a Chinese majority and the other with an Indian majority. In the Indian majority seat, there would be at least 50 over per cent of Indian voters.

With the Barisan Nasional’s gerrymandering and the unfair first-past-the-post system what chance have we got? Our voices will always remain unheard. In contrast, this unfairness benefits the super rich Malays, Chinese and Indians.

To replace the first-past-the-post system with a Proportional Voting system is near impossible. Although this system sees a fairer distribution of votes and the votes cast reflect closely with the seats won, nobody in Barisan Nasional wants it for it will spell the end to its monopoly on political power.

The only way out for any party is to evolve into a coercive group and to move forward under one collective desire to get rid of injustices and in the process, similar to Mahatma Gandhi’s direct democracy, touch the hearts of the long-suffering poor Malays, Chinese, Indians and the East Malaysians with compassion, sincerity, openness and fairness, without planting the seeds of hatred along the way.-

Of Local Council Elections, PRM, Labour Party of Malaya and the Socialist Front(SF)

2010-07-12T20:57:00.000-07:00

This is an article from ALIRAN that reminds us not only about what happened to Local Council elections, but also about significant role played by Parti Rakyat Malaysia(PRM) as a political party, and as part of the Socialist Front together with the Labour Party of Malaya. Let us not forget history...and let history renew our commitment in our struggle for a better Malaysia...

Restoring the Third Vote, reclaiming our democracy

Friday, 09 July 2010 18:31

If the Local Government Act stands in the way of local government elections, then it must go. It is not because we are lawless but because we value democracy, writes Tan Pek Leng.

The fate of local elections in Malaysia is a sad reflection of the state of democracy in the country. Never having had the chance to be firmly rooted, it was rudely trampled upon when it attempted to grow, leaving it mangled, hidup segan mati tak mahu.

A testimony of our failed state is how our democratic rights are reversed rather than advanced. The third vote, our constitutional birth right as a nation, was forcibly taken away - no, not in the interest of the citizenry, but as a political expediency by the ruling coalition to cripple the legitimate Opposition. More than half a century after Independence, we are battling to get back to square one – to get back this third vote.

Much of the recent discourse on how to restore local elections revolves around what the law allows and what it doesn’t. “Does Section 15 of the Local Government Act 1976 (LGA) override the Local Government Election Act 1960 (LGEA) and thus prohibit all local elections?” “Does Section 1 of the LGA exempt the State Governments from the restrictions imposed by Section 15 of the same act and thus allow them to invoke the LGEA to restore local elections?”

This legal conundrum appears to have got the Pakatan Rakyat State Governments tangled in knots for a while. The Perak and Selangor state governments attempted to cut the Gordian Knot by asking the Elections Commission (EC) to conduct local elections in their respective states, only to be told by the EC that this would be against the law.

The question is: why are we allowing ourselves to be dictated by a piece of legislation of such questionable legitimacy?

A look at the process that culminated in the promulgation of the LGA will lay bare the many anti-democratic acts that abetted it.

Thirteen years of local elections

It is the height of irony that the Umno-MCA coalition (the precursor to the Umno-MCA-MIC Alliance and subsequently the Barisan Nasional) first laid claim to fame in the 1952 Kuala Lumpur municipal elections, when it won nine of the 11 seats. The Alliance continued to perform well for the next few years because the opposition parties had yet to consolidate themselves. The tide began to turn by the end of 1956, however, when the Alliance suffered unexpected defeats in local elections in Penang and Melaka. The Penang debacle, in which the Alliance failed to win a single of the eight seats contested, was attributed primarily to the harsh action taken to crush the Chung Ling High School students’ protest against the conversion of their school into a national-type school.

The downward slide continued and by the December 1957 local polls, the Socialist Front (SF) – a coalition of the Labour Party of Malaya (LPM) and the Party Rakyat Malaya (PRM) – had gained enough seats to take over the Penang City Council. In this series of local elections, the Alliance garnered 18 seats, less than half of the 37 contested. A year later, the trend was reversed, with the Alliance doing better than they themselves expected, clinching victory in four of the five contested seats in Penang. But how credible were these wins? The names of so many previously registered voters were missing from the electoral rolls in George Town, Butterworth and Bukit Mertajam that the EC contemplated postponing the elections for these councils. To be fair, though, the raising of assessment rates by the SF-controlled Penang City Council and the splitting of opposition votes by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) contributed to the Alliance success.

The Alliance achieved a similar apparent triumph in the Kuala Lumpur local elections of 1958, winning three out of four wards. However, the total opposition votes in the four wards were greater than the Alliance votes. Once again, dissipation of votes among the opposition parties had handed the victory to the ruling coalition. Overall, the Alliance took 43 of the 57 contested seats as well as 19 unopposed ones in the 1958 series of local elections.

On the face of it, this ostensible Alliance dominance continued through to the 1960s – with them winning 430 seats to the Opposition’s 148 in the 1961 local elections and 449 seats to the Opposition’s 184 in 1963. Examining the popular vote garnered, though, tells an entirely different story. In 1961, the Alliance obtained 218,428 of the votes cast compared to 227,104 for the Opposition; in 1963, it was 251,970 votes for the Alliance versus 263,000 votes for the Opposition. In both cases, the Alliance had won less than half the popular vote but more than double the number of seats. Gerrymandering was already well entrenched within a few years of Independence.

Having the upper hand in the numbers game did not satisfy the Alliance; it irked them that the choice urban councils were out of their grasp. First, the Penang City Council in 1958; then, the Melaka Municipal Council in 1961; followed by the Seremban, Kluang and Bentong Municipal Councils in 1963 came under the control of the SF. The PPP had also taken a firm grip on Ipoh by 1961. Under the pretext of the volatile political climate engendered by the Confrontation with Indonesia, the Alliance Government suspended local elections on 1 March 1965. The Speaker refused to allow a motion by the SF Members of Parliament calling for a debate on the issue.

But this supposedly precarious political situation had not prevented the government from holding state and parliamentary elections in 1964. The Alliance realised that the Opposition was better able to win control of local councils than state or parliamentary constituencies and was certainly not keen to allow them free play on these platforms.

War of attrition

The foul means adopted by the Alliance to stem the challenge of the Opposition was not limited to electoral sleight of hand. Detention without trial put many experienced cadres of the SF (then the strongest opposition party) out of action, threw the party organisation into disarray and weakened its capacity to play a meaningful part in the electoral process. The first mass arrest of political opponents took place only a little more than a year after Merdeka, on 1 October 1958, with the detention of 109 persons.

The situation did not improve after the end of the Emergency in 1960 as the Internal Security Act (ISA) was introduced to allow the government to continue the practice of detention without trial. SF leaders and members were frequent victims of the ISA throughout the 1960s, in big operations or small. Among the instances of mass arrests that targeted large numbers of SF, in particular LPM, members were those executed:

•   between November 1960 and February 1961, with a total of 60 persons arrested, including SF leaders and local councillors;
•   in December 1962, when more than 50 persons were arrested throughout Malaya as a prelude to the formation of Malaysia and the Operation Cold Store, which decimated the Left in Singapore with the arrest of more than 120 political leaders and trade unionists;
•   in March and June 1964, at the height of the Confrontation with Indonesia, when Malay leaders from the SF and Pas were the main targets, but many LPM state and branch level leaders were also nabbed;
•   in the early months of 1966 when about 50 LPM and PRM cadres were arrested (SF had split up in December 1965);
•   on 25 October 1966, when about 100 members of LPM and PRM were arrested following demonstrations organised by the two parties against US President Lyndon Johnson during his visit to Malaysia. Between 1966 and 1968, an estimated 250 protests and demonstrations were held in various parts of the country, each to be met with repression and arrests;
•   on 9-14 November 1968, when some 140 LPM, PRM and trade union cadres were detained following the confessions of former LPM National Chairman Koh Kay Cham and Assistant Secretary-General Loh Yuen Wah upon their release from ISA detention. As in 1967, not a month passed in 1968 without the detention of dissidents.
•   in the aftermath of the May 13 riots of 1969, when the government once again found the excuse to decimate the LPM and PRM further through arrests of their leaders and members.

The arrests were systematically and strategically deployed to deprive the SF of its leaders and more experienced cadres at the national, state and branch levels. This was combined with the banning of certain divisions and branches of the Front. The continuous lopping off of the leadership echelons left the organisational structure of the LPM, in particular, in shambles and a combination of bans on political grounds and deregi-strations on administrative technicalities reduced the number of LPM branches from 224 in 1967 to 24 by 1972. The party was finally deregistered by order of the Registrar of Societies on 6 September 1972.

Eleven years of suspension

Suspending local elections may have prevented the Opposition from making further inroads into the local councils, but it did not return the “lost” councils to the Alliance. How more efficiently can they wrest back these councils than by Executive decree? Whether it was legitimate did not enter into the discussion. The case of Penang was instructive.

D S Ramanathan, former Chairman of LPM and the first Mayor of Penang, peeved with the party by 1963, accused the SF-controlled City Council of corruption and malpractices. The Alliance government could not move against the council yet as it was still firmly in the grip of the SF. The opportunity arose in January 1966 when the SF lost control of the council after another of its former stalwarts and Penang Mayor, Ooi Thiam Siew, quit the party and the PRM councillor chose to align with him.

It was a godsend for Chief Minister, Wong Pow Nee, who immediately constituted a commission to inquire into the allegations brought forth by Ramanathan, although he had professed that he could offer no evidence for them. On 1 July 1966, three days before the commission was to commence its probe, Wong Pow Nee announced that the State Government would take over the functions of the City Council. The commission completed its inquiry in November 1967 and found that “although there were irregularities and inefficiencies in the council’s administration, there was no hard evidence of outright bribery”.

When calls were made for the City Council to be reconvened as the reasons for its temporary suspension no longer existed, the State Government announced that they had no intention to relinquish control of the Council until fresh elections were held. And how was that to happen when local elections had been suspended indefinitely?

Another trick deployed by the Alliance is one we are now very familiar with – enticing defections. It worked its magic in Melaka. On 24 March 1965, three SF members of the Melaka Municipal Council declared they were turning Independents; six days later, one of them was installed as the Deputy President. This was a very significant appointment as the President, Hasnul Hadi of the SF, was then in detention. But the defections were not sufficient to deprive the SF of their control over the council. The final coup took place in September 1966 with the takeover of the council by the Melaka State Government.

The respective State Governments similarly imposed their illegitimate hold over the Seremban, Johore Bharu and Bentong Municipal Councils – the takeover of the Melaka and Bentong Councils occurring after the official termination of Confrontation in August 1966.

Further, the end of the Confrontation did not mean the end of the suspension of local elections although the conflict was the sole reason cited for putting them on hold. The clamour in Parliament and State Assemblies for the reinstitution of local elections fell on deaf ears.

The Athi Nahappan Commission

The Federal Government had other plans in mind. In June 1965, three months after the suspension of local elections, they appointed the Athi Nahappan Commission to look into the functioning and administration of the local councils, purportedly with a view to improving and streamlining them. To the chagrin of the Alliance Government, the Commission’s report, completed in December 1968, strongly supported local elections. Instead of implementing the recommendations of the Commission, the Federal Government appointed a Cabinet Committee to study the implications of the Athi Nahappan Report. The Committee was also a disappointment to the Government because it endorsed most of the recommendations of the Commission, including the one on local elections.

The Alliance Government went for a third strike: instructing the Development Administration Unit (DAU) of the Prime Minister’s Department to undertake a further study. The pliant DAU, in 1971, advocated setting aside the recommendations of the Athi Nahappan Commission. With this spurious justification, the LGA was drafted and passed into law in 1976.

By that time, most of the opposition parties had been co-opted into the Barisan Nasional (BN), formed in 1973, and there was no effective voice left to raise objections against the passage of the Act.

34 years of ban

Throughout the three decades and more since the LGA denied us our fundamental right to the third vote, the issue has not died away. Unfortunately, with the BN’s overwhelming dominance in the Parliament, the demands for the restoration of local elections have been treated as mere irritants, undeserving of attention.

It was only with the tsunami of 8 March 2008 turning the tide that the issue has received a new lease of life. Hence, the momentum must not slack.

Why must we keep the issue alive? Because the chronicle of the abolition of the third vote is reflective of the larger narrative of the steady subversion of democratic institutions in the country. The underhand tactics deployed by the ruling coalition to dismantle popularly elected local governments are similarly used to undermine democracy at the state and national levels:

•   The consistent use of the ISA to emasculate the Opposition;
•   The tampering of electoral rolls, be it to make registered voters vanish or phantom voters appear;
•   Gerrymandering to ensure that they get more seats than they deserve based on the number of votes garnered;
•   The use of their strength of numbers to bulldoze through legislative and constitutional amendments which are to their advantage, no matter how undemocratic;
•   The resort to Executive decree when the popular will cannot be bent to their favour.

Not to continue campaigning against the illegitimate deprivation of the third vote is therefore risking similar subversion of the first and second.

... still counting

The campaign is only just picking up momentum, the project is very much a work in progress. There is no telling how much longer it will take to restore local elections. But one thing is for sure, if we do not keep the pressure on, we will have many more years to count before the ban is lifted – or worse yet, have all hopes snuffed out.

Another thing is for sure: the LGA has no business obstructing us from reclaiming full democracy. If this law stands in the way, this law must go. It is not because we are lawless but because we value democracy.

Tan Pek Leng is an Aliran member

无理开除争取员工权利外劳 65组织联署谴责Maxter公司 (MAXTER GLOVE SHOULD REINSTATE BURMESE MIGRANT WORKER...was reported in Merdeka Review (Chinese)

2010-06-21T00:21:00.000-07:00

无理开除争取员工权利外劳 65组织联署谴责Maxter公司

Merdeka Review published our statement in Chinese. For original statement in English, see earlier post:-STOP PENALIZING WORKERS WHO WANT TO GET JUSTICE - MAXTER GLOVE SHOULD REINSTATE BURMESE MIGRANT WORKER WHO COMPLAINED TO LABOUR DEPARTMENT

It is hoped that we get more coverage in the media as this is a fundamental issue that concerns all workers in Malaysia. What use is rights enshrined in law, when the worker gets terminated/discriminated against the moment he takes steps to claim his rights using the proper channels as provided by law. There must be law protecting workers from termination, etc...when they exercise their labour rights.

When a worker makes unlawful deduction of wages, fail to pay overtime, etc and the worker complains - at the end of the day, if the worker is successful, what he gets is what his employer should have given the worker but did not. This is bad, as 'smart' employers will continue to cheat workers knowing always that even if the worker complains, what the employer has to fork out at the end of the day is only what he should have but did not pay. There should be a further large fine imposed on the employer by the State, and maybe also an additional award of damages of a significant sum that the employer should pay the worker. That would deter employers from cheating workers.

无理开除争取员工权利外劳
65组织联署谴责Maxter公司

作者／本刊记者 Jun 11, 2010 04:41:32 pm
【本刊记者撰述】65个关注外劳和工人权利的海内外组织团体，联署谴责Maxter手套制造私人有限公司无理开除争取员工权利的缅甸籍外劳，并呼吁政府修改宪法，保障员工利益。

这65个联署组织包括国民醒觉运动（Aliran）、马来西亚职工总会（MTUC）、马来西亚人民之声（SUARAM）、马来西亚人民党（PRM）、雪兰莪自强协会（EMPOWER）、雪兰莪及联邦直辖区社会协会（PERMAS）等。

他们在联署声明中所指，本地上市公司速伯玛（Supermax）旗下位于雪兰莪州巴生的独资子公司Maxter手套制造私人有限公司（Maxter Glove Manufacturing Sdn Bhd），开除一名为了争取工人权利而勇于向劳工部投诉的缅甸籍外劳杜茂（Thu Maung）。

65个联署团体指出，在马来西亚，前往劳工部投诉雇主不当对待和争取员工权利，是合理与合法程序，雇主不应该个别对待或甚至开除行使法律权利的员工，更不能够在员工权利受侵犯时，阻止抑或威胁员工寻求法律途径解决问题。

Maxter手套制造私人有限公司是一家手套制造商，出口有粉乳胶检验手套、无粉氯化乳胶手套、丁腈半浸手套（Nitrile gloves）和无菌手术手套。母公司速伯玛为主板上市公司，每年生产160亿片胶手套，去年税后盈利达1亿2600万元。

三度投诉雇主剥削员工
在2010年3月23日，杜茂和另一名共事的缅甸籍外劳，到梳邦再也劳工局作投诉，指证雇主：
（一）从员工薪水中无理扣除雇主聘请外劳原需支付的征款。
（二）从员工薪水中不正当扣除高达1000元的医疗体费用。
（三）不合法保留两个月薪水。
（四）无法提供外劳膳宿。
（五）不让员工周休一天。
（六）要求员工超时工作（有时候一天内超过13小时），甚至包含公共假期和休息日，同时没有依据法定费率支付超时和假日工作的薪水。

当天，他们两人亦曾向马来西亚人权委员会（SUHAKAM）投诉。过后在4月 12日，杜茂前往万挠劳工局作了详细投诉，而该劳工局因雇主地址位于巴生区，而把此事转交到巴生港口的劳工局处理。

据杜茂的说法，向梳邦再也劳工局作出投诉大约一个月后，公司的代表们开始威胁个别员工，要他们说出谁到劳工局投诉，以及他们是否随行者。
联署组织谴责雇主威胁员工的手法令人气愤，足以对员工造成恐慌和阻止他们索求自身员工权利。

在4月28日，杜茂的公司主管突然要杜茂交还员工证件，并叫他不需要再来上班。
联署声明指出：“杜茂遭不正当开除，同时他相信这是起源于本身曾经前往劳工局投诉，更被当作是索求自身权利员工的首领。”

他们表示，当员工是一名外劳，开除就意味取消工作签证，并要遣返回国，而这也意味他们无法到劳工局、劳工法庭、工业关系部门、工业法庭或民事法庭追讨他们的权利，因为投诉者已经不在。

要求复职并赔偿
据悉，马来西亚采用于超过200万名外劳的现有法律未经修改，无法保障索取本身权利的员工，是否受到不合理开除和遣返。

在《1967年工业关系法令》（Industrial Relations Act 1967）的第五条款言明，若员工有意组成、加入或鼓励其他员工加入职工会，雇主不能够偏袒、威胁、开除或不合理对待员工。
可是，没有类似清楚说明的法律条款，保障透过劳工部或其他相关机构索求本身权利的员工。

“针对杜茂的事件，我们要求他在没有任何利益损失的前提下马上获得复职。我们呼吁速伯玛执行主席兼集团董事经理郑金森，确保旗下子公司Maxter手套制造私人有限公司，对待杜茂及其他与员工的错误行为能够告一段落。”

联署组织也要求，该公司支付员工之前不当扣除、无理保留及超时的薪水。同时，他们还呼吁马来西亚政府进行所需的法律修改，避免雇主剥削员工，并保障员工可以索偿其权利。

“我们亦呼吁马来西亚政府，确保所有外劳可以继续合法留在国内工作，直到他们在劳工部、劳工法庭、工业关系部门、工业法庭或民事法庭的案件和上诉获得处理。”

STOP PENALIZING WORKERS WHO WANT TO GET JUSTICE - MAXTER GLOVE SHOULD REINSTATE BURMESE MIGRANT WORKER WHO COMPLAINED TO LABOUR DEPARTMENT

2010-06-21T00:16:00.000-07:00

Media Statement – 11/6/2010

STOP PENALIZING WORKERS WHO WANT TO GET JUSTICE
- MAXTER GLOVE SHOULD REINSTATE BURMESE MIGRANT
WORKER WHO COMPLAINED TO LABOUR DEPARTMENT

We, the undersigned 66 organizations, groups and networks, concerned about migrant and worker rights, are appalled at the treatment of workers at Maxter Glove Manufacturing Sdn Bhd (229862-H), at its factory at Lot 6070, Jalan Haji Abdul Manan, 6th Miles off Jalan Meru, Klang, Selangor, Malaysia.

We are appalled at the dismissal of Thu Maung, a Burmese migrant worker, who courageously lodged a complaint at the Labour Department to claim his rights as a worker. Claiming worker rights by lodging complaints against errant employers at the Labour Department is the proper and legally recognized procedure in Malaysia. It is very wrong for employers to discriminate against and/or terminate workers who are exercising their legal rights. It is also wrong for employers to discourage and/or threaten workers from seeking justice, when worker rights are being violated.

Maxter Glove Manufacturing Sdn Bhd is a subsidiary of Supermax Corporation Berhad. Maxter Glove Manufacturing Sdn Bhd is a gloves manufacturer that makes Latex Powdered Examination gloves, Clorinated & Polymer Coated Latex Powder Free gloves, Nitrile Gloves and Sterile surgical gloves which is also exported overseas. Supermax Corporation Berhad is an established company, that according to their 2009 Annual Report made an after-tax profit of about RM126 million.

On 23rd March 2010, Thu Maung and another Burmese migrant worker from Maxter Glove Manufacturing Sdn Bhd lodged a complaint at the Subang Jaya Labour Department. Their complaints, amongst others, was that the employer:-
a. had wrongfully deducted levy, that employers have to pay when they employ migrant workers, from the worker’s wages,
b. had unlawfully deducted the medical check-up fees of RM1000 from the worker’s wages,
c. had wrongfully withheld 2 months wages,
d. had failed to provide the migrant worker with accommodation,
e. had not been giving the workers one rest day per week,
f. had made the workers work overtime(sometimes up to 13 hours per day), and also on public holidays and rest days, and had thereafter failed to pay overtime wages and wages for working on rest days and/or public holidays at the statutorily stipulated rates.

On 23rd March, Thu Maung and another had also lodged a complaint at the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM).

On 12 April 2010, Thu Maung went again to the Labour Department in Rawang and gave a detailed complaint, whereby the Rawang Labour Department did record the complaint and forward the same to the Labour Department office in Port Klang, because they said that the Port Klang Labour Office, has the requisite jurisdiction since the employer, Maxter Glove Manufacturing Sdn Bhd, is in Klang.

According to Thu Maung, after about 1 month since the lodging of the complaint at the Subang Jaya Labour office, company’s representatives started intimidating workers individually by asking them who had complained to the Labour Department, and whether they were also going to complain to the Labour Department. This form of intimidation of workers is deplorable. This kind of actions by employers has the tendency of instilling fear and preventing workers from claiming their legally recognized labour rights.

On 28 April 2010, Thu Maung’s supervisor at the company, for no reason, suddenly asked him to return the worker’s pass and not to come back to work. Thu Maung was wrongfully terminated, and he verily believes that this was done just because he had complained to the Labour Department, and was perceived as the leader of the workers who wanted to claim their rights.

It is even worse when the worker is a migrant worker, for a termination will usually mean a cancellation of the work visa, and deportation back to their home country. This also would mean that they would not be able to even pursue their claims at the Labour Department, Labour Courts, Industrial Relations Department, Industrial Courts and/or Civil Courts as the physical presence of the complainant and/or litigant is necessary for the continuation of process of claiming rights.

The practice of terminating, cancellation of work visa and immediate deportation is a blatant disregard of the laws in Malaysia that exist to protect worker rights.

Work passes in Malaysia allow workers to work only for a specific employer – and hence a termination would leave the worker with no ability to work and earn a living legally in Malaysia, while he awaits the determination of the process that may give the worker justice. Cancellation of the work pass also makes his stay in Malaysia illegal, and he risk being arrested, detained and deported.

It is sad that the current laws and practices of Malaysia, which used to employ more than 2 million migrant workers have not been amended yet to ensure that workers who claim their rights are not wrongfully terminated and sent back.

Whilst there is a clear provision in the Industrial Relations Act 1967, that is section 5, which explicitly prohibits employers (or persons acting on behalf of employers) from discriminating, threatening, dismissing or acting negatively against workers who are interested in forming, joining, and/or encouraging other workers to join trade unions, there is no similar clear provision in law protecting workers who want to claim their worker rights through the Labour Departments and other available avenues. As an example, section 5(1)(c) and (d) of the Industrial Relations Act 1967is as follows:-

(1) No employer or trade union of employers, and no person action on behalf of an employer or such trade union shall -

…. (c) discriminate against any person in regard to employment, promotion, any condition of employment or working conditions on the ground that he is or is not a member or officer of a trade union;

(d) dismiss or threaten to dismiss a workman, injure or threaten to injure him in his employment or alter or threaten to alter his position to his prejudice by reason that the workman -
(i) is or proposes to become, or seeks to persuade any other person to become, a member or officer of a trade union; or
(ii) participates in the promotion, formation or activities of a trade union; or…

There should be a similar clear provision in law that will prevent employers from harassing, threatening, discriminating and/or dismissing workers that claim their worker rights using existing avenues of complaints and remedies. The act of employers impeding, dismissing (or threathening to dismiss) workers who claim their worker rights should also be made an offence with a hefty fine. Workers should also receive a significant sum in exemplary damages, over and above their claim. Deterrence is needed to stop this unhealthy practice of employers violating worker rights, and preventing them access to justice.

In the case of Thu Maung, we call for the immediate reinstatement of Thu Maung without any loss of benefits.

We call on Dato' Seri Stanley Thai, Executive Chairman cum Group Managing Director of Supermax Corporation Berhad, to ensure that the wrong done by their subsidiary, Maxter Glove Manufacturing Sdn Bhd, to Thu Maung and other workers in the said company is ended, and that all workers are paid forthwith what has been wrongly deducted from their wages, monies that have wrongly been withheld returned, outstanding overtime payments, and that all legitimate claims are settled.

We call on the government of Malaysia to do the needful, including enacting laws that will deter employers in Malaysia from exploiting workers, and also protect workers that claim their worker rights from the negative acts of repercussion and/or ‘revenge’ by some bad employers.

We also call on the government of Malaysia to ensure that all migrant workers can continue to stay and work legally in Malaysia until their cases in the Labour Department, Labour Courts, Industrial Relations Department, Industrial Courts and/or Civil Courts, and appeals thereafter are completed.

Charles Hector
Pranom Somwong
For and on behalf of the following 66 organizations

ALIRAN, Malaysia

Alliance of Health Workers Philippines
Arakan League for Democracy (ALD-LA-MALAYSIA)
Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD)
Asian Migrant Centre (AMC)
Asian Migrants Coordinating Body-Hong Kong (AMCB)
Association of Indonesian Migrant Workers in HK (ATKI-HK)
BAYAN USA.
BOMSA, Dhaka, Bangladesh
BUGKOS
Burma Campaign, Malaysia
Burma Partnership
Canada-Philippines Solidarity for Human Rights (Vancouver, BC Canada)
Center for Japanese-Filipino Families
Clean Clothes Campaign -International Secretariat
Committee for Asian Women (CAW)
Communication Union of Australia (Vic Branch)
Empower, Chiang Mai
Filipino Migrant Center
Frank-Hubner-Scholl Resistance Movement of the White Rose
Free Burma Campaign Singapore (FBCSG)
Friends of Burma, Malaysia
Gabriela-Taiwan
IMA Research Foundation, Bangladesh
Institute for National and Democratic Studies of Indonesia (INDIES)
Interfaith Cooperation Forum
KAFIN-Migrante (Saitama)
Kafin Migrant Center, Japan
Labour Behind the Label, United Kingdom
MADPET - Malaysians against Death Penalty and Torture
Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC)
May 1st Coalition for Worker & Immigrant Rights, USA
Mekong Migration Network (MMN)
Migrante Aotearoa New Zealand
Migrante B.C. (Canada)
Migrante Denmark
Migrante Europe
Migrante International
Migrante-Middle East
Migrante Nagoya
Migrante Taiwan
Migrante UK.
Migranteng Ilonggo sa Taiwan
National League for Democracy [NLD (LA)], Malaysia
National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR), U.S.

Network of Action for Migrants in Malaysia (NAMM)

PAN Asia and the Pacific
Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM)
Persatuan Kesedaran Komuniti Selangor (EMPOWER)
Persatuan Masyarakat Malaysia & Wilayah Persekutuan (PERMAS)
Philippines Australia Union
Philippine Society in Japan
PINAY (Filipino Women's Organization in Quebec)
Pusat Komas
Rights Jessore, India
Shan Refugee Organization, Malaysia
Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM), Malaysia
The Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM)
The Best Friend Library - Chiang Mai, Thailand
The Hong Kong Coalition for Free Burma Campaign
Think Centre Singapore
United Indonesians against Overcharging (PILAR)
United Filipinos in Hong Kong
Workers Hub for Change (WH4C)
YASANTI, Indonesia
ZOMI National Congress- Malaysia

PRM to contest as many seats as it can in next polls (Star)

2010-06-09T11:48:00.000-07:00

Star, Monday June 7, 2010

PRM to contest as many seats as it can in next polls

PETALING JAYA: Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) wants to contest as many seats as possible in the next general election – even if it has to take on Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat in three-cornered fights.

Its secretary-general Koh Swe Yong said the party had no plans to negotiate with Pakatan to settle for straight fights.

“We have no links to Pakatan because PKR does not recognise us. We will try our best to avoid multi-cornered fights but if it can’t be helped, we will take on all of them,” he said after the central committee meeting here yesterday.

Koh said discussions with Pakatan to avoid three-cornered fights were not possible because PKR did not recognise PRM as a party despite a court ruling affirming its existence.

PKR had been at loggerheads with PRM ever since some of the latter’s top leaders agreed to a controversial merger between the two in 2003.

Koh also dismissed the possibility of PRM joining Pakatan, adding that “it is very unlikely that members will be agreeable to it.”

During the meeting, the central committee decided to contest seats in Selangor, Perak, Penang, Kedah, Pahang, Federal Territory and Johor in the next general election.

In the last general election, PRM contested two parliamentary seats in Johor Baru and Selayang, and two state constituencies in Johor Jaya and Stulang. They lost all the contests.

“We will be holding courses for members as part of our early preparation to face the next general election,” said Koh.

He said PRM would also stick to its own policies and programmes and would not harp on Pakatan’s shortcomings.

“We will work on the premise of those policies. We do not want to ride on weaknesses of others. We want to draw on our own strengths,” he said, adding that the party aimed to recruit more members.

Koh also said PRM would hold its congress on Nov 14, adding that it had formed a committee to decide on its agenda. - Star,

PRM -Pemansuhan subsidi tak akan elakkan Malaysia daripada menjadi bankrap

2010-05-28T21:51:00.000-07:00

Kenyataan Media 29-05-2010

Pemansuhan subsidi tak akan elakkan Malaysia daripada menjadi bankrap

Parti Rakyat Malaysia( PRM) tidak bersetuju bahawa pemansuhan subsidi barangan kawalan seperti gula, tepung, minyak masak, perkhidmatan perubatan awam, pendidikan dan sebagainya tidak akan membebankan rakyat. Rakyat khususnya mereka yang tinggal di bandar mengalami pengalaman pahit dan kesan buruk akibat minyak petrol dinaikkan sebanyak 30 sen seliter dulu.

Menurut Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Idris Jala, jika subsidi yang ada sekarang tidak dimansuhkan, dan dengan kadar pertambahan purata hutang negara sebanyak 12%, hutang negara terkumpul semenjak 1997 makin tahun makin naik, dan negara ini akhirnya akan menjadi bankrap seperti Greece pada 2019. Oleh itu, beliau bercadang supaya subsidi dimansuhkan untuk mengelakkan Malaysia daripada menjadi bankrap .

Benarkah negara ini tidak akan bankrap jika subsidi barangan kawalan dan sebagainya dimansuhkan?

Pada pendapat PRM, sama ada subsidi dimansuhkan atau tidak, Malaysia pasti akan menjadi bankrap sekiranya dasar dan pemikiran parti pemerintah BN-UMNO tidak berubah.

PRM hendak tanya, harga minyak mentah iaitu petroleum, getah dan minyak kelapa sawit naik sejak tahun 1997, pada masa yang sama nilai hasil sektor pembuatan Malaysia juga bertambah, dalam keadaan pendapatan negara bertambah ini, kenapa hutang negara masih bertambah setiap tahun? Ke manakah wang cukai yang banyak itu pergi? Bukannya semua diguna untuk subsidi barangan kawalan!

Rakyat Malaysia sekarang makin hari makin ramai telah sedar dan faham, punca segala masalah ekonomi dan sosial negara hari ini ialah amalan rasuah, kronisme, pembaziran, rent-seeking, dan penyalahgunaan kuasa yang sudah menjadi budaya dan sebati dengan falsafah hidup BN-UMNO, contoh-contohnya sudah diketahui umum, tidak perlu disebut lagi. Punca masalah kita bukan subsidi yang diperuntukkan untuk barangan kawalan dan perkhimatan asas awam seperti perubatan dan pendidikan. Kesemua amalan buruk inilah merupakan punca pokok yang akan membankrapkan Malaysia.

Jika punca pokok tersebut tidak dibetulkan, pemansuhan subsidi tidak akan menyelamatkan Malaysia daripada bankrap, bahkan Malaysia akan lebih cepat dan awal menjadi negara bankrap, tidak perlulah sampai 2019. BN—UMNO telah macam Raja Bersiung, seorang raja yang ketagih akan darah manusia dalam makanannya.

PRM pasti bahawa selagi negara di bawah pemerintahan BN-UMNO, subsidi yang dimansuhkan tidak akan memanfaatkan rakyat. Wang itu hanya akan menggemukkan BN-UMNO.

Rakyat Malaysia hendak berwaspada supaya tidak terperdaya oleh apa-apa tindakan BN-UMNO kononya hendak mendapatkan maklum balas rakyat tentang pemansuhan subsidi.

(Koh Swe Yong)

Setiausaha Agung

012-2766551

21B(F) Jalan SJ 6 Taman Selayang Jaya 68100 Batu Caves Selangor Malaysia

29-05-2010

致新闻采访主任

废除了津贴马来西亚不会破产？

马来西亚人民党总秘书发表文告指出，马来西亚人民党不同意，废除统制商品如糖，面粉，食油以及对公共基本服务如医药和教育等的津贴，不会加重人民的负担。我国人民尤其是市区居民已经经历过汽油每公升涨价30仙所引起的痛苦和恶劣后果。

根据首相署部长拿督斯里依德里斯加拉，如果对上述物品的津贴不取消，并根据1997年为基础的国家债务每年平均增加12%来计算，从1997年开始的国家累计债务年年增加，这样下去，马来西亚将在2019年成为另一个希腊，面对国家破产的厄运。因此，他建议废除物品津贴，以免国家破产。

马来西亚人民党要问，难道国家将真的不会破产，假如进行了废除物品津贴制？

人民党认为，不论津贴制废除与否，马来西亚照样会破产如果国阵—巫统执政者的政策和思维没有改变。

马来西亚人民党指出，从1997年开始石油，树胶和棕油价格不断在上涨，与此同时我国的制造业领域的生产价值也增加，在国家收入增加的情况下，国家债务为什么每年还是不断上升？这么多的税钱去了那里？不是所有的税钱都用在津贴统制品！

现在，越来越多马来西亚人民已经醒觉和明了，我国当前面对的所有经济和社会问题的根本根源是：贪污，朋党主义，浪费，依靠权贵的中介抽取拥金(rent-seeking)和滥用权力行径已经形成一种文化，成为国阵—巫统人的生活哲学，在此不必列举例子，大家都已经非常清楚。所以国家问题的根源不是拨款津贴统制品和基本公共服务的医药和教育。上述的所有恶劣行径将是造成马来西亚破产的基本根源。

如果不认真纠正上述基本根源，废除津贴将不会挽救马来西亚面对破产的后果，马来西亚甚至会更快和更早成为破产国家，不必等待到2019年。国阵—巫统行径已经如马来古典文学里的Raja Bersiung即嗜血成性的国王。

马来西亚人民党很肯定，只要，马来西亚仍旧在国阵—巫统的执政下，废除津贴将不会给人民带来益处。那些被废除的津贴的钱只会用来养肥国阵—巫统。

因此，马来西亚人民必须谨防，以免上了国阵—巫统计谋的当。这些听取人民心声的举动只是表面功夫，好看好听，真正不是听取人民对废除津贴的回馈和心声。

马来西亚人民党总秘书

辜瑞荣

012-2766551

21B(F) Jalan SJ 6 Taman Selayang Jaya 68100 Batu Caves Selangor Malaysia

PRM - Need for a revival & re-statement of positions

2010-05-25T22:56:00.000-07:00

Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) is a party with a long history of having an option for the poor - workers, peasants, agricultural workers, justice and human rights.

What PRM needs to decide now is whether it would be an alternative party, with defined principles, positions and issues...or whether it will just be an Opposition party, against the UMNO-led BN and pro-Pakatan Rakyat? I believe that PRM must stand alone - cooperating with other parties, only when it comes to issues and maybe elections..PRM needs to commence membership drive to attract members from the younger generations, and be a real alternative.

DEMOCRACY - PRM should be for true democracy at all levels, and that will include democratically elected Local Councils, democratically elected Kampung/Kampung Baru/Taman people's leadership.

WORKERS

PRM should be pro-worker, insisting on greater worker rights including the right to unionize.

PRM should be for basis minimum living wage for all workers

PRM should be for job security - against the current practice of fixed-term contracts, that do not provide workers with job security until a retirement age of 55 (or 60). With short fixed term contracts of 6 months, 1 year or 2 years, it creates a lot of insecurity for the Malaysian worker and their families/dependents. After the contract period expires, workers end up having to find new jobs - and it becomes more and more difficult for the older workers.

Social Security - this scheme need to be extended to all workers, including the self-employed, farmers, fishermen,...and there must be an option of self-contribution...

Healthcare - it should be free universal healthcare for all.

What else?....Maybe there is a need to work out clearly new positions (which could be a reaffirmation of current positions..)

PRM Sambut Hari Pekerja Mei 1 dan lancarkan Pusat Khidmat PRM

2010-05-07T00:49:00.000-07:00

PRM Sambut Hari Pekerja Mei 1 dan lancarkan Pusat Khidmat PRM

Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) menyambut Hari Pekerja Mei 1 serta melancarkan “Pusat Khidmat Rakyat PRM” beralamat no. 7D Jalan PJS 1/48 Petaling Utama (off Jalan Kelang Lama) Selangor.

Timbalan Presiden PRM, Dr Rohana Ariffin semasa melancarkan Pusat Khidmat Rakyat PRM menyatakan dua matlamat menubuhkan pusat tersebut, iaitu (1) memberi pendidikan dan kesedaran kepada fahaman demokrasi dan hak-hak asasi untuk ahli-ahli PRM, rakan-rakan seperjuangan, pekerja ,wanita , belia dan penduduk di sekitar kawasan ini, dan (2) memberi sokongan kepada pekerja, wanita, belia, dan penduduk di sekitar kawasan ini dalam memperjuangkan hak-hak asasi mereka dan membantu mereka apabila timbul isu-isu penting berkaitan dengan pekerjaan dan kehidupan di sini.

Dalam ucapannya, Dr Rohana menyampaikan terima kasih kepada En Tan kerana sudi memberikan sokongan dengan membenarkan PRM mengguna premisnya menubuhkan pusat khidmat PRM tanpa bayaran sewa.

“Perjuangan PRM untuk rakyat bukanlah sesuatu yang baru sebab sejarah telah membuktikan bahawa PRM telah banyak membela nasib pekerja, setinggan dan rakyat terpinggir. Malah ramai daripada pemimpin dan ahli PRM telah dipenjarakan di bawah ISA,” kata Dr Rohana.

“Harapan kami agar PRM akan berganding bahu bersama-sama dengan kesatuan, para pekerja, komrad dari PSM, parti-parti politik lain, badan-badan bukan kerajaan (NGOs) dan individu-individu untuk terus membela nasib rakyat jelata, memperbaiki kualiti hidup penduduk di Malaysia tidak mengira bangsa dan agama.”

Pada upacara tersebut, Naib Presiden PRM S. K. Song dan Gary Nair, dan juga Setiausaha Agung PRM Koh Swe Yong dan Presiden PSM Dr Mohd Nasir turut berucap.

Koh Swe Yong berkata pengasas-pengasas PRM seperti Ahmad Bostamam telah menubuhkan Kesatuan Melayu Muda (KMM) sebelum Perang Dunia Kedua tetapi dipenjarakan dan KMM dibubarkan penjajah Inggeris, dan seterusnya menubuhkan Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya (PKMM) dan kemudian Angkatan Pemuda Insaf (API) selepas Perang Dunia Kedua, tetapi sekali lagi dipenjarakan dan PKMM dan API dibubarkan penjajah Inggeris.

Memandangkan tanah jajahan Inggeris ini telah berkembang dan memasuki peringkat sejarah baru setelah mereka keluar dari penjara, pengasas PRM memutuskan menubuhkan sebuah parti politik berbilang kaum dan agama. Oleh itu, PRM akan meneruskan perjuangan bersesuaian dengan suasana dan keadaan perkembangan mutakhir politik dan sosio-ekonomi negeri dan antarabangsa.

“Dengan perkembangan terbaru, pasaran ekonomi bebas (free market economy) yang diagung-agungkan oleh Amerika Syarikat(AS) sebenarnya hanya menguntungkan segelintir manusia. Menurut majalah mingguan keluaran AS, Business Week beberapa tahun yang lepas, 1 % (satu peratus) daripada warga AS yang terkaya memiliki 41% harta di AS, dan menurut berita terkini habuan golongan 1% terkaya ini bukan sahaja tidak terjejas, bahkan meningkat setelah berlakunya krisis ekonomi yang melanda AS dan dunia.”

“Apa yang dinampak, daya pasaran bebas jika dibiarkan bebas berkembang, seperti yang dilaksanakan sekarang, pasti akan membawa huru-hara dan ketidakstabilan kepada manusia, dan daya ini merupakan satu daya destructive. Oleh itu, daya pasaran ini tidak boleh dibiarkan bebas bergerak dan mesti hendak dikawal supaya ia memanfaatkan kebanyakan manusia, bukan hanya menguntungkan segelintir manusia yang terkaya.”

“Apabila AS menghadapi krisis dalam bidang financenya, jika mengikut doktrin daya pasaran bebas yang dijual oleh AS, nasib institusi-institusi kewangan AS seperti bank-bank harus ditentukan oleh daya pasaran bebas, tetapi kerajaan AS bertindak sebaliknya dengan segera mengepam beratus-ratus bilion dolar AS yang terdiri daripada wang pembayar cukai AS untuk menyelamatkan bank-bank daripada bankrap dan tutup kedai, manakala CEOnya masih terus menikmati imbuhan yang lumayan dan hidup mewah atas wang pembayar cukai. Negara lain juga ditimpa krisis kewangan AS, bukan sahaja bank Iceland menjadi bankrap, kerajaannya juga tumbang akibat dilanda krisis kewangan AS.”

Oleh itu, pada PRM kemudahan asas awam seperti perubatan dan pendidikan tidak boleh diswastakan dan ditentukan pasaran bebas, jika diswastakan, hanya golongan yang kaya dapat menerima perkhidmatan tersebut. Ini adalah tanggungjawab pemerintah kepada rakyat.

Yang benar,

Koh swe Yong

Setiausaha Agung

012-2766551

3-5-10

Pakatan Rakyat umpama perjanjian Fudhul menolak kezaliman (Harakah Daily, 4/4/2010)

2010-04-19T23:16:00.000-07:00

Pakatan Rakyat umpama perjanjian Fudhul menolak kezaliman

Dzulfikar Mashoor

GOMBAK, 4 April: Ahli Parlimen Kuala Selangor Dr. Dzulkifli Ahmad (gambar) menasihatkan seluruh ahli dan penyokong PAS supaya memperkukuhkan muafakat Pakatan Rakyat demi menolak kezaliman angkara segelintir pemimpin Umno BN.

Menurut beliau, muafakat PAS bersama-sama DAP dan PKR dalam Pakatan Rakyat itu boleh dianggap sebagai manifestasi pada penyertaan Rasulullah s.a.w dalam 'Perjanjian Fudhul' pada era Jahiliah.

"Inilah (Perjanjian Fudhul) suatu perjanjian untuk melindungi rakyat marhaen di Makkah (supaya) kezaliman ditolak bersama-sama oleh semua pihak, tidak mengira ideologi dan sebagainya."

"Sebab itu, kita membawa pendekatan ini (muafakat Pakatan Rakyat) sebagai kaedah politik PAS (yang) secucuk dengan nas ini (Perjanjian Fudhul)," jelas beliau pagi tadi.

Beliau yang juga Pengerusi Lajnah Kebudayaan dan Kesenian PAS Pusat berkata, budaya menolak kezaliman di Makkah itu walaupun berlaku ketika Rasulullah s.a.w berusia 16 tahun, tetapi Rasulullah s.a.w mengiktiraf muafakat politik (tahalluf siyasi) tersebut selepas Baginda diangkat menjadi Rasul.

"Sesungguhnya aku telah menyaksikan termeterainya perjanjian di rumah pakcikku, Abdullah bin Jud'an. Seandainya aku diundang untuk memeterai perjanjian (iaitu) menentang kezaliman dan menegakkan keadilan, pasti akan aku sambut," maksud Hadith Rasulullah s.a.w, seperti diperjelaskan oleh Dr. Dzulkifly.

Ujarnya lagi, penubuhan Pakatan Rakyat telah memecahkan tembok-tembok perkauman antara rakyat yang dicipta oleh parti-parti pemerintah atas titik persamaan yang sama iaitu menolak segelintir kepemimpinan Umno BN yang zalim.

Sehubungan itu, beliau mengajak seluruh ahli PAS dan rakyat marhaen mendukung wawasan PAS yang diperjuangkan oleh Mursyidul Amnya Tuan Guru Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat dan Presidennya Datuk Seri Tuan Guru Abdul Hadi Awang.

Bercakap dalam Majlis Perasmian Jubli Perak dan Mesyuarat Agong Tahunan PAS Kawasan Batu kali ke-25, beliau turut memuji keterbukaan DAP dalam menolak kezaliman Umno BN melalui wadah Pakatan Rakyat.

"Untuk menumbangkan kezaliman (Umno BN), para pemimpin DAP umumnya bersedia mengiktiraf Artikel 153 Perlembagaan Persekutuan (Hak Istimewa kaum Melayu) dan beberapa kepentingan yang lain.

"(Keterbukaan DAP) kerana mereka juga menghayati semangat serta kepentingan untuk bersama-sama (melalui Pakatan Rakyat) untuk tumbangkan Umno BN dalam masa terdekat ini (Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13)," ujarnya.

Lanjutan itu, beliau secara peribadi mengalu-alukan beberapa parti lain iaitu Parti Rakyat Se-Malaysia (PRM) dan Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) supaya menyertai muafakat Pakatan Rakyat.

"Apa juga ideologi, PRM, PSM dan apa jua parti sekali pun, Pakatan Rakyat boleh mengurus perbezaan...asalkan atas paksi yang jelas (iaitu) menolak kezaliman," ujar.

Sempena pilihan raya kecil Hulu Selangor yang dijangka berlangsung tidak lama lagi, beliau turut menyeru PAS supaya memperkasa jenteranya agar calon Pakatan Rakyat boleh memenangi kerusi Parlimen tersebut.

Turut menyertai Dzulkifli, Cikgu Ishak Surin (YDP PAS Kawasan Batu), Ustaz Iimran (Ketua Penerangan PAS Batu), Vincent Lee (Ketua Pengarah Himpunan Penyokong PAS), Dr. Tan Seng Giaw (Timbalan Pengerusi DAP Kebangsaan), Ariffin Salimon (Pemangku Presiden PRM) dan Koh Swe Yong (Setiausaha PRM). -END, Harakah Daily, 4/4/2010, Pakatan Rakyat umpama perjanjian Fudhul menolak kezaliman

PRM: Song’s invite does not reflect party’s stand (Star)

2010-02-17T11:52:00.000-08:00

Star, Tuesday February 16, 2010

PRM: Song’s invite does not reflect party’s stand

JOHOR BARU: Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) central committee member S.K. Song’s invitation to disgruntled PKR MPs to join PRM did not reflect the party’s stand.

PRM vice president Dr Rohana Ariffin said that Song’s invitation was his own.

“We stand by our policy of not getting involved in the squabbles of other parties. We never issued such an invitation and we will not do so,” she said yesterday.

However, Dr Rohana said former members were welcome to rejoin the party.

“At this point in time, we prefer to focus on connecting with members and strengthening the party.

“Getting involved in the matters of other parties is against our policy,” she said.

On the party election, where she is considered the front-runner for the presidency, Dr Rohana said that it would be discussed at the next central committee meeting due to take place next month.

PRM Penang chairman Gary Nair also said it was not the party’s way to meddle in problems affecting other political parties.

Song last Monday said PRM would welcome the PKR MPs with open arms, as they would be an asset to the party. - Star

An interview with PRM Vice President, Rohana Arifin

2010-01-24T01:05:00.000-08:00

21 January 2010 | Thursday Malaysiandigest.com Personality

Politics Harping on Racism Doesn't Hold Water

Rohana Arifin

Vice President of Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) Rohana Arifin use to serve as Associate Professor at University Sains Malaysia for two decades and has given many lectures in area of industrial relations and gender studies. As a writer, she has written three books entitled Women in Trade Unions in Peninsular Malaysia (1997), Shame Secrecy and Silence (1997) and Profiling the Rapist (2008).

Rohana also has contributed her ideas and thoughts in online news portal The Nut Graph.

Now, in her 60s, she is still very actively involved in feminist activism and several NGO movements.

Other positions Rohana holds include Deputy President of the community NGO Insani Malaysia , Vice President of the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Staff Association, Board Member of National Institute of Electoral Integrity and Co-founder of Women Crisis Center.

Malaysian Digest caught up with the seasoned laissez-faire politician and activist recently to find out what she feels about the way things are going in Malaysian politics among other things.

Malaysian Digest: How do feel about Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s administration since he became prime minister?
Rohana Ariffin: Najib’s administration realized that they have to win back the confidence of all races in Malaysia . One main attempt is by sloganizing and bringing about some cosmetic changes. But sloganizing needs to be followed by serious attempt at materializing them. Some of their attempts to win the hearts of the people include the creation of 1Malaysia Clinics and Juara Rakyat . Maybe this may appeal to some basic needs of the poor and the more apolitical groups but generally less appealing for the more urban populations who are weary of more promises. Not only has the urban population become weary, many have become very sceptical and cynical of the government and their agencies. Just look at the comments of the younger bloggers.

MD: What’s your take on the outcome of the last year’s March 8 general election?
RA: The outcome of 2008 election was a surprise to most people. The results mainly showed two things:

a) That people are fed up of the Barisan government because they have become too corrupt and blatant in their ways. There is no accountability for many of their actions and the general public has very little voice in the political decisions of the country.

b) It is a good wake up call for the ruling parties who were arrogant and complacent all this while as they think that 50 years of their rule is unshakable. They forget that the new media, internet, Youtube etc have opened up knowledge and accessibility to many sources. Thus the old politics of harping on racism and threats does not hold water anymore among the more urban population

MD: How do see the outcome of the next general election?
RA: It’s hard to predict the future, depending on the economic situation and the grounds that the Barisan could gained by then. However, the next general election may foresee the Opposition gaining more grounds but the Barisan may still win by a minority. But there would also be a lot of scrambling for seats among the Opposition as they are becoming more confident of winning. Hopefully, voters have matured into choosing candidates on the basis of their integrity and service for the people and less on the party they stand for.

Maybe the Malaysian public may become matured politically by then, in terms of choosing a good candidate to represent the interest of the common people.

MD: What are the positive and negative changes you have seen since the March 8 general election last year?
RA: Positive, now that the government is more careful and transparent in their policies. They seem to try rectifying some of the weaknesses in the civil service etc like opening up more to the various races in the country. Also, many issues in parliament are debated upon unlike in the past, although in the end, the Barisan always seemed to be at the winning end by getting whatever policies/laws passed. However, the public are able to read the differences in opinion presented in Parliament by the opposing parties.

There’s less arrogance in dealing with public opinion.

Negative changes include too much of bickering and partisan politicking because each side refuses to accept any suggestions from the other side. Issues may have to be seen impartially with insight and integrity with the interest of the general public at heart.

MD: What do you think about the crisis faced by Pakatan Rakyat due to conflicting political interests/ideologies?
RA: Conflicting ideologies of Pakatan Rakyat? I suppose in all coalitions there are differences and its no different in the Pakatan although the Barisan, through its main media, tend to play it up. The Pakatan are what we call “strange bed-fellows” but although they have differences, they have managed to sort out a lot of issues among themselves.

MD: What is 1Malaysia to you and how do you feel about this initiative by our prime minister?
RA: Concept of 1Malaysia by the PM? The concept is good but nothing new but maybe only for the Barisan Nasional. These has been the policies of the more progressive political parties and NGOs in the past. For example, PRM has been endorsing this objective since their formation and that we believe every Malaysian should have a decent life. The divinises among the races in Malaysia were not only the legacy of the former British colonialist but were perpetuated by the political parties here that are racially based. Each party wants to appear to be championing their own race and in that process the social formation became racially divided too.

MD: Do you feel there’s improvement in racial unity despite our diversity of cultures and religions in recent times or were we more cohesive in the past (during our parent’s time)?
RA: Are we more divided racially or cohesive? Yes, more divisive! Since the seventies, the trend towards dividing the races were accentuated (after the 1969 riots) - the New Economic Policies, demand for separate schools and universities, insurgence of religion that identify race with religion, introduction of the University and College Act etc.

Many children are separated by attending different vernacular schools (thus no mixing with other races), too much religious interference in government schools, attending private and public tertiary education separated by races, and so on. The xenophobic view of their own race and the “the others” tend to have separated the younger generation only to encourage them to mix mainly with their own race. Sadly, this is added on by racial politicking by the various political parties.

MD: Do you feel Samy Vellu should step down as MIC president?
RA: Yes, Samy has to step down and make way for younger leaders who may have better ideas and seriousness in improving the conditions of the Indians in general.

MD: What’s your opinion with regards to race politics?
RA: As we can see, not only in Malaysia but everywhere in the world, the general population tend to suffer. We know that it is a form of effective control over the population by creating fear and suspicion towards the other races. Also a form of justification when repressions are used on a particular race. Examples are Nazi Germany or in Bosnia . When a person is viewed as belonging to a race and less as a person and a human with similar basic needs and feelings, it creates people who tend to dehumanise others merely on the grounds that they belong to another race.

MD: How do feel about the notion of a unity government between PAS and UMNO?
RA: There are some differences among the leaders as they seem to claim who are more religiously correct and serving Islam. Hard to say but quite possible if they feel that by uniting the interest of the Malays and Islam is preserved better that way.

MD: What’s your take on the New Economic Policy (NEP)?
RA: New Economic Policy? Well, many of the objectives have been served and it had to be phased out.

MD: How do feel about our education system and the youths of today?
RA: Too much political interference in the education system as each education minister attempts to make an impact. Well, where in the world is there so many universities sprouting out so fast within a span of last 20 years?

In many developed countries, it takes many decades to create institutions of learning so that their credibility and standards are maintained! Also, we pay too much attention on books, mesmerising with lots of tuition centres, revision of past exam questions and so on. Students can pour out lots of facts but do less critical and independent thinking of their own. Do leave the education from primary to tertiary mainly to the educationists and have public opinions on them.

For the youths of today, there are two main basic trends:

a) Influenced strongly by the global imperialist culture or

b) By conservatism of religious teaching. Thus less independent thinking, although the minority of youths are creating their own culture of films, theatres etc. The internet has managed to expose our youths to many global issues; positive and negative. They mature faster than the older generation and in many ways tend to be restless in wanting things quickly (in this instant age) with even higher expectations.

They (the youths) also tend to believe what they read in the internet and opinion of bloggers without verifying first the facts of such opinion and contentions.

MD: Do you think sex education should be implemented extensively in our schools?
RA: Yes. It should be taught in schools mainly because of the confusing facts surrounding them from friends and internet. Sex education is not about encouraging sexual acts but more for understanding their own physical and mental growth as they grow up. This would include teaching them to be responsible in any future sexual relations and what are the repercussions of these actions. Also to understand the widespread of aids and venereal diseases.

MD: How do you feel about political aide Teoh Beng Hock’s death and the way the authorities have been handling the inquest?
RA: This is the extreme form of interrogation by any agency in trying to serve their masters. Also, some politicians are making political mileage from this. As for me, the Forensic Department and doctors should be totally independent and autonomous. They should be free from fear and favour with no political interferences.

Let all findings from their forensic work be based on scientific evidence. It does not matter who the victims are, be it a car thief, a sex worker or a prominent person. All victims should have fair forensic examination. After all, who can speak for the dead except the forensic examiner?

MD: What are some changes you’d like to see in this country and its administration?
RA: Changes in the country? The government could attempt to provide the Malaysian population with a decent and comfortable life, which means that all basic needs are fulfilled. Future housing and flats etc should be of decent standards, not pigeon holes where people are crammed into smaller spaces. As the housing and building structures has propounding affect on social formation and breeding grounds for criminal activities, more thoughts should go into urban development. The income disparity and earnings could be narrowed down and that the level of disparity be minimised. There have to be more religious and political freedom for everyone and religious intolerance should be frowned upon.

The prevalence of sceptical and cynicism among many Malaysians could perhaps be reduced with better accessibility to correct information and truths.

People in the all form of administration have civil service, hospital etc could have a paradigm shift in attitude that they are there to serve the people, not viewing people as begging them for favours. After all, they are paid to do the job and all salaries are from the rakyat.

All public transport could serve the interest of the common people. For example, there should be LRT stations near all hospitals and not serving mainly the commercial interest of the supermarkets. The cultivation of our value system and culture based on cooperation, sharing and caring could be encouraged through the institution of family, schools, media and religion, therefore eradicating racist tendencies and stereotypes of each other. The eradication of such myopic view among races could be achievable in the near future.

PRM kutuk habis-habisan perbuatan ganas membakar gereja

2010-01-09T07:39:00.000-08:00

PRM kutuk habis-habisan perbuatan ganas membakar gereja

Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) mengutuk habis-habisan perbuatan yang ganas membakar gereja yang berlaku di Petaling Jaya pagi ini.

PRM berpendapat bahawa kenyataan pemimpin-pemimpin UMNO seperti “ kerajaan tidak akan menghalang orang ramai yang ingin mengadakan perhimpunan di mana-mana masjid bagi membantah isu penggunaan kalimah Allah hari ini.”, “peserta perhimpunan mempunyai hak berbuat demikian dan berharap perhimpunan itu berlangsung secara aman tanpa sebarang kekecohan” yang dilaporkan hari ini amat tidak bertanggungjawap, telah memburukkan keadaan dan memberikan isyarat yang negatif dan serong kepada kumpulan sehingga melakukan perbuatan ganas. Perbuatan ini telah merosakkan keharmonian dan keamanan masyarakat dan negara. UMNO harus bertanggungjawab terhadap apa yang berlaku ini.

PRM seperti dalam kenyataan PRM yang dikeluarkan kelmarin menyeru semua rakyat bertenang, tidak bertindak balas terhadap perbuatan ganas ini supaya tidak termasuk perangkap pihak yang tidak bertanggungjawap ini. Mereka berbuat demikian untuk niat jahat dan ada udang di sebalik batu.

PRM juga menyeru semua rakyat Malaysia yang rasional, mencintai negara, keamanan dan keharmonian hidup mengadakan perundingan untuk menyelesaikan sebarang masalah dan perselisihan. Bagi PRM, kita boleh belajar daripada peristiwa Mikraj, iaitu apa yang tersurat dan tersirat dalam peristiwa Mikraj di mana bilangan kali bersembahyang orang Islam sebanyak 5 kali sehari dicapai daripada 50 kali pada mulanya melalui praktik dan rundingan sebanyak 9 kali ialah sebarang penyelesaian terhadap sesatu masalah dapat dicapai melalui perundingan dan praktis dan secara bersabar dan berulang-ulang.

Akhirnya, PRM menyeru pihak berkuasa dan bertanggungjawap terhadap keselamatan negara supaya bertindak tegas terhadap sesiapa yang melakukan pembakaran gereja dan yang merancang serta berdemotrasi sama ada di dalam atau di luar masjid.

21B(F) Jalan SJ 6 Taman Selayang Jaya 68100 Batu Caves Selangor Malaysia

PRM juga ingin menyeru pemimpin UMNO-BN menghentikan perbuatan memanipulasi isu ini semata-mata demi kepentingan sempit politik diri sendiri dengan membelakangkan kebajikan dan keamanan rakyat dan negara keseluruhannya.

Koh Swe Yong

Setiausaha Agung

012-2766551

Rohana a good bet to take PRM reins (Star)

2010-01-07T11:49:00.000-08:00

Tuesday January 5, 2010

Rohana a good bet to take PRM reins

By FARIK ZOLKEPLI

JOHOR BARU: Sociologist and women’s rights advocate Dr Rohana Arffin (pic) is tipped to be the next president of Parti Rakyat Malaysia.

The retired associate professor of Universiti Sains Malaysia said she would abide by the decision of the party’s central committee which was expected to meet soon to endorse her candidacy.

Dr Rohana, who is currently the vice-president, was one of the pioneers of the Women Crisis Centre in Penang in 1985.

“The central committee members will decide on who best to lead the party. We will discuss on the individuals who will be nominated for the top two posts,” she told The Star here yesterday.

She added that the central committee would also discuss a working relationship with other parties and non-governmental organisations.

Dr Rohana said the party’s election would be held this year and the nomination for the top post should be made in the interest of the party and not for personal glory.

“I have always declined such nomination in the past as it is a heavy task and I prefer to focus on my party commitments and other social causes.

“However, I will see the result of the upcoming central committee meeting before deciding on my next course,” she said.

Dr Rohana, who is a 30-year party veteran, said for now, her focus was towards strengthening the party by increasing its current membership and regain the confidence of party members.

She said that the party would not be joining any coalition as it preferred to remain neutral.

The party is undergoing a reshuffle in the wake of the resignation of president Hassan Abdul Karim on Nov 17.

He resigned after 80% of the 100 party delegates who attended the party’s congress in Kuala Kumpur rejected his proposal for the party to join Pakatan Rakyat.

PRM: Pelaksanaan GST untuk mengekalkan dasar bazir dan gemukkan kroni BN

2009-11-28T12:38:00.000-08:00

PRM: Pelaksanaan GST untuk mengekalkan dasar bazir dan gemukkan kroni BN

Kerajaan Pusat BN mengumumkan akan melaksanakan sistem cukai GST sebanyak 4% mulai bulan September 2011 dengan tujuannya menambah tabung pendapatan negara. Sekali lagi ini membuktikan dasar “ rakyat didahulukan” adalah gimik politik bagi meraih balik sokongan dan kepercayaan rakyat terhadap BN yang telah lesap, mempakej semula elit BN-UMNO supaya mereka dapat terus memerintah dan berputar kepada perbuatan memeras wang titik peluh rakyat untuk mengekalkan dasar pemerintahan yang sekian lama ini memboros dan membazir dengan sewenang-wenang, serta mengemukkan dan membuncitkan diri sendiri.

PRM hendak bertanya, bagi sepuluh tahun yang berlalu, kenapa bajet kerajaan BN mengalami defisit? Jawapannya diketahui umum, kerajaan BN adalah “kerajaan cari makan”, dasarnya hanya menjaga kocek kroni dan saudara-mara di kelilingnya, membolehkan segelintir individu ini mengaut kekayaan dan cepat kaya menerusi cara tidak bermoral dan tidak mengikut peraturan.

Tak usahlah disebut rasuah dan salahguna kuasa berleluasa yang melibatkan beratus-ratus juta ringgit, tahun demi tahun laporan auditor negara mendedahkan kecurangan-kecurangan, pembaziran dan penyalahgunaan yang melampau dilakukan, ini sudah cukup jelas menunjukkan di mana terletaknya masalah pendapatan negara tidak cukup untuk menampung perbelanjaan,. Walaupun setiap tahun pendedahan dibuat auditor negara, masalah yang sama tetap berulang, tiada sesiapa dikenakan tindakan, mereka percaya sampai masanya pengundi akan memberikan sokongan kepada BN.

PRM berpendapat, sistem cukai GST yang akan dilaksanakan apabila sumber-sumber alam kekayaan negara telah makin hari makin kurang, elit pemerintah BN tiada pilihan lain jika mereka ingin menyambung dasar yang boros dan bazir serta menggemukkan kocek diri sendiri, mereka hanya boleh berputar kepada pemerasan rakyat jelata untuk mengaut dan mendapatkan wang ringgit untuk membiayai tabiat membazir dan memboros semasa sumber-sumber alam di negara melimpah.

Sebelum cukai GST dilaksanakan, antara 27 juta penduduk di negara ini, tidak samapi 3 juta penduduk dikenakan membayar cukai pendapatan, kerana pendapatan yang lain rendah atau kanak-kanak atau pesara, tidak sampai jumlah yang boleh dikenakan cukai. Jika cukai GST berkuatkuasa, kesemua 27 juta pendudduk di negara ini dikenakan cukai, tidak ada sesiapa dikecualikan, bahkan termasuk bayi yang baru dilahirkan.

Ini bukan sahaja akan membebankan rakyat golongan bawahan, yang selama ini tidak perlu membayar cukai kerana pendapatannya rendah. Pada masa yang sama, kerajaan BN akan menurun kadar cukai pendapatan individu dan syarikat, ini akan melebarkan jurang antara yang miskin dengan yang kaya. Sekiranya jurang ini terus melebar, akan timbullah ketidak-stabilan dalam masyarakat. Sistem cukai ini akan mengakibatkan yang miskin menjadi lebih miskin, dan juga melenyapkan pekedai-pekedai kecil yang sedang ditolak ke pinggir kelenyapan oleh pasaraya raksasa yang berasal dari negara asing. Kedai-kedai kecil ini akan tutup kedai kerana tidak berupaya bersaing dengan pasaraya yang mendapatkan barangan mereka langsung daripada pengeluar. Bilangan penganggur di negara ini akan bertambah. Inflasi dan kesusahan yang mengikutinya pasti berlaku.

PRM berpendapat, dalam keadaan begini, pelaksanaan sistem cukai ini harus ditentang. PRM meramal bahawa pilihan raya umum ke-13 akan diadakan selewat-lewatnya sebelum September 2011. Di samping GST, dasar pengajaran dan pembelajaran Sains dan Matematik dalam Bahasa Inggeris akan ditamatkan di darjah 1 pada 2011. Rakyat harus mengguna undi dalam tangan mereka untuk menolak BN dan dengan penolakan BN menolak sistem cukai GST.

Yang benar,

Koh Swe Yong

Setiausaha Agung

012-2766551

PRM already has an acting President since 23/11/2009 - so Star's report is wrong.

2009-11-28T10:00:00.000-08:00

From my inquiries, PRM has already chosen an acting President. See earlier posting :- PRM melantik pemangku Presiden Baruon on 23/11/2009.

One wonders whether the error in the Star report is intentional, or they were misled by S.K. Song? Wonder why the Star did not carry the earlier statement issued by the Sec-Gen on or before 23/11/2009. The media must refer to the principal office bearers before putting out reports about any political party, society or organisation. From, the report, it is clear that the person referred to as the source seem to be not aware of recent developments in PRM - for he is still talking as though there is not yet an acting President of PRM, in light of the resignation of Hassan Karim.

PRM to pick new leaders after president's resignation

JOHOR BARU: Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) will undergo a reshuffle in the next four to six weeks in the wake of president Hassan Abdul Karim’s resignation.

Party Central Committee (CC) member S.K. Song said that the reshuffle would also see the appointments of a new president and deputy chairman.

“All state liaison committees have been directed to hold meetings to discuss the appointment of new people for these two posts,” he told The Star yesterday.

“The CC will meet to make a final decision in four to six weeks.” Song said the party needed capable leaders to fill the top two posts but refused to divulge the names of those who had been considered.

On Nov 17, Hassan resigned after 80% of the 100 party delegates who attended the PRM congress in Kuala Lumpur rejected his proposal for the party to join Pakatan Rakyat.

Hassan has since applied to join PKR. He submitted his form to party leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at a convention in Kluang on Nov 22.

Song said he respected Hassan’s decision and his contribution to the party.

“However, he (Hassan) put forth the proposal to join Pakatan without discussing with the CC first,” he said.

“The members were caught by surprise. That’s why it was rejected.”

Hassan, he added, should have discussed the matter thoroughly before proposing such a drastic move.

“The party will survive without him.” Song also clarified that though he pulled out as deputy chairman, he was still the party’s Johor chairman and CC member.

“I pulled out to give way to other leaders about three months ago.” - Star, 28/11/2009, PRM to pick new leaders after president's resignation

PRM melantik pemangku Presiden Baru

2009-11-23T00:46:00.000-08:00

PRM melantik pemangku Presiden Baru

Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) mengumumkan hari ini bahawa Naib Presidennya Ariffin Salimon telah dilantik Pemangku Presiden untuk mengisi kekosongan setelah Presiden PRM Hassan Karim meninggalkan PRM. Pada masa yang sama, Goh Chuin Loon dari ranting PRM Sungai Petani Kedah dilantik sebagai ahli jawatankuasa pusat (AJKP).

Hassan Karim meninggalkan PRM kerana lebih daripada 80% wakil PRM yang menghadiri Kongres Nasional ke-41 yang diadakan pada 15 November 2009 telah menolak usul Hassan Karim. Usul itu adalah untuk memohon secara bertulis menyertai Pakatan Rakyat. Oleh sebab ini perkara yang strategik dan serius, sebelum sebarang keputusan dibuat, perkara ini perlu masa untuk berbincang. Wakil berpendapat buat masa ini adalah tidak sesuai memohon, apatah lagi Pakatan Rakyat masih dari segi peraturan belum berdaftar.

Kenyataan PRM juga menjelaskan satu kesilapan yang ada dalam laporan the Star hari ini. S.K. Song telah meletakkan jawatan Timbalan Presiden pada Januari tahun ini dan diterima JKP, tetapi beliau masih AJKP dan Pengerusi PRM Johor.

Parti Rakyat Malaysia ialah parti politik terbuka kepada warganegara Malaysia, PRM mengalu-alukan sesiapa untuk berjuang bersama, jika bersetuju dengan cita-cita dan konsep memperjuangkan kepentingan rakyat jelata khususnya mereka daripada golongan pertengahan bawah

Akan tetapi, sekiranya ada mana-mana anggota PRM mendapati, PRM bukannya wadah yang sesuai lagi untuk bergerak, dan memenuhi kehendaknya, memilih untuk meninggalkan PRM, pilihannya dihormati dan diterima. Pemimpin boleh datang dan boleh pergi, bagi PRM ini hal biasa.

Walau bagaimanapun PRM mahu mengucapkan ribuan terima kasih kepada Hassan Karim, pada masa beliau memimpin PRM selama 5 tahun , Hassan Karim telah sedaya-upaya dan dengan jujur ikhlasnya mempertahankan hak kewujudan PRM sebagai satu parti politik berdaftar, serta mengucapkan maju jaya dan good luck kepada Hassan Karim dalam endeavour dengan wadah yang lain.

Yang benar,

(Koh Swe Yong)

Setiausaha Agung

012-2766551

PRM EX-chief joins PKR

2009-11-22T19:31:00.000-08:00

PETALING JAYA: Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) president Hassan Abdul Karim has resigned from the party to join PKR.

Hassan submitted his membership application form to PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at the Johor PKR convention in Kluang yesterday.

Hassan had announced his intention to resign as president during the PRM congress in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 15.

“In the policy speech, I proposed that the party join Pakatan Rakyat. But more than 80% of the 100 delegates rejected the idea.

“As my proposal to set new directions for the party was strongly opposed, I had no other option but to announce that I was relinquishing all posts,’’ he said when contacted yesterday.

Hassan submitted his letter of resignation to party secretary-general Koh Swe Yong on Nov 17.

“I have relinquished all my posts in the party and am quitting as a member,’’ he said.

Hassan, 58, was among a few who fought hard to save PRM from being dissolved after former leaders decided to merge the party with Parti Keadilan to form PKR on Aug 3, 2003.

Those who opposed the merger held a congress in Johor on April 17, 2005 and elected Hassan as the new president.

This prompted former PRM president Dr Syed Husin Ali, former vice-president R. Sivarasa and former secretary-general Dr Sanusi Othman to file a petition in court to dissolve the party.

However, the High Court ruled on July 16 that the dissolution of the party could only take place if at least 60% of the members voted for it during a congress.

Hassan said he still loved PRM.

“But if the party operates in isolation, it is difficult to bring about changes. That is why I proposed that the party join the Pakatan Rakyat coalition,’’ he said.

PRM deputy chairman S.K. Song said most of the members rejected the idea because they thought Hassan had wanted to merge the party with PKR.

“We were shocked when Hassan put forward the idea as he was among those who had worked hard to stop the party from being dissolved,” he said. - Star, 23/11/2009, PRM chief joins PKR

Parti Rakyat on road to expansion (Malay Mail)

2009-11-05T21:29:00.000-08:00

Parti Rakyat on road to expansion

Submitted by pekwan on Thursday, November 5th, 2009

Thursday, November 5th, 2009 05:44:00

EXPANDING: Hassan speaking at the opening of the PRM Sungai Petani branch. The others are (from left) Koh, Sungai Petani branch chairman Lim Pok Long, Teh Soon Ming and Workers' Organisation chairman Thiagaraja

PARTI Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) is on the move. Established in 1955, PRM has begun to become more active in the political arena and is moving to rebuild its ties with the grassroots, its president Hassan Karim said.

“We will begin to play a wider role, now that the court has legitimised our position,” Hasan said of the July 16 High Court decision that PRM remained a legitimate entity under the Societies Act.

That was the day the High Court sitting at Jalan Duta in Kuala Lumpur ruled against PRM’s dissolution, sought by eight former members of the party who were key players in its merger with Parti Keadilan, which since the merger has become Parti Keadilan Rakyat.

Hassan said there was little opportunity for PRM to work with the Barisan Nasional as the BN considered PRM's socialist stance as completely alien.

However, the party was willing to work with Pakatan Rakyat and all other organisations legitimately struggling for the welfare and rights of the people, he said at the opening of PRM's Sungai Petani branch in Kedah last Sunday.

Hassan also said PRM has received feelers from Pakatan to join the coalition. This, he said, would be discussed at PRM’s 42nd National Congress, which will be held at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall in KL on Nov 15.

He added the next area of PRM’s expansion in the country would be Johor and that in the years to come, the party would also expand to Sabah and Sarawak.

Also speaking during the launch, PRM secretary-general Koh Swe Yong said the party was in the process of re-registering its members and revamping the party structure and organisation, as the current leadership has not received any party documents from those behind the move to dissolve it. - Malay Mail, 5/11/2009, Parti Rakyat on road to expansion

PRM MINTA KERAJAAN MALAYSIA BEBASKAN PELARIAN POLITIK SRI LANKA

2009-10-25T07:09:00.000-07:00

Kenyataan Media PRM

- 20 haribulan Oktober, 2009

PRM MINTA KERAJAAN MALAYSIA BEBASKAN
PELARIAN POLITIK SRI LANKA

Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) minta Kerajaan Malaysia supaya segera membebaskan kesemua 108 pelarian politik Sri Lanka yang kini sedang ditahan di Kem Tahanan Imigresen Pekan Nenas, Pontian, Johor.

Mereka terdiri daripada 88 lelaki, 10 perempuan (seorang sedang mengandung) dan 10 orang kanak-kanak. Kesemua pelarian politik Sri Lanka tersebut mendakwa mereka adalah pemegang kad UNHCR (Suruhanjaya Hak-Hak Asasi Pelarian Politik Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu). Mereka telah ditangkap pada kira-kira pukul 12 malam di Johor Bahru pada 8 haribulan September 2009 dan hingga kini ditahan di Kem Tahanan Imigresen Pekan Nenas.

PRM dimaklumkan bahawa keadaan orang-orang pelarian Sri Lanka itu sangat membimbangkan. Seorang daripada mereka, seorang pelarian perempuan bernama Jayamalar telah melancarkan mogok lapar di dalam Kem Tahanan sejak 6 hari yang lalu. Keadaannya begitu kritikal sehingga terpaksa dihantar ke hospital pada 18 haribulan Oktober 2009. Beliau kini masih meneruskan mogok lapar. Mulai semalam 19 haribulan Oktober 5 orang pelarian lelaki Sri Lanka itu turut menyertai mogok lapar tersebut kerana membantah penahanan mereka.

Pelarian-pelarian politik Sri Lanka membantah penahanan mereka oleh pihak berkuasa Malaysia kerana mendakwa mereka adalah pelaraian politik yang sah yang diiktiraf oleh UNHCR. Mereka tidak sepatutnya ditahan di Kem Tahanan Imigresen di Pekan Nenas. Sudah lebih 40 hari mereka ditahan dan tiada sesiapa yang mengambil berat tentang nasib mereka.

PRM menyeru kerajaan Malaysia atas dasar peri kemanusiaan dan atas prinsip menghormati undang-undang antarabangsa tentang hak-hak pelarian politik supaya membebaskan dengan seberapa segera kesemua pelarian politik Sri Lanka itu dari Kem Tahanan Imigresen Pekan Nenas dan membenarkan mereka mendapat perlindungan di Malaysia yang aman ini.

Hassan Karim
Presiden PRM

Alamat: Bilik 6, Aras 2, Wisma Qaryah, Jalan Pejabat, 82000 Pontian, Johor.
Tel: 07-6881839 H/P: 012-7931148 Email: hakarim2001@yahoo.com

PRM: Undilah calon PR—PAS percepat perubahan social politik di Malaysia

2009-10-06T11:34:00.000-07:00

Kenyataan Media - 6/10/2009

Undilah calon PR—PAS percepat perubahan social politik di Malaysia

Mesyuarat Jawatankuasa Pusat baru-baru ini memutuskan untuk menyeru pengundi DUN Bagan Pinang, Negeri Sembilan, mengundi calon PR—PAS Zulkefly Mohamad Omar, menolak calon BN—UMNO.

BN—UMNO dibawah kepimpinan Najib-Muhyuddin mencalonkan bekas Menteri Besar Negeri Sembilan Mohamad Isa, seorang pemimpin yang telah dibuktikan dan dijatuhkan tindakan oleh UMNO sendiri kerana terlibat politik wang untuk mendapatkan jawatan dalam pemilihan kepimpinan UMNO, menunjukkan laungan kepimpinan Najib—Muhyudddin untuk melaksanakan pembaharuan dalam BN—UMNO, serta slogan mendahulukan kepentingan rakyat , jika tidak rakyat akan merubah BN—UMNO, dengan sendirinya mendedah pekung bahawa kesemua kata-kata manis ini tak lain daripada tirai asap dan gimik politik untuk terus menipu rakyat.

Kepimpinan BN—UMNO ini hanya mewarisi dan meneruskan dasar selama 50 tahun memerintah, merampas harta dan sumber rakyat dan negara demi kepentingan diri sendiri.

Menurut laporan media, pada awal tahun 80an semasa Mohamad Isa menjawat Menteri Besar Negeri Sembilan, telah dirangka satu projek untuk memindahkan penternak babi di negeri itu ke satu tapak pembelaan moden dan terkawal dari segi kesihatan dan persekitaran.

Untuk tujuan tersebut, tanah seluas 1520 ekar telah diambilalih, dan tanah berharga RM8500 seekar akan dijual terus kepada pengusaha penternakan berdasarkan konsep bayaran pampasan.

Projek ini untuk menjaga kebajikan dan kepentingan penternak, alam sekitar, pengguna dan penduduk. Tetapi kesudahannya tidak berjalan seperti yang dirancang.

Oleh sebab ketamakan rejim pemerintah yang tidak ada batas, dan dipandang mereka sebagai peluang membuat duit, maka timbullah niat serong dalam hati mereka. Rancangan yang dirangka untuk kebajikan rakyat dan masyarakat ini dirubah dan dijadikan projek cepat kaya.

Tanah tersebut telah dijual kepada sebuah syarikat Melayu yang dikaitkan dengan UMNO Negeri.

Syarikat ini tidak menjual tanah terus kepada pengusaha, tetapi kepada syarikat yang dimiliki orang Cina yang dikaitkan MCA. Ia dikaitkan dengan Senator Dr Yau Chai Thian, pengerusi MCA Negeri Sembilan.

Dalam proses ini, tanah yang berharga RM 8500 seekar jika dijual terus kepada pengusaha, sekarang dijual oleh syarikat yang dikaitkan dengan MCA dengan harga RM 145000 seekar, iaitu melambung naik sebanyak 17 kali ganda. Pengusaha enggan membelinya.

Akhirnya, rancangan untuk memodenkan kaedah memelihara babi terhalang. Apakah yang berlaku kemudian ialah tercetusnya virus Nipah yang bukan sahaja meragut nyawa penternak dan hangusnya harta benda, bahkan mengancam nyawa dan merugikan rakyat keseluruhannya.

Apa yang dicatat di atas adalah salah satu daripada beribu-ribu contoh penyalahgunaan kuasa BN—UMNO demi kepentingan diri dan kroni-kroni dan sakat-sukut mereka.

Oleh itu, Parti Rakyat Malaysia sekali lagi menyeru pengundi DUN Bagan Pinang menolak calon BN—UMNO yang terbukti terlibat dalam politik wang, menyokong calon PAS, memberi peluang kepada perubahan supaya udara Malaysia segar semula, barulah kebajikan rakyat jelata terjamin.

Hassan Abdul Karim,
Presiden (012-7931148)

Koh Swe Yong,
Setiausaha Agung (012-2766551)

Joint Statement :- LEPTOSPIROSIS CAUSES DEATH OF ANOTHER 6 BURMESE IN DETENTION IN MALAYSIA

2009-09-25T20:26:00.000-07:00

Joint Statement - 25/9/2009

LEPTOSPIROSIS CAUSES DEATH OF ANOTHER 6 BURMESE IN DETENTION IN MALAYSIA

DENIAL OF HEALTHCARE IS A VIOLATION OF RIGHT TO LIFE

We are shocked and disappointed to hear that another six Burmese migrants have died while in detention in Malaysia because of a suspected waterborne disease. Leptospirosis is caused by exposure to water contaminated by animal urine, like rat urine. (Straits Times, 25/9/2009, Migrants die in detention/ Associated Press, 24/9/2009).

From our investigation, the names of 3 of those who have died are So Thein [Prison Body number 0853, Block B1, Ethnicity: Burman, Age: 36], Min Khaing [Body number 5009, Ethnicity: Karen, Age: 23] and Min Nown [Ethnicity: Arkan, Age: 28]. The other 3 are of Chin ethnicity. It seems that the deaths happened in August.

This time the deaths seem to have occurred at the Detention Centre at the KL International Airport (KLIA) depot. The Straits Times report states that an official had informed them that ‘…the detainees likely contracted the disease in another centre. They were transferred together with some 700 others after a riot there...’. In an earlier report (Star, 24/7/2009), it was stated that ‘…some 700 Myanmar illegal immigrants involved in a ruckus at the Semenyih immigration depot early this month have been moved to the department’s KL International Airport (KLIA) depot…’

It must be noted that this is not the first case of death by reason of Leptospirosis. Sa La Hin, 26, and Thang Hoih Ping, 21, two Burmese migrants, died in the Malaysia’s Juru Immigration Detention Centre from Leptospirosis in May 2009. 127 civil society groups and organizations responded vide a joint statement entitled ‘Death Of 2 Burmese Indicative Of State Of Detention Places In Malaysia - Denial Of Healthcare Is A Violation Of Right To Life’.

Complaints were also lodged with the Malaysia’s Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM), Malaysian Prime Minister Dato' Sri Mohd Najib Bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak,, Minister of Home Affairs Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, and the Minister of Health Dato' Sri Liow Tiong Lai,

After that Leptospirosis outbreak in the Juru Detention Centre in Penang in May, the Immigration Director-General Abdul Rahman assured us that the cleanliness and hygiene at immigration depots nationwide will be stepped-up to ensure safety of staff and inmates there against contracting infectious diseases (Bernama, 19/5/2009).

SUHAKAM also vide letter dated 16/7/2009 had informed us that they had met with the Director General of Immigration on 4/6/2009, and amongst others, had recommended that ‘… as a measure to control contagious diseases to ensure that all immigration detention centres should have a doctor or medical officer in line with international requirements, and that cleanliness of detention centres should be taken care of.’

It must also be borne in mind that last year SUHAKAM identified medical care as an overriding reason why 1,300 detainees have died over the past six years, and had made recommendations to the government. At present the 22 centres throughout Malaysia do not have a permanent clinical dispensary manned by doctors or a medical assistant to help detainees. (ABC News, 28/5/2009)

In May 2009, it was reported that about 26 were admitted to hospital following a Leptospirosis outbreak in the Juru Detention Centre, and they survived, and this leads us to believe that prompt access to healthcare can avoid death. It is shocking that in this recent case, 6 have died. What is more disturbing is that there seem to have been no reported disclosure by the Malaysian authorities on this. We still do not know the number of detainees that have been affected this time.

This is a disease caused by exposure to water contaminated with the urine of infected animals, and is very rarely propagated through contact with affected persons. Question must be raised as to how detainees in an enclosed detention centre are contracting this disease. Are they being affected through the food and water supplied by the detention centres? Are the detention centres having a rat infestation problem?

After the recent deaths and outbreak in the Juru Detention Centre, one would have expected the Malaysian government to have taken immediate steps to ensure that there are no more cases of Leptospirosis outbreak and deaths. We wonder also whether the authorities took a lackadaisical attitude, and did not even conduct a thorough investigation to determine the source of the contamination that caused that outbreak. Results of such investigations will not only determine liability, but would also ensure that further deaths from Leptospirosis could be avoided.

We, the undersigned, call on the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM) to immediately commence a public inquiry into these deaths and detention places generally, and come up with concrete recommendations which could be implemented that will improve state of cleanliness, hygiene and healthcare of all detention places in Malaysia. It was sad that SUHAKAM decided not to carry out a public inquiry after the Juru deaths in May.

We are also call upon the Ministry of Health and the government of Malaysia to conduct a thorough investigation into the cause of this Leptospirosis outbreak, which is reported to have already resulted in 6 deaths.

We also call for the resignation of Immigration Director-General Abdul Rahman, considering that this is second reported case of deaths by reason of Leptospirosis at Immigration Detention Centres within the last 4 months.

The Malaysian government must take necessary action to ensure that proper steps be taken so that such disregard for life does not happen again.

With regard to those who have died, their family and/or dependents should be given adequate compensation by the persons responsible, the detaining authority and the Malaysian government.

Officers and persons responsible for the acts or omissions that resulted in death and suffering should be charged and prosecuted for these crimes. They should not be permitted to hide behind safeguards provided to public servants, which unfortunately only promotes culture of impunity with no sense of responsibility and respect for human life.

Charles Hector

Pranom Somwong

Tun Tun

For and on behalf of the 23 organizations/groups listed below:-

Asian Migrant Centre (AMC)

Burma Campaign, Malaysia

Clean Clothes Campaign -International Secretariat

Coordination of Action Research on AIDS & Mobility (CARAM -Asia)

FIDH - International Federation for Human Rights

Khmer Kampuchea Krom Human Rights Organization (Cambodia)

Legal Support for Children and Women (LSCW) Cambodia

MADPET (Malaysians against Death Penalty and Torture)

MAP Foundation, Thailand

Mekong Migration Network (MMN)

Mekong Ecumenical Partnership Program-MEPP

Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA)

National League for Democracy [NLD (LA)], Malaysia

Network of Action for Migrants in Malaysia (NAMM)

Nepal Institute of Development Studies (NIDS) Nepal

Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM)

Persatuan Kesedaran Komuniti Selangor

Persatuan Masyarakat Malaysia & Wilayah Persekutuan (PERMAS)

Pusat Komas

The Shan Refugee Organization (SRO) Malaysia

Thai Action Committees for Democracy in Burma (TACDB)

The Action Network for Migrants (ANM) Thailand

Workers Hub for Change (WH4C)

Kenyataan Media (18/8/2009) - Halangan dan cabaran PRM

2009-08-20T01:14:00.000-07:00

Kenyataan Media - 18/8/2009

Halangan dan cabaran PRM

Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) telah mengadakan majlis “Malam Kemenangan PRM” baru-baru ini di Kuala Lumpur untuk meraikan usaha yang berjaya mempertahankan pendaftarannya.

Pada 16 Julai 2009 Mahkamah Tinggi Sivil Kuala Lumpur telah menolak permohonan sebilangan bekas kepemimpinan PRM untuk membubarkan PRM, dan seterusnya mematahkan niat bekas kepemimpinan PRM yang diketuai oleh bekas presiden PRM Dr Syed Husin Ali untuk membubarkan PRM melalui mahkamah . Bekas ahli PRM ini telah menyertai Keadilan.

Menurut pengerusi majlis malam selaku Setiausaha Agung PRM Koh Swe Yong, majlis malam tersebut dijangka buka 8 meja, tetapi oleh sebab sambutan baik daripada ahli-ahli PRM, majlis akhirnya membuka 15 meja. Selain ahlil-ahli PRM, terdapat tetamu jemputan daripada PAS Bahagian Gombak yang diketuai Cikgu Ishak Surin, Setiausaha Agung Pertubuhan Sekerja Gopalan, Setiausaha Agung PSM Aru, aktivis sosial Hishamuddin Rais dan lain-lain.

Pengerusi majlis menegaskan bahawa walaupun PRM sudah mengharungi masa yang susah dan sengit, mendapat pengakuan terhadap pendaftarannya sebagai sebuah parti politik berdaftar yang sah, akan tetapi dapat dijangkai PRM akan pada masa depan terus-menerus menghadapi keadaan terasing, di mana bekas pemimpin PRM mencuba mengguna apa-apa carapun untuk meminggirkan dan melenyapkan nama PRM secara politik.

Oleh itu, Koh Swe Yong menyeru kepada bekas pemimpin PRM itu supaya menerima hakikat bahawa PRM sebagai sebuah pertubuhan politik tidak pernah dibubarkan oleh ahli-ahlinya dan berhentilah segala tindak-tanduk yang sia-sia ini terhadap PRM. Penindas utama rakyat hari ini ialah parti pemerintah pusat iaitu UMNO-BN yang korup dan zalim. Demi kepentingan rakyat PRM bersedia bekerjasama untuk memperjuangkan hak dan kepentingan rakyat.

Pada malam kemenangan tersebut, yang berucap Presiden PRM Hassan Karim, Ketua PAS Gombak Cikgu Ishak Surin, Setiausaha Agung Pertubuhan Sekerja Gopalan, Setiausaha Agung PSM Aru, ahli Keadilan Siti Nor Hamid Tuah dan Ahmad Hamid Tuah, Naib Presiden selaku Ketua Pulau Pinang PRM Gary, dan Jalil Ahmad. Jalil Ahmad merupakan ahli PRM yang pertama menulis surat pada September 2004 kepada Setiausaha Agung ketika itu menanyakan bila akan diadakan Kongres Khas ahli PRM untuk membubarkan PRM kerana kononnya PRM telah bercantum dengan Keadilan pada 3 Ogos 2003. Selain itu, bekas tahanan ISA Yap Kok On serta anak perempuannya dari Negeri Sembilan bersama-sama mempersembahkan biola pada malam itu.

Dalam ucapannya, Presiden PRM Hassan Karim mengucapkan terima kasih kepada ahli-ahli PRM serta panel peguam yang membela PRM iaitu Palaniandy, G. K. Ganesan dan Wee Choo Keong yang banyak berusaha secara profesionalisme atas pembelaan hak demokratik dan hak asasi kemanusiaan.

Apabila bersentuh tentang keadaan politik semasa tanah air, Hassan Karim menegaskan lagi, walaupun wujudnya perbezaan antara PRM dengan Pakatan Rakyat(PR) khususnya Keadilan, tetapi kesemua perbezaan bukannya pertentangan yang utama, penindas utama yang dihadapi oleh golongan bukan pemerintah pusat ialah UMNO-BN. PRM menyokong perjuangan PR untuk menegakkan demokrasi dan membela kepentingan rakyat walaupun PRM tidak dalam PR.

Sejak penubuhannya pada 11 November 1955, PRM tidak pernah berhenti daripada menentang dasar-dasar Barisan Nasional (BN) dan Parti Perikatan iaitu nama BN pada 1960an. Kemenangan PRM dari segi undang-undang hanya merupakan kemenangan kecil. Secara perbandingan, kemenangan yang bermakna dan besar ialah apabila pemerintah UMNO-BN yang berkuasa selama 55 tahun itu ditumbangkan dan dilucutkan kuasa pemerintah pusat. Bagi PRM, kemenangan menumbangkan kerajaan UMNO-BN ialah kemenangan yang besar.

Hassan Karim berkata, setelah mendapatkan pengakuan terhadap pendaftaran PRM, beliau berharap bekas pemimpin PRM menghormati hak kebebasan berpersatuan dan tidak merayu. Beliau berkata, selepas ini PRM perlu melipat-gandakan usaha untuk meneruskan tradisi PRM yang sediakala memberi khidmat

Cikgu Ishak menyatakan bahawa penubuhan PRM adalah untuk menentang penjajahan Inggeris dan menuntut kemerdekaan Malaya, menentang sistem ekonomi kapitalisme dan feudalisme. Cikgu Ishak pernah bersama-sama dengan pengasas PRM seperti Boestamam, Pak Sako dan Dr. Burhanuddin Helmi mengasaskan PKMM (Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya) selepas tamatnya Peperangan Dunia Kedua.

Setiausaha Agung Pertubuhan Sekerja Gopalan berkata pada ketika negara menghadapi kemelesetan ekonomi yang teruk, rejim autokratik UMNO-BN sedang mempertingkatkan cengkamannya terhadap rakyat, oleh itu rakyat harus bersatu-padu menentang rejim yang autokratik ini. Pertubuhan Sekerja ditubuhkan pada 1970an.

Manakala Setiausaha Agung PSM Aru mengucapkan tahniah kepada PRM kerana dapat mempertahankan pendaftarannya. Beliau berkata pengalaman PSM selama 10 tahun untuk mendapatkan pendaftaran menjadikan PSM cukup memahami dan menghayati makna hak kebebasan berpersatuan.

Siti Nor Hamid Tuah meluahkan buah fikirannya, beliau menyertai Keadilan dengan harapan semangat berkhidmat kepada rakyat jelata dan cita-cita perjuangan murni PRM dapat diterapkan dalam Keadilan. Walaupun bagaimanapun beliau membidas pucuk kepemimpinan Keadilan kerana mereka enggan menerima kritikan dan pandangan yang berlainan. Contohnya pada PRU 12, bekas pemimpin PRM yang menyertai Keadilan dan ada semangat berkhidmat tidak dipilih untuk bertanding dalam pilihan raya umum, sebaliknya orang-orang yang rapat dengan pucuk pimpinan dan merupakan kawan baiknya dilantik. Kesudahannya apabila pengundi ada masalah dan pergi keepaa mereka untuk mendapatkan bantuan, mereka tidak dibantu, bahkan penolong YB ini mengambil sikap acuh tak acuh. Keadaan macam ini sungguh mengecewakan.

Jalil Ahmad menegaskan bahawa PRM adalah parti berbilang kaum. Suasana macam malam ini jarang-jarang boleh didapati di perhimpunan lain. PRM akan terus berjuang untuk rakyat negara ini.

Koh Swe Yong
Setiausaha Agung, PRM
012-2766551

21B(F) Jalan SJ 6 Taman Selayang Jaya 68100 Batu Caves Selangor Malaysia

PARTI RAKYAT MALAYSIA - PRM

Left-wing parties hoping to soar(Star, 17/11/2011)

Left-wing parties hoping to soar

AnalysisBy Baradan Kuppusamy

PRM Welcomes Offer from Anwar, Yusmadi to Work Together with PKR

"PRM Among First Political Parties to Reject ISA, Emergency Ordinance"

On PRM's intention to contest, Anwar said they will discuss the matter with PRM

PKR MP Wants to Team Up with PRM to Fend Off BN from Balik Pulau

PRM Holds 43rd National Congress

PRM tetap mahu rampas tiga kerusi PKR (Malaysiakini)

PKR bakal berdepan PRM di Balik Pulau, PJS, Selayang (Malaysiakini)

No bowing out for the seladang (Star)

PRM to challenge PKR in Balik Pulau, PJS, Selayang

Parti PRM, Puan Rohana Ariffin tidak berbelah bahagi menyatakan sokongan akan hadir menjayakan Perhimpunan Bersih 2.0 pada 9 Julai 2011

PRM President: Public's Suspicions Over Abolishment of ISA Due to Govt's Low Credibility

PRM to Field Candidates in the Next GE

Kerdau By-Election :- A possible coming out event for the 'new' PRM?

Parti Rakyat Malaysia Press Statement on 30 December 2010

Parti Rakyat Malaysia Press Statement on 30 December 2010

Tolak UMNO- BN Tolak dasar poket UMNO-BN didahulukan, kroni UMNO diutamakan

Joint Statement (71 Groups): JVC Unjustly Discriminates Against Burmese Migrant Women Workers Who Claim Worker Rights

Activists decry changes to Employment Act (Free Malaysia Today)

Activists decry changes to Employment Act

PRM : Mansuh ISA bukan pinda [Abolish the ISA not amend]废除内安法令，不是修改

REVOKE EMERGENCY DECLARATION & RESTORE HUMAN RIGHTS AND RULE OF LAW IN THAILAND

Human Rights Party, PRM should join others in the struggle

Of Local Council Elections, PRM, Labour Party of Malaya and the Socialist Front(SF)

无理开除争取员工权利外 劳 65组织联署谴责Maxter公司 (MAXTER GLOVE SHOULD REINSTATE BURMESE MIGRANT WORKER...was reported in Merdeka Review (Chinese)

无理开除争取 员工权利外 劳 65组织联署谴责Maxter公司

无理开除争取员 工权利外 劳65组织联署谴责Maxter公司

STOP PENALIZING WORKERS WHO WANT TO GET JUSTICE - MAXTER GLOVE SHOULD REINSTATE BURMESE MIGRANT WORKER WHO COMPLAINED TO LABOUR DEPARTMENT

PRM to contest as many seats as it can in next polls (Star)

Star, Monday June 7, 2010

PRM to contest as many seats as it can in next polls

PRM -Pemansuhan subsidi tak akan elakkan Malaysia daripada menjadi bankrap

PRM - Need for a revival & re-statement of positions

PRM Sambut Hari Pekerja Mei 1 dan lancarkan Pusat Khidmat PRM

Pakatan Rakyat umpama perjanjian Fudhul menolak kezaliman (Harakah Daily, 4/4/2010)

PRM: Song’s invite does not reflect party’s stand (Star)

PRM: Song’s invite does not reflect party’s stand

An interview with PRM Vice President, Rohana Arifin

PRM kutuk habis-habisan perbuatan ganas membakar gereja

Rohana a good bet to take PRM reins (Star)

Tuesday January 5, 2010

Rohana a good bet to take PRM reins

By FARIK ZOLKEPLI

PRM: Pelaksanaan GST untuk mengekalkan dasar bazir dan gemukkan kroni BN

PRM already has an acting President since 23/11/2009 - so Star's report is wrong.

PRM to pick new leaders after president's resignation

PRM melantik pemangku Presiden Baru

PRM EX-chief joins PKR

Parti Rakyat on road to expansion (Malay Mail)

Parti Rakyat on road to expansion

PRM MINTA KERAJAAN MALAYSIA BEBASKAN PELARIAN POLITIK SRI LANKA

PRM: Undilah calon PR—PAS percepat perubahan social politik di Malaysia

Joint Statement :- LEPTOSPIROSIS CAUSES DEATH OF ANOTHER 6 BURMESE IN DETENTION IN MALAYSIA

Kenyataan Media (18/8/2009) - Halangan dan cabaran PRM

Analysis
By Baradan Kuppusamy

无理开除争取员工权利外劳 65组织联署谴责Maxter公司 (MAXTER GLOVE SHOULD REINSTATE BURMESE MIGRANT WORKER...was reported in Merdeka Review (Chinese)

无理开除争取员工权利外劳 65组织联署谴责Maxter公司

无理开除争取员工权利外劳
65组织联署谴责Maxter公司