12 œ theSun | WEDNESDAY JULY 15 2009

speak up!

letters
letters@thesundaily.com

Drop the
have used words like monyet,
orang utan and of course bo-

Spare a thought for

racist remarks
IN SCHOOL,
most of us were
taught the many
uses of the coco-
nut tree. From the
trunks used as a
temporary bridge
over a stream in
the kampungs to
the lidi which end
up as broomsticks,
we were made to CitizenNades up to support
adore this God’s
by R. Nadeswaran
gift. The fruit – the
coconut has been
used in our culinary delights
for centuries. But over the
past two weeks, the coconut
has been in the news in Eng-
land. It started in a meeting
of councillors in the Western
England town of Bristol
which has spread rapidly
across the country.
But what has the coconut
which does not grow in this
part of the world got to do in
council meetings?
In the Malaysian Tamil
community, when you call
someone “thenga mandai”,
literally translated as “coco-
nut head” it means someone
with nothing in his head.
But in England, it takes a
different meaning altogether
when you refer to someone
as a coconut.
Bristol’s black Liberal
Democrat councillor, Shirley
Brown called colleague Jay
Jethwa, an Asian, “a coco-
nut” during budget debate in
February and paid the price
for it three weeks ago,
The term suggests some-
one from an ethnic minority
has “sold out” their culture,
implying they are “brown
on the outside, white on
the inside”. Brown, who
apologised for the remark,
was suspended
on July 1 but the
debate is raging
on. She had used
the term during
a heated debate
over a Tory at-
tempt to cut fund-
ing to the Legacy
Commission, an
organisation set
Bristol’s ethnic
minorities.
The BBC quot-
ed her as telling Jethwa at
the meeting: “In our culture
we have a word for you, a
word which many in the city
would understand, and that’s
coconut. At the end of the day
I look at you as that.”
Brown has been sus-
pended for a month and can
appeal against the decision
to the Standards for England,
the government’s local au-
thority ethics watchdog.
What we perceive as an
innocuous word has now
cost a councillor dearly,
what more a black council-
lor using it on an Asian! But
one cannot ignore the many
racial slurs and innuendoes
that are made in the Dewan
Rakyat and state legislative
assemblies. Who can forget
that infamous statements
about a certain race and a
snake in the Perak State As-
sembly not too long ago? Yes,
groups were crying for action
against Sungai Rapat Assem-
blywoman Hamidah Osman
but an apology put an end to
the controversy. The irony is
that she is now on the other
side as an exco member and
she’ll have to live with the
racist remarks.
In the Dewan Rakyat, MPs
cor on Batu Gajah MP Fong
Po Kuan. Besides, Karpal
Singh has been asked to
jaga belakang but his celaka
punya Umno is not exactly
parliamentary language.
While the speakers of
the respective houses or
assemblies decide what is
acceptable, surely anything
that borders on racism must
not go unpunished. While a
good joke or a jibe always
lightens up the normally
sedate proceedings, the use
of racist remarks must be
dealt with severely. At a time
when we are talking about
integration and unity, the ex-
amples should be set by our
lawmakers who were elected
to office by the people.
If they step out of line
and get away with it, what
message do they send out
to lesser mortals like the
ordinary rakyat? While MPs
are suspended for outbursts
in the House, little has been
done to punish those who
made racist remarks. Taking
a leaf from what happened to
the Bristol councillor, are we
ready to throw the book at
wrongdoers or are we willing
to accept such happenings as
part of our parliamentary
culture?
It is no use having MPs
speaking for hours on end
in the House when they fail
to observe decorum and
basic sense of decency for
the seats they occupy. It’s
no use claiming to have a
thriving democracy when
those elected to exercise
their rights have no respect
for each other.
Can the MPs on both sides
of the divide agree to amend
the Standing Orders so that
we the rakyat, can follow a
good debate or argument
based on facts instead of the
name-calling?
R. Nadeswaran believes that
the lawmakers must show
exemplary conduct in their
dealings. He is editor (special
and investigative reporting)
at theSun. He can be reached
at:citizen-nades@thesundaily.
Rela volunteers
AT 5.30pm on July 12, I retrieved
two maids from the Rela base in the
Chow Kit area after going round in
circles for more than an hour to find
it. Two family maids were rounded
up together with 10 other women and
about 40 men on the first Sunday of
Rela’s new operation to arrest illegals
in the city. They did not have valid
identification papers with them.
My son and I witnessed what
we thought was an orderly exercise
managed by (i) the plain-clothed
Rela volunteers who mingled with
the crowd in the Masjid India and
Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman areas,
which apparently have become the
haunt of illegals looking for work
at the bazaars and food stalls; (ii)
uniformed Rela members who co-
ordinated the arrests, rounding up
the illegals and transporting them in
two caged lorry vans.
In a large hall on the first floor of
the base building the illegals were
seated on the floor in two groups
facing a table of Rela officers headed
by Encik Johan who recorded their
particulars. As my son and I were
the first on the scene and we had the
maids’ passports, they were the first
two to be released. We were politely
told to equip the maids with a signed
photocopy of their passport complete
with our contact number whenever
they were out in the streets.
It was a relief to be spared the
Transport
Ministry
to revamp
shipping
Set aside TV channel
industry
pg 14
for all religions
WE refer to Senator Mej-Jen (R)
Datuk Jamil Khir Baharom’s an-
nouncement of an Islamic TV chan-
nel to be launched soon. We laud the
move by the government and would
like to request the government to pro-
vide a similar channel for the other
religions practised in Malaysia.
About 40% of Malaysia’s 27 mil-
lion people comprise Buddhists, Hin-
dus and Christians. It would be only
fair to ensure that this percentage of
society is also provided with family
and religious oriented programmes
based on their religions.
Islam is already propagated
widely on RTM1, RTM2, IKIM Radio
and other radio stations irrespective
of any language. Another govern-
ment owned Islamic TV channel
would certainly be a boon to the
Muslims, however, it is time our
caring government under the 1Ma-
laysia theme considers the needs of
the non-Muslims.
Jamil said that the Islamic TV
channel will appeal to Muslims
and also non-Muslims and that it
will give the people an alternative.
This can only be achieved if there
agony of retrieving them from the
detention camp in Lenggeng where
those who were not claimed by their
employers after four hours were to be
taken. Apparently, once in Lenggeng
there would be the hassle of dealing
with the Immigration Department
where the paper work would take up
to a week. Those without valid travel
documents would be sent home.
I have only two complaints to
make: (i) the Rela people were not
able to give me clear directions or an
address to get to their base. All they
said was “dekat Masjid India” and
“belakang Pizza Hut di Jalan Chow
Kit” assuming I was a regular there;
(ii) the lorry van which has space
for 10 sitting and 10 standing was
crammed with about 40 men. I can
imagine the discomfort and the po-
tential health hazard if the ride was
longer or if the men were older.
The experience was an eye open-
er to the kind of work enforcement
agencies undertake to make our
cities and our country a better, safer
place. The work is neither pleasant
and easy nor smooth flowing and
clean. These men and women, many
of them volunteers, need our support
and our encouragement. They, too,
need a pat on the back when the job
is well done.
Halimah Mohd Said
Kuala Lumpur
is an understanding of all religions
practised in Malaysia. If the other
religions are given adequate air-time
the Muslims can also understand the
other religions better.
I for one, certainly enjoy the
radio programmes on Islam while
I am driving home after work.
These programmes certainly help
us understand the noble qualities of
the Prophet and Islam as a whole.
Likewise, if every race can listen to
each other’s teachings and values,
we can certainly help make Malay-
sia a harmonious mosaic of various
races, religions and civilisations.
We hope the government will
seriously look into this as televi-
sion has a great influence on soci-
ety. 1Malaysia can become a reality
much faster if we start taking simple
effective steps to bring all Malaysians
together via religious education and
the universal values inherent in all
religions.
K. Sharmini
President
Petaling Jaya Hindu Youth
Organisation

What price biodiversity?

I REFER to “Sime plans RM100m oil palm
plantations in S’wak” (July 10). Sime Darby Plan-
tation Sdn Bhd plans to convert 100,000ha in
Sabah and Sarawak to oil palm plantations. This
area is almost as big as Penang. Forested lands
harbouring an emporium of plants and animals
will be cleared to make way for oil palm trees,
and thus lose forever their treasure chest of
biodiversity.
The new plantations will be on native cus-
tomary rights land in Sarawak, and the com-
pany gained the right to convert the land from
the Land Custody and Development Authority
which represents the native people. It is highly
unlikely that a bureaucracy like this would fairly
represent the aspirations and interests of our
fiercely proud and independent native people.
Incredibly, Sime says the project will begin
one month after the Social and Environmental
Impact Assessment (SEIA) is submitted. This
means the company is bent on going ahead
whatever the social and environmental costs
are. This also subverts the SEIA process.
The government having majority control of
Sime Darby should stop its act of aggression
against Nature and our native people.
Instead of being trapped in a mental box of
slash-and-farm business ventures that defile
God’s creation, the company should pursue the
splendid opportunities of a knowledge-based
economy.
JC Tansen
Petaling Jaya