Guan Eng calls for apology on Ops Lalang anniversary


Malaysiakini
Oct 27, 2012

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng has called on the government to apologise and provide closure for all Internal Security Act (ISA) detainees in conjunction with the 25th anniversary of Operasi Lalang.

Furthermore, Lim said all remaining detainees should also be immediately freed to put an end to the ISA saga.

The mass arrest action, Operasi Lalang in 1987, saw 106 politicians and activists incarcerated but also for the first time prodded public consciousness to the ISA issue.

“25 years ago on 27 October 1987, I was among the first victims of Operasi Lalang detained under the ISA by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“I remember as a newly-elected MP for Kota Melaka, how stunned I was to hear that I was a threat to national security who would cause the country to descend into chaos, ruin and riots if I was not arrested.

“Then followed the dark days of solitary confinement, endless interrogation and intimidation to force me to recant which I managed to endure, survive and prevail,” hesaid in a statement today.

‘Dark chapter in history’

Lim, who is now Penang Chief Minister, said even though current premier Najib Abdul Razak has bowed to pressure by abolishing the ISA, there is still a need for proper closure to a dark chapter in history.

As such, he also proposed that the Kamunting detention camp be converted into a museum.

“Turning the hated Kamunting detention camp into a museum will serve as a timely reminder of the importance of freedom and human rights as well as heal the nation of the trauma of arbitrary detention without trial merely for opposing the BN,” he said.

In an unprecedented move on Malaysia Day eve last year, Najib had announced the repeal of the more than half century old law that had allowed indefinite detention without trial.

The Security Offenses (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) which replaced it early this year no longer allows for indefinite detention without trial but provides for the continued detention of existing ISA detainees.

Thus far, 29 more detainees are still being held at the Kamunting detention camp.

On top of asking for their freedom , Lim said the Sosma should also reviewed and certain sections repealed to ensure that it does not become a reincarnation of the ISA.

  1. #1 by Jeffrey on Sunday, 28 October 2012 - 11:41 am

    The best Koh Tsu Koon the minister in charge of national unity and integration could respond to Perkasa’s call to boycott Jaclyn Victor’s “Harapan Bangsa” song is, “I don t want to comment on that .They can boycott as they like It s a free country.” Apologise for Operation Lallang and have Kamunting Museum? Wanna kena scolding again from Perkasa’s patron for being weak?

  2. #2 by monsterball on Sunday, 28 October 2012 - 1:07 pm

    That Operation Lalang was one of Mahathir’s how to be a Dictator and Chief Rouge with no one to against him.
    It was sort of a warning to Opposition politicians….talk too much…in you go again..under ISA.
    And so…M governed for 22 years stole RM100 billion ….fearing no one.
    The Operation Lalang is also an idea …how to divide Malaysian.
    Mahathir keep an image he smiles and guilty free man….but the real Mahathir is a vicious….wicket..heart is as black as charcoal…which brings me to the point…that how ungrateful and cruel he can be.. to his one part of his bloodline and friends….projecting an image he is not.

  3. #3 by monsterball on Sunday, 28 October 2012 - 1:55 pm

    If and when the Govt. apologizes for Operation Lalang…it also mean…they are paving the way for Mahathir to be investigated.
    NO WAY!!
    The band of rouges and thieves must stand together…defend each other..like brothers and sisters…all the way.
    Remember…they are gangsters dressed up like cultured gentlemen and ladies.

  4. #4 by Loh on Sunday, 28 October 2012 - 2:51 pm

    Karpal Singh called DAP MPs who are also State Assemblymen to declare which of the two seats they wish to stand in the coming election. This must be out of the consideration to give others an additional opportunity to contest. But is that consideration the only correct one to take.

    Malaysians want good candidates to serve them, and those who hold two positions have to be tested as to whether they had done a good job to only one of the two or both of them. If they had been competent holding both positions, then there is no question that they should withdraw one to give others a chance. Indeed what does that chance stand for? If it is to encourage other DAP members to offer themselves to serve the people, then they have to compete to be selected. Quota system such as having one person stand only for one position gives the impression that it is a fair power sharing formula . Does DAP consider standing for election a means to gain power? Would DAP opt for UMNO’s culture where members fight for power sharing? Indeed people joining political party should think about serving Malaysians, not themselves.

    The current DAP MPs and ADUN who hold two positions give us confidence that they hold them for DAP. Who knows newcomers would not be like the Heha of Perak who sold her soul for a Camry.

  5. #5 by sheriff singh on Sunday, 28 October 2012 - 3:02 pm

    Why don’t you introduce a motion in Parliament to apologise and see what happens ?

  6. #6 by rahmanwang on Sunday, 28 October 2012 - 3:13 pm

    No cannot close Kamunting.
    the place is reserved for Mahathir and family , Najib and wife and Mohiddin and Hisapmoddin

  7. #7 by mauriyaII on Sunday, 28 October 2012 - 8:30 pm

    Though I abhor ISA and what it stands for, yet since Najib and his coterie of thugs do not want it to be done away with, I feel the replacement law of ISA and the local gulag that is known as Kamunting should be kept until a time when the perpetrators of Operasi Lalang and other inhuman acts under the disguise of national security are given the taste of their own medicine.

    It has to be a mamak of the caliber of Mahathir Mohamad Kutty to have come up with that idea to shut up all those who disagreed with him.

    That mamak is so evil that even the keepers of Hell do not want him in case he corrupts what they hold dear.

  8. #8 by ENDANGERED HORNBILL on Sunday, 28 October 2012 - 9:51 pm

    Looking back over the last 25 years, I feel Mahathir was a greater threat to national security than Lim Guan Eng or Lim Kit Siang or Karpal Singh or any of the other DAP stalwarts. DAP leaders have been in the forefront of nation-building whilst Mahathir has set the nation back by years especially his brand of divide-and-rule racist policies.

    The old man is still at it. We know now which devil this Machiavelli represents.

  9. #9 by Noble House on Monday, 29 October 2012 - 12:36 am

    As far as TDM is concerned, his play all along was a complete success. The audience was a failure. The important thing is not what they think of him, but what he can keep them from being right about it. He knows he can’t keep people from having a bad opinion of him. The word ‘Apology’ is not part of his vocabulary!

  10. #10 by monsterball on Monday, 29 October 2012 - 3:31 am

    Since Najib took over..Malaysians are getting braver and braver.
    That is the clear sign Malaysians are getting smarter and smarter…which Mahathir hates most.
    Najib is a born liar…Mahathir is a born devil.

  11. #11 by Jeffrey on Monday, 29 October 2012 - 4:12 am

    Such an apology would be an admission that Operation Lalang was wrong – and more specifically TDM was wrong. Now how could present administration say that when the man himself never said what he did was wrong but that he was prevailed upon by police, who knew the position of racial tension then better than him to sign the detention orders for 106 sent to Kamunting….True, Najib has apologized for BN’s mistakes that caused the BN to perform dismally in last GE but he has never specified what those mistakes were – Operation Lalang might no be one of these- and neither was it necessary for him to do so, said his deputy since he had already evinced humility by the ‘blanket’ apology. To go further to particularize the mistakes, and perhaps a mention of Operation Lalang would certain to invite another rebuke from TDM that it proved weakness of present administration to admit a mistake about something when it might not be one. For sure a sincere apology for using opposition and civil society members as bogey men cannot so readily be given. For a party prone to factionalism and internal in-fighting for positions – because of the vast patronage opportunities that political positions afford to their holders- looking in time of intense intra-party rivalry for innocent bogeymen to unite the party behind one’s position is a convenient standard operational procedure, whether past, present or the future. Why spoil the racket by an apology? For sure LGE’s bait will not be taken.

  12. #12 by Bigjoe on Monday, 29 October 2012 - 8:22 am

    Badawi apologised for the sacking of judges in 1988 but NOTHING has been done to correct what was done. What is the use of an apology?

  13. #13 by Bigjoe on Monday, 29 October 2012 - 8:24 am

    I say Genneva gold victims should go to Mahathir and demand that he paid them back personally because the rot of key institutions can be traced to when he did Ops Lalang..

  14. #14 by dagen wanna "ABU" on Monday, 29 October 2012 - 8:45 am

    Why not also ask for justice and apology on behalf of that 12 yr old boy who was killed by those cold blooded umno people outside harun idris’ hse on that horrible day.

  15. #15 by cseng on Monday, 29 October 2012 - 12:58 pm

    Apology is a great value, too great for BN to shoulder. If gov can apologies, Ubah can not sell.

    LGE knows Umno’s ego and arrogance too well.

  16. #16 by Loh on Monday, 29 October 2012 - 1:42 pm

    Najib should apologize for Mamakthir that he practiced double standards as Najib should have been similarly ISAed for wanting to soak kris in Chinese blood.

  17. #17 by good coolie on Saturday, 3 November 2012 - 11:47 pm

    Our beloved Dr. Mahatir tried Bush for war crimes in a kangaroo court. He should try himself for political crimes like the subversion of the three branches of the gomen, especially the judiciary. Don’t forget not to name a street or road or airport or even a tepak sirih after him. Please!

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