The Thin White Line

Malaysia, of course, like many other countries, faces a shortage of doctors. Even more scarce are doctors of courage and conscience. In fact, we had been quite convinced that there were none in Malaysia, until a group of doctors at Tung Shin Hospital proved us wrong today. They are, as reported in Malaysiakini, Musa Nordin, Sheikh Johari Bux, Ng Kwee Boon, Ng Swee Choon, Ronald Macoy, David Quek, Mary Cardozo, Farouk Musa, Mazeni Alwi, Pixie Low and Steve Wong.

For a noble profession, too many succumb to the temptations of money, position and sometimes power, rather than to the more onerous duty of dedication to their fellow man. This could be probably because they start off on the wrong foot, studying medicine for all the wrong reasons. Like for money, position in society or because their parents want them to.

In some cases, as in the A.Kugan case, the pathologist appeared to be complicit with the authorities in engineering a cover-up. From the MMA, he received a mere reprimand. In the Anwar trial, doctors appeared to have no qualms about bearing false witness or suppressing documents which would exonerate Anwar. Liow Tiang Lai, the Health Minister, exposed for a liar, took refuge in semantics and blamed those who briefed him. He will not own up to his mistake,a self-serving one. And he fails in his duty as Health Minister to safeguard all hospitals.

Those members of the medical profession who continue to remain silent in the face of an increasingly despotic government may have forgotten the following line in the Hippocratic Oath;
I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.

Doctors do indeed have a special obligation to their fellows, as do lawyers. Lawyers in Malaysia, to their credit, have not shirked their responsibility, unlike their timid brethren in Singapore. But doctors, until today, had not lived up to their oath, in Malaysia. Until the outrage of tear gas and acid water and violent arrests in Tung Shin Hospital.

Still, it has been left to a small group of them to protest. The MMA remains, shamelessly, silent.

Doctors can, and must stand up, for what is right and condemn evil whomsoever the perpetrator.

It is both their moral and Hippocratic duty.

KL Central's Tunnel Of Doom

A pedestrian would find unremarkable the underpass that he has to pass through on his way from Brickfields to KL Central for his daily commute. Nor would it be of particular interest to him that the underpass has been turned into a tunnel by construction works.

But it would be in this unobtrusive tunnel that a key incident, nay, an atrocity, would be perpetrated on an august group of Malaysian parlimentarians, NGO leaders and citizens making their way to join the Bersih rally in the Kuala Lumpur city centre on July 9th.

They included Anwar Ibrahim, Dr.Wan Azizah, Ustaz Hadi Awang, Lim Kit Siang, Ambiga Sreenivasa, A.Samad Said, Khalid Samad, Nurul Izzah Anwar, Tian Chua and N.Surendran among others. As they walked towards the exit they were confronted by the FRU. Tian Chua and Surendran walked ahead, presumably to negotiate with the FRU, both being veterans of many a confrontation with the authorities. But the FRU were already aiming their guns. Surendran, seeming to sense trouble, started moving back towards the main group, calling on Tian Chua to move back. But Tian Chua kept advancing, like a latter-day Lord Cardigan, not willing to believe perhaps, that the police would actually fire on such a distinguished group. In the next instant, the scene dissapeared in acrid, lung-burning tear gas smoke as the police, without warning, discharged their weapons. The looks on the leaders faces, as the scene dissolved, was one of stunned bewilderment. Those attempting to escape by retreating backwards were met by another FRU phalanx and more tear gas canisters. Incredibly, the police were aiming directly into the body of the crowd, instead of over them. And there was no way out!

In such a closed environment, the results could have been deadly. Tear gas in a closed environment can cause permanent pulmonary damage, asphyxiation, cynide poisoning, severe vomitting and death. It is used often on civilians in Malaysia when it is, in fact, banned as a weapon in war, being considered a chemical warfare weapon.

There was no provocation offered by the marchers to justify this potentially deadly use of tear gas. They were walking towards the Merdeka Stadium, and that was all. Dr. Wan Azizah, Lim Kit Siang and Ustaz Hadi were not likely to suddenly start pelting the FRU with stones. Yet the walkers were attacked. It was either a malicious plan by the BN government, or the police in KL Central were led by an incomprehensibly stupid commander. Either way, the BN is responsible.

When the smoke cleared enough for visibility to return, Anwar Ibrahim was bleeding from the head and the knee. He had fallen in the rush and would be rushed to Pantai Hospital for a CT scan. Khalid Samad was seriously hurt from being hit by a tear gas canister. Anwar's bodyguard, Fayedh, was standing with a 4 inch hole in his cheek in a blood-drenched shirt, still loyally protecting Anwar and refusing to attend to himself.  Surendran stood next to them, his shirtsleeves bloody, gasping for breath like everybody else.

Tian Chua had been arrested, as had Ambiga and several others, including Anwar's youngest daughter Nurul Iman, a carbon-copy of her mother, Dr.Wan Azizah. Nurul Izzah had been told she was arrested, but seeing herself unattended to, left to help a vomitting marcher; and was thus, by her own fiat, unarrested! Miraculously, despite the reckless use of tear gas in a closed environment by the police, nobody was dead. Across the city, though, in front of the KLCC, a protestor would die on July 9th of the effects of uncaring use of tear gas.

This incident in the KL Central may well mark the end of the BN regime for good. No right-thinking Malaysian can vote for a brutal and barbarous government which thinks nothing of gassing respected oppositionists and parliementarians.



Note : The above is based on composite eyewitness accounts.

An Unneccessary Death in Kuala Lumpur

The Acting KL CPO, Amar Singh, has rushed to declare the death of a protestor in the Bersih rally yesterday as due to a heart attack. We were, of course, much impressed by his efficiency in deducing cause of death. It is a pity that he has absolutely no basis for his pronouncement other than self-serving, biased opinion.

Lest we judge him too quickly, or too harshly, we did check whether he was a pathologist turned policeman. We find that he is no such thing.

The protester died after being hit with teargas. He died after being left unattended for an hour and a half, despite those who were with him asking the police for help to send him to the hospital. They were ignored and no help was rendered, according to eyewitness accounts. And so he was left to perish, unneccessarily.

A Malaysian is dead, and those responsible for his death, by acts of commission, omission or negligence, must be punished. Ultimate responsibility for his death lies squarely with Malaysia's less than competent Home Minister, Hishamuddin Hussein.

The protestor's name is Baharuddin Ahmad. He was married with two sons and a daughter.

He deserves justice, and his family deserves closure, which cannot come without justice being served on the guilty.

Mr.Najib Goes To New York

We had been watching with interest Mr.Najib's visit to New York. Would he perform some miracle which would pull Malaysia out of the economic mess it is in, thanks, in no small measure, to his own incompetence as an economic manager?

We were greeted one morning with the news, in bold headlines in the mainstream media, that he had managed to extract RM 18 billion in investments from companies in the US. Fantastic news! Or perhaps too fantastic to be believed.

Who were these generous investors? Mr.Najib responded that he can't reveal them right now. So, these deals haven't been signed yet, right? They are little more than polite expressions of interest to a visiting dignitary, we suppose. So, why announce them in such haste? Because the elections are coming, of course.

Meanwhile, in the real world, as opposed to Mr.Najib's fairy tale one, prices continue to rise. Plus, Malaysians get to pay for Mr.Najib's pointless trip!

But in today's papers, we see that we are mistaken, and that Mr.Najib is a man with a plan after all. For splashed all over, are pictures of Mr.Najib and his wife attending his daughter's convocation in New York. How very co-incidental, not to mention convenient!

Is this what Mr.Najib's trip was all about? It is a sad sight indeed to see the Prime Minister of a struggling nation, behaving like a mid-level bureacrat, organising official visits around his private schedule.

Desperate in the BN

If there is a ruling party in desperate straits in this part of the world, it is Malaysia's Barisan Nasional. They have trapped themselves in an economic and political morass from which there is no escape.

Years of incompetence and mismanagement of the economy, of natural resources and of human capital are now converging into a tightening straitjacket, which wriggle as they might, there is no way to get out of.

Prices of goods, essential items and transportation are in a never-ending upward spiral, and the people are increasingly affected, and ever more discontented. Experience shows that the economy, more than anything else, will affect votes.

So strained is the government's financial circumstances, that they are talking of cutting subsidies (a sure vote-loser), during this already difficult time for Malaysians. They have no choice, their back is against the wall.

The BN has now taken to playing the race card to try and save themselves. It is unlikely to work. Malaysians are a far more discerning lot these days. They will see right through the BN's ploy. And there is now a proven alternate in the opposition Pakatan Rakyat.

It is a desperate coalition that holds the reins of power in Malaysia these days.

Attempted Assasination Of Anwar?

Mr.Anwar Ibrahim's driver has lodged a police report on a possible attempted assasination of Mr.Anwar Ibrahim. Applying the brakes routinely on April 19, the car shook violently and he heard a loud bang at the back of the vehicle. Somehow he manged to steer to the side of the road. The Mercedes had to be towed away. In the event, Mr.Anwar was not in the car, but his wife was.

Upon examination, it was found that a caliper-guide bolt-pin that secures the disc brake had been removed. They are not known to fall off and dissapear by themselves.

If the ruling BN is behind this, they are becoming ever more desperate. They have thrown everything at Mr.Anwar, and he is still standing. Obviously fabricated allegations of immorality do not stick; the Malaysian electorate is a highly sceptical one. Shooting him is not an option, the backlash will tear the nation apart, and spell the end of the BN's rule. Enter, perhaps, an 'unfortunate accident'.

Meanwhile, at least until the next general elections are over, Mr.Anwar will have to increase his security, and he will have to watch his cars as well.

Threatening the Voter, In Malaysia

According to Mr.Najib, the Chinese must vote for BN component parties, meaning the MCA, or lose representation in Government. The MCA has said the same thing recently.

This is the BN's idea of endearing itself to the voter; by threatening them.

There is a better way to ensure representation for all communities in the government, and that is for the voters to reject the BN and vote en masse for Pakatan Rakyat. It is far better than giving in to political thuggery and extortion.

Interestingly, for all it's big talk, the MCA did not pull it's existing Ministers out of the Cabinet even though it had been roundly rejected in the 2008 General Elections.

Lies, Half-Truths, Najib And Mahathir

Mr.Najib has warned Malaysian bloggers against spreading half-truths and lies. It is remarkable coming from a Prime Minister who presides over a mainstream media that spreads, precisely that. Utusan, not content with merely disseminating half-truths and lies, spreads racial hatred as well.

Not satisfied with issuing this warning, Mr.Najib then contradictorily proceeded to declare the Malaysian blogosphere as the most free one in the world. We do not know where he gets his statistics from, but there are few countries in the world where bloggers are as harrased as Malaysia's. Many have been arrested, some jailed and others, threatened with lawsuits.

No self-respecting Malaysian blogger would have been caught dead in a meeting run by Mr.Najib, and assisted by, of all people, Mr.Mahathir. Mr.Mahathir ran Malaysia with an iron fist where dissent was always quickly crushed. He now pretends to be a blogger, when he is in fact an untransparent propagandist, and often enough a racist one, of his own, and the government's views.

If Mr.Mahathir and Mr.Najib want to do something for freedom of speech, they may repeal the draconian Printing Presses and Publications Act, instead of making hypocritical speeches to a selected and tame audience.

1 EMail To Rule Them All

It made no sense to us that the shares of Tricubes, the Malaysian company that had apparently offered to spend RM50 million on the dubious 1Malaysia email project, had skyrocketed from 5.5 sen to 32.5 sen.

Considering that they were listed under GN3 on the Stock Exchange, which means they required debt restructuring, or in layman's terms that they did not have RM50 million to splurge, made the rise in their stock even more strange.

Could it be that they were hoping to recoup their investment and turn a profit by running advertisements on their email site? We doubt it.

Mr.Najib has said that this is a privately funded project and would not be depending on government funds. How then could Tricubes be financing this totally redundant email system?

And then we read, in Malaysiakini, that a Pemandu representative has said that government agencies may be charged $RM0.50 per transaction to send their emails.

So, assuming there are 10 million Malaysians who qualify for this email, that would be RM5 million per transaction paid to Tricubes!

No wonder the stock is flying!

MIC's Smoke And Mirrors Show

Last Friday, MIC held a gathering for Malaysian Indians, in the 5-star Mines Resort in Kuala Lumpur. Considering that the majority of the Indians in Malaysia are living in poverty-stricken conditions, it is indeed a curious venue to choose. It would have been more appropriate for the MIC to organise their 'gathering' in one of the many dilapidated estates or urban slums where most Malaysian Indians actually live, in penniless penury.

Twelve thousand Indians gathered, or rather, were gathered, like so many sheep to the slaughter. Some were paid to gather, and some were bussed in in paid transport. The objective of this 'gathering' was to celebrate the Indian New Year. There is, in fact, little for the Indians to celebrate about.

Fifty years of marginalisation by the Barisan Nasional, have turned the Indians into 3rd class citizens in the nation of their birth. They are practically, now, a slave peoples, and their overseers are the MIC. Ilegal immigrants, not being burdened by having the MIC as a representative, are doing better than them! The MIC is too servile (to Umno) and too inept a party to aid the Indians in any real way. And so, to hide it's shortcomings, it puts on such shows.

How much did the MIC spend, in this false presentation? How much for the venue? For the food? For the singers, the entertainers? How much for the transport to bus in the attendees? A million? Two million?
Whatever the sums, it would have been better spent on tangible projects, instead of this expensive, unproductive nonsense. MIC neither cares to, nor knows how to, help the Indians so they throw them a party instead!

Of course, the MIC has it's own, self-serving reasons for this orchestrated 'gathering'. The election is coming, and they would like to pretend that they have have regained the support of the Indians that they lost in 2008. They would particularly like to pretend so to Umno, to ensure they get enough seats and that those seats are in places which can be won, courtesy of Malay Umno voters. They can then continue to posture as the representatives of the Indians, while doing, as usual, nothing to improve their lot.

In 2008, outraged by the sight of police beatings and persecutions of their fellows, the Indians mostly voted for the Opposition. It would be a pity if they are taken in by the MIC's charlatans, and vote for the BN in the next elections. Neither the MIC, nor the BN, are the answer to Indian woes; they are the cause of them.

The only real hope for change for the Indians is in the establishment of a 2-party state and in a system where those who are disadvantaged will be assisted regardless of their race. And to achieve that, their only choice, for now, is Pakatan.

Chua Soi Lek's Gambit

Mr.Chua has called on the SUPP not to accept any posts in the Sarawak cabinet. This was after the SUPP, which purportedly represents the Chinese in Sarawak, was thrashed at the state polls.

Why would Mr.Chua have any interest in the matter? Because he wants to send Peninsular Chinese a message. His message is vote for the Opposition, and you will have no representatives in the Cabinet. Some, of course, will argue that it is better to have none, than to have a servile party like the MCA represent them.

Mr.Chua was asked why he did not stop the MCA, which was similarly thrashed by the DAP and PKR in the 2008 elections, from accepting posts in the Cabinet. He replied that he was not the President, then. In that case, why didn't he pull them out when he became the President?

We do not think Peninsular Chinese will be made fearful by Mr.Chua's latest transparent scare tactic. They are more likely to be convinced, that Mr.Chua and his entire BN coalition, should be dumped, where they belong, in history's rubbish bin.

Mahathir Calls DAP Racist!

Mr.Mahathir, as unrepentant a racist as you could find outside of the KKK, has labelled the DAP a racist party. This, apparently, is how they doubled their number of seats in the Sarawak election, by being racist.

We were sure the reason why the DAP got more seats, was because, among other reasons, the Sarawak State government was widely perceived as being corrupt, being unresponsive and because Mr.Taib Mahmud is much reviled. We thank Mr.Mahathir, for correcting us. For who would know more about racism, and racist parties, if not Mr.Mahathir.

He reigned for decades over Umno, which only accepts Malays into it's fold. His major coalition partners MCA and MIC, were respectively only for Chinese and Indians. With this anachronistic coalition, Mr.Mahathir ruled Malaysia for decades. His party's mouthpiece, Utusan, to this day, has never grown tired of running racist articles.

It is laughable that Mr.Mahathir would think he was in any way qualified, to comment in this way, on such matters. But then, he did claim a few years ago, that his right to free speech was infringed upon, by Mr.Baddawi. It was a remarkable claim, considering that during his tenure as Prime Minister, he had used every method, including brutal ones, and the ISA, to clamp down on dissent.

We do have to grant Mr.Mahathir one thing.

He is not at all afraid, of looking a fool!

Mr.Taib Goes To Vote, In A Silver Rolls Royce!

As the Chief Minister of one of Malaysia's poorest states, one might have expected Mr.Taib Mahmud to be a little more careful about flaunting his wealth. But no, Mr.Taib must go to vote in a silver Rolls-Royce.He enjoys absolute power in Sarawak, and is unconcerned with appearances. Or, for that matter, public opinion.

Mr.Taib has won another term as Chief Minister, of the exploited state of Sarawak. He will face more elected opposition members in this term, than he has ever dealt with before. But he still wields a two thirds majority, which allows him to amend the State's Constitution, as he pleases.

If the elections had not been marred by fraud, Mr.Taib would not still have his 2/3rds. And may even have lost. Tellingly, Mr.Taib had barred all independent observers from entering Sarawak, including the former head of Malaysia's Bar Council, Ms.Ambiga Sreenivasan.

 In Senadin, a thousand postal votes miraculously turned up to save the BN candidate. Their candidate still only won by 58 votes! The results are being disputed as we write, but the Election Commission official, of course, refuses to allow a recount.

In Bakun, BN won by 227 votes the last time. This time their margin of victory was close to three thousand! A remarkable turn-around in voter sentiment, indeed. It is, of course, preposterous! They may have overdone it. Rigging votes, is clearly a tricky business. Rig too little and you might lose. Rig too much, and you may get, a Bakun!

Based on their "success", we expect Malaysia's ruling party, the BN, to call for the General Elections soon. They will have a much harder time, in Malaysia's West. Mr.Taib's odious formula for winning elections, combining the ingredients of fraud, rampant vote-buying, and intimidation, will not work so well there.

Communications Jammed In Sarawak

The tactics used by Egypt's Mubarak, are now being used in Sarawak. Mobile phone networks have been disrupted. Radio Free Sarawak has been jammed. Alternative news sites, like Malaysiakini and Sarawak Report (both now on Wordpress), have been brought down by cyber-attacks. Dirty work, is clearly afoot.

The lessons of history, as in Egypt, are being ignored, even though they are only months old. We wish to point out to the BN and the tyrannical Mr.Taib, that their actions will be counter-productive. We know, as do most of the people, in case they think themselves disguised, that it is they who are behind these actions and attacks. And it is causing a lot of anger, which will be directed squarely at them, in polling tomorrow.

These are actions of desperate men. And the BN right now, is a coalition of increasingly desperate men. Their ceramahs attract few listeners, while the opposition's attracts voters in the thousands. To disrupt the opposition speakers, BN plays loud music opposite, hires goons to jeer loudly and then invites listeners to free buffets, if they will only leave the opposition ceramah!

All these sinister and sometimes farcical machinations will not stop the BN from being dealt a resounding blow in the elections tomorrow.

Barring Ambiga, And Rigging An Election

Ms.Ambiga Srinivasan is the former president of the Bar Council and currently the Bersih 2.0 Chairperson. Bersih 2.0 is an organization focused on ensuring free and fair elections in Malaysia.

She was barred from entering Sarawak today, the day before polling, by the office of Chief Minister Taib Mahmud. He seems to be supremely arrogant, and frightened out of his wits, all at the same time.

Ms.Ambiga is the fourth activist to be barred from Sarawak in the past two weeks. The others were Steven Ng, Wong Chin Huat and Haris Ibrahim. PKR's Mr.Sivarasah was also barred a few weeks ago.

His reason for barring Ms.Ambiga, who is committed to ensuring that elections are not rigged, can only be because that is precisely his intention. If Mr.Taib cannot win by fair means, and we know he cannot this time, he means to win by foul.

But if the swing against the BN is strong enough, even Mr.Taib and his thugs, will not be able to silence the long-suppressed voice of Sarawak's people.

This tyrannical despot and his party may yet be cast out of power in Sarawak, including in his own seat of Balingian.

And then Sarawak will be free.

Barring Haris

Why bar Mr.Haris Ibrahim, of all people, from entering Sarawak? He is not a particularly influential figure in Malaysian politics. He is more of a civil rights activist, and could under normal circumstances, have little say in Sarawak.

He has only been barred, we believe, for one reason. To stop him from exposing SNAP, with which party he was associated until recently.

SNAP is not a part of the BN, but it was BN which barred Mr.Haris. SNAP is, however, standing, and forcing 3 way contests in seats where it should be a straight fight between BN and PKR. This is SNAP's value to the BN. They will help split the opposition vote, and this will benefit BN. The BN does not want Mr.Harris turning up, and spilling the beans on SNAP.

We cannot confirm the rumours that SNAP has been bought over by the BN, but the ugly nexus between BN and SNAP, as in this act of barring Mr.Haris, is undeniable.

Voting for SNAP in Sarawak, is as good as voting for Mr.Taib Mahmud and the Barisan Nasional.

Dissociated In Sarawak

Sarawakians have a chance to free themselves on the 16th of April. And they do not need to resort to the methods employed by Egyptians, Libyans or Ivorians. All they have to do, is mark the X in the right place, for the opposition, on their ballot papers.

They have suffered long enough, and their leaders have been profligate in their excesses enough, that their decision should be an easy one. Yet there are many, who will still vote for the BN in the form of the PBB and the SUPP. Though there will be much less of those who vote for the SUPP.

There are several posible reasons for such self-defeating behaviour. Some may be suffering from a form of Stockholm Syndrome where captives or victims of kidnappings develop positive feelings for their captors. In some cases they will even feel adulation for their tormentors. A key element for this kind of scenario to develop is for the perpetrator to show some form of kindness to the victim. The victims will then, in a bid to protect themselves, focus on the kindness rather than the abuse. This will not happen if the abuser is unremittingly harsh. Lack of abuse may also be seen as kindness.

The BN shows this temporary 'kindness' to Sarawakians every five years or so, during elections. They hand out impermanent goodies when they should be developing the state for the long-term good of it's residents. Mr.Taib Mahmud has shown little interest in doing that. Nor, are we certain, if he actually wanted to, that he knows how.

A Dissociated state, a psychological defence mechanism, may also stop people from acting in their own interests. People become accepting, and dissociate themselves, from the abuse they have to endure, in one form or another. They may not take the chance to escape, even when they can.

These are conditions that also existed in Peninsular Malaysia, until 2008, as they still do, in Singapore. Penang became free then, as did Selangor. Kelantanese had long ago rejected the BN. Both Penang and Selangor are far better off today, than they were under the BN.

It is up to Sarawakians now, to set themselves free.

We Sell Out, To The BN!

We've sold out, guys!

Because it's the fashion nowadays!

Because the offer was too good to resist!

Because all our legal problems will go away!

Because we miss roti canai, and we miss teh tarik, and it doesn't taste quite the same, in London!

We will be giving an interview soon, to a state-owned TV Channel, possibly TV3. We may even do it in several parts, then we can draw the issue out longer, and so that it coincides with the Sarawak Elections!

In future all our posts will be sickeningly, unstintingly, toadyingly, in support of the Barisan Nasional.

Because they're actually all lovely people, and also because they are being very generous to us now!

Oh, and by the way, for the real news go to the NST, The Star, Utusan and, of course, Malaysia Today!

News : All Malaysian Alternative News Sites Down

Malaysiakini has been unavailable since 11am, downed by denial-of-service attacks. You may still access them here at http://malaysiakinicom.wordpress.com/ and at http://www.facebook.com/MalaysiaKini .

Malaysiakini reports that it is in the process of trying to bring up a new set of servers.

We are also unable to access  Free Malaysia Today or Malaysia Chronicle.

Sarawak Report has been under attack for days. They are now on the run, moving from site to site, as the spybots track them down.

Hacking into sites and d-o-s attacks are illegal, we advise those who are behind these co-ordinated attacks.

It is ever more clear, that the Malaysian Opposition is heading for victory in Sarawak's elections.

Malaysians may expect yet more dirty deeds, before this week is over.

Suffer The Children

What kind of nation is Malaysia, that they would stop orphans from going to school? This is what the Headmistress of SJKT Ladang Linsum in Seremban, A.Gracy, has done. At the behest of, she offers as her excuse, The State Education Department headed by a Mr.Abdul Hakim. This news, for those who disbelieve that such madness still goes on in Malaysia, was reported in The Star, a mainstream newspaper.

The Education Minister, Mr.Muhyiddin Yassin, is away on an extended tour of Sarawak trying to gain new voters, while failing his existing ones. Whatever he is fit for, he is not a fit person to head the Education Ministry.

The children, 8 of them, have been stopped from going to school since February 24th. Three of them are orphans. They range in age from seven to twelve. They are all of them ethnic Indians, members of Malaysia's poverty-stricken, marginalised minority.

None of them have birth certificates, a common problem among poorer sections of the Indian community. The children, despite their lack of a birth certificate, are unmistakably Malaysian. Their parents (of the five lucky enogh to have them), are all Malaysian citizens, but this does not matter to an uncaring authority.  They have callously proceeded to bar the children from school, while their applications for birth certificates are considered by the National Registration Department. The NRD, is not known to make quick decisions, when they make decisions at all.

Ms.Gracy says she will be fined RM 1,000 per child by the State Education Department if she allows the children into school. She will not let them in. The children are stranded outside the gates. Incredibly, it is a Tamil school! They will not take a risk, even for their own. We are sickened to see such sorry educators like Ms.Gracy, in charge of entire schools.

The total fine to be levied on her if these children were let into school, is RM12,000. We would like to see the Education Department, try and collect it. There is no law that allows them to impose or collect, such fines. But it will take some educator who is more concerned for her students, than herself, to stand up to the petty tyrannies of Mr.Muhyiddin Yassin's Education Department.

And where is the MIC, the supposed representative of the Indians in the Barisan Nasional? No MIC politician, nor the MIC itself, has offered to pay the fine or solve the problem, although it is the Barisan Nasional that rules in Negeri Sembilan.

And it is the Barisan Nasional, aided by the MIC, that is responsible for the Dickensian plight of these poor children.