Why is it that Malaysia is only able to make the front page or main pages of top newspapers like the The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal and be featured on NPR (National Public Radio) in the US for negative, shameful reasons? Both newspapers as well as the Associated Press and Reuters have run reports about the rally for election reform and the arrest of over a thousand people on Saturday. NPR interviewed a Malaysian cartoonist who is being harrassed by the government because of his critical cartoons.
I don't see how we can be anything except a third world nation when our leaders are so thin-skinned that they cannot alow freedom of speech and rallies or protests without sending the police and federal reservists in full force, armed with water cannons and tear gas, to scare protestors away. If, as the prime minister claims, the majority of Malaysians support him, then where is the harm in letting what he describes as a minority say what they think? Why say you can gather and then change your mind? If you are secure in your power, you shouldn't be afraid. If you are not corrupt, you have nothing to hide. And if elections are corrupt, as is claimed, then you have nothing to worry about because the corruption is still yours to use as you please. Why do you need to use the Sedition Act to arrest and control people?
Bruce was listening to an interview on NPR just now and told me to tune in. A Malaysian cartoonist, Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque (Zunar), was being interviewed about an award he was given last week - the “2011 Award in Editorial Cartooning”. All I can say, after reading his acceptance speech, is that I am more grateful every day for the Internet and all the modern technology we have, because this allows people have their say despite the best attempts of draconian governments and power-hungry politicians to silence them.
I've pasted his acceptance speech below, and am also including the link to the web page it is on. The site is http://www.theworld.org/:
http://www.theworld.org/2011/07/malaysian-cartoonist-planning-to-sue-government-for-banning-his-books/
WHY PINCH WHEN YOU CAN PUNCH
In Malaysia, all newspapers, TV stations and radios are controlled by the government using a law - ThePrinting and Presses Act. This law requires every media owner to apply for annual license. The govern-ment has absolute power to grant or deny the application without any grounds. And the decision of the government cannot be challenged in a court of law.
This shuts the door for any alternative or dissident view including editorial cartoons. Independent editorialcartoonists have to find alternative medias such as the internet.
I contribute for a website called Malaysiakini.com. I also produce my own books. So far I have producedCartoons on Tun, 1 Funny Malaysia, Cartoon-O-Phobia, Even My Pen Has a Stand, Gedung Kartun, PerakDarul Kartun and three volumes of Isu Dalam Kartun.
My aim is to use cartoons as a weapon to fight corruption and abuse of power by the Malaysian government. Through my cartoons, I highlight very important issues, which have not been reported in the government-controlled medias.They include the corrupt practice by the Prime Minister and his cabinet members, the murder of the Mongolian model by the name of Altantuya, the conspiracy against Anwar Ibrahim, the domination Prime Minister’s wife, the Scorpene submarine scandal, waste of public funds, among others.
My philosophy is clear: in order to make an impact, we must do it to the fullest. My method is to criticize themost powerful leaders in the hardest ways. Why pinch when you can punch!
In my career, I constantly face harassment, intimidation and oppression from the government. Thegovernment bans all my cartoon books. My office is constantly raided. Several factories that printed mybooks were also raided, and they were warned not to print my books in the future or their license will berevoked.
Through-out the country, vendors are often warned not to sell my books or face court charges.On September 2010, ten police officers raided my office four hours before the launching of my cartooncollection, Cartoon-O-Phobia. They confiscated 66 copies of the books as well as one original cartoon.
I was arrested, brought to seven police stations around the city. And then they detained and jailed meunder the draconian Sedition Act, which carries the maximum jail of three years. I was handcuffed for eight continuous hours.
I was put in the same cell with other criminals like robbers and drug addicts. The government wanted toremand me longer and interrogate me, but I was released the next day under the court's instruction.
This is a very difficult period for me. The banning costs me a financial loss at about RM80,000.00 (aboutUSD35,000.00). The Sedition Act, which carries the maximum jail of three years, is still hanging like a sword of Damocles on my head. The government would charge me anytime.That's how hard it is. My movement is being monitored, my phone is being tapped.
Drawing political cartoons in Malaysia is a crime. Fighting corruption in Malaysia is a crime. This is totally contradicting with Islamic principles. One of the greatest Islamic leaders, Caliph Ali had said: "The highest level of patriotism is to tell the truth in front of unjust rulers."
As an editorial cartoonist, it is our duty to fight injustice. In Malaysia as well as in the third world coun-tries and the Middle East, cartoonists face bigger challenge. It is a thin line between the comic strips and the prison strips.
But we must be ready to face the consequences. We have to keep fighting. We have to continue drawing until the last drop of our ink! If we back down, it means that we compromise our principles to fight tyrannies.
I filed a suit against the government to challenge the banning of my books. For this case, the court will deliver its judgment on the 14th of July 2011. On June 2011, I filed another suit to challenge the Malaysian government for the "unlawful detention" against me on September 2010. This court has yet to set a trial date.
The tough challenges are not only faced by cartoonists in Asia and the Middle East, but also in other parts of the world. Mr. Clay Bennet told me that many American cartoonists are in the risk of losing their jobs because of the economic downturn and the emergence of internet. My sympathy is with them.
I think it is the right time for us the cartoonists around the world to unite, closing the rank by having more dialogues to foster better understanding.
Once again, thank you CRNI for this award. "Courage in Editorial Cartooning" award gives me a new strength, "like giving spinach to Popeye."
Thank you.
This is a video of him working on a cartoon:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ev1fKHGdrZ8
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