Our Home Minister And The Recent ISA Arrests

Re: The ISA Arrests And Our Incorrigible Home Minister

Let me say at the very outset that I write this short posting with malice towards none ( including our Home Minister who continues to make a spectacle of himself).

I was told that the last time our Honourable Home Minister made a spectacle of himself was when he was interviewed by the BBC ( in Hardtalk, I think ) when he was the Foreign Minister ( how ironic considering the fact that his forefathers were indeed "foreign" . Again I must be very careful in saying this because I cant substantiate this fact except for the fact that I read it in one of the blogs).

Although I did not get to watch the segment, I read an email containing a verbatim account of the interview and it was simply hilarious, to put it mildly. It was as if he was speaking to a Malaysian audience who had only learnt their Science and Maths in English ( without having English as a subject ). Even my 15year old nephew was prompted to retort, " Why cant he just speak in Bahasa Malaysia instead of harakiring the English language." As Sdr Lim Kit Siang said, these are " collectible gems ".

When Sdr Anwar refused to give his DNA ( after realising the extent the Police tried to manipulate his DNA the last time ), all that our Home Minister could say was " If he has not done it, why cant he just give his DNA ?". I understand that the Home Minister is a lawyer by training and as any good lawyer worth his salt, should not the Honourable Home Minister be asking himself, " Is Sdr Anwar within his legal rights to refuse to give his DNA?" Clearly, Sdr Anwar is not going to be tried in a Penghulu's Court, is he? ( Again I must be very careful here : I mean no disrespect to Penghulus ). Or do politicians freeze the neck up the moment they become a politician irrespective of their vocation before venturing into politics?

When someone asked him as to why the authorities are not utilising Sdr Anwar's previous DNA, he replied rather confidently, " but that was taken 10 years ago..its useless... mana boleh pakai lagi " or words to that effect. ( In fact our beloved PM parroted the same response but that's another story!) Now before venturing to make that rather silly response, should he not have got some professional advice from experts in the field of DNA who would have advised him in no uncertain terms that a DNA sample does not have a life span? Mind you, this comes from a Minister who is a lawyer by training and whose Ministry is given the responsibility of ensuring internal security.

The latest "gem" from the Honorable Home Minister comes in the wake of the latest ISA arrests. According to my limited understanding of the ISA culled from the mass media, I have always believed that the ISA is invoked against individuals who have acted or conducted themselves in a manner that would be prejudicial and/or threaten national security. Whether the person arrested had indeed acted in such a manner is a different issue altogether but this has been the official mantra the politicians will be singing everytime an arrest is made under the ISA.

Now we understand from the Honorable Home Minister that a new category of people are also liable to be arrested under the ISA : individuals who feel that their personal security is threatened. Now this is a cause of concern for the Malaysians at large. Just consider the following scenarios:

1. Everytime an Along comes knocking at your door and threatens to slaughter you and you feel your personal well-being is threatened, you might be picked up under the ISA.

2. If your neighbour threatens to turn you into an eunuch for peeping into his bedroom everytime his delicious wife is changing ( with the windows open la! ), and you feel your personal safety is being threatened, you would be well advised not to lodge a report against him unless you want to be arrested under the ISA.

3.If you are the victim of " road rage ", please do not go to the nearest Police Station to lodge a report ( although that may seem to be the logical thing to do until now ) unless you want the ISA to be unleashed against you.

You see fellow Malaysians, the possibilities are endless. So the trick to avoid from being incarcerated under the ISA is simply this : whenever you feel threatened, NEVER, I MEAN NEVER, report to the authorities.

I know a lot of you out there will be asking : if the journalist really felt that her life was threatened, why can our good and caring Policemen just provide her protection? But you see, that is an intelligent question and in the realm of our beloved Home Minister, you are not expected to pose intelligent questions and make his life miserable unless of course you want him to create another category of people who are liable to be arrested under the ISA viz : any individual who poses question during a press conference, which in the absolute determination of the Home Minister, is deemed intelligent and calculated to make the Home Ministers life miserable.