Freedom of Expression in Malaysia in UK.

Anwar Ibrahim came to LSE last week to give a talk. The topic was Islam and the West. Attendance was good.

He advocated for more dialogue between Islamic countries and the West, to reconcile differences, and for better understanding between these two worlds. The aim was creditable, but no proposals as to how this should be done was presented. He takes a very moderate stance on issues relating to Islamic governance, but offers no standard for us to adopt. He highlights the problems, but doesn’t provide the solutions (a lot like what we do here).

But he wasn’t really there to talk about solutions. He was there to be heard, and to be seen. Every chance he got, he criticised current (and former administration) of Malaysia. He mentioned he was jailed at least 10 times throughout the 1 hour session. When asked about the current state of our freedom of expression and what should be done about it, he answered, vote Keadilan.

Having said this, this is what I understand happened behind the scenes.

KPUM first approached his representatives to invite him to give a talk. KPUM was advised against it by ‘higher authorities’. A member of the committee then went ahead, under his personal capacity, with negotiations. The talk was almost confirmed, when another ‘higher authority’ advised against his involvement in the event. Apparently UMNO London was not too happy about the talk, but it is uncertain if they ‘advised’ the ‘higher authority’ to advice against it. This person then approached the LSE Malaysia Singaporean Society(MSS) to take over organisation of the event. Progress continued. However, on the day of the talk, MSS sent out an email stating that they were no longer organising the event, and that it is organised by LSE. MSS was apparently ‘advised’ against it by another higher authority.

The talk went ahead, and credit was given solely to LSE Events Department.

His talk was not a political one, but it became one. Personally, I feel student organisations should not organise political events, or co-organise events with political organisation… but if the committee has agreed to do it, should they be stopped by ‘authorities’ like the Malaysian Student Department?

Also, was KPUM and MSS advised against organising this talk because it was political in nature (which arguably, it was not), or because it was by a member of the opposition? The LSE Malaysia Club has been organising various events with UMNO London, including talks by members of UMNO. But these events have not been criticised by the authorities, but rather supported by them. Double standards?

Sometimes I don’t even know why I bother writing about issues like this. When I rant about this to some people, they reply… ‘so?’. Their lack of concern over these issues is not shocking… it is expected. We have been conditioned to accept the fact that our freedom of expression is a conditional right, limited to praise and support of the government. But it is one things to accept this in Malaysia. We have brought this culture with us to the UK, and it continues to haunt us even here.