International headlines: Mass protests in Egypt
Dominating the international news this week are the mass protests in Egypt, in which thousands demonstrated, demanding the resignation of the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. What started out as a peaceful demonstration after Friday prayers, escalated into chaos when the riot police tried to disperse the crowd through the use of rubber coated bullets, tear gas and water cannons. In retaliation, the crowd immediately started to attack the police vehicles, and later set fire to government buildings, a police station, the ruling party's headquarters and converged on state television offices.
As a result of the protests, President Mubarak has fired his entire cabinet staff, and called for night-time curfews in Cairo, Alexandria and Suez. Also, the influential opposition figure Mohamed El Baradei being placed under house arrest after he himself joined in the demonstrations. 13 deaths were reported in Suez and 5 in Cairo. Apart from the arrests and casualties, the Mubarak government had also ordered a massive crackdown on the Muslim brotherhood, the most influential opposition party in Egypt.
Before we can critically dissect this news piece, we must first know the history behind how the protests could have started. Firstly, one should consider Mubarak's tenure as President; he has been in power for 30 years now(he was elected in 81'). His long presidency has seen many allegations of corruption; among them include him adjusting policies to benefit the private sector in order to secure votes. There were also rumours that he intended to hand over the government to his son when he retires, to the chagrin of the opposition and those who want a truly free democratic system. Like most countries within the region, due to government mismanagement, unemployment, corruption and rising of prices of goods have been plaguing the country for the past few years. Many see such situations as the driving force for change.
Many experts also see the protests being a part of a domino effect, it's start being the uprising in Tunisia 2 weeks ago. The Tunisian uprising saw long time president Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali's rule finally toppled after 23 years. Many within the region see it as a sign of hope; that change is indeed possible, with solidarity and the strength of numbers. Clearly the Egyptians showed solidarity in their resolve. Despite the internet and mobile phone connection disruptions, and the blocking of facebook and twitter within the nation, protests carried on as planned. "Hacktivists"(hacking activists) got involved with the protests by launching cyber attacks on sites deemed as anti-wikileaks; in other words, sites which were pro-Mubarak and pro-government.
Sources from BBC news and Al-Jazeera
Local : Decision on the "Interlok" issue
Back at home, the government's decision on the Interlok issue made the biggest headline this week. It was announced by the Deputy Prime Minister, Muhyiddin Yasin that the controversial novel will continue to be used in schools, but sections which were deemed offensive and inappropriate would be edited. An independent panel consisting of linguists, academicians, literary figures, and representatives from Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka and the Indian community would be set up to review the contents of the novel.
To those unfamiliar with the novel, Interlok was recently made a compulsory literature text for form 5 students taking the Bahasa Malaysia subject in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Selangor, and Negri Sembilan. The novel started out as an entry for a national writing competition by national laureate Abdullah Hussain in 1967. The novel has already been used in schools since the 70's. It only came to attention recently when the government decided to make it a compulsory read for students. The Indian community in particular were outraged by the decision because the novel contains the usage of the word Pariah, a derogatory term.
To justify it's use, literary scholars deemed it acceptable as the novel is merely depicting the life of the main 3 races in Malaya in the 1900's till independence, in which various terms were the norm back in the day. They claim that such words should be kept in there, not to offend, but simply to describe the socio-political environment in pre-independence times. Thus the main argument here is whether to retain the novel as it is, in it's unadulterated form, or to remove it from the school syllabus, or at the very least edit the offensive bits out from it's pages.
One could say the Interlok issue here is quite similar to the debate regarding the use of "Injuns" and "Niggers"(derogatory terms used to describe native Americans and Afro-Americans respectively) in The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn, considered as one of the "great American novels" by writer Mark Twain. Like Interlok, the reason for the usage of offensive terms is due to it's setting; the novel depicts life in late 19th century Mississippi, when such words were not yet considered as offensive. Ironically both novels have a strong stance against racism, which is why Interlok was picked up; to promote unity in lieu of the current 1Malaysia concept.
Personally I think the issue has been overblown and dragged on unnecessarily. Is it coincidence that the issue was brought up amidst the preparations for the Tenang by-elections. Clearly both sides are politicizing this issue in order to rally support. A columnist from the Malaysian Insider questioned the timing of the protest. "Why now?". The word Pariah has been a derogatory term for decades, presumably even before independence. If the novel had already been used in schools since the 70's, why take so long to finally voice out their disregard for it? Is it because the government is supposedly more liberal and open to public opinion? Or is this simply manner of diversion for political parties? Maybe they see it as an opportunity to be heroes and offer solutions to a problem which they had started in the first place. Whatever the reasons may be, it is clear that for our society to progress faster, we must stop politicizing every single issue we encounter. Such unnecessary debates and arguments takes up the people and the government's time. Thus both sides are unable to focus their efforts on far more productive activities which could benefit the economy and our society. Instead of constantly bringing up issues of race, religion and language, why not focus on improving the transportation system or reduce the unemployment rate in the country? I think it would benefit everyone if we all learn to prioritize.
Sources from The Malaysian Insider and NST
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