Waging war against the king. In cahoots with foreign conspirators. Possible communists. Planning to overthrow the government. Illegal T-shirts. Bersih 2.0 seems to embody many evils to the authorities, who have arrested more than 100 in attempts to stop Bersih’s 9 July 2011 march. But have the authorities gone overboard in demonising the rally? What about Malaysians’ constitutional right to freedom of expression and right to peaceable assembly?

Former CPM chairperson Abdullah CD arriving at the commemorative ceremony for the 20th anniversary of the peace accords THE issue of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) is definitely one that is framed according to the racial lines that divide us as a nation. For example, the prevailing myth is that the CPM was an [...]

IT’s not about giving sympathy. It’s about honouring an agreement. As I rode the bus back to Kuala Lumpur from Haadyai after covering Chin Peng‘s media conference on 30 Nov 2009 in conjunction with the 20th anniversary ceremony of the tripartite Haadyai Peace Agreements, I could not help thinking. I tried to wrap my head [...]

DESPITE being a signatory to the 1989 tripartite Haadyai Peace Agreement, no official representative from Malaysia attended the 20th anniversary commemorative ceremony held on 30 Nov 2009 in Haadyai, Thailand. The two other signatories to the accords, the Thai government and the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM), were respectively represented by Thai Deputy Interior Minister [...]

Chin Peng arriving at a hotel in Haadyai for a press conference MORE puzzling than the Malaysian government‘s current myopic reaction against the idea of Chin Peng‘s return is the sketchy outline of events soon after the Haadyai Peace Accords. The peace treaty was signed on 2 Dec 1989 to end hostilities between Malaysia and [...]

WE talk about feeling sorry for old men. Or about being upset with the idea of Chin Peng stepping back on Malaysian soil. We have been swamped with evocative words that demand strong reactions. “Old man wants to die at birthplace.” “Just a grandfather.” “Notorious murderer.” “Massacre of innocents.” The “evils of communism”. Strong words [...]