solidarity
MALAYA
We are publishing below an appeal for international solidarity issued by a leader of the Malayan student movement who is living in hiding. The end of the year 1974 was marked by a hardening of the repression in both Malaya and Singapore. In fact, neither the Tun Abdul Razak regime in Malaya, with its democratic facade, nor the open police regime of
Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore could accept the junction that was beginning to occur between the student movement and the struggle of the workers in the countryside and the cities.
This was the process that had begun to unfold in these two states of Southeast Asia. The letter below explains the conditions under which this is occurring in Malaya. In Singapore the students mobilized in support of a workers struggle that erupted when the
American Marine yacht-building company closed down. The new leadership of the student movement of the University of Singapore was hit by repression for setting up a "Center for Research on Reduction of Personnel" and for denouncing inflation, layoffs, and factory closings. The president of the student movement, Tan Wah Piow, was accused of engaging in subversive activities and was indicted along with Dear Friends, I am the President of the Students' Union of the University of Sains, Malaysia, and at present I am in hiding. 1 am writing this letter to you from my hideout to seek your support to end the reign of terror launched by the Malaysian government against our students. More than 14 student leaders, two university professors, one university lecturer, and one youth leader have been detained under the obnoxious Internal Security Act which enables a minister to detain a citizen indefinitely without trial. This law is used two workers involved in the struggle, Ng War Ling and Yap Kim Hong. INPRECOR No. 9 (October 3, 1974) published an interview with a member of the Socialist Club, which leads the Student Union at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur. This interview explained the importance of the new radical leaderships now emerging of the head of the student movement. Likewise, the concrete junction between student mobilizations and worker and peasant mobilizations that has occurred in past months is the prelude to a big new rise of class struggle on a regional scale. Hence the violence of the repression. The Tun Abdul Razak and Lee Kuan Yew regimes are counting on the wall of silence they have erected around what is going on in Malaya and Singapore in order to continue their repressive policy with impunity. It is up to revolutionaries throughout the world to break that wall of silence. IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF THE STUDENTS AND WORKERS IMPRISONED IN MALAYA AND SINGAPORE! by the government to detain anyone who poses a real and immediate threat to the monopoly of power by a small group of rich people. Several hundred people are still under detention under this anti-democratic law, some of them for more than 10 years. Under the current reign of terror many student leaders have now been forced to go into hiding to escape the government dragnet. Although we are in hiding, our struggle for justice and democracy and against exploitation, corruption, and abuse of power by the authorities continues with the same, if not increased,
25
MALAYA intensity and dedication. In this letter, I shall attempt to describe briefly the events preceding the current reign of terror. Malaysia is among the richest countries in Southeast Asia, with a per capita income of more than m$1, 200 annually (approximately US$480). Yet many of our people are extremely poor. Even the government admits that 40 percent of our people live below the poverty line. This situation worsened with the recent drop in the price of rubber and the steep increase in he price of food. The incomes of many families in places like Baling, Selama, and Kulim fell sharply - below m$25 per month per household. They could not afford rice and had to be content with eating tapioca. Some lived on tubers found in the jungle. Several children died as a result of eating wild poisonous tubers. According to the state assemblyman from Baling, when he visited the home of the family of one of the victims, he did not find a single grain of rice there. The peasants from these districts appealed to the authorities - including the "people's" representatives - for help, but they received only empty promises. Therefore they decided to dramatize their plight by means of demonstrations to force the authorities to take some remedial measures. They marched by the thousands to the various district towns, some not to the hit im walking as far as 22 miles. They surrounded the district offices and demanded to speak to the chief minister of the state. In one place, they lowered the state flag and in its place raised a bunch of tapioca and the portrait of Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razok, together with a slogan. The slogan read "Razak, we do not want to eat tapioca. "They demanded that the price of rubber be raised, the price of food lowered, and the allowances and salaries of ministers and "people's" representatives be cut. (There is a bill before parliament to increase the salaries and allowances of ministers and "people's" representatives by 50 percent.) On December 2, 1974, students from all the universities and colleges staged peaceful mass demonstrafions throughout the country in support of the just demands of the peasants. Some 10,000 students demonstrated in Kuala Lumpur, 2, 000 in Penang, and 1,000 in Ipoh. The students did not carry any weapons, not even sticks. They did not cause any inconvenience to the public. In Kuala Lumpur the students wanted to hold a rally in the Sclangor Padang to explain to the public the plight of the poor people and their demands. Instead of commending the students for their selflessness and deep concern for the people, the government sent truckloads of riot police to disperse them. The police fired fear gas and beat the students. The students ran and took sanctuary in the National Mosque thinking that the police would not attack them there. Before entering the mosque, they 26 took off their shoes. The riot police came charging into the mosque with their filthy boots on. They beat up the students who in self-defense picked up whatever they could find in the mosque compound, including bricks, and fought back. The police also fired tear gas into the mosque. Using the mass media, including radio, television, and all the newspapers, the govemment is trying to misrepresent this incident to the public by accusing the students of desecrating the mosque. By this dirty trick, they hope to bring the public into confrontation with the students. We are hopeful and confident that the government's vile attempt to divide the people from the students will fail. More than 1,200 students and members of the public have been charged in court in connection with these demonstrations. Not content with this repression, the government followed this up by arresting and detaining three university lecturers and one youth leader under the Intemal Security Act. This wave of repression reached its climax in the early hours of the 8th and 9th of December 1974 when the military (euphemistically called the "Field Force") invaded the University of Malaya, the University of Kebangsaan, and the University of Sains Malaysia and occupied them. In gestapo-like fashion, they then made room to room searches and, using informers, they arrested some 14 student leaders and detained them under the Internal Security Act. At present these universities are still being occupied by the military. The public is not allowed access to the university grounds. Students are searched by armed soldiers before entering the universities. The government has threatened to cancel the scholarships of all those students who took part in the demonstration. This will be a hard blow to the students, most of whom come from very poor peasant or working class families. The police harass the students if they distribute pamphlets or go to the villages to explain issues. Some student leaders even fear that the government may use thugs to beat them up. The goverment repression has not deterred the students from pursuing their struggle. Demonstrations are being held daily, and the students are going to the people to explain the real issues since the radio, television, and the newspapers have become the mouthpieces of the government for spreading lies and slanders against the students and sowing dissension in the ranks of the people.
As usual, the government has accused the "communists" (without identifying these "communists") of being responsible for the demonstrations. According to the prime minister, the communists instigated the students who, in turn, instigated the people in the villages. Anyone with some common sense will realize that Tun Razak is telling a blatant LIE. Many people walked more than 22 miles braving the rain
to demonstrate their plight. Will anyone walk this distance merely because of instigation by the communists or the students? Certainly, NO. Only the pangs of hunger and the cry of the babies for food can compel a person to walk this distance, and not instigation from the outside. Tun Razak knows this but he is blaming the communists in order to divert the attention of the people away from the real issues of hunger and poverty in the rural areas. I expect further repression from the government in the near future. Those who are being detained under the Internal Security Act may be detained without any legal redress for many years. Only the support and agitation of our people and our friends overseas can bring pressure on the goverment to abandon its criminal acts. Therefore, on behalf of my fellow students and the poor people of Malaysia, I appeal to you to give your support to our struggle in the following ways: 1. Send letters and telegrams to Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak protesting against the govemment rePERSONS DETAINED UNDER THE INTERNAL
SECURITY ACT
1. Dr. Syed Hussein Ali, Associate Professor, University of Malaya
2. Tungku Shamshul Bahrain, Associate Professor, University of Malaya
3. Gurdial Singh Mijar, Lecturer, University of Malaya
4. Annuar Ibrahim, President, Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement)
5. Mohd. Idris Jusi, President, National Union of Malaysian Students
6. Abdul Rahman Rukaini, President, University Kebangsaan Students* Union
7. Hassanuddin Yoop, Deputy President, University Kebangsaan Students' Union
8. Ahmad Shah Bin Mohd. Noor, Secretary-General, National Union of Islamic Students of Malaysia The preceding letter was sent to us by the Center for Information on Asian Political Prisoners, which was set up at the end of the Conference of Asian Youth held in Tokyo July 24-26, 1974. (See INPRECOR No.8, September 19, 1974) The address of the center is:
pression, calling for unconditional release of all those detained or charged in court, and urging the government to meet the just demands of the peasants - and studenis.
2. Organize demonstrations and protest meetings for the above-stated purposes.
3. Help to distribute and publicize this letter.
I firmly believe that the struggle of the common people for justice and democracy will finally triumph despite the power and might of the rulers.
Thank you.
Yours fraternally,
Selamat Ahmad Kamal, President, University Sains of Malaysia Students' Union, Batu Uban, Penang,
Malaysia
P.S. Please send copies of letters or telegrams to the above address.
9. Adi Kastria, Assistant Secretary-General,
University of Malaya Students' Union
10. Basroh Hassan, Secretary-General, University Kebangsaan Students' Union
11. Mohamed Hussain, Secretary-General, MARA
Institute of Technology Students' Union
12. Ibrahim Ale, President, MARA Institute of
Technology Students' Union
13. Ishak Jaafar, Deputy President, MARA Institute of Technology Students' Union
14. Zainuddin Abdul Rashid, President, Kedah
Students' Union, University of Malaya
15. Shukri Hj. Abdullah, President, Islamic Society, University Sains Malaysia
16. Hoo KeePing, President, Social Science Society, University Sains Malaysia
17. Lai Sung Kit, President, Chinese Language
Society, University Sains Malaysia
18. Tooh Thien San, student leader
Center for Information on Asian Political Prisoners
Suzuki Building, 3F-B, 5-3 Sarugaku-cho
1-chome,
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101, Japan
27
ZAMBIA OF On October 24, 1974, the Republic of Zambia celebrated the tenth anniversary of its independence from British colonial rule. The occasion was utilized by the leadership of the only legal political party, the United National Independence party (UNIP), as a means of trying to raise the level of mass support for its policies and leadership. No expense was spared in the attempt to present the image of a rapidly developing economy that affords higher and higher living standards to the mass of its population. Above all, it was stressed, the state was a model of the formula of "one-party participatory democracy, " giving a place in decision-making and the execution of policy to every individual. Acting as the guiding light of this spectacular deve lopment was President Kenneth Kaunda's unique philosophy of "Humanism. " What is the reality behind this euphoric picture? Propaganda myth and economic reality It goes without saying that Kaunda's claim to have developed a state founded on a philosophy in advance of that conceived anywhere else in the world falls into the same category as all the other versions of "African socialism" which have been utilized over the past 15 years to mislead the masses into supporting political leaderships whose roots actually lie firmly implanted within international imperia!ism. From Senghor through Nkrumah, Mboya, Nyerere, and Kaunda we have seen the most multifarious flowering of ideology and sloganeering. The common feature of the whole phenomenon, however, has been a total failure to analyze African society in genuine class terms and to locate that society within a global analysis of imperialism. Thus its advocates can use the word socialism as long as they are never called upon to define it. They can continually rail against the machinations of imperialism while simultaneously accepting the domination of their economies by that very force. 28
TEN