Thesun 2009-06-17 Page13 Where There Is A Will

theSun

13

| WEDNESDAY JUNE 17 2009

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RUKUN NEGARA: THE PRINCIPLES

BELIEF IN GOD

LOYALTY TO KING AND COUNTRY

THE SUPREMACY OF THE CONSTITUTION

THE RULE OF LAW

COURTESY AND MORALITY

THE OBJECTIVES TO achieve greater unity among Malaysians

TO maintain a democratic way of life

TO create a just society in which the wealth of the nation shall be equitably shared

TO ensure a liberal approach to her rich and diverse cultural traditions

Where there is a will ... AS WE left for the airport in they have systems in place, Hongkong last Friday, the how did they slip up? I can headlines in all the newsonly guess that scores of papers was the closure of other passengers would schools in the territory folhave gone home with their lowing fresh discoveries of forms. Influenza A (H1N1) cases. On arrival in Hongkong As Terence and I had to last week, the medical staff at attend the wedding dinner of the aiport wanted every dea former colleague, she was tail filled, including the seat told to be prepared for two number that you occupied “no-shows”. “Maybe, we’ll CitizenNades on your flight. Several pasbe quarantined and Nades’ sengers had to dig through by R. Nadeswaran smoker’s cough is not going their carry-on bags to trace to help either,” Terence said their boarding passes for in a text message to her. such details. Each declaration was On board Flight MH 072 from Hongscrutinised by at least two people. kong, the flight attendants were busy As one steps out of the arrival hall at handing out disembarkation and health KLIA, the scene can only be described declaration forms. Passengers dutifully as “organised chaos”. Cars were filled them. The aircraft landed near the parked, the guys with the Kancils and main terminal building of KLIA, hence the Protons were either issued sumaverting a trip on the aero-train. monses or shooed away by two traffic The short walk towards the impolicemen while the BMWs and the migration counters was uneventful Benzes appeared to have been given except that a video camera to screen immunity. The same can be said of the passengers for body temperature was scene outside the departure gates. If you trained at those coming off the aerodrive a luxury car or one with a special train. No soul was in sight and the numberplate, you are above the law. camera appeared that it was there for As I later remarked to a friend, what decorative purposes. The desk beside one sees at the airport, is an epitome it was empty. of the country – first class facilities, Clearing immigration is always a excellent laws and even state-of-the-art breeze, going through the automatic equipment – but a lack of the will and gates. With the passport and the health determination to carry out duties. declaration in the pocket, I walked to There still exist pockets of people the duty-free shop, did my purchases who have made apathy their way and headed to collect the baggage. of life. How do we change attitudes? When I returned home, the form, neatly How do we send the message that if folded was in between the pages of the not for the people’s requirements, they passport. wouldn’t have their jobs? How do you So, if they have a suspected case make them passionate about their who flew on the same plane, how are jobs? I have often been reminded that they going to trace me? So, with the our civil servants are among the lowest hullabaloo over the swine flu scare, paid. I agree. But for any wage review, and with the Health Ministry claiming there must be a proportionate increase

Big Brother still has the final word

in efficiency. When it comes to the immigration department, I have often wondered why it was not possible to do it earlier. Not very long ago, one had to wait for three days to get a new passport. Now, it takes less than three hours. Couldn’t it have been done in three hours two years ago? The answer lies in the leadership and the courage to push the limits. To the many readers who sent congratulatory messages, a big terima kasih. Unfortunately, due to space constraints, I am unable to reproduce all of them. But this one from Datuk Paul Low of Transparency International Malaysia, speaks for all of you: “On behalf of Transparency International Malaysia, I congratulate both of you for receiving the Editorial Excellence Award from the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) for your work in investigative journalism. We appreciate your commitment and your diligence in this area of journalism where not many Malaysian journalists dare to take part. Your stand for righteousness and integrity is one that we at TI-M appreciate and admire especially in a media environment that is controlled.” Terence and I are humbled by all the kind words that have been written and spoken of our achievements. As I said in Monday’s column, we can only bring to light the wrongdoings. We do not have any power to do anything more than that. We will continue to do what we have set out to do and we will do it with passion and commitment. R. Nadeswaran is editor (special and investigative reporting) at theSun. He can be reached at citizen-nades@thesundaily. com.

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Are women the sole guardians of morality? I WAS flustered by two news reports recently. One, about the Kota Baru Municipal Council imposing restrictions on what women should wear in recreation parks and the other on the ban on women wearing jeans to college in Uttar Pradesh state, India. I am vexed, but not surprised that the PAS-run state government has gone for women’s clothes, after the slapstick on lipstick and heeled shoes. I laud Wanita MCA head Datin

Paduka Chew Mei Fun’s plucky statement criticising this latest attempt to further thwart women’s freedom, or the little they have in the state. She rightly pointed out that, “… no one had the right to infringe on the way people dress whether for sports or work and even when resting at home.” Asians are brought up with the cultural values that define what is decent and what isn’t and going by this we should be given the liberty to be what

we are. I am sure an average woman on the street would know when she had infringed on public decency without having the municipal council playing the schoolmaster. In the news on June 11, we had colleges in Uttar Pradesh enforcing a blanket ban on women wearing jeans to colleges, supposedly as a crackdown on sexual harassment. I fail to understand why the burden of maintaining culture and tradition always falls on

women and not men, mostly in Asian cultures? We are living in a cyber world today and have far more important things to busy ourselves with than to be fussing over women’s clothing in the park and in colleges. Sadly, save for Chew, the few women we have in power and position have chosen to be silent on this. Bhavani Krishna Iyer Petaling Jaya

Keep track of barter trade boats and ferries A SURVEY carried out in the first half of last year, indicated that about 2,000 barter trade boats enter and leave the country followed by 1,500 ferry boats transporting about 4,800,000 passengers. This shows the high number of foreign barter trade vessels, fishermen and passenger ships entering the country using nonSolas ships (Solas: Convention on Safety of Life at Sea for ships above 500 gross tonnage). These ships do not have a tracking device and most do not even have a VHF radio. Since those vessels do not fall within the ambit of ISPS ( International

Code on Security for Ship and Port Facility) enforcement regime, they do not use the security system. The non-Solas ships are vulnerable. Malaysia should develop comprehensive maritime security measures for non-Solas vessels that would need to combine a system that contributes to the defence of the vessel, a system that contributes to the identification of the vessel and a system to share information on vessel security by taking into account the nature of the area the vessel is navigating in. Defence measures are like the one provided by the ISPS

code facilitating the protection of vessels from the threats posed by others. Measures to transmit the identity and the position of the ship (AIS) for identification of non-Solas vessels should be emphasised. These are measures to identify the vessels through the low-cost AIS (simplified automated identification system) to prevent unlawful acts. The system which costs between RM1,000 and RM2,000 would be required to be fitted on every non-Solas vessels above 100 gross tonnage and below 500 gross tonnage. The system could be enforced first

TO build a progressive society which shall be oriented to modern science and technology

on vessels requesting for pilotage exemption and later for other vessels. Malaysian ports have the AIS system to track ships entering and leaving the port and thus no extra cost would be incurred to install the transponder and receiver in the port facility. Sharing information on vessels is essential to evaluate the risks of vessels. It is time for the government to enhance its capability to detect and deter the illegal movement of boats ferrying illegal immigrants. Capt Rakish Suppiah Kuala Lumpur

by Daniel Chandranayagam

it needs to be said that fund managers of ethical funds INTERESTING look into the employment news sustainable seems to be shunted practices of a to the dark recesses business. As of Malaysia’s dailies. mentioned, this For this month’s includes labour column, I found a practices and little nugget entitled the protection, “Cabinet approves cultivation and union for employenhancement ees in electronic Where young views rule of a business’s sector”, reported at the end of May. Now, workers workforce. Of course, this in the electronics sector can might not interest many busiform unions in their respective nesses, especially SMEs, but it should interest larger corporaregions. tions and the government. What came to my mind was When I was a young boy, why does the cabinet need to “approve” the formation of a I recalled the union of Metal trade union? Article 10(1)(c) of Box Malaysia having peaceful the Federal Constitution states: and cheerful protests along the “All citizens have the right to Federal Highway. My parents were involved in a march form associations.” Checking more thoroughly, which resulted in female teachers getting equal wages. it came to light that this right may be eroded if Parliament As a country develops, one deems it “necessary or ex- would have thought that trade pedient in the interest of the unions would flourish rather security of the Federation or than diminish, and a tripartite any part thereof, public order respect develop and be cultior morality.” Article 10(3) of the vated among employers, workers and the government. In my Federal Constitution makes it even clearer that associations view, this sadly does not seem related to labour and educa- to be the case in Malaysia. Unions are important. They tion are specifically subject to have been responsible for Parliament’s scrutiny. While our laws remain in the advances made by working people, including rises in the dinosaur age, we have already experienced what interna- standard of living, employment tional standards expect of our benefits, insurance and health local businesses. For example, benefits. While my economist last year, Nike came rushing friends might balk, put simply, in to do some fire fighting on unions help to redistribute reports of abuse on foreign income. Unchecked and unprotected, the rest of us have labour in Malaysia. Now, the UN Global to struggle to just keep up with Compact has been established, inflation, while the rich keep on and seeks to motivate busi- getting richer. Unions are the means for nesses to behave responsibly. workers to organise and proOne of the key principles for signatories to the compact tect their employment rights. is labour rights, derived from Unions will put together a the International Labour collective agreement, which establishes basic terms and Organisation’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and conditions of work. Trade unions pursue strategies and Rights at Work (1998). Under principle three of the activities that serve their Global Compact, businesses members’ interests, including should uphold the freedom of representing members and association and the effective negotiating with employers. In recognition of the right to most developed or developing collective bargaining. Funnily countries, unions also engage enough, the Global Compact in political action to support appears to assume that the policies that improve working business might restrict the conditions for all workers. From the above, I wonder formation of a union, and not the government. To my mind, whether I have stumbled on any reason why the formation this is because the formation of a union is such a fundamen- of unions is controlled by the tal right that the UN had not cabinet. envisaged that it would require cabinet’s approval. All signatories to the UN Daniel freelances in writing Global Compact need to dis- and publishing, and has a deep close sustainability practices passion for sleeping, eating and related to its four core areas, labour law. He can be reached which includes labour and at pottedplot.com. the right to form unions and collective bargaining. H o w e v e r, We believe that the young I wonder should have a say in how whether Malaysian things are run, because they businesses have everything at stake in would allow our future. This column creunions to be ates that space for our panel formed, or of bright young sparks to dewhether these are “illegal”. bate issues. In addition,

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