Media statement by Teo Nie Ching in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, 8^th December 2011:

Peaceful Assembly Bill contradicts Najib's lofty aspirations

In his grandiose speech on the eve of Malaysia Day where Najib proudly proclaimed his aspiration to create the "world's best democracy" in Malaysia, he spelt out an initiative to amend Section 27 of the Police Act 1967 pertaining to freedom of assembly, pursuant to Article 10 of the Federal Constitution.

The BN administration subsequently tabled the Peaceful Assembly Bill in the recent Parliament sitting, the last for year 2011, probably the last before GE13. However, the content of the bill was immensely disappointing and ironically, we are "better off" with the current legislation than what was presented to us.

Although Najib promised to relax the restrictions pertaining to freedom of assembly, the truth is that the Peaceful Assembly Bill introduced additional restrictions previously not found in the Police Act, one of which is a condition governing the age of organsisers and participants.

According to section 4 of the bill, citizens under the age of 21 are prohibited from organizing any assembly. No reason was actually given, therefore my guess is this: As a citizen can only vote upon reaching the age of 21, our youths below 21 are barred from organizing any public assemblies.

The fact is though, there is no direct relation between someone organising an assembly and whether that person will vote, let alone whether he/she is a voter! On top of that, not all public assemblies are related to politics.

If the right to assembly and the right of vote are taken as the same thing, it is extremely unnecessary and inappropriate. There are perfectly good reasons for young people below the age of 21 to organize an assembly to convey their messages.

One good example can be found in East Malaysia. Since mid-2009, students of Universiti Malaysia Sabah Labuan International Campus (UMSKAL) have been affected by water supply shortages. Due to their water woes, some students had even quit UMSKAL to continue their studies at other universities.

Basically, the undergraduates had had enough and then organized a protest assembly in March 2011, hoping to attract the attention of the relevant Ministers and urging the authorities to provide a solution to their misery.

From a total of 2,500 undergraduates at the university, about 1,000 participated in the protest. There was also a large police presence. Is the government saying that these undergraduates have committed a criminal offence by protesting against an issue that has affected them personally?

Another similar example can be seen in November 2011 where close to 1,000 students at Maltab Perguruan Sultan Idris organized a 4-hour peaceful protest to submit a petition highlighting their seven requests to the Education Ministry, requesting the ministry to ensure that MPSI graduates be sent to schools to commence teaching as soon as possible so that they do not sit at home waiting for the Ministry's response while being saddled with PTPTN loans.

Is it unreasonable for these groups to hold a public assembly? What is so wrong about holding a public assembly to protect one's own right?

With the passing of the Peaceful Assembly Bill, the undergraduates in Universiti Malaysia Sabah Labuan International Campus and Maktab Perguruan Sultan Idris have effectively lost their rights to hold any public assemblies to convey their anguish and hardship. If they are charged and found guilty under the Act, they are subject to fines up to RM10,000.

A few days ago in Parliament, Prime Minister Najib announced that his administration had proposed to amend section 15 of the UUCA to enable undergraduates above 18 years old to participate in politics. On one hand, his administration seeks to grant more freedom to undergraduates, on the other hand he seeks to stifle the same undergraduates' freedom to assemble via the Peaceful Assembly Bill.

This self-contradictory and hypocritical move shows clearly that the Barisan Nasional administration does not really appreciate the doctrine of natural rights -- rights that cannot be violated by anyone nor society in general.

* Teo Nie Ching, DAP Assistant National Publicity Secretary & MP for Serdang