Gifts of flowers, chocolates, cash and everything nice is what one gets for the birthday.
Our office Parliamentary researcher, Jay Jay Denis, was called in for questioning to the police headquarters, Bukit Aman on Tuesday.
And it was all about his tweet, where he said the police were terrorizing the country, in reference to the massive arrests following the May Day, GST rally.
Jay Jay turned 22, is a student, is not a power broker and neither is he a member of any political party or non-governmental organization.
He nor his tweet does not have the power to create alarm or fear among the rakyat. And neither would it instigate anyone to act against the state or public order.
This aspiring lawyer was investigated under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code, which carries a jail term of two years and a fine or both if found guilty.
Pleas by him to turn up for questioning on Friday, after his exams are over, were dismissed.
We can gauge where the country is heading by the way it treats the women, the compassion people show towards animals and the freedom given to young people to think laterally, among many others.
How do we create an informed society when a youth, with no wealth or power, is hauled in for a tweet?
How do we create a thinking society when you don’t allow the young to have a political opinion?
Why would the police deem a one-liner from a student a threat big enough to instigate others to go against the state?
Why shouldn’t one register his dissatisfaction against the state if he does not agree with its governance or policies?
Criticizing the state does not mean one is not patriotic or is deviant or an anarchist.
I would have expected the police to read his tweet, laugh about it and move on to solving crimes in the country.
Instead they opted to act childishly.
What would have helped is to engage young people and hold dialogues with them as a way of figuring out what their grievances are.
Let’s just hope the police will do so from now.
And it’s still not too late. Their birthday gift to Jay Jay could be to let him go for he, as a Malaysian citizen, was only airing his view for a better Malaysia.