The Prime Minister has shouted many times the BN “Janji di Tepati” slogan but till today the government has yet to table the necessary law changes to effectively stop unilateral conversion of minors despite the government’s promise made in 2009.
In 2012, Datuk Seri Najib Razak pledged to abolish the 1948 Sedition Act, but till today not only this draconian and outdated Act is not abolished, it has been further abused.
In March this year, the late Karpal Singh was convicted under the Sedition Act this year.
Last month, I was charged with sedition for producing the Onederful CNY 2014 video, becoming the first person in the nation to be charged for producing a satirical video.
Two days ago, DAP Assemblyman Rayer was to be charged with sedition for having uttered the words “celaka Umno’ in the Penang State Assembly but the charge was halted at the last minute. Since when has it become seditious to insult a political party?
Now we have a Public Service Department ( PSD) overseas scholarship scholar who may face disciplinary action for having breached the scholarship agreement which prohibits scholarship holders from taking part in “seditious” activities or protests.
How could the student Aslam Abd Jalil be accused of being involved in seditious activities for merely being a panelist in a forum with an opposition Member of Parliament?
This shows that not only the 1948 Sedition Act has been abused; even PSD is prepared to abuse the seditious clause in the agreement to persecute Aslam.
University education does not mean the mere pursuit of an academic degree, but the pursuit of knowledge and the development of an independent and critical mind. We definitely want our students to be real intellectuals who will develop a keen sense of interest and care about the society and the problems and challenges that the nation faces.
Each year, the government allocates huge sum of money to send students to further their studies at reputed overseas universities where the culture is more conducive for students to become graduates with wider horizon of thinking who will later better contribute to the betterment of the society.
Being a panelist at a political forum is part of the learning process which must not and cannot be deemed seditious.
PSD must therefore not restrict, or worse persecute the students for wanting to pursue true university education.
I wish to call on the Prime Minister to fulfill his promise to repeal the 1948 Sedition Act, as well as to repeal the outdated clauses in the PSD scholarship agreement.