In the Spider-Man movie, the Peter Parker character, played by Tobey Maguire took his Uncle Ben’s exhortation and advice to heart.
“You can do great things son, but with Great powers come great responsibilities.”
He carried off his responsibilities with great responsibility of course. But it had its toll on him. By the end of the movie, and as he headed off from his best friend’s father’s funeral, we hear him say that responsibility is a curse.
He had trouble as his Aunt May became a pawn of his foe, Green Goblin. The story line carried on in the next Spider-Man movie where his love interest, MJ had trouble trying to carry on a relationship with him, as he tried to avoid relationships knowing she could yet be a pawn of yet another foe, Doctor Octopus.
Locally, when the shadows of the communists loomed large in our country in the 1950-70s, the British Government, and then the Malayan Government, took great measures and effort to rid of the menace.
It was certainly no phantom menace, as many had been killed. Communism was the empire on the dark side.
Thus, people were moved to new villages and shifted from their homes. The Internal Security Act was enacted. Powers were given to the government to confiscate properties.
The dangers were imminent. Fear of the domino theory was the order of the day. It was felt that communists would come from China, down Vietnam then Thailand and then into Malaya and Singapore. Vietnam had fallen, as had most of other parts of Indo-China. Wars were in our backyard.
With Second World War fresh in the minds then, and how the Japanese had crawled down from the north from Thailand into Malaya and Singapore, it was not surprising that the government was serious about the new danger.
It did not happen, but many lives were lost due to the ideology and the danger was very real.
Now shift to a tiny country in the Pacific called New Zealand. They are an incredible people. It is one of the most corrupt-free nations in the world. Hence, the government has the freedom to do great things for its people.
And one of the most glaring things is to push power to the people. This is a confident country, moving forward for her people.
Their Official Information Act was enacted to made official information open to the public. Government documents were open unless stated to be official secrets, unlike in most countries which are secret unless made for public consumption.
It was the first country in the English speaking world to set up the office of the Ombudsman, and anyone aggrieved by the decision of the Government can lodge their complaints. There was strong intent to rectify previous wrongs done by the previous governments against the Maori, and the Treaty of Waitangi Act tried to honour the claims of the Maoris.
Now fast-track back to our beloved Malaysia, it does seem as if there is an impending war coming. With great powers come great responsibilities. Our government is hunkering down on the threat of terrorism.
Perhaps there is not enough of it within the corridors of power, so they are shoring to themselves with more authorities and draconian powers. Hence, the National Council of Security Act.
With an increasingly restive East Malaysia, the populace are demanding for a 20% royalty from oil. If that was not enough, Sarawak is asking for autonomy in education.
And recently they have allowed for English to be used as an official language, which is perhaps an affront to the less-than-fluent-in-English Malay elites. The Chief Minister is more open to the people, unlike previous administration which was more intent on business.
He has the gall to read his state budget speech in English! Lest the Empire falls apart, pre-emptive action must be taken. Not unlike the Jedi rebellion in a far corner of the galaxy.
With popularity sagging to an all-time low and the likelihood of an internal rebellion from their own party at the division level, those walking the corridors of Federal power do not command great confidence.
With an eye to the national election to be held in three years’ time, and with an increasingly imminent awry result arising from their popularity that continues to plummet, they need the security of the National Security Council Act.
If the legislation is about tackling threats to the country, there are already the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015 (POTA), and Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (SOSMA) and even if these legislations are lacking there could always be amendments within these legislations.
Legislators should always err on the side of caution. The case of Matthias Chang who has been charged under SOSMA as the lawyer of a political opponent of the Government, should be a case in point where laws are abused by the very people who enacted them against the peoples they are supposed to protect.
In the book Unbridled Power, constitutional law professor, Geoffrey Palmer, who would later become New Zealand’s prime minister, was quite alert to the shortcomings of governments in this issue. Notwithstanding his political position, he wrote liberally and candidly about the failings of government and how the people are detached from the day-to-day running of the government and therefore had to be protected. With great powers come great responsibilities.
But like it or not the National Security Council Act is here to stay.
Given the number of arrests of Islamic State sympathisers and their recruits in Malaysia lately, the saying that “Revolution is the voice of the unheard” may yet ring true.
People generally start out as mild opponents and protestors, and if the government does not assuage their mild demands for reforms, these usually turn to more radical forms for their “just cause.” This is especially so with Muslims who think that anything for their beliefs in their Almighty is a just cause. Is this not coming true with so many Malaysian Muslims willing to go to Syria?
If examples are needed, the father of Filipino nationalism, Dr Jose Rizal started as a peaceful reformer asking for fairer treatment of his own people. Instead, he was thrown into jail. His successive nationalists would later not be so mild and many would die for the cause.
With the failings of the Malaysian government, being unable to diffuse the 1MDB saga, and the increasing rampant perception that Malaysia is going to the dogs, arising from inflation, corruption and the subtle infusion of racail chauvinism, it is no wonder the perceived ills of our society is taken up by the under belly of society. And more and more of them will not be from the unemployed or uneducated.
In fact, more and more of them will come from the educated middle class, fed up of what they see as an ineffective government and reacting to perceived injustices with radical action. It comes from a sense of hopelessness.
In a nutshell, draconian legislations such as the National Security Council Act may just trigger more towards terrorism rather than prevent it. But for now, we await the government living up to its declared intent of using the legislation against the terrorists.
Wan Junaidi has said that the legislation will not be used against Sarawak as the state is the government’s ‘fixed deposit.’ That may be so, but Sarawak is now also unlikely to have very strong bargaining chip in the demand for autonomy. If the Sarawak 4 Sarawak movement does not get the tacit backing of the State Government, we may not hear of it again at all. The legislation will be the Sword of Damocles over anything that sniffs of disloyalty.
Thus to bring back peace to the galaxy of Malaysia, the Government may just have to be more transparent and inclusive, instead of being the Emperor giving decree.
“You can do great things son, but with Great powers come great responsibilities.”
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