VISIT PENANG-ANILNETTO

Penang’s a happening place!

Lots of interesting things happening in Penang in the coming days:
Sunday, 25 October
Noon: Himanshu Bhatt on the meaning of Deepavali in Penang’s dim and distant past
Venue: Upper Penang Road
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2.00-3.30pm: Kee Thuan Chye reads from his latest book “March 8: The day Malaysia woke up”
Venue: Beach Blanket Babylon, Upper Penang Road.
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10.00am-3.00pm: Exhibition on people’s movement pre- and post-Independence
3.00-5.00pm: Forum
Venue: Caring Society Complex
Organisers: Persatuan Persahabatan Abad Ke-21 Malaysia, Persatuan Kawan Karib Pulau Pinang, Persatuan Persahabatan Phoenix Malaysia and Suaram.


Tuesday, 28 October
8.00pm - Special Mass for Justice and Peace in our land, including prayers for the release of all ISA detainees and the repeal of the ISA
Venue: (Catholic) Church of the Nativity, Butterworth (next to Sikh temple), about 1km from ferry terminal.


Saturday, 1 November
2.00-5.00pm: Interfaith dialogue: Women in the Eyes of God
Representatives from the various religions taking part.
Venue: Hotel Seri Malaysia
Organiser: Jamaah Islah Malaysia
Contact Cik Ramlah 016-4222142 to make a reservation; limited places


Saturday, 8 November
2.00-5.00pm - Forum: Wireless@Penang (to address questions relating to the proposed state-wide wi-fi project)
Venue: Komtar Dome
Organisers: Penang state government and MCMC
Meanwhile, a new group calling itself the Penang Wireless Campaign Group, concerned about the health risks of state-wide wi-fi, have set

Hindraf activists arrested for “illegal assembly”

P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE: Defying Malaysia’s ban on the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), 11 of its activists staged what the authorities described as an “illegal assembly” outside the Prime Minister’s office at Putrajaya on Thursday. They were detained.

While their conduct will be “investigated” in the context of the recent ban, one of them, wife of Hindraf’s self-exiled leader P. Waytha Moorthy, may also be questioned for fielding their six-year-old daughter for political purposes. P. Vwaishnnavi is said to have carried a poster that contained a demand for the release of five Hindraf leaders, who were detained under the Internal Security Act last year. And, the authorities have not listed the child, who remained with her mother, as a detenu for the police probe under the Societies Act, which would apply to the Hindraf as a banned outfit.

Social practice

However, a Hindraf leader has now informed an international human rights organisation that “the baby” and 11 other adults were “arrested for attempting to invite Prime Minister [Abdullah Ahmad Badawi] to their [planned] Deepavali Open House.” A social practice in Muslim-majority and multicultural Malaysia is to organise “open houses” as occasions for people to exchange pleasantries and views, cutting across the ethnic and religious lines.

According to the leader, the child, in her letter, had also sought, “as a Deepavali gift for all Malaysians,” the release of the group’s five leaders and “all others in prison under ISA.”
The five Hindraf leaders are P. Uthayakumar, V. Ganapati Rao (alias Ganabatirau), M. Manoharan, T. Kengadharan, and T. Vasanthakumar. The rights panel was further informed that the request for “the release of all prisoners of conscience” in Malaysia covered the case of a prominent Malay blogger as well.