Polish not Abolish the ISA

The ISA, the preventive detention act, envisaged to fight any threat to the wellbeing of Malaysia.

(2) It is right now the number one most hated act by the Malaysian public at large.

(3) I do not think the the ISA should be abolished. What it aims to achieve is noble. Indeed many countries are now enacting acts that are similar to the ISA in nature. The United States now has a much more extensive version of the ISA called the Patriots Act. That act not only enables for detention without trial but also extensive intelligence gathering capability was granted to the government (i.e bank record privacy is no longer a hindrance to them). The bill was pass with almost no opposition in Congress in the wake of Sept 11.

(4) What Malaysia has yet to see is a proper use of the ISA. We never really had a terrorist who was hell bent on disrupting the peace and harmony of Malaysia to be jailed under the ISA. After the end of the Communist insurgency, there was never a grave threat to Malaysia's existence.

(5) What has happened is that put such a negative connotation to the ISA is the MISUSE of the Act. POLITICAL OPPONENTS to the CURRENT REGIME were put under the ISA. That is the bone of contention, that is the real issue. It should not had happened. but it did. and now the public, politicians and some well known figures are calling for the abolishment of the ISA.

(6) My question is, what would happen if we were able to catch a terrorist who was planning to bomb kompleks membeli belah PKNS Shah Alam ( cant say KLCC, I work there). And all the police had to tie that man is an anonymous SMS. The case would definitely be thrown out of court and an extension of remand would most probably be denied because of such flimsy evidence.

(7) What are we going to do?, are we going to let this man walk away due to lack of evidence and take the risk of he might continue with his plans but with a diffrent building with diffrent time ( maybe this time it would be Menara Milenium...hahaha).

(8) This is where the ISA comes in, we should never play with chances when it involves the lives of thousands of Malaysians. This is what the ISA is and this is what it was created for. It was created to ensure the safety of thousands of Malaysians at the expense of liberty of one. Yes, it is Machivellian in nature, but in today's world where bombings are a common occurence ( if you dont believe me go to Youtube, type Marriott bombing and you'll see a live circuit tv recording of a bombing) it is an absolute necessity to have such preventive law to ensure a smooth running of a civil and democratic society.

(9) The other alternative to the ISA is that once there is something which has disrupted peace, i.e a bomb, the government can declare an Emergency and can make Emergency rulings which can suspend a person's right to liberty for a while. But bear in mind that this is reactive in nature rather than proactive, meaning that we must wait for the bomb to blow before we could act as opposed to the ISA where we could even nab them at their planning stage.

(10)The people who have been detained in the ISA can always apply for a writ of habeas corpus. It is not like the French Bastille where prisoners are jailed and forgotten. (though we may be in danger of being like that if we do not change soon)

(11) Understand this, i am against the use of the ISA to imprison those who have views contrary to the government. This is a democracy and democracy allows for the people to have differing views. The government should hear the views of the people or otherwise be risked to be booted out in the next general elections.

(12) The imprisonment of Raja Petra is one of the great injustices of our time and one of the most stupid actions ever done by the Barisan Nasional and the Pak Lah led administration. I'm sorry Pak Lah, i know you had nothing to do with it but the decision was made under your watch. His imprisonment has created a cause for the opposition to rally behind. Pak Lah if you are reading this please please throw your advisors out of the window and give their salary to me. Even the man on the street can grasp this, how it fails you is beyond me.

(13) Having said all of that, i must reiterate that the ISA should not be abolished, in fact it should be polished to ensure that there will be no abuse to that act. It must be amended to ensure that a detention is only allowed for something that is detrimental to the COUNTRY not the GOVERNMENT. There is a difference between the two. Governments in a democracy come and go. There is however but one Malaysia. Safeguards like an independent permanent council to oversee and approve a detention would go a long way to ensure the ISA would not be misused. Another might be to have the approving minister agree that if he is wrong he will be sacked immediately by the council. That would make him think twice before misusing his power. Thirdly it may not be a bad idea to have the ISA supervised by the YDPA or the Majlis Raja Raja. We are paying them millions of ringgits of taxpayers money to have them "serve" their positions. Why not make them do a bit of a work.

(14) The ISA is a necessarry evil, one that we might need one day, i rue to see the day where we could have prevented a terrorist attack but couldnt because we do not have the ISA anymore.
Please polish the ISA, dont abolish it.