We Cannot Just Talk - We Must Act

By Our Correspondent

10 April 2002 marked the first anniversary of the detentions of Mohd Ezam, Saari Sungib, Lokman Md Nor, Tian Chua, Dr Badrul and Hishamuddin Rais under the Internal Security Act (ISA). The Abolish ISA Movement (GMI), endorsed by 82 organizations, has persistently and untiringly called for a just and fair trial for the detainees. But the government continues with its oppression. So the six political detainees decided to go on a hunger strike starting from 10 April to protest against their continued incarceration. In solidarity with the six, 15 people on the outside also decided to fast. These 15 ‘hunger strikers’ started their fast on 10 April, after handing a memorandum to Suhakam. Several of them were the detainees’ family members: Ezam’s mother, Saari’s son and Anwar’s brother-in-law. Others were Keadilan members who felt they had to fast to show their solidarity. One of them was a DAP member from Kuantan whom I had a chance to talk to.

Protesting the ISA: Tuw Ah Mei with Ezam's mother and his son

Today I met a wonderful lady from Kuantan. Tuw Ah Mei, 60, has four sons (two of whom are married) and seven grandchildren. She had not told her children that she was joining the ‘hunger strikers’ in Taman Melawar because she felt sure they would disapprove. Despite family objections, she goes wherever she feels needed.

Her disenchantment with the government dates back to 1989. She was then a farmer in Serdang growing starfruit (belimbing) plants for a living on a small plot of land for about 20 years. The MCA ‘YB’ had come and promised them “grants” (land titles) for the land that they had cleared and cultivated. She and the other farmers were very happy and filled out all the relevant forms.

But two months later, a busload of men in uniform (seperti askar) came and cut down all the plants in the ‘lower’ plots of land. Her plot of land was higher up and was not affected, but she said it was terrible to see the trees – even those laden with fruit being cut down. She said she collected all the fruits and took them to the MCA office and threw it at the people in the MCA office.

A day or two later, the men came back with bulldozers to dig out the roots of the trees that had been cut, even though the farmers had gone to court to apply for an injunction. She mentioned that some DAP members had come and watched the destruction.

She yelled and shouted and had a fierce argument with their ‘boss’. She even threatened them with a can full of kerosene. But the Boss Man said, “Go ahead”; so she poured the kerosene on the temporary shelter the workers had erected and burned it down.

At 10 p.m. that night, the police came (tiga kereta polis datang) and arrested her. She was about 48 at the time and was bringing up her four sons single-handedly as her husband had left her 10 years earlier.

Karpal Singh fought her case, and she remembers him fondly and wants to emphasize – “satu sen pun dia tak ambil dari saya.” (He didn’t take a single sen from me.) After five years of going to court, with a lot of postponements, the case was just dropped.

At present, Ah Mei runs a ‘gerai’ (stall) in Kuantan selling vegetarian food. She is not particularly well off, but whenever she feels something urgent needs to be attended to, like the SRJK(C) Damansara SOS struggle for intance, she just “tutup kedai dan datang” (pulls down the shutters and heads out).

She read about this hunger strike in the DAP papers and decided “mesti mau tolong” (she had to help). She is very emphatic in her beliefs:

“Kita tak boleh kira bangsa – Cina, Melayu, India. Semua orang serupa.”
(We cannot look at race - Chinese, Malays, Indians. All are the same.)

“Bila saya lihat anak Anwar, anak Ezam – saya mau menangis..Saya lihat isteri-isteri orang dalam ISA – I feel ‘very poor things’.”
(When I look at Anwar’s and Ezam's children, I feel like crying. When I look at the wives of the ISA detainees, I feel sorry for them.)

“Tapi kita tak boleh cakap sahaja – mesti buat. “
(But we cannot just talk - we must act.)

Sitting there on the floor, on a plywood plank (GMI had provided mattresses for the ‘hunger strikers’ but Ah Mei said that the plank was better for her back), I did not know whether to laugh or to cry as I listened to her story.

She was coping very well with the discomfort and the heat during the day. On Sunday, she was extremely vocal when dealing with the police in Central Market. The only thing she has not liked so far is the check-up by the doctors because they took a blood sample from her.

Ah Mei does not believe in making a lot of money to leave for her children when she dies. By fighting for justice and by speaking up for the downtrodden, she believes she will leave “luck” for future generations.

I felt humbled and truly privileged to have met and talked to Tuw Ah Mei.

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