Hisham: "I am the most secure person in Malaysia"

"Do not fear this law,” Hishamuddin Rais told a hushed crowd packed inside the Aliran office, in a reference to the dreaded Internal Security Act. “This law works if you are fearful of it. Tonight, I am asking you to liberate your mind, open your mind.”

It was the first time that many in the 100-odd audience were meeting Hisham, Tian Chua and Saari Sungib, who were among six recently released reformasi activists. The three received rousing applause before the start of a dinner-talk held at the Aliran office on 11 July 2003 – an event moderated by Aliran exco member Prema Devaraj.

The trio were freed from the Kamunting Detention Camp on 1-3 June 2003. They had been arrested under the ISA, which allows indefinite detention without trial, on 10 April 2001.

Back then, Inspector General of Police Norian Mai accused the activists of involvement in a militant plot to topple the government. They were alleged to have taken steps to obtain explosives including bombs and grenade launchers and were said to be resorting to the use of Molotov cocktails and other dangerous objects to create disturbances during street demonstrations. No evidence to support these allegations was ever provided to the public nor were the activists ever brought to court to face charges.

Reverse Psychology

The bearded Hisham, with his trademark beret lying on the table, said the interrogation – at times crude and vulgar - hardly touched on national security. Instead, it dwelled a lot on his personal life including his sexuality. Harsh and relentless, the interrogation took its toll. “When I broke down, it’s because behind this façade of ‘Malaysia Boleh’, there is this brutality to other detainees.”

He now lives in the knowledge that Big Brother is watching ‘every move he makes’ (to paraphrase that line from the hit Sting song). “I know that everywhere I go they follow me, so I am the most secure person in Malaysia,” he said, with an impish grin.

Nonetheless, he urged the crowd not to have fear. “You just stay strong and do your thing.”

Saari: “There is no freedom as long as the ISA is around”

Saari Sungib, the founder president of Jamaah Islah Malaysia (JIM)for about a decade, rose to speak next. Founder and Chairman of the board of management of the Al-Amin Islamic primary and secondary school, a well-known private Islamic school in Kuala Lumpur , he was deeply involved in human resources development and missionary work.

During the height of reformasi, it was Saari who succeeded in mobilising huge crowds to mammoth gatherings around the capital. (“I believe in my democratic right to have peaceful demonstrations,” whether big or small, he declared.)

“There is no freedom as long as the ISA is around,” he said sombrely, as his wife Aliza Jaffar looked on from the front row just a couple of metres away. Aliza was among the wives of detainees who had campaigned tirelessly and fearlessly for their release and proved to be thorns in the side of the Mahathir administration.

Saari said his loss of freedom only spurred him to fight to regain it. “My strategy was to write book after book until I was released – reverse psychology,” he said. “I wanted to be released as soon as possible.” Indeed, Saari churned out a steady stream of books describing in vivid detail his interrogation ordeal.

According to him, the authorities must have got so fed up with his revelations of what went on during interrogation that they decided it would be better to release him. “They have no more stories because I have exposed all their stories,” he quipped.

Saari noted that former Anti-Corruption Agency director-general Ahmad Zaki, who headed the ISA Advisory Board that reviews detention cases, had done enough to propose their release. “We told the whole world that the highest body, the Advisory Board, had recommended our release.”

They are out to destroy and debase whatever you believe in – your principles, your friends. Tian Chua

He said it was important to have a group of human rights lawyers exposed to court proceedings relating to such cases. They could focus on arrests and handle cases involving OKTs (Orang Kena Tuduh or accused persons), and Tahanan Politik Reformasi (reformasi detainees). It was the reformasi activists’ clear affidavits that brought about victory in the Federal Court last year, he noted.

Torturous Appeal

Tian: “Let’s work hard to remove these unfair laws."

The scrawny but indomitable Tian Chua, a Suaram activist-turned-KeADILan vice-president, was up next. Beaming, he said that he had actually been preparing for a longer quieter spell in detention in sharp contrast to the gruelling campaign schedule they had embarked on since their release. “Now all my plans (for a less stressful life) are spoilt, thanks to you people,” he said, tongue firmly in cheek, in an indirect expression of appreciation to those on the outside who had campaigned hard for the detainees’ release.

Tian said the initial 60-day interrogation period was the toughest. “They are out to destroy and debase whatever you believe in – your principles, your friends.” The whole thing was about the collecting of information.

He said his interrogators even told him: “Saari is a fanatic; his house has no television.”

“My response was: ‘It doesn’t matter; what I do is what I believe in,” recalled Tian.

What makes the ISA so effective is the fear of surveillance by the Special Branch and the indefinite duration of the detention. But more torturous than the actual length of detention, observed Tian, was the process of appeal and review.

The former labour activist said he was grateful to the detainees of the past who had struggled for small improvements in the conditions of detention, such as improvements in the menu. As for the campaign to secure their release, “we knew people outside were fighting for us; it made us feel strong and courageous,” he said.

Indeed, said Tian, the anti-ISA campaign to secure the detainees’ release has gained worldwide recognition. “We should not let this momentum die down,” he urged. “Let’s work hard to remove these unfair laws."

The Enemy is Your Mind

During the question-and-answer session that followed, the detainees provided a glimpse of what it was like being in detention, cut off from the outside world. “The enemy in the first 60 days is yourself – your mind,” recalled Hisham.

He told the audience there was a library in Kamunting that was as big as the Aliran kitchen (if you have seen the Aliran kitchen, you would know it must have been one small library!). It was stocked with old, obscure books – “lots of books on Islam, some on Christianity and Buddhism.”

Some of the detention centre restrictions were as mind-boggling as they were petty. He recalled the time when his sister brought eight pods of petai (a fetid jungle bean that can be chewed) for him. But the camp authorities only allowed two pods to be handed over. “They have this power over you,” he said in disgust. “What's the difference between 8 and 2? There’s a lot of this power trip.”

Hisham recalled his conversation with a police officer who tried to persuade him to accept his fate. “‘It is the will of Allah,’ the officer told me…But then I saw Abdullah Badawi’s signature on the paper in front of him.”

Saari in turn described the disorientation in recording the passage of time that the detainees experienced. They had creative ways of overcoming this. In his case, he would gauge the passage of time from the remaining length of a smouldering mosquito coil nearby.

Tian reiterated the importance of continuing the anti-ISA campaign to get the remaining ISA detainees released. He spoke of the importance of providing the public with more information about those detainees. “People know our faces – but a lot of the other detainees are faceless,” he said, pointing out that their backgrounds were largely unknown.

Referring to the alleged Kumpulan Militan Malaysia (KMM) and Jemaah Islamiah (JI) militants now in detention, Hisham said one has to take a principled stand: “Bring them to trial.” Saari for his part noted that some of these detainees were actually linked to Islamic religious schools (SAR).

Making a Choice

Someone from the audience wanted to know who was responsible for the reformasi detainees’ release – Mahathir or his deputy, Abdullah Badawi, who is also Home Minister?

The answer to that, said Hisham, was not important. What was important was pressure was mounting. “That was what gave us back our freedom.” He refuted claims that under the Mahathir administration, no ISA detainee had been detained for more than two years, pointing out that the Al-Maunah detainees had already spent about three years in detention.

On a more philosophical note, Hisham reminded the audience that everyone has to make a choice between right and wrong in life. “I hope everyone will make a choice to make society a better place,” he said, “We are free agents – free to make a choice: for right or wrong.” A free individual, he said, was more important than individual freedom.

Prema enquired how it was possible to make a change when some people were even afraid to attend an Aliran gathering. “You have to struggle within yourself,” replied Hisham. “You have to break this fear.”

Saari for his part praised the anti-ISA campaign, which he said was able to sustain itself for two years. “It is a good success,” he said. Even though Gerak, the initial anti-ISA alliance between opposition political parties and non-governmental organisations faltered due to the oncoming general election in 1999, it was replaced before long in 2001 by the Abolish ISA Movement (GMI), made up of 83 civil society groups. What was lacking now in the campaign was focus, he suggested.

We will Prevail

Hisham, who believes strongly in a democratic, secular state, then urged the audience “to collect our small victories and consolidate them” in the near future.

In paying tribute to the three ex-detainees, Aliran president P Ramakrishnan noted that Dr Mahathir may have “robbed them of their freedom, but (he has) failed to crush their spirit.”

Rama also pledged that the larger nobler struggle to restore our human rights would continue. “I have no doubt that with your help and God’s blessing, we will prevail.”

Ong Beng Keong, coordinator of the Penang Anti-ISA Network, which along with Aliran and Suaram Penang jointly organised this event, observed that there were many ways of bringing about change – as unaffiliated individuals (like Hisham), through political parties (Tian) and through Islamic movements (Saari). “If you are doing anything positive, please continue.” Suaram Penang’s Choo Chon Kai then presented souvenirs to the speakers.

It was an inspiring night. Many went home deeply moved and encouraged that the trio's spirits were unbroken and with Hisham’s reminder about liberating our minds and wiping out fear ringing in our ears. The struggle will go on and we WILL prevail.

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