Sep 1998
Mahathir is turning to his old methods to reign in dissent as his economic miracle unravels. But will the people put-up with the oppression?
To cheering crowds Anwar Ibrahim, the former Deputy PM, is rallying for change: "It is time. Malaysia needs a reform movement... Let us the people run the country with justice." Shortly after this rally he was arrested. Mahathir dismisses the talks of 'movements' as Anwar propaganda desgined to divert attention from the sex allegations made by him. Yet this is begining to look like wishful thinking in a nation that certainly has much to protest about. Just last month MP Lim Guan Eng publicly defended a teenage girl who had been detained after she accused an UMNO Party member of rape. His defence of the young girl earned him a year and half in prison. Malaysia's jails are full of government critics just like Eng thanks to the Internal Security Act. An archaic colonial rule it's been enthusiastically maintained by Mahathir. With this law Ministers can send a person to jail for two years without trial. Flicking through a smuggled letter from an ISA detainee, human rights activist Elizabeth Wong relays a catalogue of abuse: brutal beatings, mental torture, prisoners forced to eat their own excrement. With excellent access to key figures battling for change, this revealing report finds the reform movement in full voice.
