法情

bp铭馨的文字海洋
http://www.wretch.cc/blog/bpmingxin&article_id=12192104

回忆大声公......

他有一双恫恫有神的眼睛，他说话的时候，眼神绝对没有离开过你.....
他有一双饱满的手，每一次他说话前，一定会先跟我们大家握手......
他有一双不听话的脚，有时候会痛得让他走路一拐一拐，可是他却坚决地走......
他有一把很宏亮的声音，每次参观小学，不管你来了多少次都好，他都会用他很宏亮的声音，跟你说：“谢谢你的到来，白小今天没有你，就不会走到今天！”
他有一个很庞大的身体，每次我们叫他多吃一点，他就会说“很肥了，不可以吃了！”
他的眼睛、他的手、他的脚、他的声音、他的身体，
是住在我们每一个人心里的影子，
我们说到好笑的事，会想到他；
我们说政党的笑话，会想到他；
我们说华小，会想到他；
我们说白小，更不可能忘记他......
如今，我们说伤心的事，也同样会想到他........
他是熊玉生，他是我们每个人心里的大声公，一个永远存在我们心深处的影子......
3月10日安详地走了，3月12日入土为安了......

我第一次参与白小的活动，只是一个简单的卖春联活动。
本来只有买卖声音的17区菜市场，突然间传出一把洪亮的声音。
学姐要我们拿着的 “哇啦哇啦”，被我们推三推四地推到他的手里。
他是这样开头的，
“各位乡亲父老，恭喜发财新年快乐万事如意.....(什么祝福语都出来了！）“
说了两三句以后，他就开始忙着招待人。
然后接下去的号召，没有再用“哇啦哇啦”，可是还是一样洪亮无比。
是的，那是无法忘记的亲切声音，无法忘记的好声音......

我第二次参与白小活动，是在白小原校的团拜，
那天大声公的致辞，很长，但是我们却完全不觉得冗赘。
那是我第一次听大声公致词，也是我第一次听别人致词听到哭......
我不能很清楚记得他说了什么，
但是，那一句：“我的年岁不多了，但是我会尽力！“
他说这句话的时候，手握拳头，比个胜利的手势。
听他说尽力，会激起心里的涟漪，会让“听得懂”的人跟他一起努力。

我第三次参与白小活动，是白小晚宴。
那是超过2000个人参与的晚宴。
而且参与的人，是师生、是村民、是一群不计较分文的大专生，还有一群热爱华教的人。
那一天，我是激动的。
激动得我无法形容。。。
听白小大声公说话，我哭了；
看白小师生的表演，我也哭了，
唱着“最美好时光”的时候，我也哭了！
我记得，晚宴的最后，
大声公在我主动跟他聊天的时候，两手握着我的手说
“谢谢你们！谢谢你们这群大专生。
你们大专生很好，肯跟我们一起努力，
你们大专生很好，从来没有忘记白小，
没有你们这群大专生，我们白小不会有今天！”
我总是一直回应他：“大声公，你才伟大！我们只是义务帮忙帮忙。”
是的，在我眼里他是伟大的！
可是，每次我用一种钦佩的眼神告诉他，我欣赏他的时候，
他也会说：“EH,我不伟大！这个学校是村民的，是我们的。
我们不是政党，我是保护我们的学校。这是我的责任。
我读不多书，才读到2年级，但是你们却不觉得我说很多余的话，
这样已经足够了！我很感谢你们！感谢你们的到来”
他的谦虚，不会让你怀疑他是虚伪的，
他会在台上致词的时候称自己是小弟，他告诉过我：“永远要把自己看小”。
他会面带笑容，结束聊天的时候，会跟我们说：“对不起，我不能陪你们说太多话，我要过去那里打下招呼，还有很多人我还没说话。。。”

他说话会用很多的形容词，
每一个形容词，都可以让人哭笑不得。
他的形容词可以出一本语录，
是你读再多的书，也不会读到却一直回味的。
每一句话，够真实、够平民、够亲切。
我佩服他说的话。

新年前，我们带着台湾的两位朋友一同参观白小。
那时候的大声公生病着，但是他还是来到白小为台湾学生讲解白小事件。
白小的故事，我听了很多遍。
从第一次一开始听到的哭，
无数次的听讲经验，那天，台湾学生听着沉思，我和校长却一直忍不住笑，
是的，你会因为他强而有力，不失气魄也不失幽默的气势感到开心。
这样的笑，不是取笑，而是打从心里佩服他的笑，还有为他的可爱真实而笑。

他说，他才读到2年级。但是白小关了8年，他跟学生一起上课，现在少少也有初中二了。我们每个人都在进步！我的知识也是进步了！

他说，他到印度背包旅行，因为他总是听到别人说印度很落后，他不相信，所以他去看看。结果，看了后都没有别人说得那么糟糕。

他说，他已经跟部长谈了，白小要在提名日前开，如果不开，就是说话不算话，我们不相信了！

他说，不相信白小会重开的人，会请他走。因为连自己都不相信自己，怎样伴白小走过？

他说，政党们别在那里“阿里巴巴“了，当我们是什么？
（当时听得我一头雾水，其实原来是要请政党们别在背后自己组织小组讨论，那样跟“阿里巴巴“中的强盗没有什么两样。）

他说，白小像是某某政党心头的一根鱼骨，要拿又拿不出来，又吞不进。

他说，白小要变黄小也没关系，只要重开！

他很自豪地告诉我们，有父母从BATU CAVES带小孩来白小上课。

。。。

每一次，他出发是为了白小，他说话的言语里离不开白小，他的自豪也来自白小
说他是华教的斗士，一点也不为过。。。。

我总是找机会问他很个人的感觉。
我问他白小重开后，大声公你要做什么？
他会毫不犹豫地说：“我要回中国，回家了......”

我问他家人谅解你吗？
他会说：“不谅解也没有办法，我坚持要看到白小重开！”

我问他上台演讲会害怕吗？
他会说：“不会，只怕讲到别人睡着了！”

我问他除了白小重开，还有什么愿望吗？
他说：“我希望一家人团聚...."
这是大声公说的，不会再听到了.........
他的一切一直都是那么坦白、简单，可是从此以后，他留给我们的，只有深深烙印在我们心里的回忆而已，只能回味，不能再清楚地听到了......


从来没有参与过出殡仪式的我，今天参与了。
从鞠躬，到将棺木送进车里，再到白小原校唱华教之歌，我没有一次不红了眼眶，没有一次不掉下眼泪。
那是重如泰山。
妈妈告诉我：“大声公是好人，所以没有托很久，没有折磨自己也没有折磨家人。”
看着大专生在留言板给他的留言，出现最频密的话就是：“大声公，您走好！我们会让白小重开的！“

是的，
白小重开，是大声公的愿望！~

大声公，我是铭馨，
每次见到你，都要自我介绍，
但是你都会跟我说：“不记得你的名字，但是我知道你常来！真的谢谢你们，真有心！“
今天再次向你自我介绍了，我知道你还是会忘记我的名字，
不过没有关系，名字有时候还真的只是一个代号而已。
你常说，白小没有我们也不会走到今天，
我要说，白小没有你的勇气，没有你和村民的合作精神，更加不可能走到今天！
白小一定会重开的！~大声公，您走好，让我们帮你圆梦.......

悲悼我華教勇將熊老先生

悲夫！我華教之滄桑；哀哉！我華族之前賢。後生雖未登門拜謁，與公素未謀面，其聲亦無聞，其影更無見，然則丹心一片孰能淹其景行？四海兄弟何須曾相識，炎黃子孫必有此會心。想公之身雖逝，然心猶鐡膽動躍，神魂依舊金剛持杵。昔林公連玉先生不也有言：威武不能屈，貧賤不能移。吾屍身可以平鋪而任賊狼之踐踏，然天崩地裂孰能動吾志！今觀熊老之勞苦，能不撫古而傷今歟？謂其白丁，良心卻勝功名之士；譽其有識，學問實遜儒雅之師。然則，雷聲振吼，匹夫之責，亦自有鐡肩之擔道義。噫！“官場中官衛官，官官相衛；人世間人欺人，人人受欺”。熊老哉！赤子真鐵漢；白小哉！師生金石情。八面受敵亦何妨？單槍匹馬有前範；雪上加霜終得炭，橫眉冷對無後悔。革命也罷，聚沙也罷，魂兮歸來，天地有正氣！歸來哉歸來，魂兮歸來，今朝磨難來日大業成！嗚呼！百年樹人信矣哉！小子不才，無以慰松柏，僅拈心香一柱，追思人間傲骨梅。晚生黃智鴻百拜不宣。

熊老追悼会录影
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP1MNqC7Jes

[转贴]《当今大马》
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/81791



一代公共知识分子典范犹存
鲁斯旦沙尼因心脏病发骤逝

杨凯斌 | 4月23日 9点20分

著名部落客、学者及社运分子鲁斯旦沙尼（Rustam Sani）今早3点于其鹅唛的住家因心脏病而不幸骤逝，享年63岁。

他遗下妻子罗哈尼（Rohani）以及两名孩子阿斯拉尼（Azrani）和阿雅妮 （Ariani）还有一名孙女阿里莎（Arissa）。罗哈尼透露鲁斯旦是在没有任何预兆之下逝世的。

他的遗体将会在中午时分，安葬在鹅唛的Taman Ibukota穆斯林墓场。

鲁斯旦一生的资历多姿多彩，充分体现出葛兰西所谓的“有机知识分子”(Organic Intellectual)以及一名“公共知识分子”(Public Intellectual)的风范。他曾经在学府中担任高职和成为当权者的智囊，但是仍不畏点评时事使到其专栏传颂一时，更在烈火莫熄政改运动时期，一众主流媒体受前首相马哈迪强权指挥，扭曲真相的时刻，不惜与之划清界限，更发起杯葛主流媒体的运动，展现一代知识分子的铮铮风骨。

稍后他转身积极参政，并为非主流媒体撰稿，多番揭露当权者如马哈迪及阿都拉的施政错误，并开启数个部落格勤力笔耕不懈，继续运用其深厚的学养点评争议课题背后的迷思和谬论。

鲁斯旦早年毕业于马来亚大学马来文系，曾在英国里丁、肯特及美国耶鲁大学深造，曾在马来亚大学、国民大学任教，更出任国民大学人类学及社会学系主任兼副教授。他也曾受聘为马来西亚政府智囊团ISIS的资深研究员。

据悉马哈迪在1990年所发表的“2020宏愿”演讲稿，正是出自鲁斯旦的手笔。

鲁斯旦也是一名诗人，语文出版局亦曾出版其诗集。

鲁斯旦也曾为《新海峡时报》以及《马来前锋报》撰写专栏，唯都不幸被腰斩。他在《马来前锋报》所撰写的专栏曾经传颂一时，两任《前锋报》总编辑再努丁迈丁（Zainuddin Maidin，前新闻部长）以及佐汉嘉化(Johan Jaafar)都不敢删减其文章，而前首相马哈迪就算不同意其文章论点，也只是邀请鲁斯旦到其办公室讨论，并不敢怒骂他。

他曾一度担任《东方日报》专栏作家，唯在去年四月雪兰莪州依约（Ijok）州议席补选期间，因评论副首相纳吉与“炸尸案”的关联，遭编辑部退稿后就决定中止供稿。

鲁斯旦在1998年烈火莫熄时期出任人民党副主席，并活跃于政坛。他在因亲烈火莫熄色彩而惨遭主流媒体封杀后，转向在另类媒体如回教党党报《哈拉卡》、《政治》（Siasah）以及《公正之声》撰稿，并开辟数个部落格，包括 'Suara Rakyat' 、 'Karya Semasa'以及'Karya Merdeka'，以流利的马来文和英文褒贬时事。

鲁斯旦在逝世的两天前(21日），曾经发表最后一篇部落格贴文，点评马哈迪接受英国广播电视台(BBC)“Hardtalk”的访问，题目为“又是马哈迪：这一切究竟何时才平息？”(Mahathir lagi: Bilakah semua ini akan reda?)。鲁斯旦在文中“惊讶”年届高龄马哈迪之固执，不断利用各种场合抨击阿都拉。而他也不解虽然马哈迪不断老调重弹，其记忆力、分析能力以及语言逻辑已日降，但仍有许多人愿意聆听马哈迪的看法。

鲁斯旦的父亲正是人民党创办人兼主席阿末波斯达曼（Ahmad Boestaman）。这一缘由，也使到鲁斯旦成为少数仍极力书写马来民族主义和马来左派议题的评论人。

[转贴]《din merican：the Malaysian DJ blogger》
http://dinmerican.wordpress.com/2008/04 ... stam-sani/

Persanan Terakhir Saudara Rustam Sani
21 April 2008

Mahathir lagi: Bilakah semua ini akan reda?

Saya benar-benar kagum akan Mahathir, khususnya terhadap kemampuan dan kedegilannya untuk menyatakan pandangannya.

Dia akan terus bertakata-kata, meskipun sudah tidak ada lagi orang yang mau mendengar pandangannya itu – kecuali mungkin beberapa orang yang mau memperalatkannya sebagai sumber “pendapat” bagi maksud tertentu – untuk menyerang Abdullah Badawi, misalnya.

Dan bagi tahap umurnya, tenaga Mahathir memang luar biasa. Suaranya masih lantang, sebutannya masih jelas – meskipun daya ingatannya ternyata sudah kabur (banyak yang tidak diingatnya atau sudah tersalah ingat), daya analisisnya sudah longgar, rasa hormatnya terhadap lojika, etika, maupun kebenaran jelas sudah berkecai.

Namun, bagi saya, apa yang lebih menakjubkan ialah masih banyak antara kita yang masih sanggup mendengar racauannya itu. Oleh itu, bila Mahathir akan diwawancara untuk rancangan “Hard Talk” baru-baru ini saya menjadi kebanjiran dengan pesanan SMS maupun posting blog tentangnya.

Memanglah Mahathir merupakan seorang yang degil, yang tidak puas-puas meracau di mana sahaja. Dia akan berceramah di majlis ceramah anjuran PROWARIS atau bahagian-bahagian Umno yang tertentu, berdebat dalam forum anjuran laman blog MyKMU, ditemuramah oleh Malaysiakini.com, malah menulis kata pengantar untuk buku Dr. Collin Abraham.

Tidak ada sesuatu yang baru dalam apa yang diperkatakannya, namun orang tetap akan mendengar malah melaporkannya kembali di tempat lain, di muka akhbar maupun di laman blog. Tidak ada yang mendalam atau profound dalam analisisnya, namun masih banyak yang menganggap kata-katanya sebagai semacam mutiara ilmu.

Dan inilah yang menakjubkan saya. Apakah yang menarik tentang Mahathir ini: mutiara ilmu yang keluar dari mulutnya atau sekadar personanya? Dan apakah yang menarik tentang persona itu – auranya atau sekadar latarbelakang dirinya yang pernah menjadi ahli politik yang memberontak terhadap establishment Umno tetapi kemudiannya bertukar menjadi establishment itu sendiri yang amat menindas?

Baru-baru ini Mahathir tampaknya telah berhasil pula menjaja misteri dirinya itu ke luar negara. Dia sanggup ditemuramah di ruangan “Hard Talk” BBC yang terkenal kerana soalan-soalan mendalam lagi kasar terhadap sesiapa sahaja – khususnya para pemimpin negara dunia ketiga.

Mahathir memang tahu tentang reputasi rancangan Hard Talk itu, namun naluri dan semangatnya untuk terus berkata-kata itu ternyata tidak akan dapat diredakan. Otot di sekeliling mulutnya yang overdeveloped itu tampaknya tidak akan dapat dilemahkan.

Satu sifat dan sahsiah Mahathir yang asasi sehubungan dengan nalurinya yang mau terus berkata-kata ini ialah sifatnya yang combative – yakni dia akan menyerang bila dia mendapati dirinya terdesak oleh serangan orang lain khusus pihak yang mempersoalkan kredibiliti hujah dan kata-katanya.

Dan apabila Mahathir mulai menyerang, dia akan melakukannya secara dogged (hantam keromo, membujur lalu melintang patah). Bila Mahathir menyerang, maka jelaslah terserlah sifatnya yang samasekali tidak menghormati dan mengendahkan kebenaran, fakta, logika atau malah urutan dan tertib hujah yang siuman.

Saya telah melihat perkara ini berlaku beberapa kali sewaktu Mahathir diwawancara oleh media antarabangsa (Mahathir dalam nada prasangkanya sendiri akan mengatakannya “media barat”).

Beberapa tahun lalu, sewaktu Mahathir ditemuramah oleh Zain Verge dari CNN, bila dia didesak dengan soalan-soalan yang hangat dan pedas, dia akan segera menjadi combative – menuduh sipenemuramah itu sebagai mewakili prasangka “orang putih” yang senantiasa memandang rendah terhadap orang kulit berwarna seperti dirinya.

Hakikat yang tidak diendahkan Mahathir ialah hakikat Zain Verge merupakan seorang wanita keturunan Pakistan yang dibesarkan di Afrika – hanya kulitnya sedikit cerah berbanding Mahathir.

Kali ini sewaktu menghadapi asakan soalan-soalan panas dari Stephen Sackur, hos rancangan Hard Talk ini, huraian Mahathir tentang prasangka orang Barat terhadap orang pribumi kita tampaknya diasaskan pada ikhtisar pandangan beberapa tokoh pegawai penjajah British satu dua abad lalu seperti Swettenham, Winstedt.

Pandangan berprasangka seperti itu sebenarnya sudah tidak kedengaran lagi hari ini, dan malah hujah seperti yang dikemukakan oleh Mahathir itu juga sejak lama sudah tidak digunakan lagi oleh para pembahas dan sarjana anak negeri. Namun demikianlah adanya vintage Mahathir: dia tidak teragak-agak menggunakan hujah dan mauduk dari dua abad lalu untuk memenangi perdebatan hari ini.

Mahathir agak beruntung bila berhadapan dengan para wartawan seperti Zain Verge dan Sackur itu. Mereka ini sebenarnya tidak begitu tahu tentang realiti politik di Malaysia, oleh itu tidak dapat terus bertanya (probing) bila Mahathir memberikan reaksi yang sebenarnya tidaklah seratus peratus tepat.

Huraiannya, misalnya, tentang penyingkiran para hakim, tentang pita V. K. Lingam, tentang keadilan yang diterima Anwar dari sistem kehakiman Malaysia sudah pasti akan mengundang asakan yang malah lebih kuat lagi dari seorang wartawan yang lebih tahu tentang Malaysia berbanding Zain maupun Sackur.

Namun Mahathir, bagi saya, tetap merupakan seorang watak awam yang bijak lagi licik. Dia pandai menggunakan segala macam helah dan permainan citra untuk mempertahankan dirinya dan mengelirukan para pendengarnya. Sebab itulah setiap gerak geri maupun kata-katanya akan menarik perhatian, meskipun tidak terdapat barang seurat ketulusan maupun kebijaksanaan dalam penampilan citra dan cendekianya itu.

Bilakah permainan penampilan dirinya yang penuh helah ini akan reda – demi menjaga kewarasan dan kesehatan minda (mental hygiene) masyarakat kita sendiri?

~ by dinobeano on April 23, 2008.

[转贴]《Malaysia Today》
http://www.malaysia-today.net/2008/content/view/6510/1/

Rustam Sani - Patriot and Intellectual (1944-2008)
Posted by Raja Petra
Wednesday, 23 April 2008

As an academic, Rustam molded thousands of young minds. That may be his greatest though not easily visible legacy. Rustam may not have been successful in electoral politics, nonetheless his contributions to the nation dwarfs those of “successful” political leaders.——M. Bakri Musa

I am saddened to hear of the sudden death of Rustam Sani. In Rustam we had a true patriot, one whose love for the country is pure. It is so because it came from the head as well as the heart. It is patriotism unadulterated by the pursuit of material wealth, public adulation, or political power. A genuine intellectual, he was not one to fit his ideas to the fashion of the day.

He recognized early the heavy duty and responsibility of being a patriot. His was not one consumed with endless exhortations. As the son of a renown nationalist, Rustam must have been immersed in the patriotic fervor and fiery speeches of his late father, Ahmad Boestaman. Yet at a very young age he knew that the new independent Malaysia would need leaders who not only love the country but also be well equipped with the necessary skills and intellect to lead it.

Consequently he focused on his school work fully aware that he was among the fortunate few among the youngsters to have the privilege of attending school. From his local sekolah attap (village school) in Behrang Ulu and the Methodist School Tanjong Malim, he went on to the University of Malaya via Victoria Institution. From there it was on to graduate work at Kent and Reading in Britain, and later, Yale.

He was a scholar as well as a practitioner of politics. His intellectual accomplishment was never diminished by his political involvement. He had penned more academic papers and popular commentaries as well as books than many fulltime academics. It was only yesterday that I read his latest (and alas his last) posting on his blog. Rustam was in his usual sharp element; that posting was a trenchant commentary on Mahathir’s interview on BBC’s Hard Talk. Rustam was also to have launched his latest books, Failed Nation? Concerns of a Malaysian Nationalist, and Social Roots of the Malay Left, later this month. Imagine two books!

As an academic, Rustam molded thousands of young minds. That may be his greatest though not easily visible legacy. Rustam may not have been successful in electoral politics, nonetheless his contributions to the nation dwarfs those of “successful” political leaders.

Rustam is survived by his wife Rohani, son Azrani and daughter Ariani, as well as daughter-in-law Ku Salha and granddaughter Arissa. My condolences and prayers go to them in this moment of sadness. May Allah shower His blessings and Mercy on this great Malaysian patriot and intellect.

M. Bakri Musa (www.bakrimusa.com)

[I patched below an essay I wrote on Rustam on September 17, 2007.]

One heartening development in Malaysia (and elsewhere) in the last few years is the emergence of personal blogs and the Internet news and commentary portals. This development may prove to be even more transforming socially, politically and in many other ways than the introduction of the printing press five centuries ago.

Rustam Sani’s Vox Populi is the latest. He came on aboard a few weeks ago, and has been busy updating it regularly. His recent essays dealt with the current political leadership crisis, as well as commentaries on such topical issues as education.

A sampling of recent topics includes “The Silat Bunga of Abdullah and Mahathir,” and “Something is Rotten in the Kingdom of Higher Education.” Rustam is indeed the voice of the people.

As elsewhere, blogging is now fast becoming mainstream in Malaysia. This process is hastened considerably by the many bloggers who were once mainstream journalists, beginning first with the late MGG Pillai, and later with the likes of Kadir Jasin, (www.kadirjasin.blogspot.com) and Ahirudin Atan (www.rockybru.blogspot.com) entering the scene.

The younger pioneers like Nizam Zakaria are still there, active as ever and expanding their field of commentary. I particularly enjoy his take on the local arts scene and his excerpting his new novels.

Even more encouraging is the appearance of many blogs and Internet portals using the Malay language, as with Kassim Ahmad’s (www.kassimahmad.blogspot.com). His website also serves as a readily accessible repository of his earlier essays and commentaries, including his banned works like Hadith: A Re-Evaluation. Kassim, like Rustam, is facile in both Malay and English. Unlike many, they both stick to one or the other language with their essays; there is thankfully no jumbling mixture of rojak that I find so irritating and difficult to read.

The appearance of many blogs in Malay indicates that the Malay masses are now no longer captive to the mainstream media and government propaganda machinery (they are both the same). My favorites include Laman Marhean and Agendadaily.

While many are lamenting the current political leadership crisis in UMNO, there is already one positive consequence to this: the spawning of many new websites and blogs in the Malay language.

These enterprising and productive individuals are doing more than those bureaucrats and pseudo scholars at Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka and other public agencies to project our national language globally. Unlike Dewan’s glut of salaried men and women, these cyber contributors cost the government not a penny!

Introducing Rustam Sani

I first heard of Rustam Sani in 1985 when he delivered the public oration on the occasion of Kassim Ahmad receiving an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from Universiti Kebangsaan. That Kassim deserved the honor was beyond question, nonetheless I found the university’s action surprising, although a very pleasing one. Kassim had then just released his harrowing account of detention under the ISA, Universiti Kedua (Second University).

Kassim is an independent thinker; it must have taken great courage for those at the university to so honor him. Rustam was then head of its Department of Sociology and Anthropology, and who nominated Kassim. I was heartened that at least there was one soul at the university brave enough to go against the grain and managed to convince his colleagues in the university senate to go along.

Rustam and I share many commonalities. We both attended English schools in our respective little towns (Tanjong Malim for him, and Kuala Pilah for me). We then went on to the “big school” for our Sixth Form, the venerable Victoria Institution for Rustam, and Malay College for me.

From the University of Malaya Rustam went on to Reading and Kent in Britain. Later as a Fullbright-Hayes scholar, he obtained double masters from Yale. Like me, he returned home, but unlike me, he stayed and put up with the system.

Ponteng (opting out) was never a consideration for him; the nationalist’s blood runs too deep in Rustam’s veins. His father, the late Ahmad Boestaman, was a firebrand nationalist and an early leader in the movement for Merdeka. Firebrand is an apt adjective, for Boestaman was active in API (lit. fire), the acronym for Angkatan Pemuda Insaf (The Committed Youth Movement).

Boestaman later founded the socialist Parti Rakyat Malaysia and served in Parliament in the early 1960s. It was tribute to the way things were then that young Rustam did not suffer the consequences of having a father active in opposition politics. How different things are today!

Tribulations of A Social Scientist

Life as a social scientist in Malaysia must be terribly trying, both professionally and personally. Your field of enquiry touches on so many “sensitive issues,” at least sensitive to the establishment. You cannot follow your intellectual interests, unless the authorities grant you permission. That is quite apart from the funding issue.

When you have someone like Rustam who dares to think differently, life could be even more difficult, on as well as off campus. Rustam was lucky to have been spared the harsh fate meted out to Kassim Ahmad, Syed Hussin Ali, and others. Perhaps Allah in His Infinite Mercy and Wisdom decided that the Boestaman family had suffered enough, and thus spared Rustam the fate endured by his father. The British detained Ahmad Boestaman for eight years for his leftist activities during the Emergency. Just to show that Malaysian leaders did learn a thing or two from their British masters, the Tunku later jailed Ahmad Boestaman for four years under the ISA in 1963. He became the first sitting Member of Parliament to be so detained. That is a mark of distinction and honor in my book, not a blemish.

On campus, unless you toe the official line you would definitely be sidelined no matter how productive you are. Rustam was one productive academic; I came across his writings many times when researching for my books. Unfortunately, on Malaysian campuses intellectual productivity is not valued. To advance, suffice that you are an enthusiastic cheerleader for the authorities.

Far from being satisfied as a detached scholar-analyst, Rustam was actively engaged as a political practitioner and activist with Parti Rakyat Malaysia. He walks the talk; he practices what he preaches.

Off campus, the same oppressive atmosphere prevails. The pages of the mainstream publications and airtime of radio and television are the exclusive preserve of unabashed supporters of the status quo. To these pundits, their sultans would always be donning a samping sutra (silk cummerbund) even when they are wrapped in bark loincloth. Once that sultan is out of power, these cheerleaders would, without skipping a beat, go on praising the next one and unhesitatingly damning the old one. Witness the current vulgar vilification of Mahathir by his once ardent supporters.

The mainstream media have lost their precious credibility, as well as balance and objectivity! In the end it is their readers (and thus the nation) who are not being well served. It is not a surprise that the blossoming of the Internet news portals and blogosphere coincides with (or perhaps the cause of) the decline of the mainstream media.

When Gutenberg introduced his printing press five centuries ago, he did more than simply made reading materials readily available for the masses. He emancipated them, freeing them from the tight controls of the clergy and ruling class who then had exclusive access to written works. They were the exclusive arbiter and interpreter on matters religious and others. The masses need only follow them meekly, as a flock of sheep would their shepherd.

The ready availability of the printing press upended all that. The resulting mass literacy made possible the reformation, and an end to the Medieval Age.