Hear the Scholars Speak

"Malaysians are told, time and again, in the most paternalistic and patronising manner that insults our intelligence, that we need to be guarded, policed and controlled for our own good. We are fed the standard hogwash and bile that demonstrating is a non-Malaysian trait, and that to demonstrate against the abuses by the powers-that-be is unpatriotic, un-Asian and un-Malaysian...

Yet in Malaysia this most fundamental freedom- to speak, to state our opinions, to disagree, to refuse and to resist is denied to us on the spurious notion of national security and integrity. We are denied our fundamental, essential right to be human beings with rational agency and choice and the ability to express that choice...

By whom? By the very same people who decide that they can - if they wish - demonstrate on issues close to their heart and when it suits them by giving them the political standing they need..." -- Farish Noor

"Khalifah Abu Bakar, pemerintah Islam selepas Nabi Muhammad wafat, pada permulaan pemerintahannya, berkata:

“Saya bukanlah yang paling baik di antara kamu. Jika saya betul, sokonglah saya. Jika saya salah, tegurlah saya"..."

Kita diperintah oleh agama kita supaya memerintah dengan adil. Jangan kerana marah kita gagal melakukan keadilan yang dituntut itu. Isu-isu lain tidak penting; yang penting sungutan mereka yang benar dan sah. Mungkin 75% peratus daripada tuntutan mereka tidak benar dan tidak sah, tetapi 25% yang benar dan sah mesti ditangani segera.

Saya orang Melayu. Saya sayang kepada orang Melayu. Tetapi saya tidak boleh sokong orang Melayu yang bersikap fanatik dan perkauman, kerana kita semuanya anak-cucu Adam, makhluk Tuhan yang Tuhan muliakan, sama ada kita Melayu, Cina atau India atau suku-kaum lain. Sebagai makluk Tuhan, kita layak dihormati. Kita pula rakyat Malaysia yang sedang membangunkan negara kita supaya maju dan dihormati di seluruh dunia." -- Kassim Ahmad

"For democracy to have any sort of meaning, it must be part of our lives every day...

It is not just opposition people who engage with the Government. Ordinary people and civil society want to have a say, too... Furthermore, there are people who support or even like most of what the ruling party does but disagree with some of its decisions. Surely, they have the right to voice their concerns?

That right of dissent is a vital component in a democracy, as it helps to ensure that governments are aware that their responsibility and culpability to citizens is something that exists all the time...

The question is how that dissent should be expressed...A democracy needs dissent. It needs a free press; it needs people to express themselves...

Anything less is disrespecting our inalienable and fundamental freedoms." -- Azmi Sharom