Launch of Freedom of Information campaign
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The National Coalition of Freedom of Information
Malaysia will launch its campaign this Thursday.

12.30pm onwards
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Leafleting at KLCC. We have our mascot, the firefly, and we will be
distributing our FOI leaflets.

8.30pm
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Launch and public forum at the Bar Council Auditorium in KL.
Speakers include Azmi Sharom, Ong Ju Lyn and Sonia Randhawa, the
theme is "The Environmental Cost
of Concealing Information" .

Join us in our campaign to have more openness and less secrets!

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NO MORE SECRETS
Freedom of Information (FOI) Campaign

Do you know…
What you’re breathing? What's in your water? What's really in your food and drinks? How’s your tax money spent? Who’re getting the scholarships?

The Government, the companies making and testing products like your food, or providing you with water supply. Don't you think you should know what they’re doing?

Who are we?
Let us introduce ourselves. We are the National Coalition for a Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, formed in early 2005 following from a two-day conference on FOI legislation for Malaysia and the formulation of a statement of principles endorsed by over 32 organisations. We are a loose network of civil society organisations – ranging from human right’s groups to environmental organisations to women’s NGOs – coming together to campaign for a legislation that allows access to information, and pave the way for an end to secrecy laws in Malaysia.

What are we talking about?
We think the Government has too many secrets. We aren't allowed to know how they spend our money, yet our taxes and petrol prices go up to subsidise them. We aren't allowed to know why our water companies are being sold, yet our taps run dry and our water stinks. We aren't allowed to know about contracts, bridges, or hospitals, yet we're expected to pay for them, even as the roads are falling apart, as the bridges are not built and the hospitals are likely to make you sick rather than better.

Isn't it time we had access to some of these ‘secrets’?

So, we’re saying that
1. We would like to be told important details relating to our society. Government information should be public information. We want to have access to all information, unless there's a good reason to keep it from us. That's principle one, the principle of maximum disclosure.
2. We want to know when we want to know, not when the Government wants to tell us. Facts about water quality, minutes of meetings, criteria for appointing local councillors; these should always be made available. It's principle two, the principle of routine publication.
3. The Government (or any self-appointed censors) don't get to say what we get to know. Somebody who's not going to benefit from the failures or corruptions in Government should decide. This is principle three, the principle of setting up an independent, administrative oversight body.
4. Rather than hiding their mistakes, the Government should be open about their mistakes and learn from them because each mistake costs the public dearly. There should be a move towards making as few mistakes as possible. Principle four, the principle of open government.
5. Some things can be kept secret. This isn't about stopping the police from catching criminals, or betraying military secrets. But there should be good, tight reasons for having secrets. It should be about protecting us, not protecting corruption. Hence principle five, the principle of exceptions.
6. We shouldn't have to pay. This information is important for all of us to contribute to society. Costs should be kept low. We shouldn't have to spend three days filling in ten forms to find out what's in the air we breathe. See principle six, the principle of keeping costs low, and processes simple.
7. We should be able to see what the government is up to. When the local government is changing plans, we want to be there. When a new factory is being approved, we want to be there. When a hill is being destroyed to build more houses, we want to be there. Meetings, whether about education or advertising billboards, should be open because these are decisions that affect us. This leads us to principle seven, the principle of open meetings.
8. There is a need to ensure that the implementation of the FOI legislation will not be impeded by existing laws. Thus principle eight, the principle of reviewing other legislation.
9. If you expose corruption, you should be rewarded, not punished. Principle nine, the principle of protecting whistleblowers.
10. Periodically check to see if the FOI legislation is still working. What's good today might be not so good tomorrow. Think principle ten, the principle requiring the FOI law to be reviewed regularly.
These are 10 basic principles of FOI that should be practised to ensure a more open and accountable government.

Yes, but....

What about privacy, you ask?

This falls under the principle of exceptions as mentioned above. If it's about my body, my health, any personal information about me, sorry, but you won’t get near them, even if that information is in the hands of the Government.

Our country’s security?

Again this falls under the principle of exceptions. When unsure if something should be kept ‘secret’ by the government, use the 3-stage test. For example:
1. Is the information about our national security?
2. Does releasing the information harm national security?
3. Is there an overriding public interest for the information to be made available?
Even if the answer to the first two questions is YES, then the information can be withheld. However, an affirmative to the third question means we have a right to the information, even if it harms our national security in the short-term.


What can you do to help?

Hold a talk on No More Secrets. Call together some friends and have a teh-tarik session. Contact us, the FOI coalition, through the website given.
1. Sign the petition. Visit the Info Cafe to sign the petition. The website is given below.
2. Whether you are a lawyer, doctor, accountant, salesperson, clerk or home-maker, contact us. We need you and there are many things you can do to help us.
3. Work with people you know who are doing a good job in Government. Praise them. Then ask them to support the FOI campaign.
4. Talk to local government and get them to adopt some of the ten principles in their dealings.
5. Write letters to people you know who are doing a bad job, and ask them for information. Show up their answers (or lack of answers) on the Info Cafe website, or write to the newspapers and tell them.
6. Come up with your own ideas, and we'll try and help you make them real.

I want to know more...
That's what this is about! For more on the FOI campaign, pop into www.cijmalaysia.org/info_cafe for debates, articles, opinions and experiences.

You can contact us at

Centre for Independent Journalism
27-C, Jalan Sarikei
off Jalan Pahang
53000 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
(behind Tawakal Hospital)

Tel : +60.3.4023.0772
Fax : +60.3.4023.0769

Email: Cynthia Gabriel cynth@pd.jaring.my
Sonia Randhawa soniarandhawa1@yahoo.com.my

Updated
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The list of books banned by Internal Security Ministry
(KKDN or Kementerian Keselamatan Dalam Negeri) as
reported by national news agency Bernama today (15
June 2006)

1. The Bargaining for Israel: In the Shadow of Armageddon authored by Mona Johulan and published by
Bridge-Logos Publishers, United States (USA).

2. Islam (Mathew S Gordon, Oxford University Press (OUP))

3. Lifting the Veil (Trudie Crawford, Apple of Gold,United States)

4. A Fundamental Fear of Eurocentrism and the Emergence of Islamism (Bobby S Sayyid, Zed Books Ltd,
United Kingdom (UK))

5. Islam Revealed - A Christian Arab's View of Islam (Dr Anis A Shorrosh, Thomas Nelson Publishers, USA)

6. What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam (John L Esposito, OUP)

7. Mini Skirts Mothers & Muslims (Christine Mallouhi, publisher not available)

8. The Battle for God Fundamentalism in Judaism, Christianity and Islam (Karen Armstrong, Harper
Collins, UK)

9. Kundalini For Beginners (Ravindra Kumar, Health Harmony, B Jain Publishers (P) Ltd, India)

10. Sacred Books of the East (Epiphanius Wilson, J-Jeiley Asian Educational Services, India)

11. Sharing Your Faith with A Muslim (Akbidayah Akbar Abdul-Haqq, Bethany House Publishers, USA)

12. Cults, World Religions and The Occult (Kenneth Bon, Chariot Victor Publishings, UK)

13. Petua dan Doa Pendinding, Penawar, Penyembuh Penyakit (Awang Mohd Yahya, Unsie Publisher, Kuala
Lumpur)

14. Hakikat & Hikmah 7 Hari Dalam Seminggu (Abu Nashr Al-Hamdanly, Pustaka Ilmi, Batu Caves, Selangor)

15. Pemuda Bani Tamim Perintis Jalan Imam Mahdi (Abu Muhammad, Penerbit Giliran Timor)

16. Kontroversi Hukum Hudud (Kassim Ahmad, Forum Iqra Berhad, Penang)

17. Risalah No.2 Dilema Umat Islam-Antara Hadis dan Quran (Kassim Ahmad, Forum Iqra Berhad, Penang)

18. Siri 7 Amalan-Amalan Bid'ah Pada Bulan Syaban (Ustaz Rasul bin Dahri, Percetakan Putrajaya Sdn Bhd)

SIS is very honoured to have two distinguished guests, Mr. Adnan Huskic from Bosnia and Ms Gulmina Bilal from Pakistan, who are visiting Malaysia in the upcoming week. Both guests will be giving a talk about their experiences in their respective home countries and the :



Details of the Study Session:



Title : Bosnia - A Muslim Community in the West

Speaker : Mr. Adnan Huskic



Title : Women Political Empowerment: Lessons From Pakistan

Speaker : Ms Gulmina Bilal



Date : 16 June 2006 (Friday)

Time : 8.00 – 10.30 pm

Venue : SIS Office

No. 25, Jalan 5/31,46000 Petaling Jaya,Selangor.



GULMINA BILAL is a political analyst with a particular focus on women political empowerment. She would sketch out the Pakistani experience of women legislators in a conservative Islamic country from which its lessons can be drawn in relation to Malaysia. She has written several books including : "Lessons of the Local Bodies Elections 2005 of Pakistan" and "Women Parliamentarians: Swimming Against the Tides".



ADNAN HUSKIC will be talking about the Bosnian experience as being a Muslim community in the Western hemisphere.



We would really appreciate it if you could confirm your attendance by 15th June 2006. Pls contact Nurul or Syuhada at 03 7960 6121 or reply to nurul@sistersinislam.org.my . If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to call us.

Panic Buttons

Culture and Crisis in Malaysia and the Region



Date: Sunday 11th June

Time: 2pm to 5pm

Venue: Actors Studio, Bangsar Shopping Centre.



In recent months, a range of cultural and social "conflicts' have emerged in Malaysia. While many of these "skirmishes" involving censoring and censorship have been in the field of the arts and culture, others have involved issues of law, human rights and the Constitution. Some conflicts, like that of the parliamentary Back-Benchers Club, have been played out at the heart of Government.



Are these separate events connected and do they, as some suggested, signal a deeper crisis? Or do the challenges to the dominant narratives of national identity and to hitherto 'accepted' forms of governance (such as authoritarian paternalism and moral policing) signal a maturing public eager to reclaim their sovereignty?



Indonesian writer Goenawan Mohamad and artist-activist Chumpon Apisuk from Thailand together with intellectuals and arts practitioners from around the region and beyond, will begin a vital dialogue on the issue of culture and crisis.



This forum is in part the outcome of a roundtable discussion, to be held during the preceding two days, delving into the question of "art and crisis". During the roundtable, participants will have been discussing what practical steps can be taken by artists and writers within the region to prepare for the crises that periodically erupt when artworks or their interpretations come into tension with vested social, political or religious interests.



This forum should be of interest to artists, social activists and concerned citizens.



By invitation. Please call Kakiseni at 03-74934240 to register.

Last minute registration can also take place at the door.



Sponsoring organizations:

The Substation (Singapore)

kakiseni.com

Valentine Willie Fine Art

Actor's Studio Bangsar



Presented in connection with 'Performing Rights': The 12th Annual

Conference of Performance Studies international (PSi),15-18 June,

London, UK