MALAYSIA

If Malaysians need any more reminding why their country has always been the butt of jokes in Singapore, here it is. This is one of the countless number of example of how pathetic the country's leadership is at all levels; in this case in the police department. Tear gas-carrying policemen using a water cannon to fend off candlelight protesters, some of whom were women and children??? Are you fucking kidding me????? Are Malaysian policemen that useless that they cannot disperse a crowd of peaceful protesters without resorting to using a water cannon?

Malaysian police use water cannon on candlelight protest
06 January 2008

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian police used a water cannon to disperse protesters who held a candlelight vigil Saturday against internal security laws being used to hold ethnic Indian activists without trial.

Some 300 people including women and children defied a police ban and attempted to gather at the capital's Independence Square, but were barred by about 100 police including dozens of riot police.

They held a brief vigil, lighting candles and singing rights anthems, before being dispersed by riot police, several carrying tear gas, and backed by a water cannon which was briefly turned on.

The crowd scattered into surrounding streets and were chased down by police officers but no arrests were made, said organisers, who said their cause had been energised by the latest arrests under the Internal Security Act (ISA).

Five members of the Hindu Rights Action Force, which organised a mass rally in November alleging discrimination against ethnic Indians in Malaysia, which is dominated by Muslim Malays, were last month detained under the legislation.

They can be held indefinitely without trial under the law, which dates back to the British colonial era when it was used against Communist insurgents.

"Our presence tonight is to say that this is a law which is unjust," Abolish ISA Movement chairman Syed Ibrahim told reporters, adding that Malaysians of all races and religions were represented at the vigil.

Protesters urged the government to abolish the ISA, which in modern times is more commonly used against alleged Muslim militants.

"The ISA law is no longer relevant. A crime should be proved in a court of law, instead of denying people their human rights," said H. Nandakumar, a 24-year-old engineer who attended the rally.

"People are starting to realise that the government is selected by us and we don't need laws that are patronising. We can think for ourselves -- we are not children," he told AFP.

Religious and racial issues are extremely sensitive in multi-racial Malaysia, which experienced deadly race riots in 1969.

Malays make up 60 percent of the population, with ethnic Chinese at 26 percent and Indians at eight percent.