Dear Prime Minister,

In light of the spate of ISA arrests recently, I think it is time that the voice of the people is heard – at least, in the name of justice and sanity – and for the sake of preserving peace, good race relations and national security.

Please take this in good faith, coming from a young and innocent boy who once gave you a surprise bear hug nearly 30 years ago at a career guidance camp in Sungai Besi. You had just become the Federal Territory minister then, and I was receiving a certificate of appreciation from you. Since then, I’ve been your avid supporter, hopeful that you would introduce reforms to the country that would benefit the people.

I feel strongly the urge, along with my countrymen, to rally my support behind Malaysia’s first ISA female MP detainee, Teresa Kok.

Kok, a people’s representative, was alleged to have stirred up ill-feelings against the Muslim community. Only until now, she has never lodged a police report against her accusers for making false accusations, choosing instead to explain her side of the story in her blog.

Having monitored the situation online at nearly an hourly basis by examining the various reports as well as Kok’s own blog, allow me to express my sincere opinion as a rakyat. Let truth prevail at the end of the day.

If Kok has incited one community against another to the point that they take up arms, I would agree that she be detained under ISA. However, Kok’s detention was based on some mere allegations, which she has denied vehemently.

One cannot help but ask whether the police took the trouble to get a statement from Kok herself before the arrest. What is it that Kok has done that threatened national security, to justify police action against her and arresting her using the draconian law?

In fact, a particular police report has also been lodged by the secretary of the three-week-old mosque in Kota Damansara against Kok’s accuser, Khir Toyo for making allegations that Kok had applied petition to stop the azan. Khir’s allegations, also in a public domain, are not only baseless but malicious in nature.

Kok has also lodged a similar police report against Khir, Utusan Melayu and its columnist Zaini Hassan for criminal defamation over the azan issue. As an ordinary citizen, I wonder why both Zaini and Khir were also not immediately arrested under the ISA.

In a country where there are laws, it is difficult to understand why the accuser in this case is allowed to go scot free. Like in the case of Tan Hoon Cheng who was arrested for reporting remarks by Bukit Bendera Umno division chairman, Ahmad Ismail, why was Tan detained for 18 hours whereas a defiant Ahmad remains untouched?

Even in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, the accuser Shylock who demanded for a pound of Antonio’s flesh, had to finally pay the price for being malicious.

The basis of Kok’s detention under the ISA was uncalled for, especially when she could have been first summoned by the police to give her statement over the allegation. Investigating the truth does not require the use of the country’s most intimidating laws.

Although she has been released, her detention and that of popular blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin do no favours to the country’s already battered image. I cannot help but wonder where we are heading as a nation. Are we a progressive society where we are free to speak the truth or are we a backward society, repressed and shackled from speaking our minds?

I believe you can control a vocal few, but it is the silent majority that is to be feared most. The political tsunami we witnessed last March was a good lesson to the government. It was the result of injustices for many decades.

I appeal to your good sense, prime minister, to please release all political dissidents and bloggers who are detained under the draconian ISA and to please put a stop to the use of intimidation tactics by the authorities against civilians, bloggers, people’s representatives and members of the media. Instead, focus the powers of the police in controlling violent crimes and reducing the high crime rate in the country.

Lastly, I would like to conclude by saying that if the ISA is not abolished soon, the rakyat’s resentment towards your administration will only increase.