A two-day event is being held today and tomorrow to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Operasi Lalang.
This includes a poster exhibition chronicling the events in the run-up to the infamous crackdown, the operation itself, and its aftermath, as well as correspondences to and from those caught up in the operation.
The events are being held at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH) in Kuala Lumpur.
The events today included the launch of the book ‘Autocrats vs The People: Authoritarian Populism in Malaysia’ by Anne Munro, while former detainees and their family members shared their experiences of the Operasi Lalang.
At 8pm tomorrow, several other former detainees are also expected to speak at the event.
Meanwhile, at the launch of the two-day event, former detainee Kua Kia Soong again urged former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to apologise for Operasi Lalang, and said that the late DAP chairperson Karpal Singh would have demanded the same as a matter of principle.
Kua said former detainees won’t even have bothered asking Mahathir for an apology if he was still an active Umno member, but they expected differently of him now that he is the chairperson of the main opposition coalition...