Growing up, I have always heard of how Malaysia pride itself with being a democratic country with free speech etc etc, but.... as time goes by, especially since migrating, I come to realize many a things about Malaysia. One of it is..... speaking up. Although many people - government included - preach to everyone near and far that they are a modern country that is democratic and able to speak your minds, this very article proves otherwise.
The article, from the Malaysian Insider homepage, entitled Air Force Pilot Pays The Price For Speaking Up (Clickable link) just shows and proves to many... how the government of Malaysia, instead of prosecuting the ones who did the wrong, is instead prosecuting the ones who speaks the truth about matters. It´s indeed sad to read and see such things happening at the moment, even sadder to know what this poor Air force pilot has to endure due to being an Honest person and speaking up about the truth and nothing more.
I hope, one day, the government of Malaysia will actually open their eyes and realize, the Government are merely also humans, just like the citizens.... without the citizens, there is no government.
Happy reading below or clicking the link above.. *cheers*
Air force pilot pays the price for speaking up
BY LOOI SUE-CHERN
FEBRUARY 15, 2014
Maj Zaidi Ahmad is being made an example for speaking out about the indelible ink fiasco in the 13th general election. – Graphic courtesy of @malaysian_gags, February 15, 2014.When Maj Zaidi Ahmad lodged a police report after the indelible ink on his finger washed off only hours after voting in the 13th general election last year, the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) pilot did not expect to face a court martial and up to at least two years in jail.
He is facing a military court on multiple charges of violating Malaysian Armed Forces Council orders, making statements to the media without the Defence Ministry's authorisation, and sending two text
messages which were deemed political in nature.
The 45-year-old jet pilot, who has served the air force for 25 years, was shocked that he has landed in trouble instead of the supplier of the ink and the Election Commission facing the music.
“I knew there would be repercussions but I was surprised that the supplier and EC got away just like that while I am the one in trouble,” Zaidi told The Malaysian Insider in an email interview.
He was charged on February 7 before the military court in Kuala Lumpur. The case will be heard by a six-member panel on April 8.
In addition, the pilot's wings have been clipped and he has been reassigned to a desk job.
However, Zaidi said he felt compelled as a Muslim to make the report.
"To me, it is haram (illegal) for a Muslim to be an accomplice in cheating. What more if it involves something as important as an election to choose the country’s top leaders.
"As a civil servant whose salary comes from taxpayers' money, I have a duty to inform the people of the truth, which is that the indelible ink is actually delible," he said.
"I am not aligned to any political party. I'm only aligned to the truth."
His wife Shafinah Abdul Hamid and a RMAF technician had also lodged police reports over the indelible ink along with Zaidi.
"Like I said, as a Muslim, I should speak the truth even if I face action (from my superiors). The punishment in the afterlife will be worse if I had lied compared with any punishment in this world,”
Zaidi added.
"I am confident that Allah will help those who are in the right.”
The controversial indelible ink, which was used for the first time in the 2013 general election (GE13), came under fire after many voters complained that it washed off easily.
The opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) has maintained that the systematic failure of the indelible ink used during advance voting and on polling day had adversely affected the elections’ outcome.
The EC finally admitted last November that the indelible ink used in GE13 had its flaws, among others, it was washable and took a longer time to dry and because of that, it left stains on the ballot papers.
However, it has insisted that the indelible ink would still be used in the next general election. Zaidi, who is based at the air force's Butterworth base in Seberang Prai, Penang, was one of the 235,826 security forces personnel and their spouses nationwide who voted in advance on April 30 last year.
He lodged a police report the next day after he found that the red ink on the left index finger washed off just two hours later. After he lodged the report, he spoke to reporters outside the police station in Kepala Batas.
The pilot's actions caused a stir and two days later, he was told that he was being transferred to Kuala Lumpur with immediate effect. The transfer also meant his flying days were over.
Zaidi was transferred to the Defence Ministry air force base in Kuala Lumpur for a month and when he returned to the Butterworth base, the pilot was no longer the commanding officer of Squadron 12, a post he held before GE13.
"My pay and allowances remained the same. So has my relationship with my colleagues. They are still the same. No one has behaved differently towards me. We have no problems."
Zaidi's problem is the multiple charges under Section 50(2) and Section 51 of the Armed Forces Act 1972 against him in the Military Court.
He is alleged to have issued a media statement on the indelible ink without the Defence Ministry's authorisation and failing to go through proper military channels to voice his grievances when he lodged the police report and spoke to the press on May 1 last year outside the Kepala Batas district police headquarters.
Zaidi is also alleged to have sent two text messages which were political in nature or seditious while on duty at the Butterworth airbase on May 1, 2013.
He is also charged with making a media statement expressing his disappointment over the indelible ink, which was supposed to be investigated through military channels, and with leaking a circular on the indelible ink to the media without obtaining the Armed Forces Council's approval in Taman Bertam Indah, Kepala Batas on May 3 last year.
Zaidi said he would end up in jail and lose his pension if he was found guilty.
"It will be a terrible burden on my family. My wife is a homemaker and our four kids are schooling and still young."
His oldest child is 20 and studying in university and the youngest is three.
The airman has resigned himself and his fate to God's will and said he would accept the military court's decision.
"At least, I hope I will still have my health to find a way to support my family through legal means. I have thought of working as a pilot for some private company or do some business when I am no longer serving the air force.
"Some people have even suggested that I join politics. But I have not made any decision. I will have to wait for the court to decide first."
Zaidi also has a Facebook page called "Sokong Mejar Zaidi TUDM" (Support Major Zaidi RMAF) that users of the social network can visit to show him support and to learn about issues concerning the military.
For him, becoming a fighter pilot was a childhood dream come true. "When I was a kid, I fished part time in the river near my village, Kampung Permatang Tengah in Kota Kuala Muda, Kedah.
"I often saw fighter jets flying in the sky while fishing. That made me want to be a pilot, too," Zaidi said.
His long flying career included an eight-month posting in Bosnia during the Balkan civil war in the 1990s under the United Nations Protection Force.
Zaidi has received support from
PKR-linked NGO Pahlawan, a grouping of former servicemen who said the pilot was being made an example by Putrajaya as a way to frighten all army personnel from exercising their rights as citizens.
Pahlawan said it found it illogical that the army had used a 40-year-old military law to fault the pilot for his police report.
Coalition for Free and Fair Elections (Bersih 2.0) in its Facebook posting recently had also come out in support of Zaidi, saying he was obviously being victimised by the military and the government.
Bersih 2.0 questioned why Zaidi, who is the whistleblower in this case, is being court-martialed while the EC is being let off for dereliction of duty.
"The government obviously intends to make an example out of Maj Zaidi, to drive home the message to others, especially our armed forces and civil servants, not to act in the interest of justice where it is concerned.
"What the government fails to realise is that Maj Zaidi is already an example – one that we should emulate rather than avoid – of honesty, integrity, and bravery." – February 15, 2014.
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