theSun | TUESDAY JANUARY 20 2009 11

speak up!

Schoolkids and
politics do not mix
AS we were all pre-occupied were unsure as to why they were
with the Kuala Terengganu by- protesting but thought it was a
election and scouring the news fun way to kill time during the
channels over the war in Gaza, long school break.
many missed out on an important When I commented on this to
announcement made by the edu- a senior Pakatan Rakyat leader
cation minister 10 days ago. in Parliament, he brushed me off
On Jan 9, Datuk Seri Hisham- by saying: “Ok what! What’s the
muddin Hussein said the govern- problem?” In this case, I don’t
ment wants to mobilise the coun- think one should fault the police
try’s five million schoolchildren for arresting the organisers of the
and their 360,765 teachers in a Down2Earth campaign for (in the authorities’
mass rally against the atrocities own words) “exploiting school-
perpetrated by the Israelis. by Terence Fernandez children”.
Undoubtedly the cabinet One uses the word “exploit”
wants to underscore the fact that because issues such as national
many of the casualties from Israeli missiles security and political prosecution may only
and gunfire are innocent children. Latest leave our young minds more confused and
available statistics show that of the 1,300 disheartened than they already are – least
Palestinians killed, 411 were children. some of those involved in the plans for the
While the intention may be noble and mass Israeli protest are accused of exploiting
helps to create greater awareness among children themselves for political gain, what
our children about the realities of the world with party polls around the corner.
they live in, the whole exercise is flawed and In the meantime, while all right thinking
borders on absurdity. people should be appalled at the horrific
The good minister is mulling cramming treatment of the Palestinians, one should also
thousands of schoolchildren into stadiums call a spade a spade. Thus, it is incumbent on
much like the one in 2003 when 200,000 our leaders to make the necessary criticisms
people, including a good number of children against Hamas when the situation calls for it.
gathered at Stadium Nasional, Bukit Jalil, to While we must continue condemning Is-
protest against the US invasion of Iraq. rael, in the same breath, our voices must also
» Does this mean schools have to send out be succinct and loud in telling Hamas to stop
200,000, or worse five million consent forms sending rockets into Israel; tell its militants to
to parents? respect ceasefires and to refrain from launch-
» Can the government guarantee their safety ing their attacks from mosque compounds,
– a pertinent issue when such mass gather- residential neighbourhoods and schools.
ings are concerned? Yes, the Palestinians’ anger and frustra-
» And what do primary pupils understand tion of being forced out of their own land are
about Middle East politics, other than expos- justified. And one should not be faulted for
ing them to the graphic violence that their defending one’s homeland. But compromises
counterparts have to go through? can be made and violence cannot beget vio-
Heck, even I am stumped by the complexi- lence. And shouldn’t this be what we ought to
ties of the issue at times. teach our children?
Now, just over a month ago, the Opposition
was crucified for using children in a bicycle While it may be difficult to do so, Terence
rally from Sungai Siput to Parliament House believes that head must always rule over heart
to protest against the Internal Security Act. in dealing with a crisis. He is deputy editor (spe-
Quite a number of us were disgusted with cial reports & investigations) and is reachable
this misuse of schoolchildren, many of whom at terence@thesundaily.com.

letters
letters@thesundaily.com

Why punish dog owners?

I AM shocked to read that the
local authorities in Nilai still
require dog owners to obtain
their neighbours’ consent to
apply for a dog licence in spite
of a decision taken against it
in 2006 by the Housing and
Local Government Ministry.
On Feb 7, 2006, I attended
a meeting called by the minis-
try to formulate a uniform set
of regulations, to be followed
by all local authorities for
issuing dog licences, in order
to come up with amended
by-laws for dog ownership.
At the meeting, the then
ministry’s parliamentary
secretary, Dr. S.S. Subrama-
niam clearly stated that it
was not right for such a
condition to be imposed and
directed that it (requirement
for neighbours’ permission)
not be included in the new
by-laws.
Among those who at-
tended the meeting were Dr
Fadzilah Aini Abdul Kadir
(director) and Dr Nazarin
Ching both of the Veterinary
Department, Dr Fonseka
(MKA), Dr Siva (NAWF),
Nazaria Ching (PAWS),
and Dr Jon Satyamoorthy
and Anthony Thanasayan
(Marpo) and many individu-
als and senior citizens like
me, one of whom was a Kak
Ros, a Malay woman who
has a dog.
The by-laws which were
at a draft stage then were
reported to come into force
once gazetted in May or June
of that year.
I know that the Shah Alam
City Council is not insisting
on neighbours’ consent as
a condition for issuing dog
licences.
P. Paranthaman
Shah Alam

Help, don’t blame the oppressed

I WOULD like to reply to
“Israel and Hamas must
negotiate” (Jan 19).
I share the writer’s abhor-
rence of violence, however,
I do not agree with blaming
any party. In the letter, much
of the blame falls on the Israe-
lis/Zionists. That statement
does not bother me but the
part about Hamas launching
its rockets knowing well that
the Zionists would respond
seems biased. The Palestin-
ians suffered so much even
before this unequal war. At
least, now they get some
attention before the world
forgets them again.
We should stop the
blame game. It is good that
the world cares about the
unfortunate and oppressed
but I remind myself and oth-
ers to help more. If we can
use our hands, we should. If
not, our mouth. At least we
should feel it in our hearts.
If we must blame anybody
then it should be ourselves
not others.
Yes, thank God that we are
living in a peaceful country.
Pro-Peace
Kuala Lumpur