Datuk Dr Denison Jayasooria : YSS Executive Director

YSS prepared a number of papers on the Kg Medan incident of March 2001. The YSS report on the victims list was the main source used by Government in the allocation of resources to the victims of Kg Medan incident.

The article in question was a paper I presented at the 2nd National Social Convention organized by the Minister for National Unity & Social Development from December 15 -16, 2003 at the PWTC, KL. I presented a power point presentation in Bahasa Malaysia in which six contributing factors were highlighted.

These were:

1. Activities of outsiders seeking to destabilize the community and create political unrest.
2. Members of political parties who exaggerate minor issues to weaken the Government.
3. Malay community distressed with the anti-social behaviour of a group of Indian youths, resulting in them wanting to teach the Indian youths a lesson.
4. Unresolved socio-economic issues such as housing, lack of public facilities and marginalization of urban poor communities and squatters both Malays and Indians.
5. Ineffectiveness of government agencies especially the State Government and local authorities in addressing the issues related to infrastructure delays.
6. Issues relating to racial polarization and the ineffectiveness of relevant agencies in addressing them.

All these six factors are mentioned in the UPM text book entitled ‘Hubungan Ethnik prepared by Prof Jayum Anak Jawan & Dr Zaid Ahmad. The authors have made reference to all the points rather than just the one point in question.

However the UPM writers of the text book did not consult me or even discuss with me about what they have written on Kg Medan. They did not inform me that they were using the points from the article which I presented in 2003 in their text book on race relations. If I was informed then I would have also given many examples of good race relations where Malays and Indians helped each other during the turbulent times.

Therefore it is of utmost importance that politicians read the full text. If only one of the six points are highlighted, then it is a gross misrepresentation of my views. The analysis on contributing factors must be read in its entire context. The reference to Indian youths should not be read in isolation of the five other points.

No where in my articles on Kg Medan have I ascribed that Indian youths are or were the sole cause of Kg Medan tragedy. My position is very clear that there are a multiplicity of factors and these have to be read in relation to one another.

UPM SKP 2204 Hubung Ethnik, Panduan Pengajaran & Pembelajaran Penyunting : Jayum Anak Jawan & Dr Zaid Ahmad (pg 78 & pg 79)

“Peristiwa Kampung Medan 2001

Berlaku pergaduhan setempat antara orang-orang Melayu dengan orang-orang India di Kampung Medan yang tercetus pada 8 Mac 2001 berlarutan sehingga 12 Mac 2001. Terdapat beberapa factor utama yang mencetuskan tragedi di Kampung Medan iaitu:

Masalah sosio-ekonomi seperti perumahan, kekurangan kemudahan awam masyarakat miskin bandar (Melayu dan India) yang dipinggirkan daripada projek-projek pembangunan. Keadaan ini mewujudkan kesan psikologi yang tinggi.

Isu-isu yang berkaitan dengan polarisasi perkauman di kawasan tersebut yang tidak dapat diselesaikan oleh pihak berwajib. Perbuatan anasir luar yang ingin menganggu ketenteraman di kawasan tersebut dan mewujudkan ketidakstabilan politik. Masyarakat Melayu di kawasan tersebut telah hilang sabar terhadap sikap anti sosial sekumpulan remaja India dan mereka ingin memberi suatu pengajaran. Pengaruh parti politik yang sengaja memperbesarkan perkara-perkara kecil. Ketidakmampuan Kerajaan Negeri dan Tempatan untuk menyelesaikan isu-isu pembangunan infrastruktur dalam masa yang singkat (Denison Jayasooria 2003)”

(Submitted on 19th July 2006)