Speaker Corner's Cafe dengan laungan mansuhkan ISA!

Simpang Ampat – 2 Ogos 2008

Gerakan mansuhkan ISA (GMI) cawangan Pulau Pinang telah menganjurkan forum anti ISA bertempat di Speaker Corner’s Café, Taman Merak Nibong Tebal.

Seramai 3 orang penceramah telah dijemput. Antaranya ialah Mr Ong daripada GMI Penang, Pengerusi GMI Penang Cheah Hooi Giam, saya sendiri Muhd Nuruddin Bashah mewakili Jamaah Islah Malaysia Pulau Pinang serta Mr Ramji iaitu Pengasas Hindraf.

Saya diminta oleh GMI untuk membentangkan penentangan akta zalim ISA menurut perspektif Islam. Maka saya menyediakan beberapa dalil pendakwaan menurut Islam, anti diskriminasi dalam pengadilan serta cara Islam melayan pemberontak (Bughah).

Major Zaidi AJK JIM Seberang Perai Utara mengambil peluang untuk mengedar bahan bacaan dakwah (karangan Ahmad Deedat) kepada 2 panel GMI yang bukan beragama Islam.

Saya ditanya oleh Mr Ramji tentang dalil-dalil Al Quran yang telah saya bentang itu. Beliau meminta agar saya menyenaraikan ayat-ayat tertentu berkaitan perjuangan menegak keadilan menurut Al Quran kerana beliau belum menelitinya daripada Al Quran.

Saya amat tertarik dengan usaha sekelompok orang China yang berjaya membina kafe Speaker Corner’s café yang menarik ini dimana setiap hari akan ditayangkan ceramah-ceramah parti politik bukan kerajaan serta berita-berita perdana. Teringat saya sejarah UM dimana 'speaker corner' menjadi lumrah mahasiswa untuk memberi pandangan dan berkempen secara bebas. Penceramah-penceramah tertentu akan dijemput oleh pemilik kafe untuk mengadakan forum dan ceramah di premis persendirian ini. Jadi permit polis tidak diperlukan sedangkan agenda perjuangan boleh diwar-warkan. PAS Balik Pulau ada membina panggung PAS di Teluk Kumbar dan semasa PRU ke-12 dahulu diadakan hampir di setiap pasar malam. Akan tetapi mungkin kurang kondusif dan tidak berterusan. Kafe ini turut menjual makanan dan minuman. Jadi Panggung PAS juga perlu dibuat secara santai dan diadakan jualan minuman untuk menarik rakyat mendengar perjuangan kita. Sampailah masa kita untuk mengalihkan budaya rakyat yang hanya berlegar-legar bercakap politik di kedai kopi kepada kedai sebegini yang memberi peluang bercakap secara tersusun dan mencapai objektif.

Pada saya perjuangan menghancurkan ISA adalah perjuangan semua Umat Islam yang mempercayai Al Quran dan sunnah Rasulullah yang adil. Marilah bersama menyahut seruan agar akta zalim ini termansuh. Bacalah testimonial individu yang terseksa, ahli keluarga mangsa ISA yang menderita melalui buku-buku yang diterbitkan. Luangkan masa anda meneliti serta menghayati penderitaan ketika 60 hari pertama tahanan. Cukup menyeksakan. Moga Allah masukkan kita di kalangan golongan yang berjuang.

Muhammad Nuruddin Bashah

JIM Barat Daya

http://landskapsiasah.blogspot.com

Speakers' Corner Cafe's flyerThis is n evening with many differences from others: we went to a Speaker Corner Cafe in Simpang Empat in SPS to present an anti-ISA forum to the patron of the special cafe, located in the middle of no where. The venue's operator Jarvis Wong said that the Cafe hope to sell `political talks' by all political parties as well as NGOs instead of their food and drinks. They hope that people are interested enough to come over to listen to the speakers they line up every weekend and then spend on their simple food and drinks-which include alcohol. So: politial talks are saleable-what a marketting idea-which could be a 1st in the country!

Now this is our wonderful experience being recruited to speak at the Cafe: We were called to pesent a talk-any topic, at the Cafe by the manager Jarvis. We were offered this deal: we can talk on any topic-and we only need to bring the speakers to the venue. The rest they will handle eg applying for the neccesary police permits , make publicity and promote the forum in whatever ways they can. What an offer-so I look around for a suitable topic. Then there is an ISA campaign going on -so I suggested to them-which they readily agreed.

I put together 3 speakers to speak about their experience and understanding of the ISA: Cheah Hooi Giam from GMI, Muhd Nuruddin Bashah (JIM) and Ram Ji from Hindraf(who came from KL). They have to supply their personal details like Mycard no to enable the cafe to apply for police permit.

When we arrived at the cafe at 7.30pm it was too early yet. The Cafe is housed in a corner lot of a shop house -which allowed it to utilise the considerable spaces on the side as aopen air seating space. We were entertained with some food n drinks. Then the customers slowly rolled in -and the forum didn't start until 9.30pm. All this while there was a continuous screening of political ceramahs eg Anwar's latest talk-may be in KL. I was told that the customers were a bit slow tonite because there is also a Chinese festival in town that distracted the customers' attention. I thought that actually ISA is not a hot topic in Penang or anywhere yet. But we should still keep pushing it whether there is any votes in it or not-afterall we are doing this from a civil society rather than a party platform!

We finished about 10.30pm. It was a really refreshing experience. Hopefully we can organise more forums for the Cafe later. Hopefully readers here who think this is a good offer from the Cafe -why not contact the ever welcoming Cafe manager?