SAMARAHAN: A non-governmental organisation Rise of Sarawak Efforts (ROSE) expressed regret and disappointment over the cancellation of its forum titled “Youth and Job in Sarawak: Opportunities and Challenges”.
The event was supposed to take place at the Summer Mall here on Saturday (March 16).
President of the organisation Ann Teo told a press conference on Saturday: “The forum was cancelled because the Kuching District Police claimed through a phone call in the morning that we have not obtained a permit to hold the event.”
“If we were to proceed with the event, we could be investigated and charged under the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) 2012,” she added.
Teo added that the organising committee had to hold an urgent meeting in the afternoon before coming up with a decision to reschedule the event to another date.
She said, “The police advised us to get a permit but there is no such thing as a “permit” in the PAA anymore. Section 9 of the Act did mention “notice” but a permit is unnecessary.”
“We are of the view that a notice under the PAA is not necessary as a mall is not a public place. We have paid the rental fee for use of the space in the mall. If a mall is defined as a public space, then other events such as a colouring competition for children, children singing competition or a Karaoke session among friends would be considered as illegal too,” she pointed out.
Teo also said that the broad interpretation of the term “public space” in the Act allowed the authority concerned to apply it selectively.
“We did not have this kind of problem with our previous forums. We paid rent to the mall management to use the space and we did not charge the participants. Hence, we did not have to write in to the police,” she said.
“Under this wide interpretation, doesn’t this mean that they (other events’ organisers) have to write to the authority concerned, too?
“Overall, this move curbs the constitutional right of citizens to freedom of assembly and expression for the common good. All these rights are fundamental and cannot be separated from human rights,” Teo added.
“Hence, we are going to take this opportunity to call upon the government for the PAA to be repelled to enable the people’s constitutional rights to be recognised.
“The existence of PAA itself is a defence against the rise of protests and movements but why would the police deny a forum event which its only intention is to discuss an issue of public interest?”
The much awaited forum aims to enable free and open discourse on issues that affect Sarawakians, specifically the youth and employment issues in Sarawak.
ROSE believes that this forum will contribute towards the sharing of valuable information, engagement between the public in particular the young people, policy makers and experts.
The forum has lined up two panelists, namely Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) information chief Datuk Idris Buang and Malaysia Trade Union Congress (MTUC) Sarawak secretary Andrew Lo.
According to Teo, the two panelists agreed with the objective of the event and they felt the issue of youth employment was important to be discussed. However, the cancellation of the forum at the last minute had caused disappointment from both panelists and members of the public who were looking forward to it.
Among those present at the press conference were ROSE deputy president Geoffrey Tang and committee members, namely Lynn Teo, Steven Chan and Cordelia Lee.
