Is Registrar of Societies merely a tool of Barisan Nasional to suppress NGOs?

Press Statement by Teresa Kok, Selangor State Senior EXCO and MP for Seputeh on 29 December 2009 at Guangzhou

Is the Registrar of Societies’ function to regulate societies or is it merely a Barisan Nasional tool to suppress NGOs deemed undesirable?

Registrar of Societies (ROS) Mohd Alias Kalil made the most ridiculous statement when he threatened to deregister Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) for “threatening the nation’s interest” while admitting that he had yet to receive any official complaint on SAM.

Meanwhile, SAM honorary secretary Meena Raman has stated that they have received no official letter from the ROS in this regard.

With such unsubstantiated threats and ambiguous reasoning, it is unclear what “nation’s interest” Alias Kalil could be referring to. One might speculate that “nation’s interest” might actually refer to other parties’ interests instead.

His irresponsible statement only fuels public perception that the ROS is once again allowing itself to be used as a tool of Barisan Nasional to block or impede the formation of societies, organisations and political parties which it deems undesirable.

Moreover, it is a major blow to the notion of freedom of association in Malaysia which is a fundamental right guaranteed in Article 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and in Article 10 in our Federal Constitution which states that:

(a) every citizen has the right to freedom of speech and expression;

(b) all citizens have the right to assemble peaceably and without arms;

(c) all citizens have the right to form associations.

I remind the ROS that its mission is to foster the growth and development of healthy organisations, not threaten them with baseless accusations.

Non-governmental organisations (NGO) such as SAM play a vital role in fostering a healthy democracy in Malaysia. They act as a check and balance to the government. In the case of SAM, they have been actively promoting the conservation of our rainforests and mangrove swamps by creating awareness among Malaysians who then vote for better leaders, participate in decision-making and hold the government more accountable to the people.

Therefore, until Alias Kalil reveals any evidence that SAM is involved in activities which actually threaten the nation’s interest, he should retract his absurd threat and publicly apologise to SAM immediately.

I further urge Alias Kalil to explain why ROS has been appallingly slow in approving the applications to form NGOs and branches of political parties. There are applications to form DAP branches which have yet to be approved one year in the running without good reason. The quick and efficient running of this ROS core activity should be Alias Kalil’s primary concern, not issuing baseless threats.