translation The Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) 'pro-establishment' camp has been accused of circulating a VCD alleging that all opposition parties, some media organisations and NGOs are "puppeteers" out to create "chaos and disharmony" among students in public universities.

Distributed since last week, clips in the VCD target the 'anti-establishment' Students Progressive Front (SPF), ahead of campus elections nationwide tomorrow. However, the SPF in UPM will boycott the polls.

A UPM student, who declined to be named, said the VCD was distributed by Student Affairs Department officials to members of the student representative council and the hostel committee.

However, out-going deputy president of the student representative council, Sulhairil Hafiz Sulaiman, denied any involvement.

"The council is not involved in the allegation. The allegations are false," he said when contacted.

Other than background music, there is no voice-over in all the clips, which comprise photo montages and information through subtitles. Details of the producers are not included.

There are seven three-minute clips, each with a different theme, two of which were obtained by malaysiakini - about the SPF and its leaders respectively.

The clip on the SPF alleges that this is an illegal group that uses the university's Mandarin Language Society as a platform for political activity. It states that students in this camp are mainly Chinese Malaysians.

"They recruit fresh graduates and bring them in to join demonstrations, create chaos and jeopardise harmony in the campus," according to a subtitle.

Another clip zooms in on the faces of SPF leaders, providing thumbnail sketches on them, information on their activities and even private photos of them with friends or family members.

'Copies easily available'

A student said the VCD was shown in the common room of a block at Hostel 7 last Wednesday after the hostel-block committee head called in at least 30 students to watch it. (The committees are led by students.)

The student said that he didn't know whether the VCD was already being circulated on campus but he knew that soft copies can be obtained from the university's hostel committee.

The opposition parties and NGOs named are DAP, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), PAS, Parti Socialis Malaysia (PSM), Suaram and the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH).

Images were shown of DAP leaders Lim Kit Siang, Anthony Loke and Teng Chang Kim, PKR information chief Tian Chua and PSM pro-tem secretary-general S Arulchelvan, Suaram executive director Yap Swee Seng, KLSCAH Youth chief Tan Soon Lim and malaysiakini editor-in-chief Steven Gan. They were described as "mentors" of SPF.

Media organisations that have carried news about UPM - in particular, the scuffle between student groups and ethnic-relations guidebook - were described as biased towards SPF. Malaysiakini , MerdekaReview and television station ntv7 were singled out.

In the VCD, it was claimed that the 40 students led by UPM's student representative council president Abdul Manaf Ariffin had been provoked by SPF members, who allegedly refused to co-operate and were unwilling to heed advice.

This is not the first time information has been circulated against the 'anti-establishment' camp in public universities.

In June, the Biro Tatanegara Negara and higher education ministry had published a booklet which was distributed to new students. This labelled 'anti-establishment' groups as 'pro-opposition'.

In August, USM had held a compulsory seminar for first-year students, during which 'anti-establishment' student groups were described as sponsored by Jewish elements hoping to undermine the nation's security.

See 3-minute video clips

Introducing the SPF

Mentors of SPF