There is a story that during the height of the Cold War, some journalists in America set up a table on a street corner and asked passers-by to sign the following statement:

All men are created equal and have certain unalienable and God-given rights, including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Governments derive their power from the people. When a government becomes destructive of the rights and liberties of the people, then the people have the right to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new Government.

Many Americans refused to sign it, saying it was too radical and even "sounded communist". They didn't realise that the words came from their own Declaration of Independence.

So what are we to make of the controversy over DAP's "No to 929" campaign? The police have swooped in four times to arrest opposition politicians for sedition because they were passing out pamphlets asking what right Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has to unilaterally change the principles that are enshrined in Malaysia's constitution and the 1963 Malaysia Agreement. Those principles say that Malaysia is a democratic, secular and multi-religious state.

The first time he was arrested, DAP chief Lim Kit Siang asked the police how they knew the pamphlet was seditious, when they had not even read it at the time they arrested him.

But the answer is simple. We have reached the point in Malaysia where anything the opposition does or says is considered a threat to an increasingly paranoid and authoritarian government.

As the "No to 929" campaign continued, the police made three more arrests for sedition. And each time, Lim Kit Siang asked the police to explain  what matters is who does it, not what they are saying.

That is why there are double standards. Umno Youth can hold illegal demonstrations, without a permit, and get away scot-free. It can spew racial animosity towards the Chinese Malaysian community, but nothing happens.

But as for the opposition, you cannot even eat a cake in a public place on jailed ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim's birthday without the riot police coming down on you, batons a-swinging.

Is this a double-standard, or what?

So returning to that American story, let us ponder this. Suppose an opposition politician set up shop on a street corner in Bangsar and asked people to sign the following statement:

  • I believe that when a person is arrested, he should be informed as soon as may be of the grounds of his arrest and shall be allowed to consult and be defended by a legal practitioner of his choice.

  • I believe that everyone has the right to freedom of speech and expression; and to assemble peaceably and without arms; and to form associations.

  • I believe that there should not be any discrimination against anyone on the grounds of religion or race.

    • I have no doubt that Norian Mai's police would immediately swoop down and arrest that politician for sedition.

    But those words — those beliefs — come directly from Malaysia's own constitution.

    Oh, beloved Malaysia! Has Norian Mai read the Federal Constitution? And has Mahathir?