Creativity facing gale-force winds by R Nadeswaran

Aftermath of the UMNO Riot

Malaysiakini : COMMENT | In November 2016, I was one of the many (including officers of the law) who watched helplessly as a mob (later identified by Aliran as members of Penang Umno Youth) stormed an exhibition at Komtar in Penang.

They were protesting the display of the caricature works of renowned cartoonist Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque, better known as Zunar. To avoid any further disturbance, he voluntarily took his work down.

The next day, the police arrested Zunar after he turned himself in for questioning following the previous day’s disturbance. Fourteen months later, internationally renowned Lithuanian street artist, Ernest Zacharevic, was banned from entering Malaysia.

Elsewhere, the infamous Jamal Yunus led 300 men in red shirts to protest in front of the Malaysiakini office demanding for the news portal’s closure. Earlier, the publisher of The Edge, Ho Kay Tat, and the editor of the now-defunct The Malaysian Insider, Jahabar Sadiq were arrested.

It was then an era when anyone who did not “say nice things” about the government or the then prime minister Najib Abdul Razak and his wife were on the receiving end of such mobs and actions. No one was spared – civil societies, individuals and those who spoke about 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). 1MDB was taboo for members of the media and the ruling party and every government machinery was involved in preventing the truth from emerging.

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