Rally ends with PAS leader calling for fatwa against TPPA

The anti-TPPA protesters gathering at the Padang Merbok in Kuala Lumpur.this afternoon. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Nazir Sufari, January 23, 2016.In a last ditch attempt to pressure Putrajaya to reject the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), several groups  converged on the capital city today, two days before a special parliamentary sitting on the trade deal.

Many of the loudest voices against the TPPA have been Malay groups, including the Malay Economic Action Council (MTEM), which made a strong presence at the rally with others under the banner of Bantah TPPA.

Another group, Kongres Rakyat is a PAS-backed NGO while right-wing Malay group Perkasa was also present.

Malay groups fear that the 12-nation trade deal crafted by the US will erode Malaysia's sovereignty and cripple local companies from defending themselves against lawsuits by foreign investors.

Other opposition to the TPPA includes concerns that the price of medicines will be higher, and that small and medium enterprises serving the domestic market could go under.

A respected economist has also said that the trade deal could lead to greater inequality and job losses over a 10-year period.

To these concerns, however, advocates of the deal, such as business associations, have countered that greater competition will help companies grow stronger and have asked detractors to provide more facts.

The International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) had also said that the agreement contains various mechanisms that protect Malaysian companies and the government when facing investor lawsuits.

PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man (centre) with PKR's Tian Chua (third, left) and other protest group leaders, addressing the large gathering for the anti-TPPA protest rally at the Padang Merbok in Kuala Lumpur today. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Seth Akmal, January 23, 2016.Overall, the secrecy surrounding negotiations on the deal and Putrajaya’s inability to explain its terms clearly and simply have fuelled fears of its impact on Malaysia.

Other groups critical of the TPPA and which are expected to be at today's rally are Muslim NGO Isma, Parti Sosialis Malaysia, Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) and Bersih 2.0.

Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has also criticised the TPPA, saying it was “entirely dedicated to regulating trade” when Malaysia was already free to trade with whomever it wanted.

After police had cordoned off Dataran Merdeka, protesters who had  gathered at five meeting points – Masjid Negara, Masjid India, Masjid Jamek, Sogo and Maju Junction – walked to Padang Merbok instead.

The TPPA, involving 12 member countries, is expected to be ratified in New Zealand next month.

 

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Jan 22, 2016 at 10:33pm PST

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5pm: Protesters sing the national anthem "Negaraku" and the rally is closed with a prayer led by PAS vice-president Idris Ahmad.

The crowd disperses from Padang Merbok.

4.50pm: PAS deputy president Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man takes the stage at Padang Merbok as the last speaker who will close the rally.

He says: "We wish the National Fatwa Council would issue a statement against the TPPA. They should not just be focused on issuing decrees about food and drink only."

There is still no sign of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, despite Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali earlier claiming that the former prime minister would attend the protest.

4.48pm: CL Lew, 52, a freelance photographer from Cheras, said he did not fully understand the chapters of the TPPA document, even though he had attended forums on the trade deal. The document, several hundred pages long, is available on the Miti website.

"What I understand is, we are not a developed country, so how are we going to compete with other developed countries,"

"We can join if we upgrade our standards. Once we were the top country in Asia, now we can't even compete with Thailand and Indonesia.

"Even the factory producing cameras is located in Thailand."

4.40pm: As the crowd starts to leave, Kongres Rakyat chairman Azmi Abdul Hamid says the group will continue to push its objections to the TPPA to the government through the Members of Parliament.

4.30pm: Rain clouds gather overhead and some people start leaving Padang Merbok.

Some of them start to head in the direction of Dataran Merdeka, and to the shelter of nearby buildings.

MTEM chief executive officer Mohd Nizam Mahshar is just about to start speaking.

4.25pm: PAS information chief Nasruddin Hassan addresses protesters, blaming Putrajaya for not caring about the people's struggles.

He said the TPPA was worrying because it would adversely impact small local businesses, especially those run by Bumiputeras.

"We are worried the TPPA will disrupt the country. It will impact small businesses. Bumiputera businesses will not be able to compete.

"As it is, the cost of living has already increased. There is economic pressure, until a minister even tells us to work two jobs," he said, referring to the advice given by deputy international trade and industry minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan.

Members from Malay nationalist NGO Perkasa are seen together with other groups at the anti-TPPA protest rally in Padang Merbok listening to various speakers on the ills of the 12-nation trade pact. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Seth Akmal, January 23, 2016.4.09pm: Haji Khalid Abdullah, 55, a businessman from Sungai Buloh, said he was still not clear about the TPPA.

"We need more time to understand it. I've read commentary from the experts on TPPA, we can see the bad side of it, like how the cost for medicine will go up and competition in business will be tough.

"Of course small business in Malaysia can't compete with big players from the US.

"And businessmen like me, a Bumiputera, will be affected. For Chinese, they are more stable but they also will be affected," he said.

4.05pm: The group led by PSM that had stayed put at the junction of Jalan Parlimen-Jalan Raja Laut as it was closest to Dataran Merdeka, has dispersed. The road is reopened to traffic.

PSM secretary-general Sivarajan Arumugam told the group they could continue protesting at Padang Merbok.

Some 3,000 people are estimated to have participated in today's rally.

3.30pm: Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali takes the stage at Padang Merbok. He tells the crowd former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is expected to join the rally shortly.

Ibrahim then cracks jokes about International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed and suggests that the latter drink a Qu Puteh juice product by local cosmetics giant Datuk Seri Dr Hasmiza Othman, also known as Datuk Seri Vida, who recently became sponsor of the Kelantan football team. Mustapa is also from Kelantan.

At the group at Jalan Parlimen, PKR's Kelana Jaya MP Wong Chen says TPPA will open the floodgates as there will be no more protection for Malaysia's economy

"Even US closed its market during the recession in the 1990s. Look at the data, if the data is so bad, how can we justify," he said.

3.20pm: Bersih 2.0 chairman Maria Chin Abdullah (pic, right) joins the group at the junction of Jalan Parlimen and Jalan Raja Laut. She says TPPA will affect small businesses.

“This demonstration is the voice of the people. We hope the government will listen and not rubber-stamp the TPPA in Parliament.

“We hope the MPs will vote according to conscience, not according to the party whips."

Meanwhile, protester Letchumanan, 52 from Perak, said Miti, the ministry leading the trade deal negotiations for Malaysia, should not hold briefings at hotels only.

“They should 'turun padang', meet the people on the ground who are working as farmers or estate workers. Miti should explain the TPPA to the rakyat.”

Anti-TPPA protesters at the Jalan Raja and Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman intersection. – The Malaysian Insider pic, January 23, 2016.3.17pm: At Padang Merbok, PKR's Batu MP Chua Tian Chang is booed by the crowd when he mentions Parti Amanah Negara's (Amanah) name.

He was telling the crowd there, mostly PAS supporters, that Pakatan Harapan parties comprising PKR, DAP and Amanah would be sure to reject the TPPA in the Dewan Rakyat next week.

3.15pm: The crowd lingering near Dataran Merdeka at the junction of Jalan Raja and Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman seem insistent on staying put. Police are asking them to move from the road. PSM members, including S. Arutchelvan, are in a discussion with the police.

3pm: PAS Unit Amal members are directing protesters near Dataran Merdeka to move on to Padang Merbok, where an estimated 2,000 people have gathered. Most of them appear to be members of the Islamist party.

Cik Kalsom Ibrahim (pic, left), 80, a market trader from Pasar Kedai Payang in Kuala Terengganu, tells The Malaysian Insider's reporter that she paid RM30 for her ticket to get to Kuala Lumpur, while the balance of RM70 was paid by a local PAS leader.

She said she has been a PAS member ever since she could vote, some 60 years ago.

The crowd that marched from Sogo has arrived near Dataran Merdeka and is waiting at the junction of Jalan Raja and Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman.

2.40pm: The crowd from Sogo is heading towards Dataran Merdeka.

Chief of Umno rebel group, the Coalition of Branch Chiefs Malaysia (GKCM) Kamarul Azman Habibur Rahman is present and says most committee members are also here.

“When a big decision is made for the country, you have to study it carefully before deciding,” he said.

Members of Otai Reformis, a non-governmental group that has been demanding Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's resignation, are also in the crowd.

2.26pm: PSM’s Sungai Siput MP Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj speaks to the crowd, saying the TPPA reflects “the problem in the world today, where the richest 1% have more money than the bottom 50%”.

“We’re not saying Malaysia should not trade. We must, but not this way. TPPA will make the 1% richer and make the rest suffer even more,” he says

Sepang MP Hanipa Maidin from Amanah says: “We have many MPs who do not speak the people’s language and do not know how people are suffering.”

A group of old, hunched women are seen walking slowly along with the crowd.

Jah Omar, 60, said she came to the protest on a bus with another friend aged 79, as well as 44 PAS members from Terengganu. “We are here to give support.”

2.20pm: At Sogo, Amanah president Mohamad Sabu addresses the crowd, saying the TPPA only benefits capitalists. He says Malaysia without signing the trade deal is already controlled by capitalists and names Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, those behind the Genting group and “Sugar King” Tan Sri Robert Kuok.

“With TPPA, people are worried that capitalists from the United States will come. Even in the US, small companies are against the TPPA,” he said.

At the junction of Jalan Tun Perak and Jalan Raja, protesters marching from Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman are joined by those from Masjid Jamek.

Police and DBKL have set up a barricade around Dataran Merdeka. Eight police trucks are at the square.

Anti-TPPA protesters at one of the meeting points in Kuala Lumpur. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Seth Akmal, January 23, 2016.2.12pm: Mohd Azman Mohd Izwan, 25, from Taiping, Perak, says he arrived at the capital city at 8am to participate in the protest.

The PAS supporter says he hopes Putrajaya will reject the TPPA after the rally today.

“I don’t want foreigners to control our economy,” he says outside the Sogo shopping complex.

The crowd from Maju Junction, meanwhile, has arrived at Sogo. The two groups are now preparing to march to Dataran Merdeka. Many are waving the Jalur Gemilang.

1.48pm: At Chow Kit, activist Nor Akmar from PKKIM Ikhlas says the group has brought about 100 people to the protest, some of whom are homeless and concerned about the higher price of medicine.

Nor Akmar said PKKIM has gone round to the homeless in Kuala Lumpur explaining the TPPA's impact. PKKIM is an NGO under the Malaysian AIDS council.

1.45pm: PKR vice-president Chua Tian Chang (better known as Tian Chua) arrives to join the crowd at Sogo.

Some 200 members from PAS's Unit Amal in Terengganu, Pahang and Kelantan are helping with crowd control here.

1.41pm: PSM leader S. Arutchelvan tells reporters that the group at Maju Junction intends to march to Dataran Merdeka and will try to get as close as they can to the square. Police and DBKL, however, have declared the square out of bounds for the rally.

Amanah president Mohamed Sabu, meanwhile, is seen arriving at Maju Junction.

1.38pm: At Maju Junction, four groups have gathered and are preparing to march. They are PSM, Amanah, Positive Malaysian Treatment Access and Advocacy Group, and Persatuan Kebajikan Kakitangan Islam (PKKIM) Ikhlas.

Officers from the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) are seen; they have been deployed to monitor the rally.

Police have cordoned off the roads leading to Dataran Merdeka. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Seth Akmal, January 23, 2016.1.27pm: People clad in green t-shirts with the words “Himpunan Fastaqim 60k” have gathered outside Masjid Negara. They are believed to be PAS members.

Stalls selling light snacks around the national mosque are attracting crowds as they wait for the signal to march.

Police, however, have closed the road leading from the mosque to Dataran Merdeka.

Other roads closed are Jalan Parlimen near the DBKL headquarters, where traffic is being diverted to Jalan Raja.

Jalan Tun Perak is clogged up with supporters wearing green t-shirts and blowing vuvuzelas. – January 23, 2016.Youths at the gathering to protest the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) in Padang Merbok today. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Seth Akmal, January 23, 2016.