Fighting to keep Utusan independent

The arrest of Said Zahari, the former editor-in-chief of Utusan Melayu, who was born on May 18, 1928, remains one of the world’s most infamous incarcerations, and its implications are still being felt today. Despite the various accusations, including that of being a communist, and other conspiracy theories to justify his detention, Said Zahari was never charged in court.The true impact of his incarceration on the independence of Utusan Melayu, media freedom and governance of Malaysia, is not realised by many Malaysians.

Said Zahari led the Malays to defend the integrity of Utusan Melayu and stop it from becoming the propaganda arm of Umno. This is highly significant because it was Malays who fiercely resisted a take-over by politicians during a 100-day strike at Utusan Melayu in Malaysia and Singapore in 1961.

If Said Zahari had not been locked away for 17 years, what sort of paper would Utusan have become today? More importantly, what sort of country would we be living in now?

In the 50s and 60s, Utusan Melayu had offices in Malaya and Singapore, and was truly the voice of the people. It was both firm and fearless in championing the causes of the oppressed. In the run-up to Merdeka, a long line of Malay journalists and intellectuals fiercely defended Utusan’s independence.

Today, the paper is a mouthpiece for Umno Baru. It does not represent the voice of the people, but is the voice of a party which thinks nothing of manipulating the rakyat, for personal and political gain.

Today, a small section of Malays have allowed the country to go to the dogs, leaving the majority of Malaysians and Singaporeans cowed into fear and helplessness; but when Said Zahari joinedUtusan Melayu, men like him refused to bow down to a repressive government. They refused to back off, and they refused to compromise their principles. They deserve our full respect.

Today, Malays in Utusan and Umno Baru buy loyalty and connections, in the form of financial rewards and awards of contracts.

Said Zahari, like many men of his time, was a man of integrity, and was prepared to stand for what he believed in. Many were jailed, and abused, both physically and mentally, whilst in detention. Such was the strength of their convictions, that they gave their lives to something they strongly believed in. They were forced to forsake their wives, children and family.

Today, men and women like Said Zahari are few and far between.

For a start, how many Malaysians, let alone Malays, know the name Said Zahari? Said Zahari was born and bred a Singaporean, was educated in both English and Malay at the Anglo-Chinese School, and is fluent in Mandarin.

How many young Malaysians know the stature of the man who Lee Kuan Yew locked away in Operation ColdStore? How many people know of the increasing friction between Tunku Abdul Rahman andUtusan Melayu? How many people know that Tunku Abdul Rahman had declared Said Zahari persona non grata and banned his return to Malaya after a visit to Utusan’s offices in Singapore?

Said Zahari’s political memoir, which is called ‘Dark Clouds at Dawn’, and the Malay version is called ‘Dalam Ribuan Mimpi Gelisah: Memoir Said Zahari’ will certainly divide readers. The description of the major events in Said Zahari’s life, and the truth and motives of some of the main protagonists, are enlightening.

Formed by Yusuf Ishak in 1939

Utusan Melayu, the first Malay-owned newspaper, was formed by Yusuf Ishak in 1939. Its mission was to uphold the three tenets of its mission statement, ‘To serve the religion, the people and the country’. Yusuf Ishak later became the first president of Singapore.

In the chapter entitled ‘Utusan Melayu: A thorn in Britain’s flesh’ Said Zahari wrote, “These three causes are what Utusan Melayu stands for, lives for, and will fight to the death for. This is the motto, I upheld, throughout my work for the Utusun Melayu.”

Utusan Melayu’s editorials often brought the paper into conflict with the embassies in Kuala Lumpur and the British colonial government.

The paper defended press freedom, and when it championed the causes of farmers, prompted the deputy PM, Abdul Razak Hussein, to accuse the paper of ‘siding’ with farmers, and offending government officers. Then-assistant information minister Syed Ja’afar Albar ordered the paper to apologise, and consult the government, before publishing its editorials.

Said Zahari explained that he was a journalist, not a diplomat. In defence of press freedom, he would say, “I do not speak the language of diplomacy.”

Like most Malay journalists and intellectuals of his time, Said Zahari was full of admiration for Samad Ismail (photo), who steered Utusan Melayu to be the voice and conscience of Malays against colonialism. He ponders the controversial exile of Samad to Jakarta, and expresses shock at the unexplained reasons for the eventual severance of Samad’s ties with Utusan.

Said Zahari details the moment Ibrahim Fikri, an Umno man from Terengganu, stormed into his office demanding that Utusan Melayu“should belong to Umno and only serve that political party”.  Ibrahim then laid down the four demands of the government.

Despite knowing that Utusan Melayu’s days as an independent paper were numbered, Said Zahari and his peers continued to defend press freedom until he was incarcerated in 1963 by Lee Kuan Yew.

Dr Tai Tuck Leong, the executive-president of the Federation of the United Kingdom and Eire Malaysian and Singapore Students Organisation (FUEMSSO), the student body formed 40 years ago, said, “For the generation of students, at our time, Nelson Mandela was the inspiration for people all over the world, but for Malaysian and Singaporean students in UK, Said Zahari touched our hearts more directly and tangibly.

‘Similar predicament to Mandela’

“Said Zahari was in a similar predicament to Mandela, and he was just as unyielding and defiant. Said Zahari’s poems and writings brought us much more close to home.

“Said Zahari’s life, and his uncompromising struggle, served as a mirror for the many cruel and unjust happenings at home. They urged us on, to do what students should do – work for change.”

Tan Wah Piow, a former student leader said, “Said Zahari’s ‘Poems from Prison’ were smuggled out of the Singapore prison in 1973 and published by FUEMSSO. Some of the poems were made into songs, by the creativists of the 1970s.

“His poems and songs captured the spirit of his generation of unsung heroes and he was an inspiration for overseas students. Said Zahari is an intellectual icon who deserves the highest recognition in the island which is still unfree.”

In his memoirs, Said Zahari paid tribute to his mother, his wife and his friend Lim Chin Siong, whom he trusted, to help forge a multiracial Malayan nation. Said Zahari was conscious of the strong family and historical ties between Malayans and Singaporeans.

Said Zahari expressed sorrow at the end of Utusan Melayu, following Samad’s exile to Jakarta and Yusuf Ishak’s defeat by individuals within Umno and the Alliance government.

In its heyday, Utusan Melayu had fiercely fought for independence from the colonial masters, but subsequently became a victim of Merdeka, when Umno became the new colonial oppressor.

Today, on his 87th birthday, we salute Said Zahari for his contributions to the defence of press freedom.

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MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army and president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO).