PSM member M Sukumaran recalls his 28 days in detention and remains steadfast that draconian laws such as the EO and ISA must be 'demolished'.
PETALING JAYA: “I whistled a lot, hummed happy tunes and humoured myself with jokes to keep my wits about me,” recounted M Sukumaran of his 28 days of detention under the Emergency Ordinance (EO).
Sukumaran, one of the six Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) members released last Friday, said he was prepared mentally for an extension of the 60-day remand under the EO.
“I took time to laugh, entertain my mind with jokes. I never gave up. I was prepared for the maximum 60-day detention. I even prepared myself to stay in for another 30 days,” he said.
He said that to keep track of the passing days, he used a piece of plywood to mark off the days on the walls of the cell as his calendar.
Sukumaran, 50, said during his 28-day detention, his interrogators had attempted to indoctrinate him but it ended with “debates” – often times about socialist and capitalist ideologies.
The party’s central committee member said he stood steadfast to his views and opinions when discussing these issues with his interrogators and recalled a brief debate on hospital privatisation.
“They said Malaysia had a very good system in place. But I begged to differ, citing my wife who is an asthmatic patient as an example. The asthma pump given to her at the government hospital sometimes did not agree with her.
“So I had to purchase the appropriate one costing RM80. I can afford it but what about 80% of the poor who can’t come up with that kind of money?
‘Fair and equal treatment’
“When the police countered by asking if I had heard about the 1Malaysia clinics which dispensed affordable medication, I told the officers the issue was about the quality of medication dispensed by government hospitals.
“I told them these were the sort of issues our party fights for – fair and equal treatement. We have highlighted this through our many campaigns on hospital privatisation.
“PSM’s ‘Udahlah tu…’ campaign is also about this,” he said, referring to the “Udahlah tu…Bersaralah” (Enough already – retire now) campaign, calling for justice and educating people about the pitfalls of voting for the Barisan National government in the next general election.
“They told me these matters could have been raised and debated in Parliament. But motions such these get rejected by the Speaker. How many emergency motions have been rejected? The Minimum Wage Bill (which was passed recently) was passed without much debate,” added Sukumaran.
When his interrogators could not rattle him, Sukumaran said the officers were quick to switch their line of questioning.
Sukumaran and five others – Dr D Michael Jeyakumar, M Sarasvathy, Choo Chon Kai, R Saratbabu and A Letchumanan – were detained under the EO on July 2 after being remanded for one week for allegedly waging war against the king, among other charges.
The police have also tried to argue that the PSM members were out to revive communism.
“This is a capitalist country, where from dawn to dusk people are busy working to make a living, sometimes 13 to 14 hours a day. They have no time for families or their children. Do you think these people would have time to think about communism?” asked Sukumaran.
As for the Chin Peng and Rashid Maidin T-shirts found in the bus when they were arrested, Sukumaran said he was too busy campaigning to notice if anyone had brought them into the bus.
Four to five hours of interrogation
He also questioned why the police used the T-shirts, which are easily and widely available at outlets in shopping malls and night markets, to establish the communist link.
“I told them these T-shirts are easily available. Can the nation be converted to communism based on four T-shirts that they claimed to have found in our bus? The officers then backed off and moved on to another question,” said Sukumaran.
He said the same four officers had questioned him for four to five hours each day during his 28-day incarceration.
“They always had two laptops – one to take notes and the other had the PSM website open, which they accessed throughout the interrogation ,” he said.
He said as the days went by, the police softened their stand on several matters, including PSM’s “Ubahla” campaign symbol depicting a pair scissor snipping off the BN logo of a pair of scales.
“In the first week, the officers asked me how could PSM use such a logo. Then towards the last week, they said that it was our democratic right to have any symbol of our liking,” said Sukumaran.
When asked more on the “brainwashing” technique employed by the police, Sukumaran said often times they tried to turn him against his party comrades.
“They told me: ‘We know you’re good. It is Jeyakumar and (PSM president) Nasir (Hashim) who are the bad guys,’ hoping to bait me.”
Casting doubts on wife’s fidelity
He said this line of interrogation did not work because he trusted Jeyakumar as he knew him since he (Sukumaran) was 16.
“They also cast doubts on my wife’s fidelity, telling me she might run away with someone else during my (possible) prolonged detention. I rubbised it. We have been together for close to 40 years and I trust her completely,” he said.
Throughout the ordeal, he said he remained unfazed because what kept him motivated was the knowledge that party members and NGOs were making great efforts to secure the release of the detainees.
“I would think of all the hardwork they were doing to secure our release. I wish I could have been with them. Also my mother has been ill so naturally I thought of her as well,” said Sukumaran, whose 70-year-old mother is undergoing treatment for cancer.
The amiable and cheerful Sukumaran did not have much to complain about conditions during the detention except for the conduct of the officers who he said were rude and verbally aggressive on occasions.
“The cell had two stone slabs with plywoods on top for beds. It had a toilet but it was OK la, it was OK,” he said, adding that he had been jailed on several occasions for one or two days for party- related activities.
Asked what he thought of the government for using the EO against him and his comrades, he said that laws like the EO and Internal Security Act (ISA) “must go”.
“We must demolish them. If I had been incarcerated, my party can help take care of my family but what about the other detainees, what about their families?” he asked. “The ISA and EO must be demolished. We must campaign against these laws.”
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