25 Years Of Telling The Truth
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When my friends and I established Aliran Kesedaran Negara in August 1977, there was no other multi-religious, multi-cultural group operating outside the electoral arena at that time that had as ilts principal objective the total reform of Malaysian society guided by universal spiritual and moral values. Aliran played a pioneering role in fostering social awareness about the essence of multi-ethnic harmony; the importance of human rights and democratic principles; and the significance of public integrity in the development of a nation. Since the powers-that-be were not comfortable with Aliran�s value based reform agenda, we had to encounter various trials and tribulations in the first ten years. We survived an early attempt to de-register Aliran just as we weathered the detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA) of a few of us in 1987. For me at the personal level it was during my Aliran days that I had to make the most difficult decision of my life: to give up my academic career in order to help strengthen Aliran and the Aliran Monthly which was then in its infancy. I remain convinced - in spite of all that has happened over the years - that the enormous sacrifices of Aliran�s pioneering group were worth the while. Though the growth of social consciousness is one of those intangibles, there is no doubt that Malaysians as a whole have a much better understanding today of what national unity or social justice or political freedom entails. The very fact that there are so many civil society groups today engaged in a variety of public oriented causes bears testimony to this. Even the government has - rather belatedly - recognised the importance of human rights and established a human rights commission. It has also finally acknowledged that communal polarisation is a major problem - 24 years after Aliran first raised the issue! Of course, many of the goals that Aliran had set itself in 1977 remain unaccomplished. But that is what one should expect in any struggle for social reform especially when one is confronted by an overwhelmingly powerful Executive which dominates public discourse. However, I am confident that the present Aliran leadership will continue to address the challenges that confront the nation through sober analysis and balanced evaluation - which has been the hallmark of the Aliran Monthly. It will also I am sure want to reflect upon Aliran�s own role and relevance in the midst of all the changes taking place both in domestic and global politics. A reform group, more than any other civil society actor, has to make sense of the turbulent and tragic times we live in. In the process, Aliran may discover that speaking the truth to oneself is perhaps as important as telling the truth to power. Chandra Muzaffar Founder President of Aliran
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