While a great majority of Malaysians will never have to fear being detained under the "Internal Security Act (ISA)":http://www.web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA280062003, there is a lot of anger being directed to this oft-maligned law. Perhaps the anger is caused by the perceived injustice of the law; perhaps its because the existence of the law is intrinsically linked with all that is bad about Malaysian politics: corruption, cronyism and abuse of the rule of law.
And while i can respect this perspective, i can't help but notice how the ISA can be used to ensure national peace and security.
A simple (simplistic, perhaps) equation:
Troublemaker incites riots, public anger and civil disobedience. Troublemaker uses religion, race and economic disparities in society as his vehicle for protest. Troublemaker makes unprovable claims, defames and slanders our national leaders, all of whom are democractically elected.
To protect the nation, remove the troublemaker; bypass the judiciary (because a drawn out trial can just serve as a platform to further his cause) and throw him into jail. Memories and attention spans are particularly short. Out of sight, out of mind. He is soon forgetten by the majority.
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