By Hafidz Baharom
The sentencing of Fahmi Reza to a fine of RM30,000 and one month in jail was excessive, especially when the crime was placing a picture of the prime minister as a clown.
Fahmi was found guilty under Section 233 (1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) – spreading content deemed “obscene, indecent, false, menacing or offensive in character with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass another person”.
Forgive me for saying this, but that pretty much covers anyone wanting to tell a dirty joke or to share anything, even online comics, that could offend anyone including Donald Trump. It is an insane law.
To avoid the CMA, perhaps it is time to send in the clowns to the streets without going digital and online, since this is the medium that applies. Perhaps it is time to take the “clowns” to the streets rather than the net. And no selfies, since that is also under the CMA.
But then again, it might lead to people being charged under Section 504 of the Penal Code for “provoking a breach of peace” as faced by Bilqis Hijjas.
Look, this is just altogether ridiculous, and all it does is instil fear in wanting to protest whatever people find unjust on either side of the political divide. Plus, if a leader or his handlers are really so offended by clown face paintings and yellow balloons, then we have really lost the plot when it comes to freedom of expression.
Letting people protest and get creative with parody and satire, even if it means dropping yellow balloons, should not be a crime. In fact, shouldn’t these laws be weighed by the stature of the person, the power they wield and what the message is?
With Fahmi, the clown face was to show that we are all seditious, referring to the archaic Sedition Act which is used to silence critics of the prime minister. With Bilqis, it was about wanting to relay the message for free and fair elections by dropping yellow balloons.
Neither of these are “obscene, indecent, false or menacing”. Being found “offensive in character” is very much a thin-skinned argument and just reflects badly on the parties filing a report. Plus, through #UndiRosak, we have seen just how badly Maryam Lee was on the receiving end, in comparison to clown faces and balloons.
We need to end this cycle of silencing freedom of expression because somebody feels bad about how his face was portrayed as a clown’s, or if he was scared of yellow balloons causing a “breach of peace”.
And to such an end, the CMA needs to be amended to exclude those in public office. Similarly, the Penal Code needs a review to stop ridiculous arguments such as yellow balloons provoking a breach of peace in a mall.
Leaders, especially in political office, need to rein in their supporters and be leaders, stopping them from filing ridiculous cases which reflect badly on their image as well as ours in the international arena. Leaders should not let such things bother them and their supporters, but treat them like water off the back of a duck. Failure to do so reflects on the leader as well as his or her supporters.
I personally hope Fahmi’s crowdfunding move helps him collect enough to pay off the RM30,000 summons.
I also hope whoever buys the stickers takes them and places them around Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya as an act of defiance against an authoritative government that has shown itself as a sensitive, easily offended child rather than the pragmatic, laughing-off-of-small-matters government that we deserve.
Hafidz Baharom is an FMT reader.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.