Sunday

無關緊要

上週三早上順利通過馬大校園八打靈再也入口處,卻在第一個右轉后被保安人員指示停車,表明身份后,不料保安人員丟出一句話:校園選舉也需要報導嗎?

現場氣氛隨著親學生陣線學生結隊遊行而熱絡起來,親學生陣線最終聚合在「提名中心」對面的空地,不久后聚集在附近的親校方陣線也聚合在同一地點。

乍看之下,這是全國大選提名日現場的校園版,只是整體人數少了很多。在此起彼落的口號聲中,路過的學生似乎視若無睹,現場氣氛無法反映校園氣氛。

博大生俞揚陽的學姐在其畢業論文中指出,「1966年9月3日,馬大學生會舉辦了『自主權日(Autonomy Day)』,舉辦了討論學術自由和大學自主權的講座。」

那年馬大學生會號召2000名學生遊行,反對當年《高教合格證書法令》的實施,遊行隊伍手握「合格證書」並高舉手握火炬的女神像。

40年前后的對比,現場氣氛稍微接近,校園氣氛卻有極大落差。當年學生會透過合作社經營油站、學生巴士及學生餐廳的自治年代,在政府制定《1971年大學與大專學院法令》后,迅速走向沒落。

馬大自治年代的典故,一代又一代的國立大學學生口語相傳,成了一段佳話。倒是好多屆教育部長(現在是高等教育部長)皆要「檢討」的大專法令,至今未能找到墓地。

40年前的那一場遊行,學生後來聚集在東姑禮堂聆聽賽胡先阿拉達斯和王賡武教授的演講。40年后,學術人員對俞揚陽事件保持沉默,保安人員也覺得校園選舉無關緊要。

Michel Foucault vs Noam Chomsky


Human Nature: Justice versus Power
1971

FOUCAULT:

What I want to say is this: it is the custom, at least in European society, to consider that power is localised in the hands of the government and that it is exercised through a certain number of particular institutions, such as the administration, the police, the army, and the apparatus of the state. One knows that all these institutions are made to elaborate and to transmit a certain number of decisions, in the name of the nation or of the state, to have them applied and to punish those who don't obey. But I believe that political power also exercises itself through the mediation of a certain number of institutions which look as if they have nothing in common with the political power, and as if they are independent of it, while they are not...


It seems to me that the real political task in a society such as ours is to criticise the workings of institutions, which appear to be both neutral and independent; to criticise and attack them in such a manner that the political violence which has always exercised itself obscurely through them will be unmasked, so that one can fight against them.


... Probably it's insufficient to say that behind the governments, behind the apparatus of the State, there is the dominant class; one must locate the point of activity, the places and forms in which its domination is exercised. And because this domination is not simply the expression in political terms of economic exploitation, it is its instrument and, to a large extent, the condition which makes it possible; the suppression of the one is achieved through the exhaustive discernment of the other. Well, if one fails to recognise these points of support of class power, one risks allowing them to continue to exist; and to see this class power reconstitute itself even after an apparent revolutionary process.


CHOMSKY:

Again, very often when I do something which the state regards as illegal, I regard it as legal : that is, I regard the state as criminal...


The concept of legality and the concept of justice are not identical; they're not entirely distinct either. Insofar as legality incorporates justice in this sense of better justice, referring to a better society, then we should follow and obey the law, and force the state to obey the law and force the great corporations to obey the law, and force the police to obey the law, if we have the power to do so. Of course, in those areas where the legal system happens to represent not better justice, but rather the techniques of oppression that have been codified in a particular autocratic system, well, then a reasonable human being should disregard and oppose them, at least in principle; he may not, for some reason, do it in fact.





Thursday

媒體人當自強


最近新聞部長再努丁借故對媒體發難,以批評民政黨顧問林敬益為名,強烈抨擊《太陽報》,指責其報導質疑政府吊銷泰米爾報《Makal Osai》准證一個月的做法,而且經常放大處理一些課題。

部長一次過列舉許多《太陽報》放大的課題如公共政策研究中心推介的「獨立宣言」,以及有關廢除英國習慣法的建議等。

部長對《太陽報》最嚴重的指責,是指其應被視為支持民主行動黨的報章,因為它為「馬來西亞人的馬來西亞」而奮鬥,這是行動黨長久以來的鬥爭目標。

指責和標簽是新聞媒體經常要面對的現實狀況,也是政治力宰制媒體人的慣用手法。面對類似指責,媒體人當自強,而非隨著政治力起舞。

還好我知道的幾位《太陽報》編輯和記者不只對新聞工作具有熱誠,更堅定地把持著媒體人應有的自主權,不會在獨立50周年之際,斷送媒體人的自主空間。

根據《當今大馬》報導,首相署部長納茲里週四為全國新聞從業員職工會主辦的「獨立50週年,新聞從業員鬥爭過程」研討會開幕時說,政府內部對於目前的新聞自由空間存有反對的聲音,而這是政府內另外一些較開明的人士所不容易處理的事情。

部長之間層次有別,媒體人之間也是一樣,這是個人因素,無法改變政治力操控媒體人的現實,因此,媒體人在面對政治力時除了要把持著媒體人應有的自主權,也要凝聚在一起,促請執政者修改甚至廢除不合時宜的法令。這是獨立的意義。

Wednesday

油盡燈枯


國家石油公司(Petronas)今年再度紅盤開出,一年淨利464億令吉,使政府從稅務、股息等項目賺取483億令吉。賺額之鉅,足以應付政府開支預算的35%。

《東方日報》社論如此形容,國油賺取的巨大利潤,或可以立即建造五六條南北大道,國油以及石油本身之於馬來西亞,已經成了人體中的血液和氧氣,片刻不能缺乏,動輒都會死亡。

國油公司長期受惠于石油資源,其輝煌業績不只教人羡慕,也容易讓人忘記,石油資源有耗盡的一日,石油能載舟,亦能覆舟。石油耗盡之日,會否就是馬來西亞的「末日」?

石油生產國也會油盡燈枯嗎?有識之士不時提出石油危機的看法,民眾大概不相信,高官似乎也無動於衷,男女老少、朝野政黨人士大家關心的只是油價幾時再度上漲。

今年8月1日,國際原油價再創歷史新高,以每桶78.21美元作收,創下史上最高收盤價,有人認定來屆大選之后,油價將再度上漲。看來擔憂石油耗盡是杞人憂天,擔憂國內油價再度上漲是憂國憂民。

今年6月杪,國油主席兼行政總裁哈山馬力肯罕見地披露,若是我國原油需求量每年保持4%增長率,再多3年,國內石油產量極可能供不應求,而我國將從石油淨出口國轉變為石油淨入口國。

正如他的解釋一樣,這不表示我國將停止生產石油,只是國內石油生產量出現不敷內需的跡象。然而,一旦我國變成石油淨入口國,那麼我國入口的石油量,將多於我國出口的石油量。

3年好短,第九馬來西亞計劃宣佈至今一年半載已逝,只聞樓梯響,未見工程展開。3年后,石油淨入口國的國民還能享有燃油津貼嗎?政府還能依賴石油稅務、股息等龐大收入以「餵養」公務員及支出各種開銷嗎?

另一方面,交通工具所需的燃油,到底佔據我國石油內需的多少百分比?如果時間在這一秒停頓下來,普騰停止生產國產車,國油不再開採新油田,我們一起來算一算,我國平均每日的汽油使用量有多少。

目前我國有約1500萬輛交通工具,估計其中半數是汽車,即750萬輛。假設1輛車1天行駛50公里路程,以1公升汽油平均行駛10公里路程計算,那1輛車1天需要5公升汽油,而750萬輛車1天需要3750萬公升汽油。

如果以1桶石油提煉出1桶汽油計算,750萬輛車大約相等于23萬桶石油。這是粗略計算,而且1桶石油不可能提煉出1桶汽油,23萬桶石油一般需要再乘于二或三,才能獲得比較實際的數據。

國油公司今年3月杪的業務報告顯示,馬來西亞的國內石油生產量是每日66萬1000桶,比去年同時期減少3萬8100桶。粗略對比之下,交通工具所需的燃油,至少佔據石油內需的一半!

五一三事件發生至今38年,新經濟政策重組社會經濟結構的成果如何,是見仁見智的評估,「股權數據」更是爭論不休的話題,政治力一開始就決定了結局。

至於1970年代發現大量油藏之後,國油公司賺額之鉅、政府入息之豐卻是不爭的事實。而今我國的石油蘊藏量已達頂點,在還沒有發現新油田之前,如何解決石油內需的問題是當務之急。

以新經濟政策落實近40年未能達到目標、第九馬來西亞計劃一年半載已逝未能落實的速度推算,如何在3年內解決石油內需的問題,恐怕沒有人有答案。

Friday

Was ist Aufklärung?

「啟蒙即人之脫離因己咎而致之無自主能力。」
IMMANUEL KANT
An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment? (1784)

Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-imposed immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one's understanding without guidance from another. This immaturity is self-imposed when its cause lies not in lack of understanding, but in lack of resolve and courage to use it without guidance from another. Sapere Aude! [dare to know] "Have courage to use your own understanding!"--that is the motto of enlightenment.

Laziness and cowardice are the reasons why so great a proportion of men, long after nature has released them from alien guidance (natura-liter maiorennes), nonetheless gladly remain in lifelong immaturity, and why it is so easy for others to establish themselves as their guardians. It is so easy to be immature.

Full Text: http://www.english.upenn.edu/~mgamer/Etexts/kant.html

(答“何謂啓蒙?“之問題)

**
Better Version:

Enlightenment is man's release from his self-incurred tutelage. Tutelage is man's inability to make use of his understanding without direction from another. Self-incurred is this tutelage when its cause lies not in lack of reason but in lack of resolution and courage to use it without direction from another. Sapere aude! (Dare to know!) "Have courage to use your own reason!" - that is the motto of enlightenment.

Laziness and cowardice are the reasons why so great a portion of mankind, after nature has long since discharged them from external direction (naturaliter maiorennes), nevertheless remains under lifelong tutelage, and why it is so easy for others to set themselves up as their guardians. It is so easy not to be of age.