Zunar’s Cartoon-o-Phobia launch attacked by Darth Vader Agents

September 25, 2010

Updated with video clip (11.15 pm)

Zunar’s Cartoon-o-Phobia launch attacked by Darth Vader Agents (Police and Special Branch Personnel)

by S Pathmawathy @http://www.malaysiakini.com

Darth Vader forces struck again at the Chinese Assembly Hall during the launch of Zunar’s Cartoon-o-Phobia book yesterday (September 24, 2010). It was to me an attempt by dark forces within UMNO to embarrass our Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak who is scheduled to deliver his maiden address at the UNGA. Sad, we can’t even show that we are united despite our political differences.–Din Merican

Just hours earlier the police arrested political cartoonist Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque and seized over 60 copies of his latest work, Cartoon-o-Phobia.

But despite setbacks, the launch of satirical publication proceeded as scheduled last night at the Kuala Lumpur Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH) under close observation of the police.

About 10 policemen were deployed outside the hall and they had placed police cones barricading the main entrance to leading to the parking lot.

It was however an unusual book launch owing to the absence of the celebrated comics and the presence of its artist Zulkiflee, better known as Zunar.

Zunar was arrested and brought to the Sepang district police headquarters late evening yesterday after his office, Sepakat Efektif Sdn Bhd, was raided by police officers.

Undaunted by the police’s show of force, Zunar’s launch was greeted with enthusiasm and encouragement for the cartoonist to continue his witty jibes at the Malaysian political scene.

In fact delivering his message last night through his wife Fazlina Rosley, Zunar swore that the clampdown on his work will not hinder his efforts to expose corruption and abuse or power. “This move has reasserted the title of the book – that the government fears cartoons. They can imprison me but they can’t imprison my mind.”

Zunar conveyed to the 150 people present that he is prepared to “change from the comic strip to the prison strip”.

Fazlina, on behalf of her husband, thanked all those present. “He said that he didn’t intend to talk about politics, but (alas this is) the fate of the cartoons which has now proven to be feared by the government,” said Fazlina, whose brave front and wit was greeted with continuous applause.

Zunar’s way of showing ‘middle-finger’

Meanwhile, Malaysiakini editor-in-chief Steven Gan, who kicked off the event, noted that Zunar should be “admired for his tenacity”.

“For that he is being punished. This is his fourth book to be banned, and this comes months after the other books were banned,” said Gan. “This is Zunar’s way of showing the middle finger,” he added, drawing laughter from the crowd.

He went on to laud the cartoonist, comparing his gritty and gutsy work to the celebrated political cartoonist Mohammad Nor Khalid, more commonly known as Lat, praising him for taking on high-profile leaders “without a safety net below”.

Going down memory lane, Gan described the complexity of summarising an event into one picture by displaying a comic sketched by Zunar six years ago, when Malaysiakini‘s office was first raided and their computers were confiscated.

“As a journalist I know how it is to try to compress a thousand words to 500 words, and Zunar is able to do it all in one comic,” he said.

“I felt a lot of forboding (in the run up to the launch), and when Zunar called to say that there was a raid on his office and the books were being confiscated, I was not surprised,” said Gan.

Three of Zunar’s previous books – 1 Funny Malaysia, Perak Darul Kartun and Isu Dalam Kartun – were banned by the Home Ministry for going against the provisions of the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA).

Ousted Perak menteri besar Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin, who was also captured and illustrated in Perak Darul Kartun, similarly hailed the political awareness brought by Zunar’s works.

“These cartoons transcend the racial and religious boundaries and unite all of us here on a common platform,” said Mohd Nizar.

‘Cartoon-o-phobia’ should be in Wikipedia

He also criticised the moves against Zunar as something that would have occurred “30 or 40 years” ago when books were banned and there were no other ways to express dissent.

“In this era everything can be easily accessed and downloaded from the Internet, but we are still banning books,” he mocked.

He even suggested that the term ‘cartoon-o-phobia’ be included in Wikipedia as “there is now a concrete definition” to the term.

Mohd Nizar described the seizure of the books and Zunar’s arrest as a “desperate” move by a “sinking government” that is “hanging on to its last thread of hope”.

“BN is at the end of its lifespan, and at its end people say we tend to behave funny and weird.”He expressed hope to see more of Zunar’s works that he said would catalyse the opposition’s chances of taking over the government.

‘Authorities paranoid’

Former Bar Council president Ambiga Sreenevasan (right), who attended the event, described the move against Zunar as “nonsensical”.

“The authorities seem to have taken leave of their senses. It reflects and shows poorly on the authorities that they are absolutely paranoid,” she said.

She stressed that media and creative freedom should be embraced and not prohibited.

Zunar just before his arrest related that his latest book has more bite as compared to his previous ones. “The issues covered are the murder of Altantuya, the conspiracy against Anwar (Ibrahim), the PM’s wife, the loss of jet engines, the Scorpene that cannot dive, Sarawak, racism, corruption and the waste of public funds, among others,” he said.

Cartoon-o-phobia is a collection of cartoons published from November 2009 to September 2010 on Malaysiakini and published by Kinibooks.

Cartoon-o-phobia has 80 full-colour pages and is being sold at RM25. It can be purchased online via Gerakbudaya and Cartoon Kafe.