CAMUSA @ The Sedated Monkey
No credibility? Think again...
Link: http://tsmchronicles.blogspot.com/2007/09/school-politics.html
No credibility? Think again...
Link: http://tsmchronicles.blogspot.com/2007/09/school-politics.html
In the beginning there was the Message, and the Message was for the students, and theMessage are the students...
ON LEGITIMACY
DISREGARDING
the recent crude and vulgar open letter, supposedly from an equally crude and
vulgar “student” accusing us of being “nonsensical” and suggesting that we have
vested interests from the demise of MUSA; let us reaffirm our message: CAMUSA
is concerned and opposes any actions and attempts of the few to enforce their
will upon the majority (i.e. the ongoing referendum) and we are against a
supposedly “legitimate” body controlling student societies and money.
Therefore, the definitive question to ask here is legitimacy, who
has it and who doesn’t.
Is a centralized student union legitimate? Does it truly represent the will of the students? To answer this we must learn how it is formed and as current events go, MUSA is formed through a general election. This election is valid as far as individual student choices are concerned, but such is NOT the case for the collective student body. Due to the segmentation of choices as well as the historically insignificant voter turnout, NONE of the candidate parties can claim legitimacy. The will of those few who elected them into power does not overwhelm the majority that did not!
It is not a problem of apathy, but of legitimacy, that haunts the student body today; as only a fraction of the student body is interested with the going-ons of a student union. The individual student societies on the other hand (not MUSA’s C&S Division) are the sole and legitimate representatives of the student body; and this recognition is provided directly by the involvement of the students themselves in their respective societies. It is absolutely conceivable that the collective number of club-members far exceeds the votes garnered by any of the candidate parties of this or any Monash election!
As the winds of change are upon us, it is refreshing to find that the candidate parties took heed of our concerns. Some promised accountability and transparency, others offer greater freedom of expression, more club funding and deregulation. Unfortunately these, as well as others, are simply what they are: PROMISES. Should we take these words as holy truths? Are those promises an absolute certainty? No, fellow students, none can tell! Such is the case when you are NOT the ones in charge! Such is the case when power is CONCENTRATED in the hands of a few!
Therefore, fellow students, from your own reasoning, which is more legitimate: the student societies OR the three candidate parties? And who should represent you: yourselves OR a selected few?
Email: ca-musa[at]hotmail.com
Vote “NO” at the MyMonash portal
Blog: http://camusa.blogs.friendster.com
© 2007 Coalition for the Abolishment of MUSA
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IS MUSA AND THE MSC
RELEVANT?
IN
REGARD of the events of the previous week, of our decline to the supposed
“debate”, we would like you to applaud the members of the MSC for such an
astounding show of political finesse. It is regrettable that we could not
accept this “debate”, as we must remain anonymous, nonetheless
that does not mean that it could not be carried out on paper instead.
The MSC’s recent response is hardly an answer; questions on accountability, transparency and the checks and balances within the walls of MUSA; questions of the involuntary nature of the ongoing referendum and questions on the relevancy of the MUSA establishment are still left unanswered. What it shows instead is that the “referendum-neutral” MUSA is not neutral at all. Elections are supposedly a source of legitimacy; but would a union elected my a minority be truly legitimate? In our opinion, the clubs and societies are more legitimate than MUSA, with active membership comprising of students like you. CAMUSA does NOT seek power; we seek the disestablishment of the student union. Therefore, how would a post-MUSA campus look like?
Needless to say, there shall be a huge burden lifted from our shoulders. No more pointless regulations on associations, no more limits to accepting our petitions and no more “permits” required for fundraising, club events and speaking. Yes, speaking! The “Speakers’ Corner” is not the bastion of free speech as many of us think; there are limits to what one can say, and subjects of religion, race and politics are off the list. One cannot, as a recent Corner speaker claim, “talk about anything” if it criticises the policies of our beloved government or of socially relevant issues such as the state of our nation’s freedom of faith. Unfortunately, rather than these fiery issues, the MSC prefer speeches concerning the latest music videos instead.
Therefore we are giving MUSA a challenge:
If you are indeed for student rights, speak for our true rights as citizens rather than on infantile matters, let the students decide on what is best for them and loosen your grip on the club and societies who are the true representatives of the student body. Otherwise, there is no reason for your existence.
Email: ca-musa[at]hotmail.com Vote “NO” at the MyMonash portal
Blog: http://camusa.blogs.friendster.com © 2007 Coalition for the Abolishment of MUSA
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A response was received via email from the General Secretary of the MSC herself, Ms. Nisha Gill.
From:Nisha Gill (gensec@musa.monash.edu.my)MUSA-CAMUSA Debate
Sent:Friday, September 07, 2007 9:12:16 PMReply-to:gensec@musa.monash.edu.myTo:ca-musa@hotmail.comDear CAMUSA,
The Monash Student Council (MSC) acknowledges your opposition to the
referendum, but feel that there are several points that have been
misunderstood. Furthermore, we are concerned about calls to abolish the student union (the Monash University Student Association, or MUSA).We'd therefore like to invite a delegation to a live debate, to be held next Tuesday from 12PM-1PM at the cafeteria. The MSC hopes that you will accept the offer, as we believe it will help towards cementing the student culture here as open to criticism, transparent, and democratic.
Please RSVP to this invite by 9th September, along with names (and/or
nicknames, if you are anxious to impart your given names at this moments) of the debaters so that we might be able to identify them.Thank you.
Best Regards,
Nisha Gill
General Secretary
Monash University Student Association
Monash University
Jalan Lagoon Selatan
Bandar Sunway
46150 Petaling Jaya
Selangor Darul Ehsan
Malaysia
Tel: 603-55146000 ext 61784 Fax: 603-55146356
E-mail: gensec@musa.monash.edu.my
URL: www.musaonline.com
We, we're informed by a student that fliers had been posted around campus that there would be a "MUSA - CAMUSA Debate" going on this coming Tuesday at 12-1pm as in the email. This boggles us as CAMUSA had not at any time agreed for a debate, apparently the members of the MSC weren't willing to wait for a reply. However we did send one that reads...
RE: MUSA-CAMUSA Debate
From:Ca Musa (ca-musa@hotmail.com)Sent:Sunday, September 09, 2007 1:32:32 AMTo:gensec@musa.monash.edu.myMs, General Secretary,
Considering your invitation for the live debate, of which we suppose would take place during the "Speakers' Corner" session, we regret to inform you that it is not to our best interests to participate in said debate considering your fellow councilmembers' reputation of hitting below the belt, namely the case of a certain Mr. Daniel Tan not very long ago. Make no mistake, we find Mr Tan's remarks in his blog to be extremely appalling, but action speaks louder than words, and by your handling of such trivial matter, God help us from whatever you're planning to do regarding our little fracas.
CAMUSA
P/S: As for our identities, I think we need no introduction Ms. General Secretary...
This of course in reference to THE Daniel Tan, Presidential hopeful from the ACE party of the previous MUSA election. Mr. Tan was accused of posting racist remarks in his blog by the rival party (no prizes for guessing who), of which he denied, it's his words against theirs...we have no comments. Again, we are affirming that we are non-partisan, it doesn't matter to us who sits in the MSC table, we are against the structure that is MUSA and whoever it is who happens to run it.
FREEDOM!
WHY YOU SHOULD STILL VOTE AGAINST THE AMENDMENT
IN LIGHT of the response from our first
posting, the Monash Student Council will lead you to believe that all is
fine as the referendum is being carried out by a third party. However, FRAUD
can take different forms; considering the “apathetic” voters of Monash were
actually FORCED to make a choice of which they have no concerns about (through
the MyMonash portal), their counterargument is senseless. Ask any who voted
“Yes” in this current referendum why they did so, and they’ll simply tell you
it’s because the representative from MUSA said it’s “good for them”. In other
words, most voters would vote however MUSA tells them to; involuntary
voting and mass propaganda may be legal but it’s still fraudulent. This
“father knows best” policy that they carry around in their flashy pamphlets and
glossy posters is another myth, the MSC doesn’t know what’s best for us,
we do.
And even if the MSC claims they have good intentions, they duly forget to remind you of a tiny detail: people have an amazing ability to lie. Coupling this with MUSA’s dire lack of transparency, accountability and internal checks and balances; who is to know what’s going on behind that door? Yes, meeting minutes may be published, but they’re all “official” and sanitised. Budgets may be tabled – even the Malaysian government does that, but do you actually know how much is spent, on what and by whom? Needless to remind you, there are no voices of dissent from within the MSC, and campus publications (Monga, etc) are a MUSA monopoly. But what disturbs us the most is the fact that MUSA has the monopoly to interpret the MUSA Constitution, the same one they are trying to amend! Is this the checks and balance system the MSC is so passionately evangelising about? Having the ability to make, carry out and interpret laws under the same roof by the same 25 people?
But the main myth propagated by the MSC is that the student body need them as a representative. That view has two flaws: 1) if they’re going to hold a collective voice, individual voices must to be limited (i.e. their words carry more weight than yours), and 2) almost nobody puts the interests of others above their own. MUSA is a union, a socialist structure where the interest of the student body takes precedence over those of the individual, which may sound prudent, but think of those 25 people in the MSC: do you really know them? How do you know your interests are in common with theirs? How do you know they are indeed the honest souls as they had portrayed themselves in elections? Is it not suspicious that when these “representatives” propagate the virtues of this ongoing referendum, they seem to represent MUSA rather than their fellow students?
Email: ca-musa[at]hotmail.com
Vote “NO” at the MyMonash portal
Blog: http://camusa.blogs.friendster.com
© 2007 Coalition for the Abolishment of MUSA
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WHY YOU SHOULD
VOTE
AGAINST
THE CONSTITUTIONAL AMMENDMENT REFERANDUM
Face the FACTS!
We, the Coalition for the Abolishment of MUSA
(CAMUSA), are against this referendum to preserve the student body’s
FREEDOM from a reasonably certain TYRANNY OF THE POLITICAL MINORITY. If
such referenda were passed, the political minority may, AS THEY WISH, add more
rules and regulations on the student body into the MUSA Constitution.
THE TYRANNY HAS BEGUN. Ask any alumni of our university and they’ll tell you
how hard it is to start a club, endless regulations on membership and financial
requirements to name a few. Adding to that, if you wanted to start a club that
is not to the taste of the members of MUSA and the Monash Student Council, what
chance do you have of forming it? Shouldn’t YOU decide what’s best for
your club?
DEMOCRACY is now being cunningly threatened as they are
attempting to weaken it in its name. Therefore, we, the Coalition for the
Abolishment of MUSA (CAMUSA), are asking YOU to do your part
in preserving our freedom.
VOTE “NO” IN THE REFERANDUM!
CAST YOUR VOTE AT THE MyMONASH PORTAL
(ca-musa@hotmail.com)