1. OPERATION LALANG
Operation Lalang or also known as Ops Lalang (Weeding Operation) was launched on October
27, 1987 by the Malaysian police and the Home Ministry at that time was led by our former
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to prevent the occurrence of racial riots due to the
provocation from DAP leaders and press. This operation aims to arrest those who disturb the
political situation of Malaysia.
In this Operation Lalang, 106 opposition politicians was arrested under the Internal Security Act
(ISA) and the revoking of the publishing license of two dailies newspaper, The Star and the Sin
Chew Jit Poh and two weeklies newspaper, The Sunday Star and Watan.
The controversy began when the Government sends principal and the senior assistant teacher to
vernacular Chinese schools (Chinese-medium primary school which the government provides
funding and personnel as well as setting the school curriculum, while school assets belong to
local Chinese communities represented by boards of trustees). They were learnt that those who
appointed were Chinese who were not Chinese-educated, thinking that students and parents
might be forced to use Malay or English to communicate during school hour.
On September 1987, a delegation known as the Dong Jiao Zong (UCSCAM, the association of
Chinese school teachers and trustees) has met with Deputy Minister of Education, Mr Woon See
Chin to convey their intention to withdrawn the appointment of the Principal and Assistant
teachers.
On October 1m the Ministry of Education announced that Principal and Deputy Heads will be
given a six-month trial period. However, this decision was not agreed by the associations. The
MCA, at the same time also urged the Ministry of Education to review the previous decision and
want the Chinese feature is maintained.
On October 4th, the Minister of Education announced that the Ministry of Education will stick to
the early decision and will not succumb to any political pressure.
On the same day, the Dong Jiao Zong and several other organizations held a meeting at the
Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall and decided to protest if the issue is not resolved within two
weeks. At the same time, a Memorandum about Non-Qualified Personnel Administrators

2. Chinese to Sekolah Rendah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina (SRJKC) was sent by Dong Jiao Zong to the
Ministry of Education. This memorandum slammed the Ministry on the negligence in dealing
with Sekolah Rendah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina (SRJKC) problems.
On October 11, 1987, a 2,000-strong gathering was held by the United Chinese School
Committees Association of Malaysia (UCSCAM, the association of Chinese school teachers and
trustees, Dong Jiao Zong) at the Hainan‟s Association Building, beside the Thean Hou Temple in
Kuala Lumpur, which was joined by politicians from the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA),
the Democratic Action Party (DAP), GERAKAN and other Chinese-based parties. The meeting
reached a resolution that if the unqualified teacher is not removed by the next Wednesday, they
will launch a strike for three days. The boycott was called off later, albeit at the eleventh hour
On 19th October, Anwar Ibrahim announced his ministry would not budge from its decision and
issued a stern warning that action will be taken against teachers who agreed to strike the class.
In the event, even though the boycott was cancelled, the stage was set for a mirror response from
the Malays, led by UMNO Youth. A mass rally of 10,000 was held at the TPCA Stadium in
Kuala Lumpur and, by then, UMNO politicians had begun to condemn MCA leaders (both
UMNO and MCA are component parties of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition) for their
collusion with the Dong Jiao Zong and the opposition DAP. Amidst calls from both sides for the
resignations of MCA Deputy President and Labour Minister Lee Kim Sai and UMNO Education
Minister Anwar Ibrahim, UMNO announced the holding of a mammoth rally in KL to celebrate
its 41st Anniversary, which it was claimed would see the attendance of half a million members.
The proposed UMNO rally was the ostensible reason for the Inspector General of Police to
precipitate the 27 October crackdown. Had the rally been held it was not improbable that racial
riots could be sparked by the incendiary speeches of UMNO politicians. To make matters worse,
a tinder box situation was already created by the rampage of a Malay soldier who killed a Malay
and two Chinese with an M16 rifle in the Chow Kit area, straddling two large Chinese and Malay
communities.
Najib Tun Razak, then chairman of the UMNO Youth wing, had led a massive Malay rally in
Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur. The Chinese community was gripped with fear of the possibility

3. of May 13 repeating, and many Chinese businesses around the city was closed for a few days to
avoid any potential attacks from the Malay ultra-nationalists
The controversy, however, ended when the Prime Minister launched a sudden arrest, known as
Operation Lalang on 27th October 1987.
In this Ops Lalang, 106 opposition politicians was arrested under ISA, among those arrested
were;
Lim Kit Siang - Opposition Leader and DAP Secretary-General
Chandra Muzaffar – ALIRAN President
Karpal Singh – DAP Deputy Chairman
Chan Kit Chee – MCA Vice President and Perak Chief
Halim Arshat – PAS Youth Chief
Ibrahim Ali – UMNO MP for Pasir Mas
Mohamed Fahmi Ibrahim – UMNO Youth Education Chairman
Lim Fong Seng – Chairman of Dong Jiao Zhong
Kua Kia Soong – Publicity Chief of the Civil Rights Committee
Irene Xavier – WAO member
Besides that, there was also another detainee called Hilmy Noor, a Malay Christian, who was
accused for "disrupting the Malay culture by being a Christian", while the Federal Constitution
of Malaysia defines a Malay as someone who is a Muslim, speaks Malay, and practices Malay
culture. The detainees were kept at the usual place used for ISA detainees, at Kamunting
Detention Center.
Although most of the detainees were released either conditionally or unconditionally, 40 were
issued detention order of two years. Included were Lim Kit Siang and Karpal Singh plus five

4. other party colleagues, a number of PAS members and many social activists. A categorization of
the initially named detainees, numbering 97, gives the following breakdown:
Political parties: 37
Social movements: 23
Individuals: 37
Operation Lalang was controversial because the „guilty‟ are miss. On the other hand, the
opposition leaders who are „on the edge‟ was arrested and imprisoned at Kem Tahan Kamunting
for 2 years or more.
Political prisoners are detained under the ISA which allows detention without trial, whether the
person is guilty or not.
Malaysia at that time has received an international criticism. Many believe ISA is against Human
Rights, the Organizations of the United Nations and the Holy Quran itself.
Ironically, the United States has also created the Patriot Act that resembled ISA and hold
detainees at Camp Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
April 1987 is a tough competition between Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tengku Razaleigh where
Mahathir appeared as the winner. Karpal, the opposition claimed that Ops Lalang is a trick to
divert the real issues.

5. IMPLICATIONS
Operasi Lalang creates a culture of fear to people to speak at least for two decades. Like May 13,
1969, it was a Malaysian tragedy and after all these years we have yet to recover from it. The
missing three papers would stay missing, technically four newspaper:The Sunday Star had a
separate KDN Permit. Seven senior journalists were placed by UMNO on a black list and told to
get out.
The elder statesman of journalism, A Samad Ismail, sent an emissary from Balai Berita to break
the news quietly, not officially. UMNO‟s order but in effect the same as government orders
because government people put them into effect. Seven, or more than 30 other who left the paper
on their own, they went on to successful careers in journalism overseas or turned somewhere else
or to something else.
The incident let Mahathir‟s government with the excuse to tighten the executive stranglehold on
politics. He amended the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) to keep newspaper under
tighter control.
He amended the Police Act to restrict our right to free assembly, making a police permit
mandatory for public gatherings. In 1988, as a result of his unhappiness over a few court
judgments that favored natural justice over his administration‟s convenience, he amended the
Federal Constitution to remove the independence of the judiciary.
The leading Malaysian English language daily, The Star, was closed down for a few months. In
the weeks prior to Operation Lalang, The Star had continuously provided transparent news
coverage about the Opposition's point of view. This constituted treason as far as the government
was concerned, and they were shut down under Malaysia's repressive sedition laws. The Star
resumed publication months later under new management that was installed by UMNO. Most of
the previous staff were laid off or otherwise threatened with prison and ISA.
From that point onwards, The Star, as well as many other media outlets in Malaysia, became
government-controlled mouthpieces with an obvious pro-government slant. These media outlets
were also noticeably whitewashing all of the UMNO government's wrongdoings and corruption.
All the cover-up and whitewashing by the mass media became more obvious towards the late-

6. 90's, when another power struggle within UMNO (the Mahathir vs Anwar episode) revealed the
extent of corruption and crimes among the UMNO executive that have never been revealed or
reported.
Operasi Lalang is a tragedy that needs to be told and re-told so that those who don‟t know about
its ramifications may understand why Malaysia is in the mess it‟s in.

7. OUR OPINION
On October 27, 2012 it has been 25 years since the black date in our country. There are lots of
perspective, views and comments about this Operation Lalang.
As we believe, Ops Lalang is a racial riots due to the provocation from DAP leaders and also the
press. Effectively, Operasi Lalang heralded the culture of fear that strangulated Malaysians for at
least two decades. It also provided the environment for Mahathir to rule in an even more
authoritarian manner. He had scared off his opponents and silenced his critics, so now he was
free to do what he wished.
He amended the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) to keep newspapers under tighter
control and also amended the Police Act to restrict our right to free assembly, making a police
permit mandatory for public gatherings.
According to the book Malaysian Maverick by Barry Wain, Mahathir said his amendments were
aimed at those who abused the Government‟s “liberal attitude”.
“Being liberal to them is like offering a flower to a monkey,” Mahathir said, disdainfully. “The
monkeys would rather tear the flower apart than appreciate its beauty.”
In 1988, as a result of his unhappiness over a few court judgements that favoured natural justice
over his administration‟s convenience, he amended the Federal Constitution to remove the
independence of the judiciary. There is much more to say about how Mahathir tampered with our
sacred institutions in the years after Operasi Lalang, but it would take a book to cover it all.
Some people think another tragedy like Operasi Lalang could happen again, and maybe not too
far in the future. Especially when, as journalist Charles Chan who lived through the dark days of
The Star‟s suspension puts it, “desperate politicians face loss of power that opens the doors to
prosecution for their abuses of power, corruption, etc”.
To prepare ourselves for such a contingency, we need to ask ourselves how we would respond if
it should happen. Should we be docile like we were in 1987 or should we stand up for our rights?
What‟s paramount is that we should find ways of preventing such tragedies in future.

8. First, we should not allow a despot to rise again. At the first sign of such a creature emerging, we
should vote him out instead of supporting him for more than two decades. Concomitant with
that, we should not allow any ruling party the luxury of a two-thirds majority in Parliament so
that they can amend the Constitution anyhow they like. We should also be vigilant in not
allowing any of the despot‟s proxies to climb to the top.
Second, we must ensure that checks and balances are firmly in place, like a strong civil society –
and, certainly, the reinstatement of the separation of powers among the executive, the legislative
and the judiciary engraved in our Constitution. This means independence must be returned to the
judiciary.
Third, we must repeal all laws that are against the spirit of democracy, like the PPPA, the
Official Secrets Act, the Sedition Act (soon to be called the sweet-sounding National Harmony
Act) and the Universities and University Colleges Act. There is no ISA now but in its place is the
Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012. This has to go. We have enough laws to take
care of terrorist threats.
Fourth, we must get rid of our feudal mentality. This perpetuates a culture of blind subservience
to the leader and a culture of sycophancy, both of which empower the leader even more.
Furthermore, ascent to leadership should be based on merit, not on an individual‟s ability to suck
up to the boss.
Fifth, Operasi Lalang is a tragedy that needs to be told and re-told so that those who don‟t know
about its ramifications may understand why Malaysia is in the mess it‟s in. Those who have lived
through that terrible day and its aftermath need to tell their children and grandchildren the real
story about what happened and condemn the abuse of power and dictatorial rule.
The real story of Operasi Lalang is not about a potential racial war erupting. It is about a despot
who wanted to hang on to power, shut out all opposition, and run the country to his own
advantage.

9. CONCLUSION
25 years of Ops Lalang, Malaysia had become more independent country with an open minded
people. We are no longer stuck in a 90‟s closed minded. People can accept the changes and think
wisely. There is no racism act occur in Malaysia anymore.
But, did we progress so well?
The Government Transformation Programme of Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has
promised to make Malaysia “the best democracy of the world”, but after more than 42 months of
his premiership, Malaysia falls far short of the conditions to be a “normal democracy” let alone
the “world‟s best democracy”, as illustrated by the refusal by the Prime Minister and the ruling
UMNO/BN coalition to make a public commitment that they would fully accept the verdict of
the voters in the 13th General Election and would peacefully and smoothly transfer Federal
power to Pakatan Rakyat if this is the verdict of the Malaysian electorate in the ballot box.
It is clear that a change of government at the national level, for the first time in 55 years, is
needed to undo all the ravages and adverse effects of the 25-year Operation Lalang on
democracy, human rights and the national institutions – whether it be the restoration of a truly
independent judiciary and a just rule of law; the unshackling of Executive usurpation of powers
of Parliament and the Judiciary; the flourishing of a free and responsible media and the
fundamental rights of freedom of speech, expression and information; proper check-and-balance
mechanisms to end corruption and abuses of power; and the restoration to all national institutions
their impartiality, independence and professionalism.
On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Operation Lalang, let all Malaysians reaffirm their
resolve to undo all the ravages of the Operation Lalang catastrophe in 1987 by a united effort to
strengthen democracy, human rights and national institutions so that there could be no recurrence
of a Operation Lalang in future by voting solidly for a national change of government in the
coming general election.

10. REFERRENCES
Barry Wain . (2010). Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times.
Plate, T. (2011). Doctor M: Operation Malaysia – Conversations with Mahathir Mohamad. Giants of Asia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Lalang