10 theSun | FRIDAY AUGUST 21 2009

speak up!

thesun says

The right to assemble

TO SAY it has been long
overdue would be a gross
understatement. But it would
certainly be acknowledged,
as the move is better late
than never.
The proposal to amend
the Police Act to do away
with police permits for public
gatherings will be welcomed
with open arms by the people,
especially the proponents of
rights of individuals.
Whatever legal jargon
used to describe such a
right, the bottom line is that
an individual’s right to as-
semble (in selected places)
will be recognised. But while
critics will argue that it is
the individual’s right to meet
wherever he or she wants,
let’s see this change as the
first step in more reforms in
store for Malaysians.
We can take some conso-
lation because this is a far cry
from occasions when some
over-zealous police officers
had decreed that a gathering
of four people would deem
an illegal assembly!
The government must be
applauded for being realistic
in its approach as the issue
revolves around national
interest and security which
are elements considered
by the police before issuing
a permit. Having said that,
there are some important is-
sues which the police should
consider – foremost on their
minds should be security.
They should be no compro-
mise when it comes to safety
and welfare of those not as-
sociated with the gathering.
However, more impor-
tantly, the police must, to
borrow a phrase from the
former Prime Minister, facili-
tate and NOT frustrate such
gatherings. Setting up need-
less road-blocks and causing
traffic mayhem is one of
them. It causes hardship and
inconvenience to the general
public. Instead, they should
facilitate easy access and exit
from such meeting points.
But those who make their
appearances have a duty
to their fellow citizens to
ensure they act in a manner
befitting themselves claiming
to exercise their basic rights
provided by the Constitution.
There should be no name
calling and wild statements
as they make their way to
such points. Besides, there
should be no provocation of
those who do not want to
support their cause.
Leaders and organisers of
such gatherings have to en-
sure that their flock comply
with lawful instructions of
the police and do not seek
to go over-board and misuse
the new-found freedom of
assembly.
Yes, the government has
relented to the wishes of the
people, but they also owe a
duty to the government to
ensure that their activities are
carried out within the con-
fines of the law. They must be
aware that any misuse would
only result in the clampdown
of their newly-found rights.

letters
letters@thesundaily.com

Secret recipes and intellectual

property rights
HISHAMUDDIN Rais’s seemingly casual
style and almost flippant tone in relating the
story of the secretive chef of a super gulai dag-
ing lembu (beef curry) may miss his profound
observation of our culture’s attitude towards
knowledge (“Of secret recipes and shared
knowledge”, Rais Whine, Aug 19, 2009).
That aside, I have a more charitable take
on the chef. Perhaps he was merely trying to
protect the fruits of his creative endeavour.
Perhaps he is negotiating with some venture
capitalists to fund his planned chain of res-
taurants to serve his sumptuous gulai, in the
manner of Colonel Sanders and his still secret
recipe for Kentucky Fried Chicken. Imagine
the good the Malay chef would do for the
country with the people he would employ
and the increased market for our beef and
curry powder were that to happen.
The chef illustrates the dilemma of the
current global debate on intellectual property
rights (IPR). To concretise it, if we had been
respectful of IPR, the children of the late P.
Ramlee would not be destitute as his estate
would still be collecting royalty payments for
all those wonderful songs that we never cease
to enjoy at concerts and over the air waves.
On the other hand, had Alexander Flem-
ing had been scrupulous in demanding his
when he discovered penicillin, Howard
Florey would not be able to conclusively
demonstrate its bacterial-killing activity. And
if both had been scrupulous about their IPR,
God knows how much we would be paying
for penicillin today, quite apart from the thou-
sands of lives that would have succumbed to
bacterial infections.
The point of my exercise, apart from com-
plimenting Hisham for yet another insightful
piece, is this. IPR is a complex issue and I do
not pretend to know its nuances. Nonethe-
less, we all can educate ourselves better on
the matter if we do not load it with extrane-
ous emotional issues, like portraying it as a
nefarious scheme by the West to keep the
developing world behind or make modern
drugs out of reach in the Third World.
The Free Trade Agreement negotiation
with America a few years ago, tough in its
own right, collapsed because of, among other
things, specious arguments over IPR.
M. Bakri Musa
Silicon Valley, California

Don’t spread the panic, too

THERE has been much alarm over the rising
number of cases and fatality rates and rightly
so, because influenza A(H1N1) is a very infec-
tious disease.
While alarm and widespread panic is not
necessary, there exists the pressing need to
restrategise and implement mechanisms and
Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for the
prevention of secondary bacterial pneumonia.
A(H1N1) spreads by droplets and so is easily
transmitted. The director-general of Health
calls it a high attack rate.
For a country of 27 million, struggling
with this crisis since April this year, and with
national and international transport being
so widely used, 4,200 reported cases so far is
severe under-reporting.
There are probably 20 times the number of
cases out there that are not reported. Because
of this, many countries have stopped trying to
report the number of new cases.
Unfortunately, 67 have died in Malaysia.
But if you were to be objective, 67 deaths, out
of a possible 70-80,000 cases, gives a death
rate of 0.08%. Still a bit higher than the usual
seasonal flu death rate of 0.04%, but surely
not anywhere near panic proportions.
A closer look at the deaths revealed that
80% were A(H1N1) associated, or were inci-
dentally found to have contracted the virus,
the virus by no means causing the death.
We can call this A(H1N1) associated death
or death with incidental A(H1N1) infection.
So, if the certification of death is proper, it
may be that only 15 deaths were actually due
to A(H1N1), giving a fatality rate of 0.02%.
This is why we need to consolidate measures
that are already in place. This should include
a national level SOP whereby all affected pa-
tients with secondary bacterial pneumonias
would be immediately triaged for intensive
tertiary level care.
There is no cause for panic but we should
all be vigilant.
Dr Ng Swee Choon
Committee member
Medical Affairs Committee,
Federation of Private Medical
Practitioners’ Associations Malaysia.