Operation Lalang ( ms, Operasi Lalang, also referred as Ops Lalang and taken to mean "Weeding Operation" or "Operation Weeding") was a major crackdown between 27 October and 20 November 1987 undertaken by the
Royal Malaysian Police
The Royal Malaysia Police (often abbreviated RMP) ( ms, Polis Diraja Malaysia (PDRM)), is a (primarily) uniformed national and federal police force in Malaysia. The force is a centralised organisation. Its headquarters are located at Bukit Aman ...
, ostensibly to prevent the occurrence of racial riots in
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
. The operation saw the arrest of 106 to 119 people—political activists, opposition politicians, intellectuals, students, artists, scientists and others, who were detained without trial under the
Internal Security Act Internal Security Act may refer to:
* Internal Security Act 1960, former Malaysian law
*Internal Security Act (Singapore)
* McCarran Internal Security Act, a United States federal law
*Suppression of Communism Act, 1950, a South African law, rename ...
(ISA). It was the second largest swoop in Malaysian history involving the ISA since the
13 May riots 18 years earlier. It also involved the revoking of the publishing licenses of two dailies, ''
The Star
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' and the ''
Sin Chew Jit Poh'' and two weeklies, ''
The Sunday Star'' and ''Watan''.
The Malaysian government argued that racial tensions had reached a dangerous level within the country, forcing the government to arrest those responsible for stoking the tension. The notion that racial riots were imminent however is contested, and it is widely believed that the operation was designed to control the political opponents of the Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohamad
Mahathir bin Mohamad ( ms, محاضير بن محمد, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; ; born 10 July 1925) is a Malaysian politician, author, and physician who served as the 4th and 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held the office ...
through draconian measures. The event marked the beginning of a period of Mahathir's authoritarian rule on the country.
Causes
A number of political developments and issues preceding the operation had caused mounting political and racial tensions in the country. According to the Malaysian government's
White paper
A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. A white paper ...
explaining the arrests, various groups had exploited the government's "liberal" and "tolerant" attitude and played up "sensitive issues", thereby creating racial tension in the country. This racial tension, the government claimed, forced the government to act "swiftly and firmly" to contain the situation.
Background issues
The crackdown happened against a backdrop in late 1986 and 1987 of a split within UMNO into two opposing groups, commonly referred to as Team A led by Mahathir, and Team B led by
Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah
Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh bin Tengku Mohd Hamzah ( Jawi: تڠکو غزالي بن تڠکو محمد حمزة; born 13 April 1937) is a Malaysian politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gua Musang from August 1986 to November ...
and
Musa Hitam
Tun Musa bin Hitam ( Jawi: موسى بن هيتم; born 18 April 1934) is a Malaysian politician who was Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia from 1981 to 1986, serving under Mahathir Mohamad. He was the chairman of Sime Darby Berhad.
Early life ...
. Mahathir was challenged for the leadership and narrowly won, but faced a subsequent legal challenge on his win.
There were also attacks by the government on several
non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...
s (NGO) which were critical of various government policies. Mahathir called these "intellectual elites" as "tools of foreign powers" and saboteurs of democracy.
In addition, a number of race and religion-related issues had arisen which had a cumulative effect in raising ethnic tension. These included the switch to Malay language as a medium of instruction for optional courses in the departments of Chinese and Tamil studies at the
University of Malaya
The University of Malaya ( ms, Universiti Malaya, UM; abbreviated as UM or informally the Malayan University) is a public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest and highest ranking Malaysian institution of highe ...
,
the use of Chinese characters in certain signboards, the questioning by the deputy president of
Malaysian Chinese Association
The Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA; zh, 马来西亚华人公会; ; ta, மலேசிய சீனர் சங்கம், initially known as the Malayan Chinese Association) is a uni-racial political party in Malaysia that seeks to ...
(MCA)
Lee Kim Sai
Tan Sri Dato' Lee Kim Sai () (1 March 1937 – 24 November 2019) was a Malaysian politician. In the 1980s and 1990s, he served as Labour Minister (1985–1989), Housing and Local Government Minister (1989–1990) and Health Minister (1990– ...
over the use of the term ''
pendatang
"Pendatang asing", "orang pendatang" or "pendatang" is a common Malay phrase used to refer to foreigners or immigrants; "pendatang asing" literally means "foreign comer" or "foreign immigrant". Although most frequently used to refer to foreign i ...
'' (immigrants) that was seen as challenging Malay's
bumiputra
''Bumiputera'' or ''Bumiputra'' ( Jawi: ) is a term used in Malaysia to describe Malays, the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia, and various indigenous peoples of East Malaysia (see official definition below). The term is sometimes controver ...
status, as well as rumours of forced conversion to or from Islam.
Vernacular Chinese school personnel controversy
The immediate cause, however, was the
Ministry of Education
An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
's decision to appoint some 100 senior assistants and supervisors to Chinese-medium primary schools.
Concerns were raised by Chinese politicians and organizations that those appointed were Chinese who were not Chinese-educated, implying that students and parents might be forced to use English or Malay to communicate with the school personnel. Chinese educationalist groups contended that the move would limit the usage of Chinese in these schools.
On 11 October 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, also known as ''
Dong Jiao Zong'') at the Hainanese Association Building beside the
Thean Hou Temple
The Thean Hou Temple ( zh, 乐圣岭天后宫/樂聖嶺天后宮) is a six-tiered temple of the Chinese sea goddess Mazu located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is located on of land atop Robson Heights on Lorong Bellamy, overlooking Jalan Sye ...
in
Kuala Lumpur
, anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera''
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia
, pushpin_map_caption =
, coordinates =
, su ...
. It was joined by prominent politicians from Chinese-based parties such as MCA's Deputy President and Labour Minister
Lee Kim Sai
Tan Sri Dato' Lee Kim Sai () (1 March 1937 – 24 November 2019) was a Malaysian politician. In the 1980s and 1990s, he served as Labour Minister (1985–1989), Housing and Local Government Minister (1989–1990) and Health Minister (1990– ...
, the leader of
Democratic Action Party
The Democratic Action Party (abbreviation: DAP; ms, Parti Tindakan Demokratik; ; ta, ஜனநாயக செயல் கட்சி) is a Centre-left politics, centre-left social democracy, social democratic political party in Malaysia. ...
(DAP)
Lim Kit Siang
Lim Kit Siang (; born 20 February 1941) is a Malaysian politician. He is the longest-serving leader of the opposition in Malaysia, having held the position for a total of 29 years on three separate occasions. He is also former Secretary-Genera ...
, as well as representatives from
GERAKAN and other parties. The meeting resolved to call a three-day boycott in Chinese schools if the government did not settle the appointments issue.
The boycott was called off at the eleventh hour to allow time for the government to resolve the issue, nevertheless 57 schools went ahead with the strike on 15 October, either because they did not receive the notice of postponement, or they disagreed with the decision.
Response by UMNO Youth
Even though the boycott was officially postponed, the stage was set for a response from the Malays led by
UMNO Youth
The United Malays National Organisation (Malay: ; Jawi: ; abbreviated UMNO () or less commonly PEKEMBAR), is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest continuous national political party within Malaysia (since its in ...
. A mass rally of 10,000 was held at the TPCA Stadium on
Jalan Raja Muda in
Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur
Kampung Baru or ''Kampong Bharu'' (meaning "New Village") is a Malay enclave in central Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. One of the most valuable tracts of land in the capital, it has been estimated to be worth up to US$1.4 billion.
Location
Kampung Bar ...
on 17 October.
UMNO politicians condemned MCA leaders (both UMNO and MCA are component parties of the ruling
Barisan Nasional
The National Front ( ms, Barisan Nasional; abbrev: BN) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1973 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties. It is also the third largest political coalition with 30 se ...
coalition) for their collusion with the ''Dong Jiao Zong'' and the opposition DAP. The UMNO protesters called for the resignations of MCA's
Lee Kim Sai
Tan Sri Dato' Lee Kim Sai () (1 March 1937 – 24 November 2019) was a Malaysian politician. In the 1980s and 1990s, he served as Labour Minister (1985–1989), Housing and Local Government Minister (1989–1990) and Health Minister (1990– ...
that mirrored the call for the resignation of UMNO Education Minister
Anwar Ibrahim
Anwar bin Ibrahim ( ms, انور بن ابراهيم, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset, IPA: ; born 10 August 1947) is a Malaysian politician who has served as the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia since November 2022. He served as the 12 ...
by the Chinese protesters.
Najib Razak
Dato' Sri Haji Mohammad Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak ( ms, محمد نجيب بن عبد الرزاق, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset, ; born 23 July 1953) is a Malaysian politician who served as the 6th prime minister of Malaysi ...
, then chairman of the
UMNO
The United Malays National Organisation (Malay: ; Jawi: ; abbreviated UMNO () or less commonly PEKEMBAR), is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest continuous national political party within Malaysia (since its in ...
Youth wing, led the Malay rally in Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur. During the rally, Najib was alleged to have threatened to soak a
keris
The kris, or ''keris'' in the Indonesian language, is an asymmetrical dagger with distinctive blade-patterning achieved through alternating laminations of iron and nickelous iron (''pamor''). Of Javanese origin, the kris is famous for its disti ...
in Chinese blood, evoking fear of 13 May repeating within the Chinese community. Many Chinese businesses around the city was closed for a few days for fear of any potential attacks from the Malay ultra-nationalists.
Prebet Adam amok incident
To make matters worse, a tinder box situation was created by an unrelated event on 18 October – the rampage of a Malay soldier, widely known as 'Prebet Adam', who killed a Malay and injuring two other persons with an
M16
The M16 rifle (officially designated Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of military rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States military. The original M16 rifle was a 5.56×45mm automatic rifle with a 20-roun ...
rifle in the
Chow Kit
Chow Kit is a suburb in central Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is located around Jalan Chow Kit (Chow Kit Road) and is enclosed by the parallel streets of Jalan Raja Laut and Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman. It is named after Loke Chow Kit (陸秋傑) a w ...
area, which straddles two large Chinese and Malay communities.
Proposed UMNO rally
While the Prime Minister Mahathir was away abroad, Sanusi Junid, the UMNO party secretary-general, and other UMNO leaders called for the holding of a mammoth rally in Kuala Lumpur on 1 November to celebrate its 41st Anniversary. The rally was originally to be held in
Johor Bahru
Johor Bahru (), colloquially referred to as JB, is the capital city of the state of Johor, Malaysia. It is located at the southern end of Peninsular Malaysia,along the north bank of the Straits of Johor, opposite of the city-state Singapore. T ...
but later changed to Kuala Lumpur, where UMNO leaders claimed would see the attendance of half a million members. The rally was cancelled after the Prime Minister returned and Operation Lalang was launched.
Launch of Operation Lalang
On 27 October 1987, Mahathir together with the police launched an operation he said was necessary to defuse racial tension that had reached "dangerous proportions". He said that the country was facing an economic recession and high unemployment, and could not afford racial riots. The operation was codenamed ''
lalang'' after a type of weed. According to Mahathir the decision for the operation was taken by the police, and that he, as the Minister of Home Affairs, had to go along with it. The Inspector General of Police Tan Sri
Mohammed Hanif Omar
Tun Mohammed Hanif bin Omar ( ms, محمد حنيف بن عمر, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; born 16 January 1939) is a retired Malaysian police officer who served as the 4th Inspector-General of Royal Malaysia Police from June 197 ...
said the police operation was for the sake of national security, and had nothing to do with politics.
The proposed UMNO rally was given as one of the reasons by the Inspector General of Police for the 27 October crackdown under the Internal Security Act. It was argued that had the rally been held, it could have sparked off racial riots given the likely incendiary nature of the speeches of UMNO politicians. It has also been argued that the Prime Minister had to have a ''
quid pro quo
Quid pro quo ('what for what' in Latin) is a Latin phrase used in English to mean an exchange of goods or services, in which one transfer is contingent upon the other; "a favor for a favor". Phrases with similar meanings include: "give and take", ...
'' for cancelling the UMNO rally, therefore opposition leaders and civil libertarians were arrested in order to placate the disappointed would-be rally participants.
Effects
The immediate effect of the operation was the arrest of a number of prominent political leaders, social activists and others, for incitement of racial sentiments and for showing Marxist tendencies.
[ The publication licences of three newspapers were revoked. Mahathir also announced a nationwide ban on any gathering or rally, including those previously approved. Later in December 1987, Dr Mahathir introduced two pieces of legislation to impose additional restrictions on publications and grant police greater powers to curb public gatherings.]
Arrests
The Prime Minister gave the approval for the arrest of 106 people, later increased to 119, under the Internal Security Act Internal Security Act may refer to:
* Internal Security Act 1960, former Malaysian law
*Internal Security Act (Singapore)
* McCarran Internal Security Act, a United States federal law
*Suppression of Communism Act, 1950, a South African law, rename ...
.[ The arrests were staggered – 19 people were detained on 27 October 1987, rising to 54 10pm the next day, and later the night, the tally grew to 63. By 20 November 1987, 106 had been arrested.] Among the more prominent detainees were opposition leader and DAP
DAP or Dap may refer to:
Science
* DAP (gene), human gene that encodes death-associated proteins, which mediate programmed cell death
* Diamidophosphate, phosphorylating compound
* Diaminopimelic acid, amino acid derivative of lysine
* Diamin ...
Secretary-General Lim Kit Siang
Lim Kit Siang (; born 20 February 1941) is a Malaysian politician. He is the longest-serving leader of the opposition in Malaysia, having held the position for a total of 29 years on three separate occasions. He is also former Secretary-Genera ...
, DAP Deputy chairman Karpal Singh
Dato' Seri Utama Karpal Singh s/o Ram Singh Deo ( pa, ਕਰਪਾਲ ਸਿੰਘ, Karpāl Siṅgh; 28 June 1940 – 17 April 2014) was an Indian Malaysian politician and lawyer. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Bu ...
, MCA Vice-President and Perak Chief Chan Kit Chee, PAS Youth Chief Halim Arshat, UMNO
The United Malays National Organisation (Malay: ; Jawi: ; abbreviated UMNO () or less commonly PEKEMBAR), is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest continuous national political party within Malaysia (since its in ...
MP for Pasir Mas Ibrahim Ali, and UMNO Youth Education chairman Mohamed Fahmi Ibrahim. Other prominent non-political detainees included ''Dong Jiao Zong'' (Chinese Education Associations) Chairman Lim Fong Seng, Publicity Chief of the Civil Rights Committee Kua Kia Soong
Kua Kia Soong (born ; Chinese: ) is a Malaysian social activist, researcher and former member of parliament for Petaling Jaya (1990–1995). He is a director of the human-rights organisation SUARAM.
Family
Kua's grandfather, Kua Kim Pah, was ...
, and WAO member Irene Xavier
Irene Xavier is a Malaysian women's rights activist. She is a prominent member of Friends of Women, Selangor - Persatuan Sahabat Wanita, Selangor ( PSWS), a women's rights NGO. She is also a key activist of Suaram, Malaysia's leading human right ...
. The MCA deputy president Lee Kim Sai had apparently been warned beforehand and he left for Australia for a few months the day the arrests began.
Of the politicians arrested, three were UMNO members, eight MCA, five Gerakan, fifteen PAS, sixteen DAP, and two PSRM
The Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Partidul Socialiștilor din Republica Moldova; russian: Партия социалистов Республики Молдова, Partya sotsialistov Respubliki Moldova, PSRM) is a democra ...
. The three UMNO members arrested were closely associated with Mahathir's rivals called Team B, even though the UMNO's rallies were supported and initiated by Mahathir's allies (a further UMNO member who was a Mahathir's ally was said to have been detained for an unrelated reason). The UMNO, MCA and Gerakan detainees were released within two months, while most of those from the opposition parties and NGOs were detained much longer.
The majority of the detainees had no connection with the events in Kuala Lumpur, for example, several Baptist Church
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
members in Petaling Jaya
)
, website =
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = ''From top, left to right:Skyline of Petaling Jaya, the 1 Utama Mall integrated with Bandar Utama Station, the Kota Darul Ehsan arch, the Petaling J ...
were arrested for allegedly converting seven Malays, and at least nine PAS members were arrested for making claims about Christians converting Malays. Many of those detained were also not involved in creating racial tensions; for example, Chandra Muzaffar
Chandra Muzaffar is a Malaysian political scientist, and an Islamic reformist and activist. He has written on civilization dialogue, human rights, Malaysian politics and international relations.
Career
Muzaffar was the first Director of the ...
, chairman of Aliran whose philosophy involves intercommunal cooperation, and members of Insan, a social reformist group that campaigned against exploitation of the poor, and Environment Protection Society of Malaysia, were also arrested. A categorisation of the initially named detainees, numbering 97, gives the following breakdown: political parties: 37; social movements: 23; individuals: 37.
Although most of the detainees were released either conditionally or unconditionally, 49 were served with a two-year detention order, and the last one was freed in April 1989.[ The detainees were first interrogated and kept at various police stations, those retained longer were sent to the usual place used for ISA detainees, at Kamunting Detention Center. Those who were detained longer included Lim Kit Siang, Karpal Singh plus five other party colleagues, a number of PAS members including ]Mohamad Sabu
Mohamad bin Sabu ( Jawi: محمد بن سابو), commonly known as Mat Sabu, is a Malaysian politician who has served as the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration under Prime Minister Anwar Ibra ...
, and many social activists such as Tuang Pik King
Tuang Pik King is a Malaysian civil and minority rights activist and educator from Perak who was detained in the Kamunting Detention Centre Prison during Operation Lalang in the late 1980s along with Mohamad Sabu, Lim Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng, ...
and Mohd Nasir Hashim
Dr. Mohd Nasir bin Hashim ( Jawi: محمد ناصر بن هشيم; born 1947) is a Malaysian democratic socialist politician and former president of the Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM). He was also the State Assemblyman for Kota Damansara ...
.
Some of the prisoners detained during Operation Lalang were alleged to have been tortured during their captivity.
Curtailment of press freedom
In the afternoon the day following the first arrests, the Home Ministry withdrew the licences of the English language newspapers ''The Star
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' and ''Sunday Star'', the Chinese language '' Sin Chew Jit Poh'', and the Malay language ''Watan''. ''The Star'' was claimed to have being targeted as it had served as an outlet for alternative views from non-established groups as well as dissident opinions from Mahathir's rival Team B, and it and the other two were also the only domestic newspapers that regularly covered the activities of public interest groups. Former Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman
Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah ( ms, تونكو عبد الرحمن ڤوترا الحاج ابن سلطان عبد الحميد حليم شاه, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; 8 Febru ...
, who wrote a column for The Star, said that "we are on the road to dictatorship", a comment which wasn't reported by the other newspapers.
''The Star'', ''Sin Chew Jit Poh'' and ''Watan'' regained their licences on 22 March 1988 and soon resumed publication, however ''Watan'' never fully recovered from it and closed its doors permanently in 1996. In the aftermath of the crackdown on newspapers and a subsequent legislation on press activity, editorials of newspaper started to self-censor and became cautious about the stories they ran. According to journalists working during that period, newspapers were also advised by the Home Ministry to avoid certain issues, and editors were called for briefings with various ministries on the way a subject should be covered. ''The Star'' itself, after its return, never regained its previous 'liberal flavour'.
The Printing Presses and Publications Act
The Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 ( ms, Akta Mesin Cetak dan Penerbitan 1984) is a Malaysian statute governing the usage of printing presses and the printing, importation, production, reproduction, publishing and distribution of public ...
was amended to make printers and publishers re-apply their licences annually, and established an ouster clause
An ouster clause or privative clause is, in countries with common law legal systems, a clause or provision included in a piece of legislation by a legislative body to exclude judicial review of acts and decisions of the executive by stripping the ...
preventing any revocation of license by the Home Affairs Minister from being called into question by the courts. A new criminal offence of "maliciously publishing false news" which carries a three-year jail sentence and/or fines was also added. The Act was subsequently amended in 2012 to remove the requirement for annual licence application and the government's 'absolute discretion' over permits, and reinstated judicial overview.
Amendments to the Police Act
Amendments were also made to the Police Act
Police Act is a stock short title used for legislation in India, Malaysia and the United Kingdom relating to police forces and officers.
List
India
*Indian Police Act 1861 Malaysia
*The Police Act 1967
United Kingdom
*The Police (Property) Ac ...
to restrict right to free assembly by making a police permit mandatory for public gatherings. It required that any assembly of more than five people in a public area to obtain a police permit 14 days before the assembly. The law also prohibited public rallies for electoral campaigns, and only allowed ''ceramah'' (public lecture) by the political parties which would also require a permit. It made it practically impossible to hold any political meeting, including a party's annual general meeting, without a police permit. A conviction could mean a fine of RM10,000 and a jail term of one year.
According to Dr Mahathir, the amendments to the Police Act and the Printing Presses and Publications Act were aimed at individuals and groups who abused the government's liberal attitudes: "Being liberal to them is like offering a flower to a monkey. The monkey would rather tear the flower apart than appreciate its beauty".
Significance and assessment
Operation Lalang is a major event in Mahathir's administration that had a strong impact on civil liberties in Malaysia, and it was seen as an excuse by the Mahathir government to tighten the executive hold by restricting fundamental liberties. To the opposition parties, Operation Lalang came to symbolise 'injustice' and government 'oppression'. The first Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman
Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah ( ms, تونكو عبد الرحمن ڤوترا الحاج ابن سلطان عبد الحميد حليم شاه, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; 8 Febru ...
, commenting on Operation Lalang, said that: "We are on the road to dictatorship. I cannot see any other way... This is no democracy." The operation is seen as the beginning of Mahathir's authoritarian rule which continued with the sacking of Supreme Court judges in the 1988 Malaysian constitutional crisis
The 1988 Malaysian constitutional crisis (also known as the 1988 judicial crisis) was a series of events that began with United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party elections in 1987 and ended with the suspension and the eventual removal ...
the following year.
Although Operation Lalang was ostensibly undertaken for reason of national security, it is also widely seen by commentators as a show of force by Mahathir against his political challengers. The operation created considerable fear inside and outside UMNO. Lim Kit Siang, one of the detainees, similarly argued that the ISA arrests were more directed against UMNO rather than the racial crisis, and that Mahathir allowed the situation to escalate so he could then crack down and consolidate his position against his internal rivals.
Dr Mahathir later expressed regret in his memoir about the severity of Operation Lalang, but suggested that it was the result of a recommendation of strong action by the police. He said that the government response had probably been "excessive and disproportionate", and that the operation was a "permanent blot on my time in office" and "a black mark in the administrative history of Malaysia". But, he added, "I had to suppress my own personal doubts and feelings. I had to recognize the role and expertise of the police and defer to their exercising their appointed role in our system of government."
Notable detainees
See also
* 2014 Malaysian sedition dragnet
* Operation Coldstore
Operation Coldstore was the code name for a covert security operation executed in Singapore on 2 February 1963 which led to the arrest of 113 people, who were detained without trial pursuant to the Preservation of Public Service Security Ordinan ...
* Operation Spectrum
Operation Spectrum, also known as the 1987 "Marxist Conspiracy", was the code name for a covert security operation that took place in Singapore on 21 May 1987. Sixteen people were arrested and detained without trial under Singapore's Internal ...
References
{{Reflist, 30em
1987 in Malaysia
History of Malaysia since Independence
Human rights abuses in Malaysia
Political repression in Malaysia
Protests in Malaysia