LACK of funding, support and repression by the authorities are among the many reasons non-political and youth groups struggle to mobilise and fight for reforms.

They told The Malaysian Insight they have been branded as troublemakers for daring to stand up for their rights and demand for changes to be made.

Some of them have been called in for questioning by police, and others, such as the founder of Muda, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, have been charged in court in what he calls political persecution.

For the Hartal Doktor Kontrak group, their biggest struggle has been a lack of support from the likes of top Health Ministry officials, including the director-general, to their cause for equal pay and job prospects in the civil service.

“The most disheartening is that our own director-general (Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah) is not in support of us. We are not urging people to topple the government. It is just a protest for an hour at most.

“No patient care was ever compromised. We stayed at work and continued to do so. But the fact the higher-ups have not come out to address the issue just saddens us,” Dr Mohammad, a spokesman of the group, said in reference to the nationwide strike of contract doctors last month.

Hundreds of doctors took part in the strike on July 26 to demand equal pay and better job prospects for junior medical officers despite Noor Hisham’s call for the doctors not to participate and reminded them of their hippocratic oath to put patients first.

The contract doctor system was first introduced in 2016 as an initial solution to the delayed placement of house officers.

Upon joining government service, junior doctors are given a five-year contract package that consists of a three-year contract with an option of a two-year extension.

However, since 2016, out of 23,077 contract doctors, only 789 have been given permanent positions in public healthcare.

Mohammad said since the start of the year, 400 doctors have quit and started their own private practice or moved overseas.

“Soon, the rakyat will call them penderhaka (traitors) and unpatriotic for doing so,” said the doctor, refusing to reveal his full name for fear of repercussions.

He added if the government does not heed to their demands, the group will organise another strike, but for the moment they have to concentrate on treating Covid-19 patients.

“Patient care is much more important than what we need for now. Till then, we will be in the wards tending to patients.”

A struggle to mobilise other organisations

Meanwhile, Mohd Asraf Sharafi Mohd Azhar of Sekretariat Solidarity Rakyat (SSR) said while the group has successfully organised three protests, mobilising different civil society groups to work together toward the same aim is a challenge.

SSR is made up of a coalition of 20 youth groups.

“This is always a challenge in any movement or civil society organisation. For SSR, all of us are from different backgrounds or working with different civil society groups. So we move our campaign voluntarily.

“For funding, we open it to crowdfunding. There are Malaysians who support by donating from RM5 to RM200. Some offer their help by donating hand sanitisers, personal protective equipment, masks and face shields.

“Lots of Malaysians were supportive of our #Lawan protest,” Asraf told The Malaysian Insight.

He said in order to spread awareness for the campaign, the group had roped in friends from outside the civil society circle to be marshalls during its protest.

Due to the pandemic, Asraf said the group also has a limited way of protesting and communicating the message of the movement.

“We can’t always be on the ground, especially with the Delta variant. So we had to craft different ways of campaigning and mobilising people.

“The safest and probably the only way to spread awareness is online where the targeted impact is like a gamble.”

He added that the group has also been subjected to police and state repression despite having the freedom to assemble, as enshrined in the constitution.

Since the sit-in protest near Dataran Merdeka on July 31, various members of the group have been hauled up by police.

“Police did not make any arrest during the protest or convoy, but they came for us after the protest. For example we had to spend three to four days just for police investigations.

“We feel that this is intimidation by the government, especially towards ordinary people who just want to voice out their dissent towards how the Perikatan Nasional government is managing the pandemic.”

The group has so far organised three protests and another protest is slated to take place on August 21.

It is asking for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to step down, for Parliament to convene and for an automatic loan moratorium to ease the economic hardship brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Registration as a political party

Meanwhile, Muda pro-tem committee member Lim Wei Jiet said the biggest challenge faced by the youth group is having its registration as a political party denied by the Registrar of Societies (RoS).

“We are facing roadblocks with the RoS and the home minister in being registered and we are also facing political persecution,” Lim said.

Led by former youth and sports minister Syed Saddiq, Muda is currently seeking a court order to compel Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin to make a decision on its registration under Section 18 of the Societies Act 1966.

The high court has fixed today to hear Muda’s suit.

Most recently Syed Saddiq has also been charged with corruption. The Muar lawmaker is accused of misappropriating Bersatu funds when he was the party’s youth leader.

In order to pay the RM300,00 bail set by the court, Syed Saddiq started a crowdfunding campaign, which saw him raise RM715,573. He has also said that he was facing political persecution for opposing the government.

Other than not being able to get registered, Lim said when the group first started, it had also suffered from a lack of political experience. Syed Saddiq is the only elected lawmaker in the group.

It is also lacking in funds and has found mobilising and meeting its members during the pandemic a challenge.

“Despite our many challenges, we can overcome them by being persistent, staying strong to our ideals, being humble enough to learn new things and be innovative in our ways to reach out to society.” – August 12, 2021.