NGOs launch team to counter rumours
Leong Kar YenPublished: Mar 13, 2001 4:11 AM | Updated: Jan 29, 2008 10:21 AM
A number of non-government organisations (NGOs) have sent a fact-finding team into the areas affected by the recent racial clashes in Petaling Jaya to provide first-hand information to counter the proliferation of rumours.
A coalition of 17 NGOs, calling themselves the 'NGOs for a Violence-free community', sent the team early this morning into Kampung Medan, the epicentre of the violence which has claimed six lives since last Thursday.
"We have set up a formal fact-finding team to compile information from the ground on a daily basis. We can then pass the information gathered to organisations such as the media and other concerned groups," said Suaram's Cynthia Gabriel today.
She said that there has been unsatisfactory reporting by the media and a lack of details given to the public
"At the same time the government has not been very transparent on the issue," she said.
Gabriel added that the people in the affected areas should be given more information and the media ought to be more forthcoming with information in order to deter rumours, which have further inflamed an already tense situation.
The committee, which includes the NGOs Suaram, Era Consumer, Sisters in Islam and the Women's Aid Organisation, has also sent a team to visit those injured warded at the Universiti Hospital today.
When asked how the team would gather information and how it was going to differentiate between fact and rumour, Gabriel said that "the team would be getting information first-hand from the residents of the affected areas and from a cross-section of the people there".
She lamented that rumours have circulated due the government's lack of openness.
"The authorities should inform the public as to how the incident began, how it had gotten out of hand and how the police were unable to cope definitively with the situation," she said.
Meanwhile, according to the national news agency Bernama, two suspected 'rumour-mongers' have been arrested.
Squatter areas
The racial clashes at the Petaling Selatan squatter areas and its vicinity since last Thursday have resulted in the death of at least six persons, 52 injured, and the arrest of 190 people.
The neighbourhood where the skirmishes occurred - which include Taman Datuk Harun, Kampung Lindungan, Kampung Medan, Taman Medan, Kampung Penaga, Kampung Ghandi and Kampung Muniandy - is populated by Malays, Indians and foreign Indonesian and Bangladeshi migrants and comprises of long houses, low-cost flats, terrace houses and wooden squatter houses.
The majority of the residents are from the lower income group, most being factory workers, mechanics and small-time businessmen.
Gabriel said the NGOs will also be recruiting religious leaders to visit the troubled areas to appeal for peace and calm.
"We are very concerned with what is happening and we will continue with our efforts until the problem comes to an end," she said.
A coalition of 17 NGOs, calling themselves the 'NGOs for a Violence-free community', sent the team early this morning into Kampung Medan, the epicentre of the violence which has claimed six lives since last Thursday.
"We have set up a formal fact-finding team to compile information from the ground on a daily basis. We can then pass the information gathered to organisations such as the media and other concerned groups," said Suaram's Cynthia Gabriel today.
She said that there has been unsatisfactory reporting by the media and a lack of details given to the public
"At the same time the government has not been very transparent on the issue," she said.
Gabriel added that the people in the affected areas should be given more information and the media ought to be more forthcoming with information in order to deter rumours, which have further inflamed an already tense situation.
The committee, which includes the NGOs Suaram, Era Consumer, Sisters in Islam and the Women's Aid Organisation, has also sent a team to visit those injured warded at the Universiti Hospital today.
When asked how the team would gather information and how it was going to differentiate between fact and rumour, Gabriel said that "the team would be getting information first-hand from the residents of the affected areas and from a cross-section of the people there".
She lamented that rumours have circulated due the government's lack of openness.
"The authorities should inform the public as to how the incident began, how it had gotten out of hand and how the police were unable to cope definitively with the situation," she said.
Meanwhile, according to the national news agency Bernama, two suspected 'rumour-mongers' have been arrested.
Squatter areas
The racial clashes at the Petaling Selatan squatter areas and its vicinity since last Thursday have resulted in the death of at least six persons, 52 injured, and the arrest of 190 people.
The neighbourhood where the skirmishes occurred - which include Taman Datuk Harun, Kampung Lindungan, Kampung Medan, Taman Medan, Kampung Penaga, Kampung Ghandi and Kampung Muniandy - is populated by Malays, Indians and foreign Indonesian and Bangladeshi migrants and comprises of long houses, low-cost flats, terrace houses and wooden squatter houses.
The majority of the residents are from the lower income group, most being factory workers, mechanics and small-time businessmen.
Gabriel said the NGOs will also be recruiting religious leaders to visit the troubled areas to appeal for peace and calm.
"We are very concerned with what is happening and we will continue with our efforts until the problem comes to an end," she said.
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