10 Reasons Why We Began

#1 | The Imbalance of Power

Justice is never permanent but compelled. Hope is not found but made. Evil is not brave but shielded. Again ⤤ and again ⤤ and again ⤤ and again ⤤ and again ⤤ and again ⤤ and again ⤤ and again ⤤, horrific misconduct against children by the Ministry’s current caretakers ⤤ has been reported. How many cases are not reported ⤤?

How many never get a headline? The culture remains powerful ⤤ because so many corrupt public servants realize they can create virtual ⤤ immunity ⤤. On one side stand honest teachers, parents, students, and the grassroots of every kampung that are turning on the lights. On the other side, a small, but corruptly powerful set of public servants ⤤ and weak politicians pray the lights stay off.

The grassroots have chosen solidarity: whose side are you on?

#2 | The "1 in 100 Lifetimes" Chance

‍Never have dozens of Ministry of Education officers been summoned to High Court under allegations of misfeasance of public office, knowingly causing injury through unlawful acts.

Never has a 15-year-old child patiently waited to walk the halls of justice as she turned 18 years old to file groundbreaking public interest litigation for all students. Sabahans can stand proud to have raised a daughter that is set to rewrite history on education reform and injustice.

#3 | The Historical Failures

For 30 years ⤤, Malaysians have talked about extreme teacher absenteeism and abuses of power by Ministry of Education officers, yet without justice. The issue has been reported ⤤ in the media, admitted ⤤ by the Ministry of Education, and lambasted by opportunistic politicians.

What is clear now, 30 years later: yelling at cancer does not make you a doctor. For families without the power of political connections, negligence & abuse of their children is how the poor sacrifice for the rich. Sabahans ⤤ know this “open secret” better than most ⤤.

#4 | The Home of the Grassroots Rises

Kota Belud, Sabah, is one of the few districts that has been home to two concurrent Federal Ministers ⤤. Yet, Kota Belud is one of Malaysia’s poorest districts ⤤ as its people remain slighted by government corruption and government failures:

1. Kota Belud's median household income is ranked 134 of 158;
2. Kota Belud's Absolute Poverty rate is 34%, 3x higher than rural Malaysia’s average;
3. Three out of its ten Kota Belud homes do not have piped water, nearly 7x Malaysia’s average; and
4. Kota Belud's inequality rate is one of the worst in Malaysia: 152 of 158.

We are you and you are us.

#5 | The Transparency Failures

For once, this litigation may represent a bright light of justice at the end of the tunnel: no backdoor agreements, no settlements, no compromise.

Tiada.Guru’s launch signals the beginning of the end for fear ⤤, silence ⤤, and violence ⤤ against child victims by the Ministry of Education. Tiada.Guru is demanding justice for all in the most fair, public, and powerful approach possible: a public interest litigation trial at High Court.

#6 | The Shot at the Head

This is public interest litigation: not kami, but kita. The remedies prayed for by Plaintiffs Siti Nafirah in her High Court claims are primarily declarations ⤤ against the Ministry of Education to ensure a legal precedence is set.

And, if the claims are judged true, the Ministry will face the music of its alleged widespread misconduct that in other circumstances would have already called for an RCI and an international reckoning. Siti Nafirah said it best ⤤ herself when speaking about her claims in High Court:

"The culture of fear for speaking up must end."

#7 | The Hypocrisy Exposing

False reformers have long made political calculations to periodically admit injustices exist, but they have not had:

1. the spines to demand universal justice nor
2. the discipline to legislate universal justice.

Siti Nafirah’s claims have survived now five Education Ministers and spanned three ruling coalitions ⤤. Not one has spoken the truth that so many Malaysians have lived. Siti Nafirah High Court litigation mean she, and the potentially thousands like her, need wait no longer.

#8 | The Bravery of a Young Sabahan

"Scared is what you are feeling—brave is what you are doing."

There is no turning back for Siti Nafirah binti Siman. She was only 15 years old ⤤ when the claimed events occurred. She survives as her family’s only daughter and youngest child; Siti Nafirah’s father passed away when she was seven and she was raised by her widowed mother.

A native of Kota Belud, Sabah, Siti Nafirah stands tall as one of Malaysia’s bravest: willing to sacrifice everything to exact justice for the rights she and potentially thousands of other victims were born with yet were denied through an alleged network of misfeasance of high-ranking, wealthy civil servants. Because of her, we too at the Tiada.Guru Campaign refuse to turn back.

#9 | Voicing the Voiceless

The grassroots—of every race and of every religion—are hungry for equality in education quality and justice against abuses of power. Yet because their problems are the “status quo”, they are not given media attention.

They are desperately hungry for a fair shot at a better life: a life without the knee of the powerful against their children’s necks. We have waited generations, while watching parents & grandparents pass away without justice. Do the masses of Malaysia need to wait for their voice to be granted by the gatekeepers of political and government discourse?

If we don’t fight hard enough for the things we stand for, at some point we have to recognize that we don’t really stand for them.

— Paul Wellstone

#10 | Exposing the MOE's Behaviour

This High Court litigation from one of Malaysia’s poorest & most unequal ⤤ districts claims to expose ⤤ “misfeasance in public office, a seven-month absent teacher, and Ministry of Education officers’ collaborating to fabricate government records in a chain stretching from Kampung Taun Gusi to the Kota Belud District Education Department and the Sabah State Education Department.”

In other reports, the behaviour of Ministry of Education officers ⤤ has been exposed to include sexual abuse ⤤, teacher bullies ⤤, and “serious” corruption ⤤. Students, parents, and teachers know all too well that the easiest targets are the poor, weak, and/or unprivileged children ⤤.

When the time comes for justice, the powerful turn the other cheek: “Justice for all would be unwise and politically dangerous, you see.” Why? Because dehumanization was the point and misconduct is the tool for those who want to turn off the lights for themselves & their corrupted colleagues.

So today we set the first landmark on this journey of justice: the lights are about to turn on.