Shame on Singaporean elitism!!

I know many of you who read this blog don't know very much about Singapore except that its a pretty little island whose authorities caned Michael Fay. Well, there are other people in the country who need their asses whipped, to say the least. Singapore is home of the Lee Family dynasty -- Lee Kuan Yew and his family RUN the whole country -- his son is the prime minister, his other son runs the telephone company, his daughter-in-law runs the state investment company (Temasek Holdings that recently bought out the Thai telecom company from ex-PM Thaksin...) I mean, the cronyism of these big shot authoritarians!! I am currently reading up on the history of the Malayan Communist Party, among other leftist leading parties of the region, in hope to learn more about what we've never been taught in Singapore schools -- that NO, SIR STAMFORD RAFFLES WAS A COLONIST! NOT A SAVIOR!!

Thats another reason why I take so much inspiration from the Korean democratic movement, which saw another upsurge this past summer. They overthrew dictatorships that were ruled on the pretext that they would herald in good economic stability for a third world country. They saw through the lies and the pretenses that US-supported strong-ruled authoritarian states would NOT bring prosperity to everyone. If anything, it creates a stable middle-class for a few, and a strong underclass -- casualized/temp/foreign labor which is constantly being put down, marginalized and oppressed.

Excuse me for the rant, but this is the youtube that my friends from Singapore sent me which contains a quote from Lee Kuan Yew. One could read it as an extension of an awful social program, elitist and eugenics in style. It is not stated in racial terms in his speech (he wouldnt dare) but the implications are racial because most non-graduates are working class Chinese, Indians and Malays. I am a Southeast Asian Chinese and we need a different vision of relating to other races beyond this stinking elitist BS -- another damned model minority myth needs some smashing!!

Here goes:

What's cooking in South Korea?

Here's a link to an interview with an organizer with All Together, a Korean socialist organization, about the exciting summer of mass mobilization that just took place. It captures the movement dynamics that have taken place in SK, as well as the slowness of the left in responding to the spontaneous actions of the people. I think it's great how the organizer points out that this slowness arises largely from the elevated sense of self that the Left has, thinking that most everyday people are bought off by capitalism, until they get super shocked when things turn out in a way they dont expect, and can't respond to in time. The interview frames the election of the neo-liberal right-wing Lee Myung Bak, not so much as evidence of South Korean people shifting right as a whole, but more so as a punishment to the failure of the liberal imperialist parties of Kim Dae Jung and Roh Moo Hyun. There's a lot that can be learned from this piece.

The article also highlights the dynamic relationship that revolutionary organizations (like All Together), can have to the spontaneous movements of everyday people. It shows clearly that a movement is sparked off in large part because of a spontaneous action, yet an excessive focus on spontaneity as a movement continues, can be unsustainable. What sometimes arises is a lack of direction of the movement. All Together's participation and leadership in the movement did not destroy its spontaneity -- hundreds of thousands still came out to the rallies -- but it was able to try to push for a strong political focus, which tried to subvert the government's framing of the rally. The South Korean government kept trying to frame the rally as a "political" one, as opposed to the worker unions' "economic" agenda. The government's division of "economic" and "political" was a deliberate attempt to divide the ranks between workers and the rest of society. I see the South Korean government's attempt at framing this huge, massive, successful rally this way, as how official society tries to divide and conquer us amongst ourselves, even in our most successful times (infuriating!!). There is a need to contend for power and leadership in those situations, and All Together tried to do just that. Unfortunately, among other reasons, the trade union bureaucracy (KCTU) was too rooted in these similar "workerist" divisions and the movement wasnt able to cohere a strong sense of working class rebellion.

Anyway, once again, it means so much to me to see that folks in SK are moving!! So much for the model minority/Asian Tiger myth of docile and passive Asians! Check the interview out here.

Also, other articles by All Together, translated into English:
On the South Korean Left
Formation of North Korean capitalism
Was North Korean economy in crisis in the 1950s?
North Korea in the 1950s: Capital accumulation and power struggles

Debate with the College Republicans!

Damn. Its July, 2 months since our previous posting!
Suraj and I have been busy busy busy! So many apologies for not having written in ages...
Trust us though, we are back NOW! Summer's finally rolled by into Seatown and we are happy w beaming sunshine, and free(er) with no ongoing campaign for the next month or so!

Here's an update on what we've been busy with since May 4th (our last posting)...Hopefully most of you still remember that Suraj and I were part of an organization called March 1st Solidarity, a Korean solidarity group calling for US troops to get out of Asia, and no longer have our homelands be used as a base for attacking the Middle East!

So here's whats been up:

We organized a debate against the University of Washington College Republicans! Yes, the same folks who organized the Islamofascism Awareness Week last Nov. They also *tried* to organize a game of "Tag an Illegal Immigrant" which fortunately! got shut down by every other group on the UW campus! You can read about the CR's racist events here and here .

So, why did we choose to debate the CR? Honestly, we thought it was time that the CR had their asses kicked publicly in a debate! We felt that many other activist groups' way of responding to attacks from the right was to turn it into a festival, a celebration, rather than choose direct confrontation. Of course, there is an ideological basis for it. The argument that we have heard is that confrontation is too reactionary and too much based on the terms of our "enemies." Instead, activists should work on strengthening their bonds with one another and create “positive” and peaceful spaces, thus the "celebration and gathering" route, as opposed to the confrontation route.
Honestly, we don't buy this philosophy. Its couched too much in a feel-good sort of liberalism, post-modernist PC-ness...where any form of confrontation and argument is seen as violent. For real, having heated debates or verbal confrontation is not violence! Why can't we stick up and defend ourselves against racists and white supremacists? Why do we have to pretend that they dont exist, or try to "convert" their energy into positive spaces that border on accomodating the racist attacks at times? Why do we have to cater to what bourgeois liberal society thinks of our resistance? Why do we have to act out of fear rather than strength?

Along those lines, we organized a public debate w the College Republicans. A healthy, non-violent and heated exchange of words. Here is our flyer:




* we also have a youtube of the debate but its not posted up yet. we will be adding it to this post as soon as we can!

Repression of Migrant workers unionizing in South Korea

Wol-san Liem, an organizer of the Migrant Trade Union in South Korea sent us an email this morning. In the spirit of international workers solidarity in South Korea, migrant and Korean workers alike have been marching on the streets. Check out the coverage here and here.

While immigrants here in the US have been marching against criminalization, migrant workers too in South Korea have been protesting the crackdown on labor struggles by the police force. And the state lashes back, with its repressive tactics, kidnapping the leaders of the MTU to make a statement against their activities. This is a letter and petition from the organization:

STOP REPRESSION AGAINST MTU and MIGRANT WORKERS

Demands:

1. Stop the repression against MTU and release President Torna Limbu and Vice President Abdus Sabur immediately!

2. In the name of the right to freedom of association of all workers, recognize MTU’s legal union status!

3. Stop the crackdown against legalize all undocumented migrant workers!

Sign the Petition at: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/StopMigrantRepression/

Repression against MTU Leadership Continues!

The South Korean government has attacked MTU (Seoul-Gyeonggi-Incheon Migrants’ Trade Union) once again. On May 2, only one day after workers around the world celebrated May Day, MTU's newly elected president and vice president were forcibly arrested by immigration officers, the president in front of the union office and the vice president at his home. We are deeply enraged by this act of repression against MTU and migrant workers' organizing in South Korea!

Description of the Incident

At roughly 8:20pm on the night of May 2, President Torna Limbu and MTU's vice general secretary were walking out of the MTU office when they were suddenly confronted by 10 to 15 immigration officers who were waiting hidden around the corner. The officers surrounded the president and without presenting a detention order violently forced him into a van waiting nearby. When the vice general secretary attempted to protest he was physically restrained by officers who shouted at him not to interfere with public affairs.

Soon after, at around 9:00pm the same night, union officers become unable to contact MTU Vice President Abdus Sabur. When a union officer and a Korean supporter went to check on him, they found his house empty. A neighbor informed them that immigration officers had been their shortly before. At 12:30am it was confirmed that the vice president had also been arrested and that both men were being transported to Cheongju Detention Center 2.5 hours south of Seoul.

The arrests of both MTU leaders were clearly pre-planned. Immigration officers had followed the president since the previous day when he participated in May Day activities. The vice president recognized a person who had sat nearby him at a fundraiser the week before among the officers who arrested him. That President Torna heard the officers in the van carrying him communicating consistently with those stationed near Vice President Sabur’s house and in other areas in Seoul also shows clearly that the arrests were coordinate with one another.

Long-term Attack on MTU

This outrageous act of repression comes only several months after the targeted crackdown against MTU leadership on November 27 of last year in which the former president, vice president and general secretary were all arrested. In the wake of that attack MTU, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and supporters from the labor movement and civil society carried out a 99-day sit-in protest calling for an end to the oppression against migrants and migrant organizing and at the same time rebuilt MTU. On April 6, MTU elected a new leadership, with President Torna at the forefront, and moved forward determined to fight the crackdown against undocumented migrant workers and win migrant workers' labor and human rights.

The new conservative government of Lee Myeong-bak, however, has only strengthened the policy of repression against migrant workers. A mass crackdown against undocumented migrant workers has again begun and Lee Myeong-bak has stated that he will not tolerate undocumented migrant workers' unionizing.

Supreme Court Case

Lee Myeongbak’s statement is a direct reflection of the attitude the South Korean government has taken towards MTU since its founding in 2005. At that time the Ministry of Labor rejected MTU’s official union status, claiming that undocumented migrant workers do not have the right to freedom of association and union activities. MTU carried out a legal battle against this decision and eventually won in the Seoul High Court on 1 February 2007. However this verdict was appealed to the Supreme Court, where a decision is expected to be reached by the middle to end of this year. The Ministry of Labor bases its appeal on the claims that the right of undocumented migrant workers to freedom of association is not protected in the South Korean Constitution or stated clearly in international law. However, we know that workers are workers, entitled to the same labor rights, no matter what country they reside in under what visa status. This was clearly shown in the High Court decision, which ruled that undocumented migrant workers are the subjects of equal labor rights under South Korean law and in rulings of the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association (UGT [2001], AFL-CTM [2002]) and the Inter-America Court of Human Rights (17 Sept. 2003), which show that international law protects the union rights of undocumented migrant workers.

Stop the Repression!

The arrests of President Torna, Vice President Sabur and previous union leadership, and the South Korean government’s refusal to recognize MTU’s legal union status are clearly an attempt to break MTU's opposition to oppressive policies towards migrant workers. This repression is not only against MTU, but against migrant workers’ organizing in general and, indeed, the entire labor movement.

We therefore make the following demands:

1. Stop the repression against MTU and release President Torna Limbu and Vice President Abdus Sabur immediately!

2. In the name of the right to freedom of association of all workers, recognize MTU’s legal union status!

3. Stop the crackdown against legalize all undocumented migrant workers!

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/StopMigrantRepression/

March 1st Solidarity rally: US Troops Out of South Korea!

Check it out here:

Part One

US Troops Out of Korea!

Check out an event we are organizing for tomorrow:

Korea RAGE!!

Sophistry, deception, manipulation backed by US military soldiers and firearms. Farmers kicked out of lands families have tilled for generations. Compensations, mere pittance, like salt added to open wounds. The story of Daechuri in South Korea, of police and governments collaborating with US imperial interests resonates across Asia -- from Subic Bay in Philippines, to Okinawa in Japan, right over to Guam and other Asian Pacific Islands.

I have been watching with my friends, some videos of the struggles of Koreans against US imperialism. There are the heroic resistances of Daechuri farmers against the expansion of a US military base, Camp Humphrey, in South Korea. Across generations, people are trying to prevent their homelands from becoming mere appendages to US expansionist projects in the Middle East (US soldiers and equipment have been deployed from Asian countries to Iraq to support the war effort). To speak of independence and self-determination in Asian countries is a joke really. How can a country be independent when 35 000 troops of another nation, accompanied with high technology military equipment (and for a while nuclear weaponry), are planted on your land? Yet, the discussion of US military bases in Korea particularly, goes way beyond the seizure of land. It also has its ideological counterpart that is aimed at dividing the Korean peninsula, breaking down the strength of a united and strong Korean nation. Constantly spewing unverified reports of North Korean nuclear arsenal, the US justifies its presence in South Korea as a benevolent attempt to "safeguard" South Koreans from the crazy, unpredictable North. Of course, what lays hidden and unreported, is the fact that the US army has aided the South Korean government with a nuclear program, which naturally incites the North to arm itself similarly to prevent any offensive attacks. The logic of Mutually Assured Destruction is not a new one. I dont endorse nuclear weapons cos it is a mad undemocratic form of weaponry. But not from the US basis that it is the ONLY country that can have access to such dangerous weapons. For a anti-imperialist, anti-nuclear, environmental platform, the US and its allies have first got to disarm cos they are whats motivating a lot of other third world nations to arm themselves in this fashion. What also goes unreported is the fact that US military ships have been going up and down the coast of North Korea. Who wouldnt be threatened if some enemy that you know is out to get you, is loitering right outside your doorstep? Its not surprising. The US has always played this game w their enemies, behaving menacingly, trying to trigger attacks as a way of justifying further invasion. They do that with Iran these days. No reason why they would not have done it with North Korea, to keep alive the tensions between the North and the South, and justify its own military presence in the region.

From what me and my friends have been seeing, the discussion of reunification between the two Koreas have been divided into top down, vs bottom up visions. Then there are the obvious haters of North Korea, who are coincidentally also the ass-suckers of US empire in Korea (re: Lee Myung Bak, the new president) This new guy is all about signing the Free Trade Agreement with the US, even with much resistance from the Korean people. Korean workers and farmers, known for their militant resistance have not allowed this to happen without a fight. All power to the workers, farmers and people of Korea!

Back to the reunification question, the top-down ones are dominated by liberal capitalists who want to push for reunification cos they want to exploit the North Korean workers. I was listening to NPR the other day when they conducted an interview with a professor from Yonsei University, who said (shamelessly) that South Korea needs to reunify w North Korea cos labor in the South is getting too expensive...and this dude went on to talk about how much more profitable it would be to employ cheap North Korean labor. Since when was it OK to glorify sweatshop labor for capitalists and ruling class??

Another version that this top-down approach takes, is expressed in an over-glorification of the North, folks who conflate the anti-US imperialism of the North with a viable, desirable political vision. Masked with a veneer of radical left politics, in reality many pro-North regime folks represent nothing more then a seemingly radical vision of capitalism. To be specific, they advocate a form of state-run capitalism, as opposed to neo-liberal capitalism.

The bottom up call for reunification w North Korea expresses a wide array of political perspectives. This includes revolutionary workers and party members who see their solidarity with North Korean workers, not its state structure, as the basis for reunification. In other words, there are folks who call 1) see the US imperialist project in the Koreas as an colonial project and thus defend the sovereignty of the Korean peninsula, and 2) who reject the Stalinist model of North Korean state and 3) support, and see themselves in solidarity with North Korean workers and everyday folks.

Been a long piece. I am ending this post with a link to a 35 min long documentary on the Daechuri resistance:
http://www.freespeech.org/fscm2/contentviewer.php?content_id=1602

PEACE
jomo