On Wednesday, the13th of September 2006, Tuan Mohd. Yusop bin Majid (Setiu), asked the first oral question for the day in Parliament. The Honourable MP asked the Minister of Home Affairs to state the number of RELA members and their contribution to help eliminate drug and social problems, and the abuse of Ketum leaves.
This is an example of a proactive move by the Government to nip a social problem in the bud. The abuse of Ketum leaves began in earnest in 2004, and public and law enforcement agencies had the problem under control within 3 years. The number of Indian youths who indulged in Ketum use however, was negligible. Whether the same concern and proactive stance would have been adopted if the problem had affected mainly Indian youths, is something we can only ponder upon.
The substance that affects our community the most is alcohol and the following was the philosophy of the ruling government before independence.
To Indian labourers brought over from Southern India to work in the Plantations, the British made alcohol readily available. It served a dual purpose of entertaining the workers and returning their wages to the plantation’s coffers (Arasaratnam 1970)
As workers became more dependent they began to produce their own palm wines (toddy). In response, the British began a government monopoly on palm wine that continues to this day.
Authorities play the blame game when it comes to alcoholism. Government officials term it as a sensitive subject because of the racial issues raised by drinking. Officials termed the problem an “Indian issue”, emphasizing Islam’s prohibition against use of alcohol by the majority. Indian officials responded to the blaming of the problem on their community by pointing to evidence that others, in particular Malays, were known to drink heavily. The predominantly Chinese professionals in the alcohol industry blamed problem drinking primarily on samsu, consumed mainly by Indians. (WHO)
To place any hope that external forces will combat alcoholism is futile, this is a problem that must be overcome by the community, for the community.
Raising a glass of alcohol is one of mankind’s most distinctive rituals. For many, alcohol loosens the tongue and tightens the hands of friendship. Yet alcohol can also exert nearly satanic power: It ruins lives, destroys families, kills thousands on the highway. Each year more is known about this Jekyll and Hyde of the drug world. But alcohol is still a riddle that every culture attempts to solve in its own way. (National Geographic Magazine)
The Chinese community before independence, also quickly spawned rural entrepreneurs who produced alcoholic beverages, either independently or for the mine or estate owners. This class of beverage became known as samsu, a term whose original meaning was rice wine, but today encompasses a wide range of locally distilled alcoholic drinks, with strengths ranging from 30 to 70% absolute alcohol.
Samsu is widely available in both urban and rural areas. Sales of this cheap and often unsanitary alcohol provide a significant part of the revenue of rural small shopkeepers. Samsu and beer are the two leading alcoholic beverage categories nationwide measured by volume of absolute alcohol sold.
According to the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP), there are now eight principle distillers of samsu, all of whom are Chinese, selling to a primarily Chinese distribution network.
Tax increases seeking to reduce alcohol consumption but affecting only the higher end products such as beer and globally branded distilled spirits most likely channel consumers back to samsu.
Staff from CAP had been instrumental in backing the organization of “Women Against Alcohol” movement in the rubber estates of Kedah in the 90’s. This movement had brought together hundreds of women against what they consider to be an exploitative samsu trade, using public rallies, the burning in effigy of samsu bottles and the like. The following tells us why.
“It is common for these estate labourers to buy hard liquor at the beginning of the month, when they receice their salary; to shift to the less expensive beer towards the middle of the month, when they have less money; and to end the month with cheap toddy or samsu. Many of the drinkers spend their entire income on alcohol. It is also common for them to take advances on their salary to buy liquor, resulting in virtual debt bondage”. Arokiasamy 1995
When interviewed by the WHO representative, the government officials said that raising the subject of drinking alcohol in classes with Malay children present would offend the Malays. As such there is no requirement for alcohol education in the schools. The government maintains an extensive network of treatment centres for illegal drug users. There are no government sponsored treatment facilities for those with alcohol problems, despite calls by health professionals for their establishment.
The difficulty in finding any literature or research papers on the alcohol problem in Malaysia is surprising. The most thorough hospital based study was conducted in 1993, where all patients above the age of 16 who were admitted to the orthopaedic, surgical and medical wards for a period of three months in the General Hospital in Kuala Lumpur, were interviewed. It was found that 48% of the patients consumed alcohol, and 12% could be termed as dependent or as abusers. All of the abusers and 90% of the drinkers were male. Sixty one percent of Chinese, 60% of Indians and 30% of Malay inpatients were drinkers. Nine percent of Chinese, 22% of Indians and 6% of Malay inpatients were abusers. Of the abusers 67% drank beer, 17% spirits and 16% samsu. The non abusers were more likely to drink beer, and only 2% drank samsu.
Another study in 1989 in the same hospital, took blood alcohol levels of 883 patients admitted for head injuries. Thirty percent of these patients had blood alcohol levels greater than 50mg/100ml. Ninety one percent of these were male, and 41% were Chinese, 39% Indians and 18% were Malay. (It may not be accurate, owing to the scarcity of data, but the ratio of alcohol abusers by race skews towards Indians when tested by questionnaires, and flattens considerably when blood tests are used)
It is obvious from these that there is not enough data to understand the full impact that alcohol abuse has on Malaysians of all races, not just Indians. A national household survey done in 1996 included questions about frequency and quantity of alcohol consumption. However the Government decided to omit this section of the survey when interviewing Malay households.
The country must wake up and tackle this problem head on. A shortcut to the solution may be possible if an accurate survey is done on the impact of alcohol abuse in all races. Perhaps then the government will wake up to its responsibility, and start questioning the Home Minister on how many RELA members are stationed outside liquor stores to tackle the samsu problem.
Jeevindra Kumar
Human Rights Party Malaysia
HRP Central Committe Member
