The clenched fist – currently the most inspiring logo for change
The clenched fist, the now ubiquitous
icon of resistance in our country has an inspiring history. Its very existence
today is the result of a successful tooth and nail battle against bureaucratic
attempts to kill it off at birth.
The first time it was introduced into
the public sphere was in 1998 as the logo of the Parti Sosialis Malaysia which
was then being freshly submitted for registration. The fledgling
socialist party carried the image of a resolute clenched left fist, white in
colour, and set against a bright red background. It signified struggle,
and the spirit of struggle, based on people’s power, on principles and
integrity.
The clenched fist was threatened with
extinction together with the PSM when the application to register the party was
rejected in 1999. The Home Minister revealed later that based on police
information, he had concluded that the PSM was a threat to national security!
It was mind-boggling, yet the paranoia was not entirely without basis.
For at least a decade, the grassroots
organizations that came together to form the PSM had been a thorn in the flesh
of well-connected developers, plantation companies and state governments whose
‘development’ activities were displacing urban pioneers, workers, plantation
communities and farmers. Predictably, the police aligned themselves with the
propertied and powerful, obliging them by acting heavy handedly against the
affected communities.
With the help of people’s power, the
communities usually managed to fight off the encroachment, thereby thwarting
the plans of the intruding parties. In many cases, they were given alternative
housing or titles to land. As for the police, instances of abuse of
power, were pursued and exposed. So the issue was not quite national
security but the security and well-being of certain quarters.
Ten years, a court case and many
struggles later, the PSM was registered in 2008. But the party and its
effects – its logo, the socialist tag and the motto - had already been on the
Malaysian political scene for ten years before being officially recognized.
The clenched fist was all over – on the PSM service center signboards at
all the branches, on the tens of thousands of leaflets distributed yearly,
booklets, t-shirts etc. Not being registered by the government was not a
serious hindrance to the PSM as it in no way hampered the work of the party.
But there was one major drawback.
Without being registered, PSM candidates could not stand on the fist logo
during the general elections. That was always a source of great regret for
party members in all the elections participated in by the PSM in 1999, 2004 and
2008. In all these three elections, PSM candidates stood on the symbols
graciously lent to us by other parties such as the DAP and PKR.
In early 2009, just when it seemed
that the battle for registration was finally over, the Election Commission
refused to register the PSM fist as a political party symbol. The reason cited
was that it was ‘morally’ unsuitable as it signified violence! But that
ploy to remove the fist from the Malaysian domain was difficult for them to
defend when there were already in existence parties like UMNO that had weapons
in their logo!
The fist appears to have come a long
way since the uncertainty of its earlier days. It has captured the
imagination of the young and idealistic, as well as of seasoned activists and
politicians.
A fair
number of groups and movements carry the clenched fist symbol on their
banners. During the recent Hari Kebangkitan rakyat on 12 january, it
appeared that the clenched fist was the most popular symbol. Many groups
carried it in their tshirts and posters. The clenched fist was in different
shapes and colors but it was the symbol for change and peoples power. The image
seems to eloquently match the dynamism and combative mood of the struggle for
political change during this defining moment in our history.
The popular clenched fist will be finally
making its debut at the 13th General
Elections.
