Bersih 2.0: Arrested and sent to Pulapol

By
CL Shue

Jul 14, 11 | MalaysiaKini

EYEWITNESS
On July 8, 2011, my doctor friend SMS-ed me and said he was not sure whether he would be able to get into Kuala Lumpur by the next day. I was also not sure whether I would be able to get near Stadium Merdeka on July 9. But I had to go and see.

On July 9 after work in the morning, I drove to the Pavilion and parked my car there, and took a taxi to Petaling Street to meet my friend. He got into KL without any problems. He introduced two other people to me.

We went down Jalan Petaling at around 11am and came to a corner facing Central Market. There were trucks lined up, with rows of police and other blue-uniformed people in front of Central Market.

A helicopter flew overhead. I took some pictures and videos. There were few people, and no commotion.

A plainclothes police officer with a walkie talkie came up behind me together together with a policeman in uniform. He looked at me in a stern manner and asked me, “Why are you here?” “Oh! This is an important day,” I replied. “Why is it important?” he cocked his head and asked.

“This has never happened before. This is very important. This is a historical day!” There was no time to think, and it was without hesitation that I replied calmly and emphatically, straight from my heart.

He asked me for my identity card, and after taking my IC, he said, “Okay, be part of history,” and with a wave of his hand, he signalled for a uniformed police officer to escort me and my friend to the police truck.

As we walked towards the truck, there were plenty of photo-snapping by uniformed and non-uniformed people. “This is no good. These goons are going to have a file on me,” I thought. “But I’ve got to say what I’ve got to say!” and I was glad I did.

We got into one of the trucks and were joined by many ordinary folk, all cooperative, no noise or gestures of defiance or protests.

After the truck was filled, the doors were closed and padlocked from outside. Off we went in a convoy, at a fairly high speed and escorted by a traffic police car.

I looked, and all around were ordinary folks, 90 percent of whom were Malays: workers, students, elder citizens, some with white skullcaps, some with checkered turbans, and people that I don’t ordinarily see in the city.

But they all had warmth in their eyes. We shook hands and a bond was established. We might have had different backgrounds, but at that moment, I knew we were one people.

Trucked to Pulapol

We were brought into the Pusat Latihan Polis large compound known as Pulapol.

My friend and I phoned our family. My wife was a little excited even though she knew I was going to KL and to Bersih 2.0.

She supported me but still she could not contain her feelings, judging from the shrillness of her initial response. I reassured her “nothing will happen”.

She fell into calmness quickly. I knew she felt reassured. She has always trusted my judgement. In the days leading up to July 9th, we had already decided: “Arrest, arrest lah, how many can they arrest?”

At the camp, we peeked out of the truck and could see the trucks lined up one by one, about 10 at that time. The truck stopped at a large building to disgorge the detainees, one truck at a time. We waited for like an hour or so for our turn.

The waiting was interspersed with spirited shouts; tidy, resonating and in unison. Next to the large building was a large open air compound, part of it fenced up with barb wire and with police trainees standing behind the barb wire in a disorderly and slack manner.

The barb wire and the truck line up reminded me of Dachau just outside Munich, but without the chill and atmosphere of suspended doom.

The police trainees reacted to occasional jeers or mockery. But they were largely spared. They looked so young. It occurred to me while waiting, that the danger we were in was if the truck caught fire, we would most probably perished. There was no way we could have broken out of the double layered metal mesh construction of the truck.

That danger passed as we disembarked and took our seats in sections designated to hold us. One officer told us to switch off our handphones and we asked for a last call to our families.

Again we called our families and kept them updated. When our turn came, we took our seats in front of rows of individual tables behind which sat old policemen.

They took my name, IC number, and address. Then onto the next section. Again tables, but this time there were young police trainee girls seated behind the tables.

They were a little nervous and not stern or confident. Again they took my name, IC, my address, my wife’s name (told my wife later, may be she will get knocks on the door at night, but she said she was not scared), how many children I had, what my work was and where was I when I was arrested, and why I was where I was.

I told her I am a doctor and opened my back pack to show her gauze, rolls of bandages, plaster casts and bottles of water and said that I could help at the front line.

She was a little startled and told me she believed me. She asked whether I knew of the rally. I said yes the rally was to be at the stadium.

She wrote some words on the paper and did not ask me to sign. She then told me that was all and I was to join the rest in the fenced up area. We were able to phone, SMS, email our families and take video without any obstruction at all, as if what it were all meant for us to video to our hearts content.

By the thousands

My wife told me she had given our names to the lawyers. We had many people who came up to us to shake hands warmly.

We chit chatted with each other and shared our stories. Ordinary people, ordinary folks. I looked at their tan, their dress, their eyes and expressions. I wondered how much they would have to spend just to get to KL.

And here they were, by the thousands! Teachers, students, older people, women, traders, security guards,worker, politicians, religious teachers, wise men.

There were many more which I have no idea what they do. It was of no importance what their profession or work was. The thing that was of importance was we were all there for one reason.

We were one people. There were no barriers. It was a wonderful experience. It set me free. Free from fear. Free to feel the brotherhood, and the nationhood of brothers. Merdeka!

The long wait for the ICs were punctuated by few incidences. Often when a fresh batch of detainees arrived, there were rousing welcome shouts of the melodious ‘Allah al akbar’.

The ladies with tudung got one of the loudest welcomes. Faced with so many ordinary folks, the trainees appeared somewhat awkward and different from the hardened and seasoned old policemen.

Then there was this young but big size man who arrived in ambulance. Apparently emotional and perhaps traumatised, he seemed to be hyperventilating. Oxygen tension (sPo2) on room air was 100% and soon he settled down.

Some detainees arrived in hand cuffed behind their backs. Some had red marks on their wrists from the plastic handcuffs. Some had muddied shirts.

The only tense moment was when a police car brought a big man in red t shirt. O man! That was an absolutely crazy and stupid idea.

When people saw the red shirt, shouts rang out and the section of people who were aware got up from their seats or floor where they were sitting and started to move nearer the entrance and barb wires and the rows of policemen.

The atmosphere became tense. I feared for his life although I dislike red shirt guys. The policemen who brought him hesitated outside the camp and then bundled him back into the police car and sped off to the jeers and shouts of the detainees.

It was the proverbial waving of a red cloth in front of a raging bull.

With the red shirt man removed, the camp settled into calm again. Some food came. Fried ikan kembong, mixed vegetables, white rice, bottled water. I estimated the cost at about six ringgit market price.

Nice tents, nice chairs, fans, surau, portable toilets, four taps, makeshift Red Crescent tents. If you have flowers you could kahwin there too! It soon dawned on me that this was a publicity effort thought of by cunning crafty and sly people to project a pseudo-kind image.

Inefficient and slow

At various time, police officer with megaphone would come and stand here or there and calling out names and giving out the ICs.

The crowd just packed around the officer in a dense circle trying to hear whether their names were being called. Those answering the call had to fight their ways into the centre where the officer was standing to take their ICs.

I thought even a school teacher could do a better job to line up people in rows and to have walking lanes in between the rows. The process was inefficient and slow, as the officer had to call out the name twice with intervals in-between to allow response.

As the sky became dark, the crowd became restless. Then another officer with another megaphone appeared. He positioned himself about 20 metres away from the other officer and started to call out names.

The crowd was startled and turn 180 degrees to try to hear the name call. It was very comical to see the heads turning left when one megaphone called, and then right when the other megaphone called, like a yo-yo. It was so inefficient that it was soon abandoned.

After we got our ICs. we called our families. We were not sure when we were heading as there were initial rumours that we had to exit from Cheras police station.

Those who got their ICs were driven away in batches in luxurious coaches.

I thought to myself, luxurious coaches on a Saturday night would cost 1000 ringgit per bus per trip at least. Those with contracts to ferry detainees would make a bundle.

As we were driven out of Pulapol, there were family members and members from the public gathered outside.

They showed their solidarity by punching the air with fists and waving away, chanting, and displaying the warmest of smiles, seemingly proud of us, although we had not done anything except for just being there.

We were dropped off at Sentral. There were thundering shouts by people already at the station before us, as detainees disembarked from the buses.

We shook hands like alumni, war comrades and parted ways, exchanging deeply felt ‘bertemu lagi’. The expressions of our comrades were unforgettable. I felt my life enriched.

We shared a few hours, we didn’t even know each other’s name. But that was enough. In those hours, we had lived to the full.

We asked ourselves what we could do to help ourselves, and acted.

At 58, I will not run any more and I must turn to confront my destiny. What a day.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 14 July 2011, 12:24 pm and is filed under
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BERSIH 2.0: Pengalaman Saya

By
Khalid Samad

14 July 2011

Pengalaman saya bersama Perhimpunan BERSIH 2.0 bermula pada jam 11 pagi apabila saya dengan seorang teman dari PAS Shah Alam menuju ke Kuala Lumpur. Pada mulanya kami mencuba Lebuh Raya Persekutuan. Ianya sesak dari sebelum Tol Batu 3. Kami cuba pintas melalui Glenmarie. Trafik sesak di hadapan kilang pengedar kereta BMW. Kami memutuskan untuk berpusing balik dan mencuba pula melalui ELITE/PLUS menuju ke KLIA. Masuk di Batu 3, keluar di Tol USJ. Seterusnya menuju ke arah Puchong. Seterusnya kami menyusuri Jalan Gasing dan melalui kawasan Universiti Malaya sehingga keluar di Jalan Pantai. Dari situ terus menuju ke KL Sentral.

Sekatan jalan oleh polis di merata tempat. BN menyusahkan rakyat semata-mata kerana hendak menghalang program yang menegur mereka. Turut bersimpati dengan pihak polis, berpanas dan mendapat sumpahan rakyat berbakul-bakul semata-mata kerana UMNO/BN. Hanya pencuri dan BN yang bergembira dengan penggunaan polis secara sebegini. Tetapi, kalau difikirkan, memang terdapat persamaan di situ. Pencuri mencuri secara ‘illegal’, BN mencuri harta rakyat melalui cara ‘legal’.

Setibanya kami di jalan Brickfields, saya turun di tepi jalan dan berjalan kaki menuju ke KL Sentral. Terserempak dengan sahabat bermotosikal dan membonceng ke hadapan kawasan KL Sentral. Berjalan kaki pula menuju ke Hotel Hilton yang berada di sebelahnya. Saya berjalan berhampiran beberapa anggota polis tetapi mungkin oleh kerana saya bertegur sapa seorang pelancong dari Australia dan bersembang sambil berjalan dengan beliau, mereka tidak perasan akan saya. Mungkin juga saya dianggap sebagai ‘pemandu pelancong’ ataupun tourist guide.

Saya masuk ke Hotel Hilton dan dari lobi, terus menuju ke atas untuk bersama pimpinan. DSAI telahpun berada di situ bersama Dato Ambiga dan Lim Kit Siang. Beberapa pimpinan PAS juga sudah di situ apabila saya sampai. TG Hj Abdul Hadi sampai pada jam 1 tengah hari. PC dibuat dan mereka menyatakan secara jelas apa itu BERSIH 2.0 dan matlamat yang ingin dicapai. PR juga menyatakan sokongannya terhadap BERSIH 2.0.

Selepas solat Zohor yang diimamkan TG Hj Abdul Hadi kami mula bergerak ke bawah. Sampai sahaja kami ke Lobi, pelanggan di restoran di kawasan Lobi hotel itu tiba-tiba berdiri dan menepuk tangan menunjukkan sokongan. Termasuk pelancong-pelancong yang mengikuti perkembangan Negara, mereka semua faham apa yang kami inginkan akan membawa kebaikan untuk Negara. Hanya UMNO tidak mahu faham kerana mereka lebih pentingkan kebaikan diri mereka sendiri!

Ada dikalangan pelanggan, bangun untuk turut bersama. Sambil menunggu tadi, mereka minum di restoran hotel, membawa business juga pada hotel tersebut nampak gaya!

Kami keluar pintu utama Hotel dan terus tuju ke bangunan KL Sentral. Sambil keluar saya menoleh ke belakang dan mata saya mengesahkan, tiada meja yang diterbalikkan, tiada kerusi yang dicampak dan tiada bahagian yang dibakar di Hotel Hilton! Kami himpunan aman, bukan perusuh.

Sambil keluar saya melihat hari sedang hujan. Hujan rahmat yang akan mengurangkan kesan keperitan gas pemedih mata, terfikir saya. Bila tiba di salah satu pintu masuk KL Sentral, ada anggota polis yang cuba menghalang kami dari masuk, tetapi tidak berjaya. Kami masuk ke dalam dan tiba-tiba, orang ramai yang berada di dalam bersorak menyambut ketibaan kami. Jumlah yang asalnya hanya berpuluh, tiba-tiba disertai ramai yang telah berada di dalam, menjadi beratus! Kami terus mara dan keluar dari bangunan KL Sentral, dibawa melalui tangga besi ke tingkat bawah.

Yang menyertai kami di KL Sentral terdiri dari rakyat biasa yang menyokong kami. Mereka menunggu kami dan sambil menunggu, mereka membeli minuman dan makanan di kedai-kedai di KL Sentral. Semasa mereka bangun untuk menyertai kami, tiada kedai yang dibakar, kerusi yang dibaling atau meja yang dipecahkan. Kerana kami berhimpunan secara aman yang ingin menuntut pilihan raya yang adil dan bersih, bukan perusuh. Kami ingin lawan melalui pilihan raya, bukan melalui huru hara. Itu sebab pilihan raya perlu adil dan bersih.

Di tingkat bawah, kami berada di kawasan yang bagaikan sebuah terowong, kiri kanan berdinding. Mereka yang di depan membawa kami terus mara lagi menuju ke jalan keluar untuk ke Stadium Merdeka. Bila sampai di pintu ‘terowong’ tiba-tiba kelihatan satu barisan anggota FRU menghalang jalan. Kami berada lebih kurang 20 meter dari mereka. Kami berhenti, pimpinan berada di saf hadapan. Saya di saf yang ketiga. Tiba-tiba berbunyi siren dari belakang. Landrover FRU menuju ke arah kami dari belakang, inginkan laluan untuk ke depan. Kami memberinya laluan tanpa apa-apa tindakan khianat dari pihak kami.

Setelah landrover tersebut berada di hadapan, saya menoleh ke belakang, ingin melihat sekiranya ada pasukan FRU yang sedang mara ke arah kami. Orang sudah ramai, beresak-esak, dalam keadaaan kebimbangan kerana kami terperangkap dalam terowong tanpa adanya jalan keluar. Di depan FRU dan di belakang pun sudah begitu. Kami datang bukan untuk berentap dengan FRU tetapi BN menghantar FRU untuk menyerang kami.

Tiba-tiba saya mendengar bunyi tembakan dan dengan serta-merta, cermin-mata saya terpelanting ke depan. Asap gas pemedih mata mula berkepul-kepul. Tembakan datang dari depan dan belakang. Pada saat itu saya terfikir saya perlu mencari cermin-mata kerana semua menjadi kabur tanpanya. Tetapi suasana kelam kabut menyedarkan saya bahawa itu tidak mungkin saya lakukan. Gas pemedih mata mula terhidu. Saya teringat beg plastik yang berada di dalam kocek seluar saya dan dengan segera membukanya sehingga dipenuhi udara serta bernafas melaluinya dengan menutup hidung dan mulut saya dengannya. Beg plastik itu adalah pembalut baju BERSIH 2.0 yang diberikan kepada saya semasa diatas.

Pada ketika itu saya tidak sedar bahawa kepala saya terkena kelonsong gas pemedih mata dan sudah mula berdarah. Saya bersama rakan saya dari Shah Alam, saudara Zainal, yang ditugaskan untuk menemani saya, bergegas ke belakang dan ternampak ‘lubang’ di tepi dinding di sebelah kanan kami. Kami menuju ke lubang tersebut.

Sambil ke sana saya melihat A. Samad Said terduduk tersandar di tepi dinding. Beliau orang lama, pasti umurnya lebih 70 tahun. Dia tentu tidak mampu untuk beredar dari terowong yang semakin penuh dengan gas pemedih mata. Turut kelihatan beberapa pemuda yang duduk bersama beliau.

Semasa sidang akhbar sebentar tadi A. Samad Said turut bercakap. Beliau berkata, telah tiba masanya untuk sasterawan terlibat dalam pencorakan Negara kerana kerosakan yang semakin melanda. Saya kagum dengan beliau. Kebiasaannya, orang seperti dia akan berehat di rumah, bermain dengan anak cucu. Malangnya kebobrokan pemerintah memaksa beliau ke jalan raya, walaupun sudah cukup berusia. Mengapa? Kerana dia tidak ingin mewariskan kepada yang muda suatu negara yang hancur dan budaya politik yang muflis dari segi akhlak dan amanah! Celaka BN kerana merampas ketenangan zaman usia emas darinya!

Kelihatan juga beberapa wanita yang terduduk di atas jalan, tercungap-cungap kepedihan, hadiah dari BN yang ingin terus mempertahankan proses pilihan raya yang kotor. Mereka sedar akan risikonya tetapi mereka ingin juga melihat perubahan dan keadilan. Apa akan mereka warisi sekiranya kepincangan diteruskan dan kekayaan negara terus disalah-gunakan? Oleh itu mereka datang walaupun tahu kemungkinan mereka akan dilayani sebegitu rupa oleh BN.

Pada ketika itu saya tersedar bahawa beg plaktik yang saya bernafas melaluinya sudah mula basah, berisi dengan sesuatu cecair yang berwarna gelap. Sahabat saya lantas memberitahu saya bahawa saya telah terluka di bahagian kepala. Beg plastik dipenuhi darah!

Saudara Zainal membawa saya terus menuju ke lubang yang kelihatan tadi. Terpaksa kami melalui di bawah dua batang paip air untuk sampai ke lubang tersebut. Sebaik sahaja melalui lubang itu, kami dapati kami memasuki kawasan pembinaan. Ada beberapa pekerja di situ. Kami bertanya jalan keluar dan dengan segera mereka menunjukkan kami jalan untuk melepas diri.

Zainal meminta saya berhenti dan baju Bersih 2.0 yang saya pakai di atas baju T-shirt saya digunakan untuk membalut kepala saya untuk mengurangkan pendarahan. Pada masa itu kelihatan baju saya penuh dengan kesan darah. Saya duduk sambil dia dan beberapa lagi rakan seperjuangan membalut kepala saya. Ada bersama pemuda dari kawasan Selayang. Ada juga pemuda dari Sarawak! Pemuda dari selayang memberikan saya tuala kecil yang sudah dibasahkan untuk membersihkan muka dari kesan darah.

Sambil itu semua dilakukan, dua orang lagi pemuda keluar dari kawasan pembinaan tersebut untuk mendapatkan teksi untuk saya. Bila ada teksi ditahan, maka mereka memanggil saya untuk menaiki teksi tersebut. Zainal menutup kepala saya dengan beg plastic kuning yang dia bawa bersama. Takut luka dibasahi hujan. Pemuda Sarawak memberi pula jaket hitamnya untuk menutup kepala saya juga, takut air hujan akan membasahi luka saya.

Saya dan Zainal menaiki teksi dan meminta pemandu membawa kami ke Hospital. Pemandu itu melihat pada saya dan terus menyedari saya salah seorang yang menyertai perhimpunan BERSIH. Dia nampak saya sedang cedera dan dengan segera dia membawa kami pergi. Sambil dalam perjalanan dia cukup berhati-hati, mengelak kawasan yang dijaga polis.

Setibanya kami di Hospital, di bahagian kecemasan, saya dibawa untuk bertemu doktor yang bertugas. Pembantu Hospital (HA) ramai bertanya akan keadaan di Kuala Lumpur sambil menunjukkan sokongan mereka terhadap apa yang diusahakan. Sambil berbincang saya dicucuk dengan cucukan anti-tetanus, tekanan darah dibaca dan keadaan jantung diperiksa melalui ECG. Orang biasa yang berada di hospital turut bertanya apa yang sedang berlaku. Sambil menunggu keluarga mereka yang dirawat, sokongan mereka terhadap apa yang dituntut oleh BERSIH jelas disuarakan.

Ada seorang peserta himpunan aman BERSIH yang cedera telah tiba di Hospital sebelum saya. Beliau lagi parah. Kelongsong gas pemedih mata terkena di dadanya dan melantun ke atas melanggar dagunya. Tulang dagunya patah menyebabkan dia tidak boleh bercakap dengan jelas.

Para doktor dan jururawat yang merawat saya begitu bersimpati dengan usaha kami. Sambil menjahit luka saya setelah kepala di x-ray, ada yang bertanya kehairanan terhadap cara perhimpunan itu ditangani. “Apa salahnya? Kenapa tidak dibenarkan sahaja? Apa yang diminta sememangnya patut” kata salah seorang doktor sambil menjahit 6 jahitan dikepala saya. “Kami sokong, tapi terpaksa menikus” katanya lagi.

Itulah Malaysia, negara kesayangan kita semua. Bumi di mana golongan bijak pandai ditakut-takutkan. “Kalau bersama himpunan BERSIH, tindakan akan diambil! Semua pegawai kerajaan diharamkan untuk berserta! Mahasiswa, mahasiswi, pensyarah, cikgu-cikgu, kalau terlibat, nahas kamu!” kata-kata perangsang pemerintah yang memerintah melalui penindasan dan ugutan. Ya Malaysia, bukannya Myanmar ataupun Kampuchea di bawah Pol Pot. Kehebatan negara ini dan segala kelebihannya hancur di tangan pemerintah yang mementingkan diri.

Itulah sebabnya perubahan itu perlu. Perubahan demi membebaskan Malaysia dari barisan pemimpin yang sudah lupa diri, tenggelam dalam harta dan kemewahan yang dicuri dari rakyat. Ianya hanya dapat dilakukan sekiranya pilihan raya itu adil dan bersih. Itulah sebabnya mengapa usaha BERSIH perlu diteruskan.

Pada masa itu waktu sudah pukul empat petang. Saya menerima sms bahawa TG Hj. Abd Hadi telah ditahan. DSAI dihantar ke hospital kerana turut cedera. Lebih kurang 1,400 orang ditahan polis. Tetapi, LKS tidak mampu ditahan polis walaupun beliau ‘separuh rabun’ kerana baru sahaja menjalani pembedahan mata! Sedangkan beliau bersama di saf hadapan. Adakah ini merupakan sebahagian dari tipu muslihat mereka? Ingin ditonjolkan kononnya bahawa hanya Melayu sahaja yang terlibat sambil mengelakkan kemarahan masyarakat Cina?

Namun demikian, maklumat seterusnya yang saya terima melalui SMS menyatakan, himpunan BERSIH 2.0 berjaya dihadiri berpuluh ribu rakyat berbilang kaum di beberapa tempat termasuk di Stadium Merdeka dan Pudu Raya! Sambil itu, perhimpunan turut diadakan di beberapa bandar utama di serata dunia!

Saya kembali ke rumah selepas itu, walaupun perit gas pemedih mata masih terasa dan luka di kepala masih menyengit, tetapi hati tetap gembira dengan kejayaan perhimpunan tersebut. Saya kemudiannya dikunjungi beberapa sahabat yang kembali dari Kuala Lumpur. Mereka menceritakan pengalaman mereka sambil ingin tahu keadaan saya. Semua merasa bangga dengan kejayaan perhimpunan tersebut dan tiada sesiapa, termasuk saya, merasa kesal kerana telah bersama. Ini adalah kerana, kami telah turut menyertai suatu perhimpunan yang telah melakar sejarah dalam mencorak masa depan tahah air. InsyaAllah, angin perubahan kencang akan terus kekal bertiup di bumi Malaysia ini!

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 14 July 2011, 6:18 pm and is filed under
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Bersih: My final thoughts

By
Art Harun

July 14, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

JULY 14 — “Wise men profit more from fools than fools from wise men; for the wise men shun the mistakes of fools, but fools do not imitate the successes of the wise.” — Cato the Elder (234 BC – 149 BC) from Plutarch, Lives.

In my opinion, the biggest mistake that the government had made in the Bersih issue was to isolate a large section of the society from itself, anger them and convert them into a Bersih sympathiser and/or supporter.

At some point of time before the Bersih rally — in my opinion it was about the time Pak Samad said was hauled to the police station — the Bersih movement had transcended its electoral reform objective into a full-scale platform for the people to vent their frustrations, disappointments, angst and anger to the government.

To put it crassly, from that point of time Bersih became a platform for many people to show their middle finger to the government, for whatever personal reason(s) they may have.

All the government had to do in the early days of Bersih 2.0 was to deal with Bersih and its demands. The demands were not about the escalating inflation and price of household items; not about Teoh Beng Hock or Sarbaini; not about corruption; not about the electricity rate hike; not about the Astro price hike; not about the police, MACC or whichever agency.

The demands were just about fair and just elections or what was perceived by Bersih as such. That was it. It was politically related but not politically motivated. (For the uninitiated, there is a difference between the two.) The fact that some opposition political parties were in solidarity with Bersih did not demote Bersih into a political party with the inevitable and attendant political baggage.

The premise of Bersih was an idea, a thought. The idea was our election process is not fair. The resulting conclusion from that idea was that our electoral process needs reform or at least a change. That was all.

Being an idea, or a thought, Bersih operates and infects the masses insidiously. It is in their head that the idea is planted. It is not in their behaviour. A Bersih sympathiser or supporter with the said planted idea would not act in a way an Al-Qaeda member would. He or she was not going to strap C4 around his or her body, go to the mall on a Sunday, and buy the proverbial ticket to heaven by blowing himself or herself up.

Planted with that idea, a Bersih sympathiser or supporter would try to convince others that that idea was correct. That idea will infest and continue to infest.

The wearing of yellow T-shirts with the word Bersih was just a way or means employed by carrier of such idea to make known that he or she subscribed to that idea to the open world.

The yellow T-shirts were not even a manifestation of the idea which he or she carried. With or without the yellow T-shirts, the idea still infests their mind. Similarly, the colour of the T-shirts did not matter. It could have been pink for all they cared but the idea stayed the same.

The idea, as I said earlier, was that the election process is not fair and it needs reform.

And so this was what, allegorically, the government was facing about a month before the rally. There were some yellow mosquitoes flying around in some wet markets, shopping malls, seminar rooms and on the streets. That was it. Nothing more.

It was like the proverbial bloody fly in the car cockpit. Irritating, yes. Annoying, yes. Threatening, absolutely not.

And how exactly did the government react to this handful of yellow mosquitoes? Well, it took out some really large and heavy cannons and shot the mosquitoes!

The government firstly denied that our election process was not fair. That was okay. Because by doing that, the government was actually trying to supplant an opposing idea. But what it did later was beyond rationale. Any strategist, political or otherwise, worth his or her salt, would cringe in disbelief.

It went out seizing the yellow T-shirts. People who wore the offending attire were arrested. How did arresting people wearing yellow and seizing the yellow item assist in erasing the idea which Bersih had planted? The idea was in the head. That idea did not reside in the yellow T-shirts. That was the government reacting according to the proverbial “marahkan nyamuk kelambu dibakar” (loosely translated, angry with the mosquitoes, burn the mosquito net) way.

First, the public reaction was one of disbelief. Soon it became a joke. The government, the police, the home minister and all else who were perceived to be the instigator to the act of banning the colour yellow became a big joke.

The joke then became even a bigger joke. That was when the government and its machinery, direct and indirect, embarked into phase two of their “war propaganda”.

I have stated in “The Doctor is Not In” that an oppressor would cling to every “fact”, even manufactured ones, to justify its oppression. I quoted Umberto Eco in “Turning Back The Clock” who said:

“In general, in order to maintain popular support for their decisions, dictatorships point the finger at a country, group, race, or secret society that is plotting against the people under the dictator. All forms of populism, even contemporary ones, try to obtain consensus by talking of a threat from abroad, or from internal groups.”

How true is that? Umberto Eco could have been talking about Malaysia actually. Did he have a digital crystal ball or what?

Barely recovering from shaking our collective head over the arrest of people wearing yellow, the government went into ape mode. Bersih was infiltrated by communists. It was also funded by Christian groups. Some ministers and the police then said there were evidence that Bersih had certain “foreign elements” bent on creating havoc and overthrowing the government.

All classic wartime propaganda. But really, who was at war? Nobody except for the government.

Sticking with the “war” theme, the government’s well-known, but the most laughable and idiotic shit stirrer, Perkasa leader Ibrahim Ali, launched a counter movement and called themselves Gerak Aman (Peace Movement, in English), with Ibrahim Ali as its “war general.”

So, we had a peace movement with a war general. And a war general without any war to go to. He then promptly issued a really peaceful statement, i.e. the Chinese had better stocked up food and not come out to the streets on July 9.

This was followed by some silat organisation declaring that it will “wage war” against Bersih participants. The next day this organisation appointed itself as the “third line of defence” of Malaysia, an appointment which was duly accorded official approval by none other than the prime minister himself later.

At this point in time, the government’s handling of the Bersih issue had moved from disbelief-dom to jokes-ville and now to a surreal and burlesque town. The government had then managed to anger the Bersih sympathisers and supporters, isolated the Christians and Chinese, and turned itself into some kind of a mixture of Robin Williams and Russell Brand (no insult meant to Katy Perry, of course).

Ambiga, the chairperson of Bersih, was instantaneously declared as an enemy of Islam. Quite how Bersih’s electoral reform agenda became intertwined with race and faith is quite beyond many to conjure. But enemy of Islam she was. That managed to isolate the non-Muslims and even the thinking Muslims from the government’s stance.

So, after that, the pesky yellow mosquito problem had turned into a full-scale stampede of biblical proportion, joined in by the elephants, lions, tigers, snakes and what have you. Congratulations.

The climax of all of these — the mother of all screw ups — to me, was the mounting of roadblocks during the morning peak hours from Wednesday, July 6 onwards.

By this time, even the normal apathetic middle-class Malaysians who could not even be bothered to register themselves as voters became agitated and upset.

This apathetic middle class are a very comfortable lot. They will not move their ass to do anything if that would mean bringing themselves out of their comfort zone. Finding the TV remote control is bringing themselves out of their comfort zone to these people. They will not be asked to do anything until and unless they become uncomfortable.

And, of course, being stuck in a traffic jam in their second-hand BMWs, Benzes and whatever was uncomfortable to them. And they told themselves, enough with this crap. I am going to show my middle finger to the police!

By this time, almost the whole section of the urban society was isolated by the government. Even the civil servants who were late for work were thinking of joining the rally.

Speaking of the police, apart from being busy carrying guns and waving the traffic to pass by, they managed to find parangs and Molotov cocktails at Sogo. There you have it. Bersih was bent on creating havoc.

Why parangs? Why not guns and bombs? And to think about it, the Molotov cocktails were made in plastic bottles. Who in their right mind would make Molotov cocktails in plastic bottles, hello? From which university did the guy graduate? Off campus? Online course?

Disbelief. Joke. Burlesque. Ridicule. Anger.

What a transformation.

The easiest thing to do was to fight the idea that our election process needs reform. That was all that was needed. An idea is fought by, firstly, showing that that idea is not quite correct. Or that it was not credible. Then neutralise that idea with a better and more acceptable idea.

An idea is not fought by arresting the people having that idea. Or by banning a colour depicting subscription to that idea. Or by declaring the person heading the movement perpetuating that idea as anti-Islam. Or that it was Christian idea. Oh my God. Fail!

Now, let’s not talk about what happened during the rally. Suffice if I say that the people joining the rally were not the hooligans they were made out to be. We all could watch all the YouTube videos and decide for ourselves.

The thing which I want to comment about is this.

If the government’s handling of Bersih before the rally was beyond belief in its irrationality and unreasonableness, its handling AFTER the rally is not any better, if not far worse.

The IGP became a laughing stock when he quickly announced that only 6,000 people attended the rally. Then the home minister chipped in to say the police was fair and in fact very restrain in their approach on July 9. The prime minister said the police were a picture of tranquillity and displayed a monk-like attitude towards the rally goers.

Ha ha and ha.

The Minister Liow denied teargas was fired into compound of Tung Shin. Chua Soi Lek, not be left out, chipped in to say the police had to tear gas the hospital in order to protect the patients. And today, 11 doctors from that hospital state their willingness to affirm affidavits under oath that the police did in fact shoot water and tear gas into the compound of the hospital on July 9. They said the police even entered into the buildings to search for rally goers.

The prime minister has left for the UK. The mainstream media went ape-like in blaming Anwar and mocking his injury. This obsession with Anwar Ibrahim is actually quite irritating. Let me tell you all something. Most rally goers did not give a hoot about Anwar that day. That day was not about Anwar. It was about their middle finger which they had wanted to point to some others.

The international press — which, of course, in the government’s book, are always bias and out to pursue their secret agenda against our country — have not been kind to the government. Even the Jakarta Post editorial (“Malaysia is rich but not free”) was not flattering. Yesterday, Bloomberg’s William Pesek was scathing in his opinion. Pesek is an influential writer and Bloomberg is a reference point for many foreign investors. So, what’s the plan here?

Someone died during the rally. Have we heard a word of sympathy or condolence from the government’s side? I have not. All we had was the usual defensive “don’t blame me” statements.

Are we human? Or have we stopped being human? Since when? — art-harun.blogspot.com

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 14 July 2011, 6:50 pm and is filed under
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Bersih rally may point to unequal wealth distribution, says Financial Times

By
 Clara Chooi

July 14, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, July 14 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak should take heed of last Saturday’s mass protest as a possible show of public distaste on income disparity in Malaysia, aside from a push for electoral reform, the Financial Times has said.

The daily reported in a commentary on its popular Lex column that the prime minister may have to lift the issue of unequal wealth distribution as a priority for his administration, noting that since the Umno president took office, he had chosen instead to focus on boosting Malaysia’s gross national income per capita (GNI).

“Mr Najib may yet come to view the Gini coefficient (measure of the inequality of wealth distribution) as the more urgent priority,” it wrote.

The daily pointed out that the centrepiece of Najib’s Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), launched last October, is a series of investment projects aimed at lifting the GNI to help Malaysia escape its current middle-income rut.

But it voiced doubt on Najib’s targets, saying that while such goals were positive for the long term, past government-led schemes “have floundered for the lack of them”.

“It is even better to hand over responsibility for implementation to a third-party body, as Mr Najib has done… but has he selected the right metric?,” it said.

“Unlike the GDP (gross domestic product), the GNI captures income received from Malaysian-owned foreign output, while excluding profits from foreign-owned domestic output.

“Shifting savings to domestic private investment can therefore lift the measure relatively easily, assuming population growth stays moderate,” the daily added.

It pointed out that the ETP’s estimated investment target, two-thirds of which is to be derived from private investment sources, requires a whopping 70 per cent increase in the country’s total annual investment average since 2005.

According to local news reports, the government’s Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) has projected that a total investment of US$444 billion or RM1.4 trillion will be needed for 131 “transformative” projects to make the country a high-income nation by 2020 under the ETP. About 92 per cent of total investment is to be led by the private sector.

Such a target, said the Financial Times, would be “do-able” with sufficient aid from foreign sources and the slew of government mega infrastructure projects such as the multibillion ringgit Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) rail system planned for 2016.

“But in the short term, it is not clear that the benefits of a shrinking capital account will trickle through to the three-quarters of Malaysia’s workforce that is regarded as unskilled.

“Last weekend’s violent demonstrations in the capital, notionally about electoral reform, may also be a taste of public opinion on the distribution of wealth,” the daily pointed out.

Thousands of Malaysians took the capital here last Saturday in a protest calling for free and fair elections. But pundits have also said the massive showing is testament to the growing public dissent against the Najib administration, which has been criticised for constantly backpeddling on its own economic reform promises.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 14 July 2011, 3:54 pm and is filed under
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Bersih’s Ambiga is tool of the rakyat

Malaysiakini Your Say
 | Jul 14, 11

‘When I saw Anwar, Kit Siang and Saifuddin next to Ambiga while she gave the PC, I knew this was a new beginning for a multiracial Malaysia.’

Noh Omar: Pakatan MPs have become Ambiga’s tool

Jiminy Qrikert:
 As usual, Umno-BN is now spinning their lies into truths. Earlier, they said S Ambiga is Anwar Ibrahim’s tool. That was during the run-up to the Bersih rally.

Now that the rally was such an astounding success with 50,000 of the rakyat slipping through the police blockade and the total lock-down of Kuala Lumpur, an Umno idiot pops up to say Anwar is Ambiga’s tool.

I say, man, when will they understand that both Anwar and Ambiga are the rakyat’s tool to get rid of a bloodsucking, corrupt, cheating, racist and bigoted Umno-BN? Even the colour yellow sends shivers down their spines.

DannyLoH:
 These people are so myopic in their view and reasoning that they can’t seem to see anything clearly. Perhaps it is due to their lack of principles. All they see is the visual effects of things.

It’s never occurred to them that Pakatan Rakyat heeded Ambiga’s call because it is a call to stand up for a noble cause. It is a call to reaffirm the principle of free and fair elections. It is a cry for justice for the PSM 6 detained under the draconian Emergency Ordinance.

All these actions are based on principle, not some cheap political gimmicks that the Umno elites are so used to. That is why they contradict themselves – when they see that Pakatan will win support for calling for free and fair elections, they would say it’s an Anwar ploy.

But when they see that Pakatan MPs are heeding Ambiga’s call, they say these MPs are Ambiga’s stooges. It shows how shallow BN MPs are.

Tbala:
 Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Noh Omar, what is wrong with Ambiga taking centre-stage? What is your problem with Ambiga commanding such influence and respect?

When I saw Pakatan leaders like Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Kit Siang and Saifuddin Nasution Ismail next to Ambiga while she gave a press conference, I knew this was a new beginning for a multiracial Malaysia.

When Pakatan leaders surrounded Ambiga and submitted themselves to the leadership of Ambiga during the Bersih rally, it clearly showed that Malaysia is finally heading in the right direction where race does not matter.

Umno being big-headed has never allowed and will never allow MCA/MIC/Gerakan leaders to lead them. Have you ever seen a non-Malay from MCA/MIC/Gerakan taking centre-stage over Umno?

Quigonbond:
 It’s so Umno-like to play both front and back. They first accuse Pakatan of hijacking Bersih 2.0, now they say Ambiga’s leading Pakatan by the nose. Is everyone in the federal government suffering from schizophrenia, displaying their Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde side, or are they so stupid to pull this kind of lie on the public?

We now know Umno’s modus operandi – make all accusations, hope something will stick. But you know what? The boy who cried wolf the third time, got eaten by the wolf. I’m fairly certain the third time has already come up for Umno.

Family: We still don’t know how Baharudin died

Soap Opra:
 If there was no tear gas and no water cannon, and if the police presence was only to protect everyone during the rally, the rally participants and the general public, Baharuddin Ahmad’s death could have been due completely to a bad health condition.

But now, the situation is not as straight forward. Irrespective of the Kuala Lumpur Hospital post-mortem findings, the public will choose to believe what they want.

Nil:
 Dying of a heart attack is one thing, what caused the heart attack is another. In a high-profile case like this, who wants to believe a post-mortem report from a government hospital?

Sabahan:
 My condolences to the family of Baharuddin Ahmad. I cannot understand why his daughter, who is a medical doctor, was not accorded any courtesy by the hospital authorities and doctors. Does the Hippocratic Oath for doctors no longer apply?

During my time as a government doctor, we would allow any doctor – private or government – to attend any post-mortem for their family members. The standards and morals of government doctors have reached a new low because of the corrupt and dictatorial BN/Umno government.

SMC77:
 Baharuddin could have died because of heart attack but we need to know why Baharuddin suffered a heart attack in the first place.

Pemerhati:
 After the ridiculous and false report by the government pathologist Dr Abdul Karim Tajuddin on the cause of A Kugan’s death and the subsequent attempt by the director-general of the health department Dr Ismail Merican to discredit the report of another pathologist, Dr Prashant S Ambekar, that contradicted the report of Abdul Karim, by roping in several pathologists to attack his findings, indicated that the BN government will intimidate and pressure its public servants to say whatever it wants them to say.

This intimidation and pressure was again clearly evident during Anwar Ibrahim’s sodomy trial during the bizarre behaviour of the doctors in refusing to refer to their notes when giving evidence.

After Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand’s evidence during the Teo Beng Hock trial, it became very obvious that our pathologists would only report findings that would please PM Najib Razak and the BN. The public now does not believe local government pathologists and doctors even if what they say is true.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 14 July 2011, 10:10 am and is filed under
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BN losing the cyberwar again

By
Oon Yeoh

Jul 14, 11 | MalaysiaKini

What a difference a year makes. Around this time last year, I wrote an article entitled The Cyberwar of 2012 for my weekly Oon Time column in theSun newspaper.

In it, I wrote about how Barisan Nasional seemed to be getting the upper hand in the online space largely because many of the popular pro-Pakatan Rakyat bloggers had become MPs and had become too busy to blog.

Post-March 8, 2008, we saw the rise of pro-Umno bloggers who quickly went on to dominate the political blogging scene.

Also around that time, online news sites were full of stories about how Pakatan lawmakers were busy jumping ship or fighting amongst themselves.

“The balance of power in cyberspace is pretty even now,” I wrote, adding: “If anything, BN has a slight advantage.”

I also criticised Pakatan for its complacency, highlighting the fact that they had reigned supreme in the online space prior to the general election not because of their brilliant new media strategy – they had none – but because their supporters happened to be web-savvy.

Take Jeff Ooi. He was actively blogging about governance issues long before he decided to join DAP. Tony Pua already had a well-followed education blog before he became a DAP member. Elizabeth Wong was well known as a human rights activist and blogger before she joined PKR.

Many opposition supporters also took to YouTube and posted stuff critical of the BN. They weren’t instructed to do so by Pakatan parties. They just did it out of conviction because they felt Pakatan parties got very little traditional media coverage.

Why didn’t BN’s supporters do the same? Prior to the 12th general election, they obviously didn’t feel the need to take to new media because they had traditional media on their side.

That mindset completely changed after the elections and pro-BN guys responded with a vengeance. As I had mentioned earlier, by this time last year, the political blogosphere had become dominated by pro-Umno bloggers.

Momentum swings back to Pakatan

Fast forward to the present. What happened in the space of one year? Social media happened.

The rise of Facebook and Twitter was something BN supporters have failed to appreciate and have been slow to adopt. While they were busy blogging away – and sometimes having Utusan Malaysia picking up their conspiracy theories – Pakatan supporters were actively tweeting and setting up Facebook pages.

The recent Bersih rally clearly demonstrates that the new media momentum has solidly swung back to Pakatan (although Pakatan politicians can’t claim credit for it) thanks to social media.

In the days leading up to the July 9 rally, social media networks like Facebook and Twitter were full of comments expressing outrage at what the authorities were doing – arresting people for wearing yellow Bersih shirts, outlawing an organisation that wasn’t even really an organisation but a coalition of NGOs, and making unsubstantiated allegations about Bersih leaders.

Now it should be said that the people I follow on Twitter are not all into politics. In the case of my Facebook network, even fewer are politically inclined. Yet, on July 9 – and the days immediately after that – my social media timeline was completely lit up with tweets and status updates about Bersih.

People who normally never even pay attention to political news were suddenly tweeting about Bersih and sharing links to pictures and videos of Bersih demonstrators being sprayed with chemical-laced water and being fired upon with tear-gas.

Videos like
this
became viral. Facebook pages like
this
became a hit. A Facebook page calling for Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s
resignation
became an even bigger hit.

And amidst all this, what were the hardcore BN supporters doing? They must have been busy blogging, I guess.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 14 July 2011, 6:13 pm and is filed under
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BN’s stupidity is Godsend for Bersih

Malaysiakini Your Say
 | Jul 14, 11

‘It brought about a unity among the races which we had never been seen before. If ever there was such thing as 1Malaysia, we saw it on Saturday.’

Ambiga: Never any intention to topple BN

Quigonbond:
 The government’s resistance to entertain Bersih 2.0’s demands is an unambiguous sign that they do not believe nor want free and fair elections. If we were to have one, BN would fall.

Consider this – Singapore reformed its electoral process and immediately it lost five percent of the popular vote. BN was already at the brink in 2008 with just 53 percent of the popular vote.

A five percent swing would ensure its demise from federal power. The only way out for PM Najib Razak is to enact other meaningful reforms so that Malaysians could perhaps place electoral reforms as secondary importance again.

Remove the inspector-general of police and deputy inspector-general for their intransigence. Get rid of our current attorney-general, especially. Start elevating the people’s judges to higher office in the judiciary, not Umno sycophants.

Revamp the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). Boot out the current Election Commission chief who has failed to win the confidence of the public. Rein in more big fishes in corruption cases. Remove all false charges against opposition leaders. Have open tender. All these changes would make a difference.

Sarawakian_3ff9:
 Many of us did not, and still do not, understand Najib’s knee-jerk reaction. Had he allowed the march to go on and stepped back, the march would have been a non-event.

But who’s complaining anyway? BN’s stupidity was a God-send. Who could have asked for a better situation? It brought about a unity among the races which we had never been seen before. If ever there was such thing as 1Malaysia, we saw it on Saturday.

Not in Najib’s wildest dream, I dare say, would he have imagined what occurred on July 9. Eat your heart out, Apco Worldwide.

Anonymous_3f35: Will the BN government read the writing on the wall? No, Ambiga, they won’t. Since they lost some seats and states, all BN has been saying is that they lost the perception war.

This word “perception” is now a BN mantra, as if by a wave of some magic wand they can paint a different perception and win all the votes come next election. Some public relations firms have sold this mantra to BN and the likes of Najib, Chua Soi Lek and G Palanivel. The altars in their houses are made up of nothing but that word “perception”.

Can someone point out to them that doing the right things is what eventually matters and counts, not merely “perception”?

Alan Goh:
 S Ambiga is still hopeful that the government will change. Keep on hoping, Ambiga. Since 1981, after which corruption became the order of the day under the guise of the New Economic Policy, Umnoputras can make millions on a willing-buyer and willing-seller business strategy, getting contracts and sub-letting for a hefty commission without soiling their hands, what can change?

Until the cow comes home, nothing can change unless clean PAS/Pakatan Rakyat leaders take over Putrajaya. That is why, Umno/BN fears a ‘bersih’ and fair elections.

Fellow Malaysian: Ambiga is taking a middle stand and a conciliatory path in expressing her views and opinion regarding the aftermath of post-709, a no-nonsense and transparent assessment of why the rakyat turned out in such huge numbers despite terrible threats of persecutions, arrests and other acts of suppression.

This woman has just shown the old hats almost overnight occasion just how slick she could be. Otherwise, Wall Street Journal would not have bothered to look her up.

Anonymous:
 We hope Ambiga will stay focused and neutral. Only then will there be credibility for Bersih. She rightfully remarked she will not stand for any political post in the next election. That is a good move. She must be clear on her role and principles. Only then will she be a formidable force and no politician can tear her down.

Despite what the mainstream media say and what BN wants to believe, it was indeed a victory for Bersih last Saturday. The way the situation was handled by the government helped the fence-sitters make a stand.

Sh:
 Would a corrupt government and its leaders elected via a bias and manipulated election system be willing to have clean elections, risk getting overthrown and prosecuted for their wrongdoings? No.

But at least we have managed to send a clear message to the BN government that times have changed and they can’t get away as easily as before.

Charles Hector:
 Toppling the government is very different from voting out the BN from government. But for Najib and BN, they try to confuse us into thinking they are one and the same.

All opposition parties will campaign for BN to be ‘kicked out’ by the voters come next election – and this cannot be taken to be actions to topple the government. Calling for the resignation of Najib as the PM is certainly a democratic right of Malaysians, but our government is trying to make us feel that is ‘anti-national’.

In a democracy, it is very common, and from time to time, people do ask for their PM (or president) to step down. There is nothing wrong with that. There is a Facebook page calling for Najib to resign, so Najib and BN maybe could start another campaign to lobby support for himself to remain as PM.

Even during Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s rule, there were times that people wanted him to go – but he never made a ‘big deal’ out of it, did he? When his popularity sank, he went to the people to lobby support.

Najib, too, should think about doing things to get the people’s support – maybe set a minimum wage law now, stop prices from rising, stop depriving people of freedom of assembly and expression. Maybe then, Najib’s popularity may improve.

Poppyie:
 Good governance does not materialise and does not come from one person, one party or one government. It must come from a mixture of many governmental organisations, non-governmental organisations, ruling and non-ruling political parties, international organisations and, last but not least, the emerging yet powerful social networks on the Web.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 14 July 2011, 10:13 am and is filed under
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Doctors say cops fired tear gas into Tung Shin compound

The Malaysian Insider

Jul 13, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, July 13 — A group of doctors said today they were prepared to provide sworn affidavits to say that police had fired tear gas and chemical-laced water into the compounds of the Tung Shin and Chinese Maternity Hospitals during the Bersih rally last Saturday.

In a statement tonight, 11 doctors, including some who were at the scene, said they were outraged at the actions of the police in firing tear gas and water cannons without scant regard for the safety of patients and doctors.

“We, the undersigned doctors, wish not to enter into the polemics of the Bersih 2.0 march on 9th July 2011 but would like to clarify the inconvenient truth.

“We are outraged at the incidents, and the subsequent responses from the authorities, to the events where tear gas and chemical-laced water were shot into the compounds of the Tung Shin and Chinese Maternity Hospitals, two adjacent buildings along Jalan Pudu, Kuala Lumpur, with scant regard for the safety of patients, staff and the general public who were at the buildings that afternoon,” the doctors said.

Their statement contradicts that of Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai who had denied the police had shot into the hospital compounds, claiming instead that the wind had blown the gas in.

Liow also said that shots from the water cannons had only brushed the edges of the hospital walls.

The police have also denied shooting directly into the hospital compounds after protesters had sought refuge there.

The statement tonight by the senior doctors is likely to embarrass the authorities who have claimed minimal force was used.

“Hospitals are considered as safe sanctuaries for all, even during wartime, but these consecrated places of refuge and protection were violated by the defence forces that afternoon. Police even entered the buildings in search of some of these peaceful marchers.

“What was most frightening and witnessed by many was the unprovoked violent assault within the hospital compounds and the apprehension of several protesters who had merely run into the hospitals to seek shelter from the tear gas and the water cannons.

“It is repulsive that the authorities entrusted with policing the nation and protecting the weak and needy, have shamelessly denied publicly, the occurrence of these incidents in spite of countless photo/video and eyewitness accounts of what was evident to all independent observers,” they said.

Yesterday, MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek, a former health minister, said the police had to fire tear gas near Tung Shin Hospital to protect its patients from Bersih 2.0 protesters who had sought refuge there.

The MCA president said the situation should be viewed “in totality”, pointing out that the police would be accused of not doing their job had they decided against dispersing the crowd of protesters that had run into the hospital.

Dr Chua also said it was difficult to determine what exactly transpired at the hospital on Saturday as it was hard to tell the whole story from the photos and videos that have emerged online since then.

The doctors who signed the statement refuting claims by Dr Chua, Liow and the police are:

Dr Ng Kwee Boon — Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist

Datin Dr Low Paik See — Consultant Paediatrician

Dato’ Dr Musa Mohd Nordin — Consultant Paediatrician & Neonatologist

Dr Mazeni Alwi — Consultant Paediatric Cardiologist

Dr David Quek — Consultant Cardiologist

Dr Sheikh Johari Bux — Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist

Dr Steve Wong — Consultant Plastic Surgeon

Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa — Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon

Dr Ng Swee Choon — Consultant Cardiologist

Dr Mary Cardosa — Consultant Anaesthesiologist

Dr Jeffrey Abu Hassan — Consultant Chest Physician

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 14 July 2011, 8:31 am and is filed under
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Family: We still don’t know how Baharudin died

Salhan K Ahmad

Malaysiakini

Jul 13, 11

Closure appears to be slow in coming for the family of Baharudin Ahmad, the sole fatality allegedly linked to the Bersih 2.0 rally last Saturday.

The police recently claimed that a preliminary report based on the post-mortem on the 59-year-old taxi driver indicated that he had died of heart failure.

This however is not conclusive enough to satisfy his wife, Rosni Malan, and the family.

As it is, Baharudin’s family was only given a letter of consent to take his body for burial last Sunday without any explanation for his death.

Rosni, 55, said there has been so much speculation surrounding the events that lead to her husband’s death, that she and her family do not know what to believe.

“I still don’t know if (Baharudin) died because of tear gas or something else. I don’t know whether or not he was chased by the police.

“People have a lot of stories about what happened, but I was not there,” she said when met at her home in Keramat, Kuala Lumpur.

It is understood that Baharudin was declared dead at around 5.30pm at Hospital Kuala Lumpur after he was brought in by ambulance from Avenue K – located across the street from Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) – where he allegedly collapsed.

There have been varied accounts splashed across social networking sites and the Internet of what lead to Baharudin’s death, with some claiming that he collapsed after complications due to exposure to tear gas.

Kuala Lumpur acting police chief Amar Singh however denied they had fired tear gas at protesters near KLCC, claiming instead that the preliminary post-mortem report showed that the deceased’s heart, which had three blocked arteries, could not take the strain after the many kilometers of marching and running away from riot police.

It’s now a waiting game

Rosni complained that their eldest daughter, Dr Mirza, had repeatedly gone to HKL over the past two days to get a copy of the post-mortem report, but to no avail.

She remained sceptical over the police’s claim that her husband died of a heart attack, stressing that it was only based on a preliminary report of the post-mortem carried out at HKL – which she was told was conducted between 11pm and 3am that same night.

Mirza, meanwhile said they may have to wait up to five weeks for the full post-mortem results to be released, based on what she was told by an HKL official who attended to her request for a copy of the report.

“But this is a high-profile case, so I am anxious to see the report’s findings,” she said when contacted.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 14 July 2011, 8:58 am and is filed under
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How democratic elections still failed Sabah

By
Erna Mahyuni

July 14, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

JULY 14 — “How can you say our elections are unfair when BN lost five states in 2008?” I hear that refrain over and over again to the point I want to scream. And stage my own private rally in front of Putrajaya.

Let me tell you a story, of a 16-year-old girl witnessing the 1994 Sabah state elections. I was that girl. Imagine turning on the television to watch a video showing derelict shacks, illegal immigrants (who Sabah natives recognise on sight) living in squalor while in the background a refrain plays, calling on viewers to “Binalah Sabah baru (Build a new Sabah)!”

Nearly two decades later and I still want to punch whoever made that video in the mouth.

Thank you, Peninsular Malaysians, for insulting us so blatantly with your propaganda. Thank you for demonstrating that you can’t tell locals apart from illegal immigrants. Is that why the latter get issued ICs around election time when most local women can’t get PR status for their foreign husbands?

A little back story: PBS was the ruling party at the time and despite the propaganda and dirty tactics employed by Barisan Nasional, PBS still won.

This despite BN spreading nasty rumours that PBS had a Christian agenda and was planning to shut out Muslims from the government. Even when a former prime minister launched his own campaign to beggar the state into submission, shut off allocations, allowed infrastructure to fall into disrepair and engineered a smear campaign against then-Chief Minister Pairin Kitingan that has only ever been surpassed by the anti-Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim propaganda.

Though perhaps for Anwar it is a case of karma. For it is believed he was among those behind one of Sabah’s darkest periods: the great frog exodus. PBS politicians betrayed not only their party but the people who voted for them. Who voted to keep PBS in power despite being denied federal money, despite the smear tactics.

I remember watching the results on television, watching in disbelief as PBS members announced they were jumping ship and giving their allegiance to BN. For years after, those politicians were called traitors and shunned by the locals. No matter; Putrajaya rewarded them with ministerial seats anyway.

Years later, one of the frogs, Datuk Lajim Okin, had the nerve to claim he did it (jumped) for the people. And the result was Sabah being given its own university, Universiti Malaysia Sabah.

So, fine, we have a university now. But why is Sabah the poorest state in Malaysia? Why, according to UN statistics, more than half of Malaysians living below the poverty line Sabahans? Why did a little boy commit suicide because his mother couldn’t afford to give him 20 sen for ice cream?

And what breaks my heart is that so many of the rural folk have stopped believing in the electoral process. “Buat apa bah aku mahu mengundi? Diaorang semua boleh kena beli.” (Why should I vote? All of them can be bought.) Once, before, the Kadazan Dusuns were willing to come out to vote for Pairin, their Huguan Siou (paramount leader), despite him not having the resources to give them sewing machines and “goodies”.

1994 crushed Sabahans’ belief that their votes mattered anymore.

Is that the future you want for Malaysia? For citizens to become so disenchanted with polling they don’t bother to turn up? Is this the ideal we fought for? A country where our “leaders” send their children overseas, pay millions for Facebook pages and sic water cannons on dissenters?

I am sorry to say this but our leaders need to understand that a democracy requires respecting due process, upholding ethics and fair play and serving the people, not some overfed politician. It is not a game of Monopoly where the winner takes all; the ultimate losers are, in the end, the rakyat. It is high time our leaders learned to stop shouting and start listening.

If there is one thing to learn from Sabah it is that those in power have no qualms to crush ideals with might and subterfuge. Sabah, and this nation of ours, deserves better.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 14 July 2011, 6:42 pm and is filed under
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I did the BERSIH thing for my babies

By
Goh Siu Lin

July 13, 2011 | AWL

I am a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister and I happen to be a lawyer too.

Mine was a spontaneous decision to go to the rally.

Something struck a chord in me when I heard my senior partner tell stories of BERSIH 2007, of volunteer lawyers at remand hearings, on their feet, hours on end, tirelessly going through file after file before a Magistrate, till the wee hours of the morning. So, I decided to take the plunge, and give my support to BERSIH 2.0 by offering my legal skills.

The next hurdle was tougher, which team in the Bar Council should I sign up for? Urgent arrests? Monitoring? Both had its own risks. In the end, I signed up for both.

Monitoring needed us to be on the ground, near the people.. near the FRU.. near the POLICE… tear gas.. water cannons.. risk of racial riots, injury, arrest. Not to mention the Patriot, Perkasa and the Silat guys would be roaming free too. Didn’t fancy bumping into any of them. My cha cha spins and dips would definitely not save me here!

Urgent Arrests had its own dangers as well… I worried about being thrown in jail indefinitely. Just like the 5 young legal aid lawyers. So, don’t ever think that being a lawyer gives you a force-shield of immunity. Not in Malaysia! Read this if you don’t know what I’m talking about: http://www.malaysianbar.org.my/general/lawyer_arrested_unbelievable.html

Still gung ho, I encouraged lawyers from my firm to volunteer and bouyed by the moral support, I attended briefings for both teams.  I must commend the Legal Aid Centre team who had prepared us very well, they were great. The KL Bar Auditorium was jam-packed with young volunteer lawyers. Felt so proud of them all. When the director of the Legal Aid asked, “Why are you joining the urgent arrest team?” My answer was short, spontaneous and simple. It came from the heart. “For Malaysia!” my voice rang out and I was taken aback by the heavy applause. Wow. Everyone had the same sentiments!

The turnout for the Monitoring briefing the next day was smaller in comparison, about a third of the Urgent Arrest numbers. Many were first-timers. 75% comprised young members of the Bar. More than 50% were female! Isn’t that great? Unfortunately, not many there looked like they could protect ME.

Attending the briefing didn’t really give me additional comfort. The situation was still so tense and uncertain, BERSIH 2.0 had no venue, no permit, no nothing. So, it was difficult to plan our route in advance. I still remember one of the speakers saying, “If they shoot tear gas, just run for your lives.” “Huh? That was it?? No safety tips?”.

We were also warned, “Try not to get arrested.” , psyching us mentally for a lawless kind of environment. “Great stuff.” I murmured to myself.

We  were taught what to do with the rock salts and vinegar/lemon. For the uninitiated, if you ever get tear gassed, suck on the rock salts, like you would a sweet, then spit it out. Please don’t swallow or gobble it down like some people I know. Not wise at all. :). After that, whip out your lemon/vinegar cloth and cover your nose and mouth and inhale.

Friday night at home, I gathered my things, note pad, cloth, cap, water bottle, rock salts,extra change of clothes. I packed sandwiches and biscuits. The hours passed, I couldn’t sleep, I was on tenterhooks. In the wee hours of the morning, 1.36 am, I received an SMS “Cops knocking on hotel room doors. Just give cooperation. They just under orders. Kesian jugak dia orang. Offer them some makan minum”. My nervousness escalated.

I listened to the gentle breathing of my babies. I prayed silently in the quietness of the night,  thinking of the many Malaysians here and far. I prayed to God for good governance, fair elections, an end to corruption, tyranny and oppression. I prayed for a united people. “May God keep the peoples of Malaysia safe and sane tomorrow.”

I leaned down and smelt my baby’s head and my daughter’s hair. “I hope I will be around to put you both to bed tonight.” was my immediate thought.

Saturday 5.30am. I felt so alert, ready to face the challenges ahead of me. My good friend, Wee Tee arrived at 6.30am and we set off to KL Hilton at Sentral to pick up another pal, Jane. There was no traffic. We sailed thought Jalan Damansara, Jalan Semantan, passed Carcosa and ended up at Hilton Sentral all in 10 minutes. We headed towards KTM, I got down from the car and negotiated with police at the first barricade, got through. Felt exhilarated. Second barricade, also a breeze.. it was surreal driving towards Central Market. No other vehicle was in sight, it felt like a war zone. We parked at Central Market. The only civilian car there. To our right were the FRU trucks and police doing drills. “Hey, the parking attendant looked at us in admiration!” said Wee Tee, and we giggled conspiratorily, amazed that we had gotten so far. We made our way to Bar Council, and stopped by a mamak stall for nasi lemak. It was 8.35am. At the next table – plainclothes cops who seemed to be checking us out.

BC briefing at 10am. My colleagues and I began to feel fearful of what lay ahead, I think I must have gone to the ladies umpteen times. Another friend’s face was white and tense as news streamed in of arrests, at that time, 238 detainees. Bail going rate was RM8,000.00 apparently.

My team set off at around noon, soon thereafter, I could hear the roar of the crowd, we turned back and there they were, a sea of people converged in a stand-off with the FRU at Leboh Pasar. “Ting! Ting!” Two warning bells. 3 rounds of tear-gas were released. My first taste of it. We ran away, choking. I could hardly open my eyes, my eyes were stinging, the skin on my face, smarting and itchy. As for my poor team-mate, he threw up by the roadside. It was then that our fear dissipated. We had a job to do.

The whole afternoon was action-packed, overhead helicoptors, cat and mouse games between the people and police. Thankfully, our team did not witness any serious incidents of police brutality. Although the FRU had moved from Central Market towards Kota Raya where the second round of tear-gas was shot into the crowd, this was neutralised by the heavy downpour. At this point, the police began to arrest people indiscriminately about 500 metres away from where we stood. We couldn’t interfere. Our duties were to impartially record what was happening before our very eyes. I saw a young Indian boy, eyes wide-open in fear, a malay youth, his face wincing in pain as he was dragged to the nearby waiting Black Marias.

We moved on to Petaling Street, Wee Tee’s shoes had given way in the rain, so we even managed to squeeze in a bout of shopping!! (Her favourite past-time!!) And I’ll always remember this, we were there standing in an empty street, but when I turned round to look behind me, hundreds of people appeared out of nowhere, it was just like magic. Singing “Negaraku” in unison. Electrifying. Felt so emotional then. We were all united, 100% Malaysian.

This was followed by chants of “Hidup, Hidup, Hidup Rakyat”. “Hancur BN” “Allah-hu-akhbar!”. All peaceful and in a celebratory carnival atmosphere, people stopped to buy ice-cream from the ice-cream man who was doing roaring business.

I saw people of all colours. Chinese Ah Peks, Minahs from Kelantan, Indians, people of all walks of life. Mother’s pushing their babies in strollers, a man holding up his crutch as if it was a mace. What amazed me most was the presence of the bespectacled middle class. They were here. Here with us. Here where it counts. When it counts. Wearing yellow. I cannot describe the feeling. Absolutely wonderful and positively beautiful. There and then, I had true hope. Hope for a better Malaysia for my babies.

Well, it’s been 4 days since the BERSIH 2.0 rally, yet, I still get overwhelmed with emotion whenever I read BERSIH 2.0 media reports and the avalanche of first-hand heart-warming stories, videos etc etc. I grieve also on the passing of the late En. Baharuddin. My emotions turn on like a gushing tap. In fact, I was a weeping softly over lunchtime today, having just watched another BERSIH video, so I ended up being red-eyed just before having to meet some clients. :)

It was enriching personally. I learnt so much from the whole experience. I learnt how to conquer my fear. I saw Section 42 of the Legal Profession Act in action. I saw something magical happening to us all in BERSIH 2.0. We banished apathy. We took our citizenship seriously. We took our country seriously. We now take voting seriously.

Malaysia is our birthright and nobody can ever take that away from us.

I am writing this for my babies. What I did, I did for them, not as a lawyer, but as a mother.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 14 July 2011, 12:48 pm and is filed under
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I was afraid, therefore I walked

—
Celine Yong

The Malaysian Insider

Jul 13, 2011

JULY 13 — I almost didn’t make it. But I went.

The week leading up to the Bersih 2.0 rally on July 9th, I was like most of my friends; poked fun at the BN government’s decision to ban yellow outfits and Bersih T-shirts on my Facebook, changed my profile picture to a bright yellow Sponge Bob, showing my support to Bersih online. But it was all talk only.

Although I was angry with the highhandedness of the government in handling the Bersih rally, I never really thought about going. Didn’t go the last Bersih rally either. Not that I was afraid (the May 13th thing doesn’t scare me a bit, it only infuriates me), or didn’t agree with the principle of the Bersih rally (especially after what had happened in the Sarawak election, I am all for the Bersih principles), I just thought there would be enough people going; the NGOs, the activists, the politicians.

After all, I am but just one person.

Although a political science graduate myself, I was never an activist.  For the most part I am a tax-paying, law-abiding citizen (I don’t even offer bribes to the police officer for traffic offences).  Besides, I had to do my laundry, my grocery, spend quality time with my four-year-old boy, and I wouldn’t want to get caught in the traffic jam which is the last thing you want on a weekend.

But on the Wednesday before the rally, as a result of excessive roadblocks by the very paranoid police and the administration, I ended up sitting in a massive jam cursing the government and then I thought about Ibrahim Ali’s racist threat and remarks, and all of a sudden, I also became very upset with the fact that I was denied the right to wear yellow even though the only yellow item I have in my entire wardrobe is a tiny yellow belt.

By then, I was seriously thinking about making my way through the traffic to join the rally on July 9th.

On Friday, just a day before the rally, I realised I did not have to worry about getting caught in the traffic because all roads leading to Merdeka Stadium would be blocked. So instead of risk getting caught in a jam, it was worse, no access to town. I had to figure a way to get to town. So, once again, I was back to contemplating, to go or not to go, because I really don’t know how to get to town without a car or a taxi which is the only means of public transportation that I am familiar with.

The whole night I was mad and frustrated, how can the government stop me or any Malaysian from moving freely within our own country? How can they stop me from wearing yellow?  How can they let Ibrahim Ali go free with all the threats? And the arrests, so uncalled for. And then I became worried, I  worried about an aborted rally because no one could make it to town.

If not enough of people are going, who is going to speak up for me?  That was the moment I knew I had to go, I had to help make up for the number however little my presence may represent, I had to speak up for myself and my family.  I had to help build a bigger voice demanding a clean election, so that my voice can be heard through my vote for years to come.

So it was the fear that got me going.  I walked not because of my little yellow belt, not because of Ibrahim Ali (well, a little bit), I walked because I feared that the intimidation from the government would silence the very people I relied upon to speak up for me. The fear of not being heard pushed me to the rally, even if it was just me walking alone in town.

On July 9th, I went despite not knowing how to get there. What they say is true, where there is a will there is a way. Somehow I managed my way to Tung Shin and what a relief when I saw so many people of different gender, religion, ethnicity, age were at the rally.  All my fears were gone, and whatever happened on that day only made me a stronger person.

 To the people who instill fear in me, thank you, thank you for releasing all the courage that I never knew I had. I am now fearless because of you.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 14 July 2011, 8:15 am and is filed under
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If only every day was July 9

By
Joey Sze

July 14, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

JULY 14 — Many people were surprised that I attended the rally despite all the hoo-hah and clampdowns. Someone who describes me as “soft spoken” commended me on my “courage” and “strength.”

The truth is that I am a little surprised myself. I am, by nature, non-confrontational. Street rallies are not part of my usual Saturday afternoon routine.

The first time Bersih was held in 2007, I was completely oblivious. Until I had to rush for a wedding dinner that evening … and traffic was at a standstill “due to a rally in town.” I was so annoyed at the “inconsiderate” people. How dare they inconvenience the rest of us with their little parade?

It has taken four years, but I think I have gained a deeper understanding of what Bersih stands for, why it’s so important, and why it affects every Malaysian.

Still … I didn’t really jump at the chance to participate in Bersih 2.0. Let the activists do what they’re good at. I was happy being the silent supporter, the background cheerleader.

Then they started arresting people wearing yellow T-shirts. And that pretty much changed things for me. I didn’t want to see people intimidated by force or threats. I didn’t like the idea of a peaceful rally being the source of such ugly attacks. And I sure didn’t like having someone dictate what we could or couldn’t wear.

So I started following the news more closely. And, honestly, every day brought more bad news and threats. But reading the “Why Bersih” tweets on Twitter were very inspiring. Even online, you had a sense that people were coming together for something bigger than themselves. They were putting aside their differences. They were looking toward a brighter future with a hope that I had almost forgotten existed — a fresh change from all the migration talk that is all so common nowadays.

I was still in two minds about the rally for a long time. Part of me was very afraid about what could happen. It was the type of feeling when one gets a negative medical report from a doctor or when going through an exceptionally turbulent flight. I prayed about it. I counted the cost. I wondered how long I would be willing to stay in jail. I hugged my children harder and longer.

Yet part of me, a self-confessed diehard Malaysian, knew that all my talk would amount to nothing if I didn’t walk. And maybe this was the tipping point the country needed for change. I figured, the way things were going, it would be easier to rebuild than to wait for it to self-implode. My three great loves — and the three things I would be willing to give my life for — are Jesus, family and country. And somehow on July 9 I felt it was a combination of all three.

So before I could chicken out, I made plans on Friday to go. Thank God for my family who, despite their own fears and concerns, were extremely supportive and encouraging — siblings, cousins and parents even came along, making it a family affair of sorts. Special shoutout to hubby who stayed behind to jaga anak and to be on standby to bail any of us out.

I made sure I went in early on Saturday morning instead of “waiting and seeing”, which would probably deter me. Yes, there were roadblocks and police checks (which were pretty uneventful if you weren’t clad in yellow and acting antagonistic). And yes, we were gassed. And yes, it stung like crazy. And a total stranger gave me the last few salt crystals he had so I could suck on them.

Honestly, the feeling of being surrounded by so many people of all different races, backgrounds, ages, etc is indescribable. I have never felt safer walking on KL roads. I felt so proud seeing all these people (many of whom took time off so they could come into the city a few days earlier) braving water cannons and tear gas and arrests and carrying on the march. I met old friends and chatted with fellow sojourners. And singing the national anthem right there and then with everyone just filled my heart with so much joy. I wished that we could all be as united as this every day.

Reaching home several hours later, we were all tired out. But somehow deliriously high. (I don’t think there was any laughing gas sprayed.) Reading #bersihstories on Twitter, I get the feeling I’m not the only one feeling this way. Also, knowing that globally Malaysians abroad are rising up too in a dozen other peaceful rallies in major cities was truly heartwarming.

So why Bersih? So that my kids can be proud to be Malaysians. So that they won’t have to take to the streets next time. And so that they will have the courage and strength to do so if the need arises.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 14 July 2011, 4:02 pm and is filed under
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It’s between evil and good

By
The Malaysian Insider

July 14, 2011

JULY 14 — We are not interested in the politicians who lined up behind Bersih 2.0 or those who chose to fight against the cause of clean and free elections.

We are interested in the thousands of Malaysians (not Malays, Chinese or Indians or Kadazans, etc) who marched together in solidarity and love for each other and the millions at home who are realising that we are more similar than different.

It is sad that we needed adversity to tell us that we accept each other as Malaysians and that polarisation and racial divide is the creation of politicians, especially those in power.

It is perhaps even more disappointing (disgusting even) that the Najib administration and the state-sponsored media continue to demonise Malaysians who took part in the march as lawbreakers and unruly hooligans.

Don’t they realise that they should be thankful to the organisers of Bersih 2.0 and the Malaysians who turned out because this occasion brought down racial and religious barriers between people. This sentiment of each Malaysians feeling a sense of belonging and patriotism for the country should be cherished and talked about.

Bersih 2.0 did what 1 Malaysia and APCO and all the highly-priced consultants were unable to do: create a sense of patriotism and togetherness.

And yet, day in and day out, you have Utusan Malaysia, the NST and other media treating Malaysians who marched with disdain. And, in some cases, outright lies.

The question is where do we go from here? We should not leave it to politicians from both sides of the divide.

Nor should we bother with what the paid propagandists tell us.

Bersih should become the umbrella of all Malaysians who want the feeling of oneness and patriotism and love for each other. If some political groups want to embrace this concept, so be it. But on non-negotiable terms of promoting oneness.

How can anyone who wants the best for beloved Malaysia be against the pure ideals of Bersih 2.0?

For a start, those who believe in the cause of a better country for all should make yellow our colour. This can be in form of a piece of cloth on your front gate, a wrist band. But, more importantly, a commitment not to be cowed by threats or a campaign of disinformation.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 14 July 2011, 4:07 pm and is filed under
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