Mat Zain wants Altantuya accused retried

By
Debra Chong

July 12, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, July 12 — Datuk Mat Zain Ibrahim urged today Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to step in and relook the Attorney-General’s (A-G) prosecution of two policemen now on death row for the murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu.

The retired cop accused the A-G of mishandling the case, which reflects a miscarriage of justice as the motive for murder was never found.

The former head of the KL Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has repeatedly accused A-G Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail of having deceived the federal government and former prime minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, in several high-profile cases ranging from the infamous ‘black eye” incident involving Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to most recently, the trial of Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik in the multi-billion ringgit Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project.

In an open letter today, Mat Zain suggested that Abdul Gani’s handling of the prosecution in the Altantuya murder case had blocked the court from giving a fair trial to the two men accused of murdering the former mistress of PM Najib’s once close friend, political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda.

“The possibility exists that there was miscarriage of justice, whether deliberate or otherwise, that caused the court to sentence to death Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar [Umar],” Mat Zain said in the letter to the PM; a copy was also sent to the media.

The ex-cop drew parallels between the Altantuya murder case and that of former beauty queen Jean Perera Sinappa who was also discovered murdered in April 1979 near the Subang airport.

Mat Zain recounted that in the 32 year-old case, Sinappa’s brother-in-law, Kartigesu, who was accused of her murder and sentenced to death was later freed after the Court of Appeal found that one of the witnesses, Jayatilake, had lied in his testimony.

In comparison, Abdul Gani had “buried” possibly crucial evidence in the Altantuya trial, namely private investigator P. Balasubramian’s two contradictory statutory declarations (SD), that could help both Azilah and Sirul Azhar.

“I conclude that Gani Patail’s action to bury the testimony in Balasubramaniam’s two SDs made on 3 and 4 July 2008, from being presented for tghe judge’s consideration in the then-ongoing Altantuya murder trial had denied the two accused, C/Insp.Azilah dan Koporal Sirul, justice,” Mat Zain said.

He stressed that the A-G has the discretion to begin, manage or end a criminal proceeding, under Article 145(3) of the Federal Constitution.

“But the A-G does not have the right or power to abuse his authority or perform a criminal act such as creating false testimony, cheat, hide or bury testimony from being presented for the judge’s consideration and other criminal acts,” the retired cop said.

“If he does any of these, he too is bound by the laws under the Criminal Procedure Code, same as everyone else,” he added, and reminded the PM of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s message to the public on July 3 that “no one [is] above the law”.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 12 July 2011, 11:52 pm and is filed under
Court
,
Judiciary
,
Police
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Merdeka when I was six, true democracy at 60?

Allen Lopez

Malaysiakini

Jul 12, 11

COMMENT

When the Tunku raised his hand to the cries of “Merdeka”, I was on the cusp of turning six.

On 9 July 2011, as I approach 60, I was among those who rallied at the Bersih 2.0 carnival. Yes, it was a carnival. And what a carnival! The atmosphere couldn’t have been more convivial and peaceable.

The gathering was diverse, emblematic of the Malaysian identity – Indian, Malay and Chinese; young, middle-aged and old; priest and laity; rich and the not-so-rich; politicians, NGOs and the ordinary voters.

A truer representation of what Malaysia represents would be hard to replicate. We came because we wanted to – for love of our country.

It was as simple as that.

I was initially hesitant about joining – ever the armchair critic, preferring to bemoan and criticise from the air-con comfort of my home while watching drama unfold on my flat-screen.

Impelled by conscience

This time it was different. Conscience impelled me to go. It was partly because my daughter was among the Bar Council “permerhati” (observers) for the rally. But even otherwise, I would have gone. I just had to.

My wife was keen to go as well. But getting into town was the problem. One of us had to drive the other to the LRT station. So she was the driver. (And she was so sad to have had to miss out).

I took the Putra LRT from Bangsar to Masjid Jamek at about 12 noon. From Masjid Jamek I had planned to take the Star LRT to Hang Tuah.

But that station was closed. The plan was to meet a group of friends coming from Puchong at the Hang Tuah station.

So I decided to walk. We agreed to meet at Jalan Sultan (outside the old Rex cinema, now a budget hotel).

Just as I approached the meeting point, a seemingly endless procession of people came marching and chanting. Cries of “Bersih, Bersih” filled the noon air.

I thanked God I had come.

The faces were of the Malaysia I know and love – the Malaysia I grew up in, way back in the dim and distant 60s.

The atmosphere was celebratory, the heavy police presence notwithstanding.

Since my friends were delayed, I decided to join the procession and meet them at another location.

After chanting and mingling for a about 20 or so minutes at the Menara Maybank, the crowd moved in an orderly fashion down Jalan Pudu heading toward the Merdeka Stadium. The jovial atmosphere prevailed.

My friends joined me at Jalan Pudu in front of the Tung Shin hospital. We took pictures and had some biscuits.

Then the FRU personnel, moved in and formed a human barricade, three or more deep and in full riot gear, across Jalan Pudu near Jalan Robertson junction (the road which turns into St Anthony’s church) The procession was stalled. With another FRU barricade at Puduraya, we were caught in the police “pincer”.

Now things began to get a bit nervy. Soon, the skies opened and rain began to fall. We hailed it as a good omen.

Showers of blessing

To the priest in our group, we said it was God sending showers of blessing to cool us in the afternoon heat, not to mention soak up the tear-gas and dilute the chemical-laced water cannons that were to come.

True to script, and with no provocation or warning, the FRU then turned their water cannons from the Puduraya end. The tear-gas followed soon after. The crowd dashed for the Tung Shin Hospital compound.

We clambered up about five feet of slippery muddy slope to reach the compound. The ones already up, me included, gave a hand to those who were behind.

The sight of Malaysians of diverse backgrounds reaching out, in pouring rain, to literally pull their fellow Malaysian away from the tear gas was, pardon the pun, enough to bring tears to the eyes. It is a sight I shall forever cherish. Who needs the empty 1Malaysia rhetoric?

We waited in the porch of Tung Shin as the rain pelted down. We thought we were safe in a hospital compound. Wrong.

Within minutes the tear-gas was shot into the compound – yes right into the compound. One landed within five feet of me.

We scampered to toward the light belukar to try to escape in the Menara Maybank direction. We had to negotiate another slippery muddy slope, down this time, hanging on the tree vines. I slipped and fell despite holding on to the vines. Not hurt though, thank God.

Then police appeared in the opposite direction chasing some who had made their way down earlier.

We backtracked up the slope. It was not easy – but we made it back to the Tung Shin compound. The crowd had begun to thin. Our point had been made. So I decided to call it a day.

Hard fall

I trudged down the slope from the Tung Shin compound toward Jalan Pudu holding on to a young Malay lad. I slipped and took a hard fall. The young man called out with concern, “Uncle, ok? Uncle, ok?” I was touched. I said, “I’m ok. Terima kasih”.

I walked toward the Masjid Jamek station, hoping to take the LRT back to Bangsar, but Putra had stopped services.

So I took a leisurely walk in muddied wet clothes along Tun Perak, toward the Royal Selangor Club, over the Jln Kuching flyover toward Masjid Negara, past Muzium Negara, KL Sentral and on to Bangsar LRT station.

On my long trek home, other than for the large clusters of police personnel and their trucks at various points, I was the about only living soul around. It was eerily like something out of the twilight zone.

I stopped twice to ask the police if it was okay for me to take the route I did. They very politely told me it was fine. The police had a job to do.

At the Bangsar LRT my dear wife picked me up and drove me home. I must have looked a state – soaked to my skin and slacks all muddied.

I was very tired; but very exhilarated. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. My wife envied me.

On the verge of turning 60, my prayer is that this beloved land of my birth has come of age.

ALLEN LOPEZ’s story is the first in this series focusing on eyewitness accounts of the Bersih July 9 rally in Kuala Lumpur, demanding for free and fair elections.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 12 July 2011, 7:11 pm and is filed under
1Malaysia
,
Bersih
,
Elections
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Pua: Liow ‘lying through his teeth’ on hospital attack

By
Clara Chooi

July 12, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, July 12 — DAP MP Tony Pua today accused MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai of “lying through his teeth” when the latter denied that police had fired tear gas and water cannons into the Tung Shin Maternity Hospital on Saturday.

The Petaling Jaya Utara MP, who was among the group seeking refuge in the hospital during the chemical bombardment, demanded that the health minister apologise to the hospital authorities and Malaysians for his statement.

Calling Liow’s defence of the police “lame and pathetic” and a “disgrace” to a man of his stature, Pua (picture) pointed out that the numerous “irrefutable” videos, pictures and scores of eyewitness accounts that emerged after the incident have already disproved Liow’s claim.

“Liow has denied outright that the police fired tear gas into the compound, claiming that it was shot onto the main road, and blamed the wind for blowing the gas into the hospital compound,” Pua said in a statement.

“He further argued that the water cannon only ‘brushed’ the edges of the hospital walls, and was not shot directly into the compound.”

Pua said it was impossible that the police had only fired the chemicals onto the main road as at the time, Bersih 2.0 protestors had already dispersed to find shelter, including even in the hospital compound.

“Liow’s attempt to blame the supporters for seeking refuge in the hospital is also mischievous because they were being attacked by the police from both ends of Jalan Pudu, making the hospital compound the only possible escape from the relentless firing of tear gas and chemical-laced water,” he added.

Pua urged Liow, as the health minister, to visit the hospital and apologise on behalf of the Najib administration for the police’s actions on Saturday, saying they had showed disrespect to the sanctity of hospitals at a time of unrest.

He pointed out that DAP leaders had done the same on Sunday and had expressed thanks and gratitude to the hospital management for allowing supporters to seek refuse in its compound.

“Instead, Liow proceeded to deny and lie about what is the obvious truth in order to defend the police force, demonstrating the recalcitrance of the Barisan Nasional (BN) government and a complete lack of respect for the hospitals under his purview and Malaysians at large.

“His actions proved that MCA is only an apologist for the BN coalition, and disgraced himself and his party for not having spoken up for Malaysians,” said Pua.

Since Saturday’s chaotic events, a debate has been escalating between Bersih 2.0 supporters and the Najib administration over whether the police had fired tear gas and water cannons into the Tung Shin Hospital.

Liow, in denying the attacks, also slammed protestors yesterday after meeting with hospital authorities, saying they had “ambushed” the compound when they used its compound to escape the bombardment.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 12 July 2011, 3:03 pm and is filed under
Bersih
,
Police
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Putrajaya should drop ‘Cold War’ mindset, says scholar

By
Debra Chong

The Malaysian Insider

Jul 11, 2011

BANGI, July 11 — Social anthropologist Datuk Shamsul Amri Baharuddin today advised the Najib administration to modernise its internal security to deal with present-day threats, instead of holding on to “Cold War” tactics just to be able to deploy them on political rivals.

The professor from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) reminded the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition that the “enemy” was no longer armed communists battling a jungle war but a civilian movement consisting of politically-awakened middle class that is wired to the global community.

“It’s a telling point on the ruling coalition when they are still dealing in traditional security, which is based on the Cold War concept of weapons and [physical] fighting,” he said.

“The ruling coalition needs to switch from traditional security to non-traditional,” he added, explaining that there are finer aspects to defence, which now consist of five components.

He named them as power or energy, water, food, health and education, saying the five components are integrated.

“The issues put forward by Bersih 2.0 are legitimate issues in the [Federal] Constitution and an ongoing issue, in terms of freedom of assembly and freedom of association.

“It’s a continuous thing and it’s not going to be the end,” Shamsul Amri said.

“But the state is behind the times and the incumbent group has been very slow to respond. They’re too used to respond to a Cold War situation,” he said.

“If you study their training manuals, their emergency response, the police and the army, it’s the same as during the Emergency years,” he noted, referring to the battle with communists pre-Independence.

Shamsul Amri noted that too many contemporary analysts tend to comment without looking back at history.

“When the public demonstrated in front of the US embassy previously, over the Palestinian issue, did the police come? No. So why did they come for this?” he quizzed, referring to Saturday’s rally, which Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein had declared illegal on July 1.

Asked for his view on whether the rally had birth new social icons of dissent from the middle class against the ruling coalition, such as Bersih 2.0 chief Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan and national laureate, Datuk A. Samad Said, Shamsul Amri said: “Icons are icons… they don’t effect change unless they contest in the general elections and win,” he said.

“Karpal Singh is still more relevant than them,” he said.

“In the end, it’s all about translating into votes,” he added.

The academic explained that the average voter wanted to see his elected representative voice out the grassroots’ concern in Parliament.

Shamsul Amri noted that many Members of Parliament have failed that test, including politicians from the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pact.

He admitted with some embarrassment that some of them used to be his students, such as Machang MP Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, who is PKR’s secretary-general.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 12 July 2011, 9:16 am and is filed under
Bersih
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Tanah tumpahnya darahku

—
Esther Goh

The Malaysian Insider

Jul 12, 2011

JULY 12 — “Are you ready to die for the country?” I asked as I walked together with Simeon heading from Mirama Hotel on Jalan Maharajalela to Petaling Street.

My honest answer to my own question was, “No. I don’t believe I should die now. When I’m only 24. There is so much more that I want and believe I can do for my country.”

“But what if it takes bloodshed for people to wake up? What if we were the ones to go — so that people will finally realise the need for change?” was Simeon’s reply.

***

I was driving home on Thursday night when this motorcyclist, thinking I was endangering his life, rode very fast… honking the whole way. And as he approached my car, he bent over and shouted at the top of his lungs at me.

Wow, I thought. If this was how it’s like when there’s NO rally, I cannot imagine what would happen on July 9th.

I thought of chickening out.

***

I flip-flopped the entire July 8th. To go, or not to go? Every time somebody asked me if I was going, I flashed them a nervous smile.

What if I die? What if I don’t die… but end up with a disability? Gaahhh.

But the biggest why was — WHY DO I FIND MYSELF FEARING THE GOVERNMENT? THE VERY PEOPLE WHO ARE SUPPOSED TO MAKE SURE I’M SAFE?

***

I knocked on the door of 608. And after a request for the “Secret Password”, the door was opened to 13 other people. Young people. People I call friends.

I sat amongst them, and we talked late into the night. Of our game plan. How we would run. What we would need to counter the possible attacks we would face.

We slept. And woke to the sound of FRU trucks moving into the city.

You would have thought it was World War III.

***

We packed salt. Prepared bi-carb soda solution. Soaked our towels in vinegar. Prayed. And left in twos and threes.

We walked towards Petaling Street. People we met along the way were silent.. It was the calm before the storm. Grim. None of us knowing what would happen.

As we walked further into the heart of the city, we heard chants.

“Hidup, hidup! Hidup Bersih! Hidup, hidup! Hidup Rakyat!”

And something in me started. It was a growing excitement.

We followed the crowd. Chanting as we walked along.

Deep inside me, I was still afraid. I looked around me. Most people do not have the same colour skin as me. If a riot was to break out, I would have been Peking duck in two seconds.

We looked on. And strategized to join the crowd and be in the middle. Lest anything should happen, at least we were not in the vulnerable fringes.

***

Menara Maybank.

1 Malaysia #1. I met an elderly Chinese auntie. This was not her first rally. The Anti-ISA rally was her first. She was doing it for her children, she said.

Tear Gas #1. We ran helter-skelter.

***

Tung Shin Hospital.

We were waiting with the rest to march to the stadium. But the Men in Blue gave us no rest.

Tear Gas #2. We ran helter-skelter again.

We ran into the shelter, eyes, nose and throat hurting from the gas.

ALL I WANT IS CLEAN AND FAIR ELECTIONS! WHY AM I TREATED LIKE A CRIMINAL?

***

1 Malaysia #2. We ran into the shelter. Eyes still stinging.

Four Malay boys who were standing around offered us salt.

“Rub it around your eyes and put some in the roof of your mouth,” Arif said. “Take this bag of salt, give it to those who need it.”

“Thank you, and please, please, please take care,” we bade him.

***

Rain. THANK GOD FOR RAIN!

***

Still in Tung Shin Hospital grounds.

Tear Gas #3. WE WERE IN THE HOSPITAL GROUNDS, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!

***

We ran helter-skelter. And we saw a wall. There was nowhere else to run, as police were chasing with their batons.

1 Malaysia #3. An elderly Chinese uncle stood by the wall.

“Uncle, go first.. go first,” I told him.

“No, no… after you!” And he helped me over the wall. And on the other side of the wall, was another Malay uncle… standing and giving a hand to all of us who were running.

We continued running.

1 Malaysia #4. I came to another wall. This time, this wall had a metal fence. With sharp pointers.

I climbed up the wall. And looked down. There was no way I was going to make it down there unscathed.

A young Malay chap climbed up to where I was. Lifted me, and lowered me down the other side.. his stomach pressing against the sharp metal pointers as he was doing so.

“Are you okay?” I turned back and asked.

“Yes, just run,” was his reply.

***

After having survived three rounds of tear gas… we were still dissatisfied.

This rally is not over!

We heard chants from afar, and decided we would join our fellow comrades in the march to Stadium Merdeka.

***

1 Malaysia #5. As we were heading towards the crowd, we saw three Chinese aunties.

They warned us against heading in that direction, because they just saw the FRUs and the police beating people up with batons.

“Thank you for coming, auntie. For doing this for our generation,” I said.

She looked at me with bewilderment. Took off her hat, and said to me, “Why do you thank me? My father didn’t do this for me. Now I will do it for my children. For my grandchildren. I will march in every state every week — until I see change happen.”

***

We found the crowd. And marched on to KLCC.

“Rasa sayang, hey! Rasa sayang sayang hey! Hey…” was what we heard the crowd singing.

***

We arrived in KLCC. Sat. Made a few more friends.

And ran. Because the police were after us again.

As we ran for our lives, I saw two other people in front of me.

In running, they hit and toppled the barricades that were around KLCC. And to my utter amazement, they stopped, picked up the barricades, arranged it to be how it was like before, and continued running.

***

9th of July, 2011.

I am proud.

Proud to have friends — students and white-collared workers, who would risk being detained and being treated inhumanely to stand for what is right.

Proud to have Malaysian brothers and sisters — this is my pledge. That this will be the last time I refer to anybody by race. Because of the kindness you showed me and my friends today, you showed me that we are CAPABLE, of being COLOUR BLIND.

Proud of the way we behaved during the rally. We were not violent. We were courteous. We helped each other. We pushed on despite being treated like dogs because we kept in mind — the next generation that is to come after us.

Proud that we showed kindness instead of retaliating when we were provoked.

Proud that now, nobody can call us Third World — because we did not react the way the Middle East did.

And most of all, I am proud — so proud, that WE DID NOT SUCCUMB TO THE TACTICS THAT SOUGHT TO INSTILL FEAR IN US. THAT WE CHOSE TO RISE ABOVE THE FEAR WE HAVE BEEN SO BOUND BY.

***

Negaraku, tanah tumpahnya darahku.

9th July 2011. The day I am so proud of my fellow Malaysian friends.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 12 July 2011, 7:41 pm and is filed under
1Malaysia
,
Bersih
,
Elections
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


TBH RCI report – 3 weeks and not released yet

Memorial Service: Teoh Beng Hock - 2 years later on 15/7/11 (Fri) 8pm at Dewan Serbaguna, Sri Kembangan

The Cabinet has been sitting on the Royal Commission of Inquiry report into the death of Teoh Beng Hock for three weeks since it was first submitted to the Yang di Pertuan Agong on June 22, 2011.

This is most inconsiderate to the Teoh Beng Hock family members as well as inefficient, as in developed democracies which fully upholds the principles of accountability, transparency and good governance, Royal Commission of Inquiry reports are invariably made public at the same time they are submitted to the heads of states.

There is no need for the government of the day to study the Royal Commission of Inquiry reports concerned as to whether they are in agreement or otherwise, as the RCI reports are commissioned in the name of the people and country.

If the government has any views and decisions pertaining to findings or recommendations of Royal Commissions of Inquiry, they could be made public subsequently.

As in another four days it will be the second anniversary of Teoh Beng Hock’s mysterious and unusual death at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters in Shah Alam on July 16, 2009, the Cabinet should not sit on the Teoh Beng Hock RCI report any further but must act responsibly by releasing it immediately to the public tomorrow itself in line with the principles of accountability, transparency and good governance and in time for Teoh Beng Hock’s second death anniversary.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 12 July 2011, 4:11 pm and is filed under
Teoh Beng Hock
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


‘Tear gas gun aimed directly at Anwar’

S Pathmawathy

Malaysiakini

Jul 12, 11

The police stood prepared with their anti-riot weapons, with one of them aiming his tear gas gun at Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim. That’s what his bodyguard Fayyadh Afiq saw, and he immediately took action.

As he heard the order to fire, Fayyadh said he pulled Anwar away.

Numbed by high dosages of medication, he said his left cheek, on which a metal gas canister landed when the police fired, has not stopped throbbing.

Recalling the incident, he said: “We exited KL Sentral and proceeded marching through the enclosed shelter at the back, where the buses stop.

“Other bodyguards and I were with Anwar and a few other leaders were walking in the front, forming a long column, when I heard a faint sound.

“I am sure it came from an officer using a loudhailer, but with everyone shouting around us, I could hardly hear a thing,” Fayyadh told Malaysiakini.

He then turned towards the riot squad, assembled and ready, and did not need to take a second glance when he spotted the weapon pointed at Anwar.

And then it happened. Fayyadh said he pulled Anwar to the left and immediately felt an excruciating pain as if he was given a heavy blow on his face, followed by a stinging, piercing sensation all over his body from the tear gas.

The 25-year-old, who sustained a broken cheekbone, added that all he could think about was the safety of his boss as they fled the plumes of tear gas.

“We tried to rush Anwar to safety, we ran towards KL Sentral and that’s where he tripped over a pothole and fell.

As they were trapped in the middle, with both exits leading to Jalan Tun Sambanthan sealed off by police, the only way back into the central transit hub was the narrow escalator and staircase, recounted Fayyadh.

Shah Alam MP receives six stitches

After they managed to manoeuvre out of the chaotic situation, he said, they retreated to Anwar’s rented suite at Hilton Hotel, located at another corner of the transportation hub.

“Once up in the suite, we wanted to head to the hospital because a few of us were injured from the melee. But the police guarding the hotel entrance refused to let us out,” he said, muttering profanities under his breath.

After approximately an hour, they managed to wriggle through the police on duty and made their way to a nearby private hospital for treatment.

Fayyadh underwent surgery yesterday, with a titanium plate inserted to stabilise his face bone.

Also injured was Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad of PAS, who said one of the tear gas canisters fired directly at the crowd hit him on the head.

Khalid, who sustained six stitches on his head, said the riot police at KL Sentral’s public bus and airport shuttle route sandwiched him, along with the top leaders of Pakatan and Bersih 2.0, as well as the protesters.

“We stopped when we saw the FRU policemen block our way, and we also noticed the FRU moving in behind us. Without warning, they started shooting tear gas and they were aiming at the demonstrators.

“I turned around to look at the FRU (members) behind us, and suddenly my spectacles flew and there was blood everywhere,” Khalid told a press conference yesterday.

“The doctor who checked me was surprised that the wound was a very clean cut, just like a slice with a knife. This would only happen if tear gas was aimed directly at the people,” Khalid said.

Protesters trapped

These claims were also backed by PKR vice-presidents Nurul Izzah Anwar and N Surendran, who were at the scene and recounted similar descriptions about the police crackdown on the Bersih 2.0 rally participants.

Nurul had said that police trapped the demonstrators within the KL Sentral underpass, on both sides and fired tear gas from both ends.

Aside from Anwar and Khalid, several top Bersih and Pakatan Rakyat leaders were at KL Sentral during the rally on Saturday, including Bersih 2.0 chief Ambiga Sreenevasan, steering committee member Maria Chin Abdullah, PAS president Hadi Awang and DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang.

They had gathered at the KL Sentral vicinity as they were all among the 91 barred from every other key location for protesters to gather, including, Jalan Syed Putra, Jalan Istana, Jalan Bukit Petaling, Jalan Bellamy and the area surrounding Istana Negara leading towards Stadium Merdeka.

Despite heavy surveillance and a complete lockdown in the capital city, ten of thousands traversed the streets, with a large majority in support of Bersih’s cause for electoral reform, while a small fraction, made up of Umno Youth members, marched in a counter rally.

Bersih 2.0 organisers declared their protest a success, claiming an estimated 50,000 people had marched despite police warnings, and where 1,667 people were arrested.

The government, on the other hand, lauded the rest of Malaysians for not taking part in the street demonstration, and said only 5,000 to 6,000 took part in the Bersih rally.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak rejected the allegations of violence on the part of the police and accused Anwar of masterminding the rally and manipulating rally organisers to bolster his ambition to become prime minister.

“Just hit by a little tear gas … and his photo and video were on YouTube as though he was beaten up, and landed in the hospital,” Najib had ridiculed at an Umno-Malay NGO gathering at the Putra World Trade Centre on Sunday.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 12 July 2011, 10:38 am and is filed under
Anwar Ibrahim
,
Bersih
,
Police
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


The day I lost my fear

By
Golongan Kiri

July 11, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

JULY 11 — On Saturday, July 9, thousands of ordinary Malaysians thronged into various spots around central KL to demand a just electoral system. The government had tried its best to suppress the rally through various means, but ultimately failed to stop it from going ahead.

With the previous week’s cat and mouse game played by the government in agreeing to the rally and the roadblocks to intimidate citizens, the fact that the rally even materialised is a moral victory for the cause and major slap in the government’s face. Obviously shutting off the entire city centre and major traffic arteries failed to paralyse the movement of protestors into the city.

I decided to join the rally for a host of reasons. Primarily it was the cause; it is a cause I believe in and a cause worth fighting for. This was my way of showing support. The government’s attitude towards Bersih 2.0 and its obvious bad faith in handling the matter had raised the stakes from just electoral reform to everything else that is wrong with this country today.

This rally was fast becoming one of the most significant events in recent Malaysian history and I felt that this was a watershed moment in our nation’s history. I wanted to be a part of that.

Most importantly it is my right as a citizen to assemble peacefully, and demand justice and fairness; it is a right guaranteed to me by this country’s Constitution and no government has a right to decide how I may or may not exercise this right or how I may or may not express my legitimate grievances.

I had stopped believing in the “proper channels” a long time ago. If these so-called channels did work, there would have been no need for a rally in the first place. To me these “proper channels” are nothing more than the mythical pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.

I was with the crowd at Jalan Pudu near Tung Shin Hospital where several thousand were in tense standoff with the Federal Reserve Unit who formed riot lines at both ends of the street. I could smell the acrid stench of tear gas wafting over as the winds blew them towards our direction. As we were in a group that also included a woman friend, we decided to play it safe and move towards Tung Shin Hospital to avoid the cops charging and their tear gas.

Police helicopters were circling above us menacingly and I was nervous to say the least. It is one thing to be tear gassed and doused with chemicals, but my immediate concern was the safety of my friends with me. But as the crowd perked up facing the FRU and chanting, my spirits lifted up a wee bit. Then there was a rousing rendition of the Negaraku by the protestors that we proudly joined in (I have never felt that fired up before singing the national anthem).

The cops then moved in with more tear gas and we went deeper into the Tung Shin Hospital car park seeking shelter from the gas.

A hospital seemed a logical and safe choice to seek shelter, and lo and behold, I saw a canister headed our way and we started running towards the back of the building. We failed to see the second one coming until it landed about three to four feet away from me right in my escape path and we had to turn back and run uphill amidst all the chaos and confusion. The three of us held each other’s hands and ran into a dead-end and a virtual trap.

Choosing between arrest and tear gas, we decided to brave the gas instead and ran back towards the direction of the spot where the canisters landed still holding onto each other. At this point I accidentally inhaled the gas and exposed my eyes to it and found myself temporarily blinded and having difficulty breathing. “I am blind!” I shouted and my woman friend hung on to my hands and dragged me to safety in front of the hospital’s main entrance.

Running blind and barely able to breathe is quite the experience. For starters, you aren’t sure if you will make it, and secondly, it is disorienting and scary as hell. I swallowed a large pinch of salt (instant relief to the throat and nose) and washed my face with cold water we brought along with us just in case. It took us a few moments to reorient and regroup in order to get to safety with everyone accounted for.

We escaped using a back wall where other protestors were helping us over and guiding us to safety. At this point anger took over me, the fact that the police could so callously fire tear gas into a hospital compound was disgusting and stupid to say the least. A Chinese gentleman, noticing my eyes still red from the gas, offered me some water and some words of encouragement; we high-fived each other and parted ways into Jalan Pudu Lama.

Having been gassed I lost all the fear that I carried with me to the rally; it was a toxic baptism and, ironically, a liberating experience. I realised I had nothing to fear anymore and being gassed though unpleasant wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

We moved along to Chinatown and eventually made our way back to Bukit Bintang via Pudu. Along the way I saw the countless brave souls who were arrested being placed on the pavement before being shipped away in police Black Marias.

We boarded the LRT and made our way home, glad that everyone in our group was alright and safe. Of course that wasn’t the end of it. As we exited Kelana Jaya LRT, there were FRU personnel there too, riot shields and all, stone faced and bored. Whatever were they there for? We just walked past them without a care in the world.

Was it worth it? That is a question many have asked; I think it is. We stood our ground, proved to our government that some issues are just beyond the ethnic interest of any ethnic community. Most importantly we can come together as one people to demand what is rightfully ours, in the face of a regime who rules us by dividing us in order to rule. I guess the thing that spooked them the most was that this was a multiracial grouping thinking along nationalistic and not racial lines.

So we failed to deliver our memorandum to the King, but we proved our point. We proved that Malaysians still care about their country and are still a patriotic lot. We proved that young people aren’t as apathetic as we thought them to be. We proved to them that enough is enough and unless real reforms are made there are only so many carpets to take the dirt, before we run out of them.

I am proud of the fact that I stood at Jalan Pudu that day with my fellow citizens demanding what is rightfully ours. When we sang our anthem there in the face of the riot lines, tear gas and chemical-laced water cannons from the police, it was my proudest moment as a Malaysian.

Moments later when innocent protestors and bystanders were tear gassed in the compound of Tung Shin hospital meters away from the building’s main entrance, that was indeed a shameful moment. Fellow Malaysians gassing their countrymen in a hospital compound, sad but true.

Will I do it again? If the need arises again, I most certainly will. There is nothing to fear anymore. Sometimes in life you have to stand your ground and be counted. There is this quote I got from the movie The Boondock Saints that I feel best illustrates my point “…we must all fear evil men. But, there is another kind of evil which we must all fear most … and that is the indifference of good men!”

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 12 July 2011, 11:45 am and is filed under
Bersih
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


The days of gatekeeping are numbered

By
Alexis See Tho

July 12, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

Wong waved his hands in the air. “The tear gas canister was right in front of me!” he said.

The 22-year-old working adult was one of thousands of young Malaysians who went to Saturday’s rally that saw tens of thousands of people in the city centre.

Some of them weren’t die-hard supporters of Bersih’s call for clean and fair elections. Some like Wong were there “just for the fun” while others were relentless in their pursuit for the “perfect” photo.

Thousands of protestors and onlookers were at the rally with their cameras and snapped away at everything they saw. Some gung-ho ones even stood between riot police and protestors eager to get a good shot.

Sun, an avid photographer and a student at a local college, followed a reporter around so he wouldn’t get into trouble.

All that just so they can upload their recordings of a moment in history on their Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Bersih 2.0 leaders have said the 2007 rally attracted mostly middle-aged supporters and Malays. This time, the crowd was younger and more multi-racial.

Call them citizen journalists or just plain “kaypoh”, the information which these people, such as Tan from Petaling Jaya, gathered and put online has given an alternative but important view of the rally itself. It has crippled the ability of bigger, politically-controlled news outlets to shape public opinion.

The common perception is that these citizen journalists are activists. But Chong from Setapak, who attended the rally right after work on Saturday, said she is no activist.

“I’m here to show my support,” she said. Chong uploaded photos and updated her status on Facebook throughout the rally.

After the rally, some Malaysian netizens went further than just photos and videos. They created new campaigns in their social networks.

New Facebook groups such as “100,000 People Request Najib Tun Razak Resignation,” “Wearing Yellow and Walking Around KL cause you’re a fearless bastard,” and “Boycott all running-dogs media for Umno/BN” sprouted up and attracted thousands of “likes.”

On Twitter, a popular new hashtag is #bersihstories. Bersih rally participants are still tweeting their experiences and feelings. These include “once I thought migrating would be the only option, now I know running is no longer the agenda, I will stay & fight!” and “A Malay man who opened his hotel room to us as we ran from tear gas attack said, ‘anak muda semua kaum semangat kuat’.”

Online social networks were also primary sources of information for those going to the rally.

Wong, who joined the rally without his parents’ knowledge, said he found out about Bersih 2.0 from Facebook.

“People come to this rally because of online media, they (Malaysians) don’t trust the print media anymore,” said Wahab, an activist who works in a government agency.

He said information from news sites, blogs and social media allows Malaysians to compare what they read or watch in newspapers and television.

“If everyone listened to the mainstream media, this rally wouldn’t happen,” he added.

It is unclear if citizen journalism and social media activism will be fruitful in changing policies at the institutional level. But the rally showed that both were critical to changing how and what kind of information is spread and consumed.

But like a Facebook-er aptly put it: “They (government) can stop all mainstream media, but not us.”

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 12 July 2011, 2:41 pm and is filed under
Bersih
,
Facebook
,
IT
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Thousands throng ‘Bersih 3.0’ ceramah in Penang

Susan Loone

Malaysiakini

Jul 12, 11

They have been accused of hijacking the July 9 rally as calls of ‘reformasi’ – PKR’s battle cry – reverberated on the streets of Kuala Lumpur instead of cries of ‘Bersih’ for electoral reforms.

Yet more than 5,000 turned up to throw a hero’s welcome for Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim and PAS deputy chief Mohamad Sabu at the Seberang Jaya Expo site last night, a ceramah which the latter described as ‘Bersih 3.0’.

Both leaders, who arrived within 20 minutes of each other, made a grand entrance – Anwar entered sporting a neck brace and had to assisted as he headed for the stage, while Mohamad was in a wheelchair and was hauled up onto the platform by several security personnel.

A media frenzy ensued, with photographers jostling to take the best shot of the duo – their first appearance after their harrowing experience at the Bersih rally which included being tear-gassed and sustaining injuries.

Afraid that their leaders may sustain further hurt due to all the shoving, the emcee had to gently tick off the media for their enthusiasm and pleaded for calmness.

Judging by the mood of the multiracial crowd last night, the jubilation of those who joined the banned gathering in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday have spilled over into this Malay epicentre of Penang.

During his session, Anwar spoke briefly, but was noticeably less energetic than usual, obviously due to the pain on his neck and back he suffered following the KL Sentral underpass incident, which PKR had described as a “criminal act”.

He managed, however, to lambast Najib Razak for accusing him of faking his injuries, saying that the prime minister had “no sense of humanity” for belittling others when they are down.

“I am forced to wear this neck brace – it was the doctor’s orders after he saw how bad the injury was to my neck and back… I did not ask for it,” he said.

“Najib would even like everyone to think that I had purposely gone for a (slip disc) surgery in Munich so that I can come home and show the people,” he chided the prime minister.

Renewed enthusiasm

Meanwhile, the crowd displayed a rare sense of renewed enthusiasm for the Bersih campaign by responding boisterously to their leaders’ comments, clapping loudly or offering a remark of two.

The mixed crowd of young and older men, women and children, sat on the grass patch and the more experienced ones rolled out their own mats, while it was business as usual for the operators of a nearby pasar malam.

Before the ceramah begun, many who just returned from the Bersih 2.0 rally on Saturday, were heard eagerly sharing their stories with friends and acquaintances.

Tales after tales of police brutality against peaceful protesters such as physical assault and the firing of tear gas directly into a retreating crowd which they witnessed “with my own eyes” were heard.

Although Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai and the police have refused to accept responsibility for the firing tear gas into the Tung Shin hospital near Puduraya, a Seberang Perai municipal councillor Oon Neow Aun said he was at the scene and witnessed the incident.

Police also arrested a shocking figure of 1,667 for taking part in illegal rallies and defying police orders to disperse, all of whom were released that night.

Government leaders, especially Home Minister Hishamuddin Hussein had refuted claims that the police force was brutal.

One-minute silence for Baharuddin

Meanwhile, Mohamad, who is widely known as Mat Sabu, arrived from Langkawi in the midst of a one-minute silent for Baharuddin Ahmad – spouse of PKR Setiawangsa women’s chief Rusni Melan – who died of a heart attack after he was chased by police during the rally.

The police have denied involvement in his death, saying that Baharuddin did not die out of complication arising from exposure to tear gas.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng who initiated the silent memorial said it pained him to see his friends injured as the result of the police’s reaction against the protesters.

“But nothing can be more painful than to know of Baharuddin’s death, so let us remember him,” he said.

“And no matter how much pain they are suffering, these two leaders have come… this is the kind of leaders we want, those who would go through thick and thin with the rakyat,” he added, referring to Mat Sabu and Anwar.

Despite having to go for a leg surgery this Friday, Mat Sabu, who spoke in his wheelchair, was in high-spirits as he entertained the crowd.

“Najib lies! Najib lies! Najib lies!” shouted Mat Sabu, asking the crowd to echo him several times as he related a series of incidences where Najib “flip-flopped” in his handling of the Bersih rally.

However, despite all the bad blood between the opposition and the police, Mat Sabu said “all is not lost yet”.

He advised the force not to be partisan since “if tomorrow BN is gone, you will still be around”.

He urged the police to protect the rakyat, not Umno.

“But if you protect Umno, if they fall, you will fall also,” he added.

“It is still not too late to act professionally in your duties… do not work for Umno, which is rotting internally.”

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 12 July 2011, 10:49 am and is filed under
Anwar Ibrahim
,
Bersih
,
Lim Guan Eng
,
Pakatan Rakyat
,
PAS
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Untameable Bersih – Part 1

By
Sakmongkol AK47

July 12, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

JULY 12 — The object of derision and concern is the Election Commission. How does the government respond?

It did so by demonising the Bersih rally. The PM went a step further and went on his, well, now predictable, charm offensive. The business people complaining on TV3 about lost business would also not be doing good business on a normal day. But their grievance is now useful to the government because it can be used as testimony that the rally caused severe economic hardship.

The Egyptian tourist, who talked about something similar happening in Cairo some weeks ago, was probably looking for a good time in Bukit Bintang. He was also probably searching for Datuk Eskay whom he may have heard can arrange for a good time for horny Egyptians.

What about those who made a roaring business because marchers were hungry and thirsty? Ask the “mother of fish head curry” shop how much business it made that day? What about the vendor selling cold drinks on that hot day?

We will allow that president of the mamak eateries to state how much he can make in one day and then we will let the Inland Revenue Board calculate whether he has been paying taxes on that daily revenue.

One day after the Bersih rally, the Umno president came out with possibly his most forceful speech to date. He spoke with such intensity, vehemence and vigour and would surely succeed in inspiring the Umno faithful. We have a fighting president after all. He seems almost believable.

He has thus redeemed himself — to be forceful and firm as demanded by Ibrahim Ali. Let’s see how the Umno president manages his newfound vigorousness against the competing demands by anti-Bersih online petitioners asking him to take stern action against Bersih organisers, and the petitioners demanding his resignation. Will the intensity that aided him during his fiery speech help him?

Bersih has taken a life of its own and would have become what it became even if Ambiga wasn’t around. Isn’t it embarrassing for anyone to respond to suggestions that Ambiga’s title be taken back and even her citizenship revoked? Isn’t this a sign of shallowness and an example of pitiable pettiness?

How would I understand his explosive speech? In order to properly place that speech in its context, we need to understand what Bersih has evolved into. Bersih started with its eight demands on electoral reform. That shouldn’t scare Umno in the first place. No problem with postal voting because violation on postal voting isn’t as widespread as it was a long time ago. Unless of course the candidates’ representatives during the voting and counting process were sleeping.

There should not be any problem even if registration is made compulsory on reaching 21 years of age. Cleaning up the electoral rolls of dead people shouldn’t be much of a problem because this is more administrative and technical. Making voting transparent shouldn’t be a problem too.

The big issues are always money politics, gerrymandering and phantom voters. Thousands of people in Sabah are being issued ICs with addresses in Kelantan! Now this is a problem.

Gerrymandering is a real problem. It seems that Umno can only ensure it has more reps in Parliament by creating more parliamentary seats of maybe with 5,000 voters per constituent. Hence an Umno MP represents 5,000 people, while his opposite number represents 30,000 people. The Umno MP represents the same number if that number includes 10,000 police and 10,000 army voters.

What has Bersih become? To me Bersih has come to represent the people’s willingness to translate beliefs into action. That’s what is troubling the Umno president. Bersih represents wilful readiness to translate articulation into action. The shocking thing is, he couldn’t detect the same voluntariness and missionary zeal among Umno people! No money, no move.

In response, he came out with his fiery speech upon pressing the panic button.

Which silent majority is he talking? How would we categorise the more than 100,000 people asking him to resign? Maybe they are the silent subversives, anti-Malay, anti-Islam and so on. Perhaps, even traitors.

Here is another troubling thing for me. The Yang di-Pertuan Agong, to whom everyone pledges allegiance and loyalty, has ruled for conciliation. Yet the home minister countermanded that rule by unleashing security forces on peaceful marchers. Did the police find any weapons among Bersih supporters that day?

I am sure the video clip showing the man who eventually died while participating in the rally while still in handcuffs will be played over and again in the next coming general election. The opposition already has a weapon. A portent one more worrisome than Anwar’s black eye!

Anwar Ibrahim? He was largely incidental in the Bersih rally because the Bersih rally actually and truly wasn’t about him. If he participated in the rally because of some personal motives, who are we to fault him on that?

At least he wasn’t as stupid as the ex-ITM guy who went around telling people that Bersih was really about overthrowing a Malay government. Seventy per cent of the rally participants were Malays!

Now, the number who attended the promptly arranged special penerangan session by Umno was 6,000, as claimed by the organisers. I am thinking this impromptu congregation was planned by the backroom boys and the PM’s strategists; only they could come out with this magical number! Definitely it wasn’t planned by the Umno information chief. We couldn’t give too much credit to Ahmad Maslan the Umno information chief.

Except it also got me thinking — hmm, the number is almost the same as the figure attributed to the Bersih marchers. How come the number of marchers seems to fill up whole streets and stadiums, yet the number is still 6,000? The number of delegates to any Umno general assembly at any one time is around 2,500. That means, around 3,500 were standing on the balcony in the hall.

It’s a miracle that with that big an attendance the building didn’t collapse under the collective weight. But it’s been four years that I have not attended the Umno general assembly, maybe they have enlarged the space.

The Umno president was talking to his flock. So, we should not over-read the significance. You MUST sound fighting among your own people lest morale is lost. Even if 6,000 attended, that’s still not a number that can win votes. That represents a miniscule proportion of Malay voters.

So, let’s remind my Umno friends of the number. In 2008, there were 5.7 million Malay voters. How many did Umno candidates get? Umno got 2.38 million votes. Assuming 380,000 votes came from non-Malays, Umno candidates got only two million votes.

That’s strange. Umno has 3.5 million members, yet it got only two million votes? If we assume that all the two million votes came from Umno members, then 1.5 million Umno members did not vote Umno candidates for 1,001 reasons.

Therefore I am not easily impressed when the Umno president said, if we want, we can have three million marchers. Unless they are bussed into the city, given a T-shirt or maybe two for the missus back home, a packet of lamb or chicken mandi, RM50 pocket money and a night’s stay at Chow Kit. — sakmongkol.blogspot.com

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 12 July 2011, 12:31 pm and is filed under
Bersih
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Was Tiong Lai “blackmailed” into telling untruths about  Tung Shin Hospital?

DAP MP for PJ Utara and National Publicity Secretary Tony Pua was rightly outraged and accused the MCA Deputy President and Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai of “lying through his teeth” when the latter denied that police had fired tear gas and water cannons into the Tung Shin Maternity Hospital during the 709 Bersih 2.0 rally on Saturday.

Pua has also rightly demanded the Health Minister apologise to the hospital authorities and Malaysians for his statement as Pua is not only an eye-witness but a victim of the wanton, reckless and unforgivable police attacks on the Tong Shin Maternity Hospital,

Liow’s action was cowardly and indefensible, going against the weight of eye-witness accounts and increasing pile of  videos and pictorial evidence.

It is  at these trying moments when truth cries out for defence against power and authority that the ordinary rakyat expects their political leaders to stand by them – but the MCA leader and Minister has chosen to go against the people, the facts and the weight of evidence.

The question I want to ask Liow is whether he had been blackmailed into telling untruths denying that there were police tear gas and water cannon shooting into Tung Shin Materniy Hospital on Saturday, although he knew they were untruths.

I formed the conclusion that Liow himself did not believe his denial that police had fired tear gas and water cannon at Tung Shin Hospital on Saturday because  the MCA-owned Star newspaper completely blacked out every word about what he said in his visit to Tung Shih Hospital yesterday, but the UMNO-owned New Straits Times gave it prominent coverage with a page lead in P7, viz:

‘Police did not target Tung Shin Hospital’

KUALA LUMPUR: The police did not fire tear gas and water cannon at Tung Shin Hospital in Jalan Pudu here during Saturday’s rally to disperse the crowd, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

He said this was confirmed by the Tung Shin Hospital board of directors, who attended a one-hour meeting with the ministry at the hospital yesterday.

“We can confirm that the police did not fire tear gas and water cannon at the hospital. They were instead aiming at the crowd on the main road to disperse them.”

When asked about videos and photos showing otherwise, Liow clarified that the hospital was not directly hit by tear gas canisters and water cannon.

“They were not aimed at the hospital but at the main road. The fumes and water might have spread to the hospital but I can assure you that they were not directed at the hospital compound.”

Liow said a hospital should not have been caught in such a situation, and that the protesters should not have gone into the hospital to seek refuge.

“It was not a good idea (for them to go inside the hospital). Hospitals should be kept away from such problems and they (the protesters) should not have gone there in the first place.”

He said police had to take action against the protesters as it was an illegal gathering that was creating problems for the public.

“The police had handled this situation in a professional manner to preserve peace without injuring any party.”

Liow took a swipe at DAP for taking advantage of the situation by painting the police force in a bad light.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and other party leaders visited Tung Shin Hospital on Sunday and highlighted the alleged police action.

“Why do they want to implicate the police?

“It is very irresponsible of them to say that the police had fired tear gas at the hospital. This is uncalled for. If it’s not the truth, then it is not the truth.”

MCA-owned Star only carried a three-para filler placed inconspicuously in  page 10 under the heading: “Tung Shin Hospital not affected” which did not quote Liow at all.

The question Liow should answer is whether he was  “blackmailed” into telling untruths about police tear gas and water cannon shooting into  Tung Shin Maternity Hospital during 709 Bersih 2.0 rally when he knew they were untruths and if so, his justification for such political chicanery.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 12 July 2011, 4:04 pm and is filed under
Bersih
,
MCA
,
Police
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


When the ordinary became extraordinary

—
Scuba gal

The Malaysian Insider

Jul 12, 2011

JULY 12 — I’m as ordinary as it gets. I live in a decent-sized condo, in a fairly popular middle-upper class neighbourhood. I married my husband in my early 30s. I’ve got a decent job in a well-regarded private corporation, where I’m middle management.

No children just yet but we’re trying for the average number of two. On the weekends, we do what most Malaysians in our circumstances might do — head to the cinema, have a meal at one of KL’s many malls, catch up with family and friends.

Recently, I had to answer a little profile write-up for work. When asked “what’s your biggest achievement?”, I could think of nothing I’d done so far that qualified. Yes, I’m that ordinary.

This ordinary Malaysian grew up in a normal household. My father was a university lecturer, my mother a secondary school teacher. We weren’t poor, nor were we rich.

Luckily for me, my parents watched their money and saved enough to send me to a good university in the US. They were also fairly staunch Opposition supporters and I grew up apathetic about our government.

I came back after several years away to take care of a sick father. He passed on, I ended up staying. Though I disliked how there was increasing affirmative action for the majority race, it didn’t affect me enough to leave. I got a pretty good job, and my life was comfortable. I made sure I kept myself minimally informed of politics and the development of our country because it made no difference to me and would only upset my even keel.

Several years ago, just before the 2008 political tsunami, things began to change. I felt more and more upset as I saw my younger sister — top scorer, award-winning athlete, board of prefects, captain of her house — being passed over again and again for any sort of educational aid, because we weren’t the right race. And it got worse. Church burnings, the cow head incident, being told that as a Christian I couldn’t use the word “Allah.”

I got more and more angry. And I wanted to talk about it. But I was told by all the powers that be  that it wasn’t in our culture to voice dissent or question any “sensitive” issue. In this multi-cultural nation, it’s amazing that we can claim there’s a single type of culture – aren’t our differences in culture and way of life precisely what we sell to the tourists?

But I was still angry, so I’d complain, although only to family members or friends who I knew for a fact had the same opinions as me. Like many Malaysians, I complained about everything – the rise in crime, the lowering education standards, the racist statements of some quarters in government, the inability of the Opposition leaders to see eye-to-eye. I complained all the time. But I didn’t do anything about it. Just like most people.  After all, what could I do? It would be too much effort anyway.

And then Bersih 2.0 came along, and I suddenly felt this need to take action. I knew this was the moment to do more than just complain. So I decided I wanted to be a part of it. Was I worried? Heck, yeah! Even up to the morning of July 9th, a part of me was hoping the rally would be cancelled or that my mum would be worried enough by our government’s intimidation tactics to ask me not to go.

Neither happened. With a small group of friends (two Eurasians, one Chinese, two Indians, a Muslim East Malaysian – yes, we were “1 Malaysia”!), we braved the police at our first LRT stop at Taman Bahagia, then at KL Sentral, and at the entrance to Stadium Merdeka, at Dataran Maybank, and finally at Pudu. We faced a stand-off where we were fired at in the compound of Tung Shin hospital (yes, our Health Minister and top cop are both blatant liars). We were trapped by FRU trucks on both ends of the street but finally found a side alley to escape to.

I was terrified throughout the ordeal, knowing and seeing first-hand how our police cared little for the safety of the peaceful, innocent supporters. But it was worth it. Because for the first time in my life, I felt like a real Malaysian. For the first time in my life, I felt united with my fellow citizens regardless of race, religion, age, gender or where we came from. For the first time in my life, I felt I was part of something bigger.

For the first time in my life, I could finally answer the question of what my biggest achievement was: it was to be united with tens of thousands of men and women, in spite of our physical differences, because we held a common belief.

Was it a life-changing experience? It certainly was. Will it be enough to bring about the changes in elections and in the way things are run that we want? I can’t say for sure. But I do know that this ordinary Malaysian is humbled by the many other ordinary Malaysians who believe in something better. And who will stand up for our rights no matter the potential price, but always in a peaceful manner.

I’ve never been prouder to be simply Malaysian.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 12 July 2011, 8:20 pm and is filed under
Bersih
,
Elections
,
Human Rights
,
nation building
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


A Bersih Experience

Emmanuel Joseph

12th July 2011

I woke up like many Malaysians on Saturday morning, resolute to attend the rally in Kuala Lumpur, but, also like many Malaysians, worried. Worried I could not make it into the city, worried that I would be detained, worried about the new depths which the police were willing to take this time around. After all, the pre-emptive measures taken to prevent this rally from happening up to that point has been without precedence. I would not have been surprised if the stringent roadblocks exposed Osama Bin Laden, had he not already been killed by the US.

I decided I could not forgive myself if I did not go, so I took a Komuter to KL. The station I boarded (a minor train stop, really) had three police officers manning a guard post and another walking around the station. It looked a bit like a scene from a WW2 movie, but I hadn’t carried any bags with me so as not to arouse suspicion. I carried all I was advised to carry in a 6 pocket baggy quarterpants.I even had a dental appointment card as an ‘alibi’. As much as I wanted to wear yellow and don a Bersih headband, I needed to get in the city to make it count. So instead, I wore   a T shirt saying ‘Stop Following Me’, and hoped the police would do as the T shirt said. But as expected, it didn’t really help.

In the train, there were another three cops seated in the same carriage as me. It was quite early in the morning. Another cop walked up and down the coaches, looking at the passengers’ faces. I wasn’t sure what facial expression to wear to not arouse suspicion, so I just pretended to be asleep with my best ‘muka duh’. Luckily for me, at the next station, some familiar faces boarded. They were NGO and PAS activists. One sat opposite me. I ‘woke up’ and greeted the guy “Pagi, bang” “Selamat pagi dik.” . Almost knowingly he asked me “KL ke Sentral?” .I replied, “KL” With a smile, I asked “Jalan?”, and his answer came quickly “Mestilah..” A few seconds later, perhaps as an afterthought seeing the cops nearby “Cuaca baik,best bersiar-siar kat KL”.

Another group boarded the train and it was apparent that they all knew each other. The policemen, either worried of the coach being entirely made up of would-be protestors ,were sympathizers,  or were just generally upset over the fact that we would get a buffet if we were arrested as opposed to their crappy ‘nasi bungkus rations’. One by one, the cops exited the train.As the crowd in the train swelled with would-be-protestors, the chatter got louder and louder and inevitably turned towards criticizing the government. By this time, all cops have alighted.We passed by security blockades on the road that were probably tighter than the Israeli blockade in Gaza. The guys on the train were very well coordinated (they had even sent out ‘scouts’ in the morning to see the extent of the roadblocks)  and generally awesome, fun people.

I arrived at about 10.15am at the main KL KTMB station. After talking to a few people, mainly PAS supporters in the station, realized we have already been barricaded in. Met my old friend, the PAS Klang secretary who had just given AFP an interview (in which he called Malaysia a future police state to be governed by a PM/IGP) .I found out from him that they had earlier performed the morning prayers at the mosque where their numbers had been thinned by a few rounds of police and thieves,or in this case ‘police and protestors’ with the cops. Hardly a few moments after I walked away from my friend, the police moved in and started rounding up the crowd, herding us onto the platform area, clearing out the lobby.

I then updated my Facebook status to ‘Locked in at KL station’. This got some friends panicky as they thought I had been arrested, which led to a panicked friend of mine from Singapore furiously SMSing an extremely confused me “Do you need me to call a lawyer? Which station? Did they arrest you or detain you? Are you in van or in balai?”  After explaining it to her (and rewording my status update) she calms down.

Soon after, a young serban-ed Muslim gentleman, who was sleeping on the tarmac floor with his bag as a pillow was asked to remove his bag and upon checking, the policemen found a yellow T shirt in it, and he was dragged through the crowd. This agitated the people in the station and I found myself in the middle of shouts of ‘Takbir’ and ‘Allahuakbar’. This made the policemen move onto the platform and to prevent any injury, we all sat on the platform. Unaccustomed to PAS demonstrator norms, I clumsily sat cross-leggedly and soon realized everyone else assumed the kneeling position common in Muslim prayers.The guy next to me smiled and asked  “Ana bukan orang PAS kan?”. I took one good look at myself, black T shirt,utility quarterpants and sneakers with no socks, and confirmed to myself that I could never pass for a PAS member, ever, despite having a brown face.I nodded sheepsihly at him and he smiled back. “Takpa duduk sini, kalau keluar bahaya”

Before I had any time to ‘correct my posture’, the cops moved in again, this time chasing us away from the platform. Apparently, they don’t really like seeing protestors resting. So we were, this time, chased out of the station. There our cat and mouse game with the cops began. Two attempts to march to the National Mosque were met with about ten percent of the crowd being shaved off by  men-grabbing FRU trucks. Now knowing how dogs must feel like when the municipal trucks come for them, I made a silent promise to myself to be nice to my neighbourhood strays. The third time around, an officer grabbed my arm when a group of PAS folk came from the back and more or less rescued me from the clutches of doom.Now sort of safely back at the station entrance, I was told the PAS group plans to wait and march off to the National Mosque at 1.15pm for the Zohor prayers.

Having earlier realized my non-PASness, this was pretty much terrifying news for me.You see, I could not see any other non-Malay in the station at that time, other than a few news reporters. I was already imagining prison food, as per YB Teresa Kok’s experience, I would be given spoilt curry and a half boiled egg (at this point, information that I would be treated to a ‘RM 25 briyani buffet’ in PULAPOL if I were was not yet available), as I would be a fat sitting duck when the cops saw me lingering like a hobo outside the National Mosque. Suddenly, two people caught my eye, a Chinese lady and the guy next to her, who looked kind of Malay, like me.Something made me quite certain he wasn’t Muslim (men don’t wear gold chains, thanks Ustaz Nazri Nayan from PAS Youth for that lesson!) and I quickly made friends with this doctor from Ipoh (whose clinic is apparently visible from the highway).and his friend.  As if on cue, a travelling group of Chinese ladies, a family and two young gentlemen whom I later would come to know as Eugene and Brian, from Penang and PJ, and I quickly joined this crowd before I was left as an easy target for harassment, we had to keep moving.

A few moments later, DAP lawyer and friend,Way Kheng, calls me to find out if I am OK as she just read that many people were detained in the train station and had read my status updates.Over 100 apparently. All I could think of was I hope the guys who just helped me were OK.I then got a call from Klang DAP chief, Ivan Ho who told me many DAP members were stuck in HQ. This made me worried and determined at the same time.Worried because these were my friends. Determined because I felt now, more than ever, I had to make it there.

I called my best friend to find out where he was and to my initial relief and later annoyance, he has been wolfing down burgers and sipping coffee while checking out chicks all morning at McDonald’s while I was getting a three forced morning jog rounds around the train station. We agree to meet at Petaling Street, as he and the friends with him tried to pass the police checkpoints from there. In Petaling Street I met up with the journalist/thespian/writer  I respect most, Kee Thuan Chye. We spend a few moments talking and posing for photos as my friend tried to make his way from Kota Raya, trying to avoid the FRU mounted blocks.. There were many NGO representatives whom I have previously met and we used the few minutes we had before the police marched in to catch up and drink some soya bean milk.Apparently tourists in Petaling Street either did not know or did not care about the rally as we saw many walking around. Perhaps they are not aware of the existence of tear gas and water cannons in rallies, or probably thought those giant trucks were meant for food and water distribution for hungry demonstrators later.

The group from Pasar Seni and Medan Rakyat joined us and suddenly the crowd at Petaling Street swelled into the thousands.We saw helicopters by a TV station widely and commonly disliked by Bersih supporters and was repeatedly booed. The FRU moves in at this time we found ourselves walking down Petaling street. And when the FRU blocked the other side, we found ourselves walking up. This continued a few times before a sensible, and I imagine tired protest leader shouts for us to sit down.And we sit down for a while before another protest leader shouts for us to stand up.This happens a few times. It appears the protest leaders are not always agreeable on whether we sit down or stand up. Anyway, the police seemed to have lax their blockade at the entrance of Jalan Pudu so we began marching there.We were joined by two large crowds , one coming from each side of the road, and converging in the middle. Suddenly we are in a sea of people spanning three roads and entire sidewalks.We have arrived at the rally.This was it. This was Bersih.

There were Malaysians of all walks of life, of all races, of all backgrounds. All gathered for the singular goal- to support Bersih and its 8 perfectly legitimate claims for a cleaner, fairer election.All gathered for a better Malaysia. We listen to some people reading poems, a guy takes out a guitar and starts playing. A few protestors started planking for photos. People were breaking into random,moving speeches in all languages. Motorists were high beaming and honking and some wound down their windows and yelled words of encouragement. The mood was energetic but peaceful.To me, this was Malaysia coming together.

That all shattered when all of a sudden, canister after canister of tear gas bombs were fired into the crowd. One canister exploded near me, in front of a group of Muslimat protestors wearing telekungs. Impressively, these brave women ran with their telekungs and face-covers intact. Their faith was not about to be shaken by tear gas canisters. In contrast, for all the bravado and silat-laced threats earlier, another group who threatened to protest, stayed home.The Chinese also apparently did not stock food that day, and came out to join the rally.

The crowd, previously orderly and organized, started running as our eyes started to smart, skin started to itch and breathing became difficult. However, this impressively brutal act brought out an even more impressive side of Malaysians. Malaysians were leading fellow Malaysians out of the chaos. People were not allowed to fall because other people pulled them up and kept them going. Youngsters formed human chains to allow women and senior citizens and a few disabled people who bravely took a stand with us,  to get through safely. The police did not save these people that day. Their fellow Malaysians did. The police’s only contribution, was to cause the unnecessary panic in the first place.

While we regrouped,I noticed that many activists from outside KL were here, and saw the legendary Dr Chen Man Hin and managed to greet him and Kak Marina Mahathir, who stood in the crowd.

While people were still reeling from effects tear gas, water trucks moved in spraying high pressured blue chemical water at people. We ran along the road, and miraculously, no one was seriously injured though they were tens of thousands on the road that day. Shuttered shops opened up their doors for us to wash our eyes and faces and get rid of the literally, bad taste in our mouths. People were sharing their water, salt, soap and pain, weaker ones were quickly led away to fresh air, the crowd literally took care of their own. It was beautiful.

As if on cue, it began to rain. The effects of the tear gas and chemical water quickly wore off and people started to regroup again.The crowd bursts into a impromptu rendition of Negaraku. The rain was heavier now and for awhile the police and protestors both stood their ground. When the rain subsided a little more, however, they started firing tear gas canisters again.

This time the police moved in this time, some with trucks,  and my friends and I ran into the nearby parking lot. Cops on foot gave chase to protestors  and we ran into the backlanes, climbed a few small hills and were separated from the main group. We walked till we reached the KLSE building and rested in the car park underground with protestors who had been gassed near Tung Shin, and a few who escaped Jalan Pudu.

There’s something magical about the bond that tear gas brings. You instantly become friendlier and start talking with everyone. All walls vanish and you’re all friends all of a sudden, driven by a common goal.Yes, ultimately electoral reform, but at that moment- to get away from the tear gas! Come to think of it, perhaps assembling all BN component parties in PWTC and gassing them silly could solve the answer to their internal conflict, but I digress. Anyway,here we met a few activists who came in from Sarawak- Election Watch. We smelt tear gas again and had to get moving. We looked for a way to rejoin the main group, but failed , as all roads were cordoned off by cops and we were basically, alone.

We explored the back alleys and lorongs looking for a way to rejoin the crowd only to have police meet us at every angle. Frustrated, we decided to try and grab a monorail to Maharajalela and walk to the Stadium from there, as ultimately, everybody was trying to get there. As we somehow managed to sneak into Raja Chulan, we rejoined a smallish crowd of people, at least for a few seconds before FRU trucks rolled in and we smelt tear gas again.We were chased like stray dogs again down Raja Chulan,from both directions- one side from Jalan Pudu, the other from God-knows-where.. The crowd that were trying to call out to us to join them seconds ago ran helter-skelter down Chulan, P Ramlee while we ran into the open parking lot bordering the Bukit Nenas Forest reserve.

There an elderly lady came to the gate of her house and asked us to run into the jungle to hide from the helicopters (which if you recall, were TV3 helicopters). I am unsure when the last time this lady has been out of that house, but I put it somewhere between the first and second Communist emergencies. She however later overcame her fear of people in facemasks and offered to open her gates to us should we be chased by police. Tear gas canisters were being fired and as we were isolated, we thought it was best to keep moving to try and head for Maharajalela.

We had to skip two Monorail and LRT stations due to heavy police presence around and finally made it to Dang Wangi. Here, to our dismay we were told ALL stations in KL have been locked down by management, including KL Sentral, which means we could not make it to Maharajalela by train. To our further dismay, we were told even this station was being closed and all trains were being grounded after the last one. I called a friend who was at Shaw and was Ambiga was detained and Anwar was injured, and that they were soon dispersing.We then decided to leave first, as there appeared to be nothing more we could do at that point. Disappointed that I could not be there for that last part,I was still happy I at least made it into the city, joined the rally and for at least half the time, was part of the people’s movement called Bersih. In all the excitement, fear, exhilaration, anger we felt that day, throughout the emotional roller coaster ride,there was a deeper sense of purpose, a poignant, reflective realization that we were in something far greater than ourselves.

We somehow managed to slip past police and saw that quite a few of Pasar Seni crowd was still locked in and so was the Klang bus stand crowd.After getting down at Bangsar and walking to Abdullah Hukum,I finally boarded a train headed home. A group in the train crowd seemed to eyeball me suspiciously and though they looked much like the PAS activists I saw earlier in the morning, they did not look ‘brutalized’ enough to have just participated in Bersih, and so I kept to myself, worried that they were a group of SBs, or worse, silat exponents who wanted to beat me up.

Soon enough though, someone from that group asked me if I came from Bersih.When he found out I was, he happily called out to his friends and a small crowd gathered.

Apparently though, they were part of the Bersih group who came late and were locked in earlier at KL Sentral, missing most of the day’s events. At the end of it all, when they found out the number of people who came in and how the crowd was mixed,and how even the old, physically challenged,young all came out in full force today, the guy who spoke to me earlier shouted ‘Takbir!’ and three quarters of the coach resonated with ‘Allahuakbar’. Yes my friend, 50,000 made it despite the insurmountable odds stacked against them- God is indeed great.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 13 July 2011, 4:36 pm and is filed under
Articles
,
Bersih
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


A very Malaysian impediment – Singapore Straits Times

KL better off without ‘padded rolls, vote buying’, says Singapore ST

By
Debra Chong

The Malaysian Insider

Jul 12, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, July 12 — Malaysia’s top leadership would be better off working to deliver its promised reforms and give substance to the 1 Malaysia vision than stoop to a partisan approach in dealing with dissent, the Singapore Straits Times said today.

The influential daily also remarked in its editorial today that last Saturday’s Bersih 2.0 rally here has thrown the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition on the backfoot even though it managed to deliver a counter-punch to the civil society movement.

The Singapore paper is privately-owned but is often seen to reflect the republic’s establishment voice, which appears keen to keep its current good ties with Putrajaya while protecting the republic’s interest.

In the piece titled “A very Malaysian impediment”, the paper remarked that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has gained widespread support as a “moderate leader” through his liberalisation of some race-based practices to a certain extent while being mindful of keeping its majority Malay sensibilities.

“But it would be better for the country if it could move more rapidly to give substance to Mr Najib’s vision of ‘1 Malaysia’ — an inclusive political culture in which all races can be comfortable with one another,” it said.

The paper further remarked that Malaysian debate is now framed in an even more polarised racial context of “us-against-them contest” — where the Malays fear an erosion of their privileges and political primacy while the non-Malays demand fairness.

“It should be acknowledged for what it was: a cry for equity and a demand that the nation’s resources and talent be not sacrificed on irresolute policies,” it said.

“One consequence of this was Barisan Nasional being forced on the backfoot, even though Umno Youth delivered a counter-punch,” it added, noting that Bersih activists were likely to face charges in court over the affair.

The paper advised the Najib administration not to stop at invoking the law over the rally, which it described as a “common disturbance” but to look beyond the incident and move to resolve the issues raised by the civil society movement it noted was key for national unity.

“Bersih’s agenda was electoral reform,” ST said.

“If padded rolls, vote buying and multiple voting are true as alleged, Malaysia would surely be better off without these impediments,” it said, noting that the rally was duplicated in many other cities around the world by Malaysians abroad.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 13 July 2011, 12:18 pm and is filed under
Bersih
,
Elections
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Bar report shows police waged war against Bersih, says Pakatan

By
Shannon Teoh

July 13, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, July 13 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders have accused the police of attacking protestors at Saturday’s Bersih rally “as if we were terrorists” following the Bar Council’s report that the police had fired water cannons and tear gas canisters in a manner suggesting an intention to inflict injury.

PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution told The Malaysian Insider that it was ironic that in the week leading up to the July 9 march for free and fair elections, the police had arrested Parti Sosialis members for waging war on the Agong.

“On Saturday, the police were waging war against us,” the Machang MP said.

DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang also said that the Bersih gathering had witnessed “regime policing from the colonial era, protecting the ruling regime from the public.”

“We were treated as if we were criminals or terrorists endangering national security,” the Ipoh Timur MP told The Malaysian Insider.

The Bar Council had placed monitors around the capital on Saturday who found that the police had “arbitrarily, indiscriminately and excessively” fired water cannons and launched tear gas canisters at close range and at eye-level at supporters of the electoral reform group.

The lawyers said that despite only isolated cases of protestors fighting back against them, the police had not been keen to negotiate with protestors. There were also reported incidents near Kompleks Dayabumi and Puduraya where protestors found themselves with no escape route as tear gas canisters were fired at them from both ends.

Bersih and PR leaders who had assembled in KL Sentral before attempting to march to Stadium Merdeka were trapped in a tunnel after the police fired tear gas from both ends after which Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his bodyguard had to be hospitalised.

Saifuddin added that the police had a “clear strategy to stop our leaders with rough tactics and have them cut off from protestors.”

“They zero-ed in on Pakatan and Bersih leaders to leave the rest headless,” he said, adding that the lack of negotiations showed that the police were more interested in confronting the tens of thousands who poured into the city, rather than dispersing them.

Besides Bersih chief Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, the police also arrested several PR leaders, including PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang and his deputy Mohamad Sabu, who also claimed he was rammed off his motorbike by a police vehicle.

Bersih had gone ahead with Saturday’s rally despite being denied police permission, plunging Kuala Lumpur into chaos as tens of thousands poured into the city, resulting in nearly 1,700 arrests, scores injured and the death of a PKR division leader’s husband.

The coalition of 62 NGOs had earlier agreed to an offer by Najib to move its street gathering to a stadium but was then told by authorities not to gather in the capital, ruling out its choice of the historical Stadium Merdeka.

Saifuddin also pointed out that one of the largest groups on Saturday was led by PKR vice president Datuk Chua Jui Meng and PAS central committee member Hatta Ramli “who were allowed to hold speeches for half an hour and then disperse peacefully.”

“We don’t deny that there were some good officers who allowed this but there was no damage to property, no vehicles or flowerpots broken, so why the need to open fire?” he added.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 13 July 2011, 5:44 pm and is filed under
Bersih
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Bersih rally important, but not a game changer

By
Ong Kian Ming

Jul 11, 11 | MalaysiaKini

COMMENT
It is far from easy to objectively evaluate the political and electoral impact of the Bersih 2.0 rally in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, especially when one was in the middle of the said rally, receiving ‘presents’ in the form of tear gas canisters from our beloved police force.

But given the huge amount of press attention and public spotlight in the lead-up to and during the rally, it would be remiss not to consider the possible political and electoral repercussions, especially since the first Bersih rally was seen as being instrumental in sparking off the March 2008 electoral tsunami.

It is useful to differentiate between the political impact of the rally – the overall negative backlash against the authorities, the increased level of political awareness among first-time marchers, the effect of social media on overall sentiment – with the electoral impact of the rally – how this backlash is distributed among the different regions and individual parliament and state seats.

My assessment is that the political impact of the rally outweighs the electoral impact of the rally because of the relative lack of violence on the part of the police and the Klang-Valley-focused nature of this campaign.

There was a real possibility that Bersih 2.0 would be a ‘game changer’ in Malaysia’s political history. The over-reaction of the police coupled with the refusal on the part of the prime minister and his home minister to find an agreeable compromise with the organisers of the rally set the scene for a potentially violent showdown.

The potential of as many as 100,000 participants gathering on the streets of KL could have overwhelmed the police and resulted in many acts of unplanned violence and possibly even fatalities among the marchers.

In the end, while the reaction of the police were excessive, especially in light of the peaceful nature of the rallies taking place in different parts of the city, they followed a well-rehearsed playbook of using non-lethal means of dispersing the crowd including teargas, water cannons and selective arrests.

The one unfortunate death which did occur, that of Baharuddin Ahmad, was as a result of a heart condition rather than the direct consequence of a police assault.

There wasn’t a ‘Mohammed Bouzizi’ moment (the Tunisian fruit seller who set himself alight) or the ‘occupation’ of a symbolic location (like Tahrir Square). The police were far more restrained compared to their counterparts in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen and Syria.

Lack of violence limits electoral backlash

It is because of this relative lack of violence that limits the electoral backlash against the BN. Please do not misunderstand me here. I am not advocating for acts of self-immolation and provocation that will result in lethal police force being applied as a means of swinging voter sentiment against the ruling coalition.

I am merely pointing to the political reality that the voter backlash is somewhat commensurate with the level of violence displayed by the authorities.

If the authorities had reacted by shooting at the unarmed protesters which would most definitely have resulted in fatalities, the condemnation which would have been heaped on the government would have been much more severe and widespread.

This is not to say that there was no electoral impact as a result of the manner in which the government mismanaged and over-reacted to the demands of the Bersih coalition.

One can be certain that the voters in the Klang Valley who were unnecessarily inconvenienced by the arbitrary roadblocks set up days before the July 9 rally would blame the government and the police rather than Bersih or the opposition parties which were mobilising support for the Bersih rally.

Roadblocks set up in places as far as Dengkil would surely be seen as excessive and not commensurate to the supposed ‘threat’ posed by the Bersih rally.

Klang Valley voters are also much more likely to consume news through alternative media sources and would discount much of the ‘spin’ that was being issued by the mainstream press.

In addition, these voters are also more likely to have friends and family who participated in the rally and can give a first-hand account to contrast the peaceful approach of the marchers with the uncompromising and unreasonable actions taken by the police.

Others outside the Klang Valley who would also have been incensed and taken aback by the police reaction are likely to be urban dwellers with some political interest and knowledge as well as access to online sources of information.

But these are voters who had already voted for the opposition in 2008 and would likely, especially after Bersih 2.0, vote for the opposition in the next general election.

Sure, there may have been some fence-sitters in the urban areas who may have been disillusioned with Pakatan Rakyat after March 2008 who would now not vote for the BN because of Bersih 2.0, but the outcome in these urban seats would be the same as it was in 2008.

Impact likely to be more limited in marginal seats

This negative electoral backlash against the BN will be helpful to the opposition in retaining marginal seats like Hulu Langat, Wangsa Maju and Kuala Langat in Selangor/KL but its impact is likely to be much more limited in marginal Pakatan seats like Padang Serai and Kulim Bandar Baharu in Kedah and in the less urbanised seats of Indera Mahkota in Pahang and Bagan Serai in Perak, just to name a few.

This leads to the question of ‘what’s next’ for Bersih?

The movement has proved its point by showing that a large number of Malaysians can gather, despite the many roadblocks set up by the police, and march peacefully, despite the heavy handed reactions of the police. But a Bersih 3.0 rally is not likely in the near future, at least not before the next general election.

The committee will try to find a more low-key manner to submit the memorandum to the king after which a time of regrouping and reevaluation is needed. It makes sense to leverage on the current momentum by expanding Bersih to areas beyond the Klang Valley.

One of the factors which lessened the political impact of Bersih 2.0 was its inability to mobilise groups to rally for the cause in cities all over Malaysia.

If voters in Johor Baru, Kuantan, Malacca, Kuala Terengganu, Sibu and Sandakan could have seen or experienced the over-reaction of the police with their own eyes (or the eyes of their friends and relatives), the negative electoral backlash against the authorities would have been much more significant.

Key ‘what next’ questions

Whether or not Bersih has the resources and capacity (or even if it wants) to expand its reach is unclear and will be one of the key ‘what next’ questions.

Finally, the leaders of the opposition cannot afford to assume that Bersih 2.0 will be a game changer in the same way as the first Bersih march.

They cannot assume that the negative publicity generated against the authorities will be sufficient to carry them to Putrajaya in the next election.

Focusing on the actions of the authorities during this rally detracts from the other more important objectives of finding suitable candidates and doing the necessary groundwork especially in the vulnerable Pakatan and BN areas.

This rally was an important political event, especially among those who participated and the many more who supported the spirit of this movement, but it is not a game-changer. Real change and reform requires greater sacrifices than just a Saturday afternoon rally.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 13 July 2011, 12:12 am and is filed under
Bersih
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.