A bittersweet experience

By A Humble Malaysian

The Malaysian Insider

May 04, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, May 4 — I personally believe that there are three occasions where you can experience the spirit of 1 Malaysia: football, badminton and rally.

Why did I join Bersih 3.0? Various reasons, but certainly NOT for politics.

I woke up automatically at 6.30am on April 28, an hour ahead of my alarm set. The first thing I did was to turn on my laptop and checked the updates on Facebook.

There were already an estimate of 5,000 people around Dataran Merdeka. Next, I checked RapidKL Twitter to ensure the train was in service. No service disruption. Good.

I left my house at about 8am for the Kelana Jaya LRT station. At the car park, I saw a few groups of people, clad in yellow and green. That was when I realised, I was not alone.

We looked at each other, with smiles on our faces, as if we could read each other’s mind.

Each stop at the LRT station, I could see more and more people in yellow and green boarding the train.

A big crowd went off at Pasar Seni for one of the main meeting points, Central Market.

I got out from Masjid Jamek. After meeting my friend at the platform, we walked towards Petaling Street.

I could see yellow everywhere, even yellow “Angry Birds”. We headed towards the food stall area for breakfast. All the stalls and restaurants were jam packed. We actually stood while eating.

An uncle from the nearby table offered us an untouched glass of coffee, saying “Miss, this is for you, we ordered extra.” Very warm gesture but unfortunately, I don’t drink coffee hence my friend drank the whole glass.

“It tasted good!” that was what he said.

People wait for the start of the Bersih rally, at Jalan Tun Perak in Kuala Lumpur, April 28, 2012.It was about 10am when we headed out to Jalan Sultan to join the “carnival”.

People were walking around, singing, playing music with empty containers, chanting, taking pictures, selling Bersih recyclable bags, sitting by the roadside, just waiting for the moment.

We decided to walk farther to the intersection between Jalan Hang Jebat and Jalan Sultan.

We saw policemen forming human walls, but people were still able to cross from the side.

Supporters wearing Bersih t-shirt were seen talking and taking pictures with the policemen. There was a van loaded with boxes of mineral water, a man distributing the mineral water to the people around, for FREE.

It was almost about 11.30am and the sun was right above us. We decided to stop walking and joined the group of people in front of Mandarin Pacific Hotel.

Even Yellow Power Rangers was there. The song that caught my attention was “Inilah Barisan Kita”. I was quite emotional hearing myself singing to it, I actually remembered the lyrics.

They chanted “Bersih”, “Stop Lynas” and also “Reformasi”. We talked and laughed as if we have known each other for a very long time.

We were told to sit down and people actually did. But I have no idea why there were still cars and buses passing the road, making people sat and stood a few times.

I was lucky because I was by the side of the road, not affected by the traffic. Wong Chin Huat came by at about 12pm to give his instructions and speech.

He was struggling to make his voice heard, sounding as if he has been talking loudly for the past four hours.

At 12.30pm, we stood up and started walking, but stopped after about 50m. We sat down again.

Balloons, big and small, flying around. After about 10 minutes, we started walking again.

I felt really good, despite the heat.

From Jalan Sultan, we walked to Jalan Tun HS Lee and soon to Jalan Tun Sambanthan, towards Kota Raya.

I saw two traffic policemen by the road side, resting. The supporters greeted the policemen and shook hands with the policemen. All smiles, no tension.

At about 1.30pm, we were told to “Buka laluan” (make way). It was Ambiga Sreenevasan and a few more committees of Bersih 2.0. Yes, I saw Ambiga.

We then walked to Jalan Tun Perak. From the voices of the crowd, I started to imagine how many people were ahead of us.

We tried to walk as near as we could towards Dataran Merdeka.

At 2pm, we were still far behind, only managed to get to McDonald’s.

We sang “Negaraku” and chanted “Bersih” over and over again. At about 2.15pm, we were told to move back a little and to be seated.

At about 2.30pm, a few people from the front started to walk back, saying that “Anwar kata bersurai. Matlamat dah tercapai.”

Eh, I thought we were supposed to sit till 4pm?

So people started to disperse. And we decided to be a little adventurous, walking to the front, till Jalan Melayu, the road between OCBC Bank and Masjid Jamek LRT Station.

It was slightly after 3pm when people at the top level of LRT Station signalled us to run. And then I heard the sound of the shooting of tear gas, which sounded like fireworks.

Ah, it’s time to make full use of my equipment. I took out the salt and wet towel, which had been soaked with salt water before I left the house this morning.

I ate the salt and poured some on the towel and covered my nose and mouth with it.

I started running into Jalan Melayu, heading towards Lorong Tunku Abdul Rahman.

I could see people around me were in tears, coughing, gasping for fresh air. I took out my bottle of salt water, drank and passed to the girl next to me as she was feeling really uncomfortable.

I kept an eye on my friend who was behind me and he told me “Just walk ahead, I will be behind.”

But the crowd started pushing, feeling panicky and girls shouting.

Salt was passed around. Malay, Chinese and Indian, we were helping each other.

Halfway through, the crowd in front stopped walking, and people from behind started to push.

Apparently there was tear gas fired in front. So, now we were stuck.

There is a small alley on the right. Some said it was a dead end, another person said to go.

So, we decided to run into the alley and found out it was a dead end, with the Klang River on the right.

We could see people trying to get down to the riverbank and some tried to climb up the wall on the left.

After being stranded there for about 10 minutes, we decided to walk out, knowing that we could not just stay there doing nothing.

We walked towards Lorong Tuanku Abdul Rahman and saw a group of policemen in front of us, by the side of the road.

One of the policemen told us to continue walking and “jangan tengok-tengok” (Don’t look).

I managed to peep at the small alley on the right, a few people clad in Bersih T-shirts were surrounded by policemen.

After we walked pass the scene, we heard one of the supporters shout at the policemen, and we started running.

In front of us, another group of policemen. This time, I saw a group of five or six policemen attacking a person who’s already on the ground. A few more non-uniformed people tried to save the person.

There were people shouting around. A few policemen standing at the junction between Jalan Melayu and Lorong Tuanku Abdul Rahman told us to continue walking.

We never turned back. Whatever just happened, for whatever reason, it was an ugly scene.

As we walked, we could still smell the tear gas. At one point, we could see Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman on the left and spotted a row of FRU, standing still, ready to fire any time.

We continued walking and saw people sitting by the side of the road. Several stalls were spotted still operating despite the tear gas.

We stopped at one drink stalls and I saw the sellers’ eyes were red, and yet, they were still doing business.

We continued walking out to Jalan TAR, about 100m from the FRU.

We could see people sitting by the road side, and some, sitting on the middle of the road and one, lying down.

One guy ran towards the man who was lying on the road, offering him water, thinking he had fainted. But he was just lying there; he had not fainted.

It was only 3.45pm, we decided to sit by the roadside and waited till 4pm before we call it a day.

A Chinese man came to us, asking whether we wanted to refill our water bottles. Another nice gesture.

We wondered whether we would be poisoned, but maybe not today.

I did not take up the offer as I still had water with me, but my friend did.

A group of people sat nearby, one of them was smoking. He turned over to me when he realised the cigarette smoke was blown towards my direction, and he apologised.

Later on, a man sat down beside me. He was also affected by the tear gas. He was not prepared for the tear gas and was voicing out his dissatisfaction of what had happened.

At 4pm, we decided to leave. We walked to Bandaraya LRT Station to find that the station was closed.

Two policemen were spotted behind the shutters, inside the LRT station and a man from the outside asked the policemen why the shutters were down.

The policemen told to take the train from the next station at Jalan Sultan Ismail but the man shouted back for them to open the shutters. He pushed the shutters.

I dislike the scene, so we left.

While we were walking down the station, we heard the crowd at Jalan Raja Laut were facing another group of FRU in front of DBKL building.

Soon, we heard the shooting of tear gas. And again, we took out the towels and salt and started running.

We decided to walk to Jalan Sultan Ismail via Jalan TAR, passing Sogo.

When we walked pass Sogo, we saw a group of people fanning a man on the ground.

My friend walked over to peep but I pulled him off; it’s time to go home.

While walking towards Pertama Complex, we saw bottles and water flying around in front of the Mara building.

Then, we saw a police car drove pass. A group of people threw objects at the police car.

That police car managed to flee. A few moments later, we saw a guy jumping on top of a moving car. People again started to throw objects (it was a police car, as what I saw when it drove passed me). We just continue walking and didn’t turn back.

A few seconds later, we heard a crash sound. Oh, no!

Ahead, we saw, again, people throwing objects at two traffic policemen on motorcycles.

Next, the policemen stopped the motorcycle, facing the crowd behind, his hand near his waist as if wanting to draw his weapon. Oh, no!

I did not want to imagine what was going to happen next.

People started to shout and run and we ran for our lives towards Jalan Semarang (between Pertama Complex and Mara Building) and out to Jalan Raja Laut towards Sultan Ismail LRT Station.

We then heard ambulance and police sirens from every direction.

Whatever just happened at Jalan TAR, was beyond my imagination.

It is saddening and a disappointment that things turned ugly after 3pm.

But I am glad I came home in one piece, with no injury except some tan on both of my hands.

 I thank God and I am very grateful.

Want to experience what 1 Malaysia is all about? Come join Bersih 4.0, if there’s one.

I will be there, with slightly more experience than the first time. I will not run into a dead end again.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 5 May 2012, 12:40 am and is filed under
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Bersih 3.0: What matters most and what does not

By
Nathaniel Tan
 | May 3, 2012

Malaysiakini

This article will in two parts attempt to examine the following: what matters most about this rally (versus what does not), an analysis of both the police car that ran into protesters as well as the barricade breach incident, and what Saturday tells us about the government, leaders and people of Malaysia.

What matters most

While I cannot resist commenting on the two incidents analysed below, I would like to agree with commentators who observe that harping on these issues are a distraction from what really matters.

What is a distraction is spending hours trying to interpret hand signals. What really matters is electoral reform.

The fundamental principle of democracy is that people should have the full power to decide how their lives are run. When all is said and done, this and only this is the objective of Bersih.

With an electoral system that is dirty and getting dirtier with amendments passed a few weeks ago that actually makes it easier for the ruling party to cheat in an election, citizens are being deprived of the very essence of liberty and freedom.

In short, you no longer control who controls you.

Without a clean and fair electoral system, the powers that be have obtained ways to remain the powers that be forever.

After the rally last Saturday, I made my way to KLCC for dinner with my loved one.

Business was going on as usual, nothing seemed particularly out of place despite the mayhem on the streets a few hours earlier.

Should the government continue to cheat its way into power, I think that on the surface most of Malaysia would look more or less the same, just like it did in KLCC.

The insidiousness of the authorities are such that they find ways to cheat, plunder and abuse the powerless while continuing to feed their opiate to the masses, hoping they won’t notice.

Bersih is about not letting this happen – and that’s what matters.

Violent Bersih supporters?

That said, we are already experiencing no end of spin about how violent these Bersih people are, how the opposition wants to plunge the nation into violent chaos just to gain power, and so on.

In the face of overwhelming video and eyewitness evidence however, lies are exposed, and the truth is laid bare.

In the aftermath, the truth behind two incidents in particular seemed unclear.

Again, while mindful that we shall not fall into the government’s trap of getting caught up in red herrings and missing the bigger picture mentioned above, let us just for a moment attempt to objectively examine what happened.

An important note: where people cannot or have not been identified, I maintain an open view as to who any one individual may be – a genuine Bersih supporter, a party member, a hooligan along for the ‘fun’, an undercover policeman, and so on.

Without concrete evidence, one cannot as of yet say for sure – thus they shall be referred to merely as individuals.

I came across three videos documenting the incident where a police car smashed into some protesters and ran into a wall.

At first, some of us were suspicious about the confusion that reigned in the immediate aftermath. Some even asked if it was a staged event of some sort, designed to make the protesters look bad.

Only one video shows an aerial view of the moments before the crash. Here, individuals can be seen jumping up and down on the car, and things are thrown continuously at the police vehicle.

It appears that this is in angry response to heavy handed police action the crowd had been experiencing just prior. In my view, attacking the police car as seen just before the crash is still a reprehensible act, whoever the perpetrator.

The police car then swerves off the road to the right, running down what appears to be two or three individuals, and slamming into the wall.

The individuals hit fly into the air like bowling pins, one of which can later be seen unconscious lying on the ground to the right of the vehicle, in an area where blood can be seen on the floor.

The crowd rushes to the car, including an individual in a grey T-shirt, shorts, motorcycle helmet and video camera. I am fairly certain this is cameraman Azri Salleh, who works for Al-Hijrah.

Azri is often mistaken as the driver of the car, but careful examination of the video footage clearly shows him running towards the car after the crash.

Piecing together the different video angles, it appears Azri approached the driver’s window, at which point another individual dressed in yellow approached from his left to do the same.

It is extremely unclear whether this second individual had good or bad intentions. What we can see however is that Azri is for whatever reason extremely agitated and reacts violently, shoving the man in yellow aside angrily.

This seems to set off the surrounding crowd who then proceed to assault Azri briefly, during which he falls to the floor and is beaten and kicked for a few seconds, after which the individuals doing so seem to stop. Azri is then seen walking away slowly completely unaccosted.

The video then shows two more individuals (one of which was later interviewed in a video by Free Malaysia Today), approach the car, open the door, and then carefully escort the single policeman driver inside away to safety. The policeman is identified as Mohamad Kamil Paimin.

Throughout this incident, there is someone off screen who is screaming repeatedly that there is someone trapped under the car. The nearby individuals then decide to turn over the car, which shows that there was in fact no one underneath.

A number of things surrounding this incident appeared odd at first viewing. Some of us poured over it trying to understand what was going on, and whether there were hidden hands at play.

Having watched the videos multiple times and reading the accounts that later appeared from those involved, I am personally satisfied that there is no conspiracy behind what happened here.

My view is that Mohamad Kamil most likely lost control of his car after it was attacked. For reasons manifestly unclear, Azri Salleh got into a fight with and was beaten by individuals around him. The car was overturned because people thought there was someone underneath.

Chaos always leads to confusion, and in times of tension and high strung emotion, things play out in unpredictable ways. I feel there is little more to be said about this incident, an incident that is regrettable all around.

The barricade

The incident moments prior to the breach of the Dataran Merdeka barricade seem equally unclear.

The question on most people’s minds seems to be: who was it that was directly responsible for the first few people breaching the barricade?

The theories range from: the police themselves who surreptitiously opened the barricades in an effort to entrap the protesters, Azmin Ali and or Anwar Ibrahim, and random people in the crowd.

I have watched videos, I have read testimonies, and my conclusion is, well, inconclusive.

Political circles now fervently debate the meaning of hand gestures, conspiracy theorists insist the cops planned this all along, and people less than fond of Pakatan Rakyat insist this was hijacking and/or instigation to unruly behaviour.

While it’s certainly possible, I am not optimistic we will get to the bottom of this. Proving it was a police trap will be difficult, and Azmin and Anwar have both explained that they made no instigation for the crowd to breach the barricade.

In Anwar’s case, there appears to be clear documentation of him asking the crowd to disperse. As for the rest – there are things I perhaps might not put past certain people, but this is really not the same as saying we know for sure that X did Y.

Not having been made in some established sign language, we cannot interpret hand signals for sure.

Not having clear evidence of who it was exactly that opened the barricades, whether police or Bersih supporters, we cannot say for sure one way or the other.

At the end of the day, it basically comes down to who you believe is telling the truth, and who you believe is lying.

I myself tend to find that whether we believe someone is truthful or not probably tells us more about how we feel about that person than it does about whether that person is telling the truth.

People do love to speculate, I’ve certainly been guilty of that myself.

After the dust settles however, and when most of the evidence that is likely to emerge has emerged, we must try to take an objective view of things.

Thereafter, we conclude for ourselves whatever is fair to conclude, and admit uncertainty where the evidence is contradictory or insufficient.

Having taken a microscopic view, the second part of the article will return to the bigger picture – What are the implications of violence, whoever the perpetrator, for future rallies?

How does it reflect on civil society and/or Pakatan Rakyat? And my personal favourite, what the hell was Najib Razak doing all this time?

***

Part 2:
Bersih and Najib, our Francesco Schettino

__

NATHANIEL TAN believes this world is full of people, he was born to love them all. He blogs at www.jelas.info and tweets @NatAsasi”

http://www.jelas.info/

http://twitter.com/natasasi

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 5 May 2012, 3:13 pm and is filed under
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Bersih and the mystery of the missing PM

By
Nathaniel Tan
 | May 4, 2012

Malaysiakini

This is part two of an attempt to examine the following: what matters most about this rally (versus what does not), an analysis of both the police car that ran into protesters as well as the barricade breach incident, and what Saturday tells us about the government, leaders and people of Malaysia.

Whither Najib?

Videos of the police car being overturned during the Bersih 3.0 rally must have been a wet dream come true for BN spinmeisters the likes of Tan Keng Liang.

What can we say objectively about the violence at the rally?

Some posit that all the “violent protestors” were in fact agent provocateurs planted by the powers that be.

This is of course entirely possible, but it cannot be confirmed or bersih 3.0 rally police motorbike speeding in the crowd 2denied entirely at this point, based on available evidence.

I deem it probably unlikely that every single person who exhibited violence at the rally did so at the secret behest of the authorities.

If there were indeed supporters of Bersih who turned violent at the rally, what does that tell us about Bersih?

I posit: very little indeed.

The people who turned up at the rally are not Bersih “members”. There is no such thing.

A rally like this attracts all sorts. I would estimate 99% in attendance (not counting policemen or saboteurs) are fervently committed to a culture of non-violence. Then there is the 1% who, as Batman’s butler tells us, “just want to watch the world burn”.

In terms of proportions, saying rallies should be banned because violence sometimes occurs would very much be like saying we should ban motorcycles because snatch thieves use motorcycles (although, sometimes the behaviour of some motorcyclists on the road get me thinking this may not be such a bad idea).

Room for improvement?

Could there have been better crowd control on the part of the organisers?

I think the simple answer is yes. I take this view partly because I always believe there is room for improvement. There are very few exceptions indeed to this.

I understand and appreciate the severe constraints and challenges the organisers faced.

I would nonetheless humbly recommend expanding considerable effort in vastly improving the lines of communication from organiser to participant. When hundreds of thousands of people gather, they are looking for firm decisions to be communicated firmly to everyone.

Chaos and confusion are after all always attendant to the absence of clear lines of communication, command and control.

What about the other end of the spectrum?

While we cannot yet say for sure who is responsible for the violence that appears to have been perpetrated by people in yellow shirts and such, there is no doubt regarding extensive video footage of police brutalising unarmed, often helpless citizens.

In many instances, a pack of policeman descend upon an individual who had been separated from the crowd, and beat him mercilessly, without any reason at all. The sight of it curls the stomach, and shows the very worst excesses of people abusing their power and their uniform.

If and when a more systematic collection of this visual evidence is compiled, I believe what we find will be extremely damning.

A measure of last resort

In conclusion to this part of the discussion, two fundamental things:

Firstly, there appear to be no recorded incidents of violence prior to the police firing tear gas and water cannons upon the crowd. A popular theory posits simply: If they had just let us in, none of this would have happened. I generally believe this to be true.

(Of course, if you believe the conspiracy theory about the barricade, then we were “let in” precisely for this to eventually happen).

Secondly, we must examine the hypothesis: had there been no rally, there would have been no violence.

Indeed, empirically speaking this may seem irrefutable.

At the same time, I think there is no doubt that had there been no rally, there would be even less hope for electoral reform – paving the way for the nightmare of a democracy stolen from the rakyat.

Without resistance, the unjust will always reign unchallenged and supreme.

I have always said no one likes going out in the dead of the afternoon to face tear gas and water cannons (ok, almost no one); but Malaysians will not sit by and watch their fundamental right to chose their own government fairly heinously usurped. That is the simple truth of it.

Seeing how all other measures have so clearly failed to result in meaningful action or reform, hundreds of thousands of Malaysians saw no available alternatives left to ensure the government took notice.

In the end, ordinary Malaysians went out there and risked their all because they believed a line has to be drawn somewhere – and together as one people, we drew that line at Dataran Merdeka.

What was Najib doing?

The government handled Bersih 2.0 and Bersih 3.0 very differently.

In the former, every minister and his/her mother came out to condemn Bersih. This time, the evidence suggests a complete gag order.

Only Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein (left) was sent to do the dirty work, and he didn’t seem to have a clue what he was really saying – a feat he seems to have successfully extended post-Bersih.

The other peon sent to the lonely and dangerous front was KL Mayor Ahmad Fuad Ismail. While last year the prime minister was at the forefront of discussions about Bersih, this time he sent someone not at the federal level, not at the state level, but at the municipal level.

Who then is responsible for the police violence?

In cases where dogs attack humans, we hold their owners legally responsible.

Equally, I am of the school of thought which believes that when something goes wrong in a ship, there is no point in going after the sailors – ultimately, the captain must always bear final responsibility.

In this respect, Najib’s captaincy in this situation most resembles that of Captain Francesco Schettino of the Costa Concordia – the man who refused to return to his sinking ship after he abandoned it, despite being ordered by the Coast Guard to do so to help with the rescue efforts.

This spectacle gave rise to the meme, Vada a bordo, cazzo!, which translates roughly to “Get back on board, you !#$@!”

Imagine the scene.

On the same day that hundreds of thousands of Malaysians went down to the streets and faced tear gas and water cannons to demand clean and fair elections as their fundamental democratic right, the prime ministers sits and thinks about an appropriate course of action.

He ponders. He wonders.

He decides: “I know, I should go to Bukit Tunku and get a hair cut.”

Has our prime minister gone mad? Does he fancy himself a Nero amidst a burning Rome? Vada a bordo, cazzo!

Having learnt from Bersih 2.0 that the more they tried to suppress Bersih, the worse they looked (a classic case of being trolled), the government – and especially Najib himself – chose to remain utterly quiet this time.

Of course, someone had to be fed to the lions. Hishammuddin, Ahmad Fuad, and the Inspector General of the Police all probably found themselves facing the firing squad with dead silence from the top. I can’t imagine how much they must resent the prime minister’s cowardice.

The trickle down effect of cowardice

This absence of leadership goes a long way in understanding how things happened on April 28.

It seems the only clear instruction to the police from the IGP was: don’t do anything unless they breach Dataran.

A number of things: Firstly, this could be why the protesters were “allowed” to breach the barricades, if that was what indeed happened.

Secondly, there does not seem to have been clear instruction as to what to do after action began to be taken.

Reviewing the videos and eyewitness accounts of violence, I find myself thinking of a popular song by the Baha Men.

On Saturday evening, I spoke to someone on the train to KLCC who told of how the police were breaking the peace and forcing their way into restaurants, roughing up anyone in a yellow t-shirt (video evidence has since emerged of such instances).

They were chasing Malaysians around town late into the evening, for no apparent reasons whatsoever.

As seen by the way they fired tear gas after people were already dispersing, their motivation seemed to be one of vengeance – vengeance devoid of any real purpose or leadership.

Too long have we endured a culture of police brutality, and too long have we abided those who are truly responsible.

Najib’s cowardice in failing to deal with the entire Bersih matter maturely is nothing short of disgusting.

The wise thing to do would have been to let the people gather peacefully at Dataran Merdeka, listen to what they have to say, and then let them disperse peacefully.

If he thought he could happily let some other fall guys take the rap while he shut up for weeks, and then crawl out of the woodwork to whine and spin after the fact (after, of course, his ‘urgently needed’ haircut), he has another thing coming.

Courage in our final lap

Ultimately, all this is about nothing more and nothing less than the right to choose our leaders fairly.

It was on the last day of parliament that the government – in a move that can only signal truly malicious intent – enacted amendments to electoral laws that actually make it easier for the government to cheat and steal an election.

Some ten days before Bersih (either arrogance or pure desperation), and literally in the dead of night, amidst stopped clocks – they eroded yet another fundamental liberty that is the human right of every Malaysian.

Not until that moment did I realise how serious the ruling party is about cheating, how close they are to the edge, and how desperate they are not to fall off.

One way or another, I feel we are in for some truly challenging months ahead. It may not be long before we can be compared to the worst tyrannies and dictatorships in the world.

Nevertheless, I refuse to let my fear restrain me from taking a stand against injustice.

On April 28, f July 9, and Nov 10 before it, Malaysians came together and said Ya basta! Enough is enough.

No more power through corruption, no more apathy through ignorance, no more oppression through tyranny.

The powerful will use every last measure at their considerable disposal to corrupt the democratic process, and we, the rakyat, will have to use every last measure of our considerable strength to resist it.

If ever you despair, you remember that commitment and resolve that was written on the face of every one of your brothers and sisters that came out to walk with you that scorching Saturday afternoon. You remember and you take heart.

Remember, and know this – it may take days, it may take a lifetime; but armed with nothing but our integrity and our conscience, believe me, we shall overcome.

***

Part 1:
Bersih 3.0: What matters most and what does not

__

NATHANIEL TAN believes this world is full of people, he was born to love them all. He blogs at www.jelas.info and tweets @NatAsasi”

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 5 May 2012, 3:35 pm and is filed under
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Eight questions that a full and credible public inquiry into the “428” Bersih 3.0 violence must provide answers

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak is leading the Barisan Nasional propaganda  campaign of damage control to minimize the adverse fall-outs from the government mishandling of Bersih 3.0 “sit-in” at Dataran Merdeka for free and fair elections with wild and far-fetched allegations, for instance,  that Bersih 3.0 was an attempt by the opposition to topple the Barisan Nasional government.

In actual fact, Bersih 3.0 marked the greatest awakening, empowerment and unity among Malaysians transcending race, religion, class, region, gender or age to demonstrate their love for the country and concern for clean elections for a clean Malaysia.

What is undeniable is that Bersih 3.0 is proving to be a bigger public relations disaster for Najib and his image as a “reformer” and “transformer” with every passing day.

Suhakam has said that the “heavy-handed and arbitrary manner” in which the police used “disproportionate and unwarranted force against the participants of the rally as well as members of the media” in the Bersih 3.0 rally was “unacceptable conduct” while the Bar Council has said that police brutality against protestors during Bersih 3.0 had worsened as compared to the Bersih 2.0 rally on July 9 last year.

Yesterday, Suhakam announced findings that the police had violated human rights during Bersih 2.0  when they fired tear gas in the vicinity of public amenities like Tung Shin Hospital, Chinese Maternity Hospital and KL Sentral, where public safety was at risk.

Can there can any doubt of the outcome of any full and credible public inquiry on Bersih 3.0 into the human rights violations in the police rampage of excessive, disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force, whether firing tear gas, chemically-lacked water cannon, brutality and violence against peaceful protestors and media representatives?

The Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar has said that he wants justice for all parties concerned, including members of the media and policemen who were injured.

I agree with the IGP that  “Just because there are hooligans in the police force does not mean that the entire organization comprise thugs” – and this is why a full and credible public inquiry must be held to ensure that there is justice for  all the Bersih 3.0 victims of brutality and violence – whether police, media representatives or peaceful protestors.

I also agree that the police had acted with utmost restraint and professionalism until about 3 pm last Saturday or half an hour  after the  announcement by the Bersih 3.0 organisers of the ending of the rally and calling for dispersal of the protestors.

It was after 3 pm that there was a breakdown of police restraint and professionalism, where there was a police rampage of violence and brutality.

There are at least eight questions that a full and credible public inquiry into the “428” Bersih 3.0 violence must provide answers.

1.     Why was there a police rampage of excessive, disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force, whether tear-gas, chemically-laced water cannon or physical violence and brutality against peaceful protestors after 3 pm and lasting some five hours that day?

2.     For those who broke through the “barricade”, why the police did not just take action against them instead of punishing the vast peaceful majority who had gathered in peace and wanted to disperse in peace?

3.     Why were some police personnel without name tags and numbers?

4.     Why were media and press representatives targeted and attacked by the police, with cameras smashed, memory cards removed?

5.     Why were some of the LRT stations ordered to close after the tear gas/water cannot rampage started?   Was it the intention of the police to disperse the people or to “trap” them to “teach them a lesson”?

6.     Was it  it true that the airwaves were purposely jammed so that communication was hindered causing further confusion in the midst of a stressful situation?

7.     Who in  the police force or the Home Ministry who were responsible in giving the greenlight for these human rights violations and disregard of principles for the use of force and firearms by police personnel?

8.     Whether the time has come for the full implementation of the 125 recommendations of the Dzaiddin Police Royal Commission of Inquiry to create an efficient, professional, incorruptible world-class police service focussed on the three core functions of keeping crime low, eradicate corruption and uphold human rights – in particular the establishment of an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC)?

According to the parliamentary time-table, Parliament is scheduled to meet for 12 days from 11th to 28th June, while the 2013 Budget Parliament is to begin on 24th September and to go on for 34 days until 27th November – a 34-day meeting.  The 2013 Budget Day is scheduled for Friday, 28th September 2012.

Najib has to decide in the next few days whether to hold general elections in June or to push it back further.

(Speech at the opening of Wisma Penang DAP
)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 5 May 2012, 12:19 pm and is filed under
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Najib’s Malaysia still stuck in the murk

by Hamish McDonald

Sydney Morning Herald

May 05, 2012

It’s an encounter that has gone into the folklore of our diplomatic service.

An Australian envoy meeting a senior Malaysian official heard a familiar complaint about critical coverage of his country’s politics in the Australian media.

He snapped back: ‘Xenophon’s experience suggests the settings won’t change for the election Najib seems about to call. It’s a pity, given what Malaysia could be.

‘The media in Australia are not owned or controlled by the government,” the envoy said. ”Here they all are, and throughout my time here, I’ve never seen a favourable report about Australia.”

Senator Nick Xenophon, who went up last month to join an international team looking at Malaysia’s electoral system, has just had a personal lesson in just how slanted and hostile its media can be. After the team published a highly critical report, the New Straits Times newspaper, owned ultimately by the ruling United Malays National Organisation or UMNO, went to work on him.

It took a passage from one of his old parliamentary speeches on a favourite topic – ”Scientology is not a religious organisation. It is a criminal organisation that hides behind its so-called religious beliefs” – and substituted the world ”Islam” for ”Scientology” throughout. It’s hard to think of a cheaper reporting trick in a strongly Muslim country.

Australians often trip rather too naively into Malaysia’s murky political world. Succumbing to the happy multicultural story of ”Malaysia – truly Asia” a lot of us don’t see the deep racial fears and antipathies swirling in the country’s history and heating its politics even today.

Malaysia is a country of great wealth and many competencies, but despite decades of high growth still falls behind its potential because it hasn’t yet shaken itself free of its poisonous beginnings. Riven by massive fraud, waste and economic distortion, it is a country of religious zeal, yet as noted by Bridget Welsh, a political scientist at the Singapore Management University, its political life is dirty.

”Murder, sodomy, secret trysts, sex videos and conspiracy are all commonplace, and corruption scandals occur regularly,” she wrote on the East Asia Forum website recently. ”Both sides wallow in this political gutter, each trying to darken the reputation of the other, and not fully appreciating how much the system as a whole has been damaged.”

Australia and Australians have often been a convenient diversion from this domestic mudslinging, with sniping reaching low points in the 22 years of Mahathir Mohamad’s prime ministership.

It’s getting testy again as Malaysia’s current Prime Minister, Najib Razak, heads towards a critical national election trying on one hand to preserve the ethnic dominance endowed in UMNO and on the other to reform the discredited underpinnings of that power.

Najib took the prime ministership after the UMNO-led ruling coalition suffered a big setback in the last elections, in March 2009, losing the two-thirds majority in Parliament that allowed it to make constitutional amendments and control five of the 13 states to a three-party opposition alliance put together by UMNO’s alienated former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim.

Najib came with a lot of baggage – notably a kickback scandal on French submarines purchased while he was defence minister, about which two examining magistrates in Paris would like to interview him – but he’s tried to wield a new broom.

A new economic policy is aimed at watering down preferences for ethnic Malays. Stakes have been sold off in bloated public sector enterprises to try to make them more efficient. Last month, the government repealed the colonial-era Internal Security Act, which allowed indefinite detention without trial, and it changed the public assembly law.

But the reforms haven’t resulted in much perceptible change. The UMNO membership is resisting a loss of Malay perks, entrenched cultures remain in public enterprises like the national airline, and a replacement security law has been widely condemned by local and international human rights groups as wide open to similar abuse as the old one.

One result has been that Najib’s personal approval has been running at a high 69 per cent in the opinion polls, while the UMNO coalition’s support has been a lacklustre 46 per cent or so, suggesting the public give Najib marks for trying but don’t think his efforts will work. About a third of those favouring Najib say they will still vote for Anwar’s opposition.

Najib’s support also has flicked sharply downwards when familiar instruments of repression are wielded. A movement for electoral reform called Bersih (meaning ”Clean”) led by a doughty woman barrister, Ambiga Sreenavasan, has had its demonstrations declared illegal and then met with massive police force. The latest was in Kuala Lumpur last Saturday, attended by tens of thousands. Xenophon and other observers shared in a dousing with tear gas and water cannon.

Bersih’s concerns are echoed by the foreign observer group. The electoral system gives wide scope for gerrymandering, with electorate sizes ranging from 7000 to 100,000 voters. Suspiciously, numbers of new voters, over 30 per cent of the previous total, are being registered in opposition-held electorates. Party monitors have just been barred from scrutinising the eligibility of intending voters at polling stations.

Armed force and police personnel have their votes scrutinised by senior officers, and the 240,000 public servants assigned to election duties are required to make postal votes. But strangely, the hundreds of thousands of Malaysians working overseas or employed away from their home towns are not allowed to make absentee votes. A snap poll – a campaign is usually only about 10 days – means a lot of the country’s best and brightest won’t have time to return to their place of registry.

Bersih’s experience with the Malaysian traditional media – owned either by the ruling parties in the case of the newspapers and commercial television, or by politically-directed state broadcasters – illustrates the problem of unequal access to campaign coverage. Before its recent mass demonstrations, media stories have linked it variously to Christian, Jewish and communist conspiracies, and even Islamic extremists.

The internet, with portals like Malaysiakini and Malaysia Today, has given outlets for opposition voices and analysis that reach urban, well educated voters. But rural people get only the slanted pro-government media, at best anodyne, at worse mendacious.

Xenophon’s experience suggests the settings won’t change for the election Najib seems about to call. It’s a pity, given what Malaysia could be.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 5 May 2012, 1:33 pm and is filed under
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SUHAKAM inquiry on Police Violence on April 28

Press Statement

Steering Committee

Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections 2.0 (BERSIH 2.0)

5 MAY 2012

While the government focuses on the breaching of the barricades at Dataran Merdeka by a few, and what they see as a threat to their power, there is a deafening and irresponsible silence about the unprecedented violence inflicted upon unsuspecting members of the public by the police force.

Whilst BERSIH 2.0 does not condone the breaching of the barricades, the legality of those barricades is questionable, as is the legality of the hurriedly obtained court order.  We are also receiving information that much more was happening at the barricades than meets the eye.

The unanswered question still remains – who is responsible for the untold violence upon participants of the Duduk Bantah that occurred after the first tear gas was fired?

Evidence based on medical reports of some of those who were detained by the police appear to show that some members of the police force were out to punish those who wore BERSIH 3.0 t-shirts, anti-Lynas t-shirts or any yellow t-shirts, by inflicting excessive and completely unjustified violence on them.

Some detainees were attacked at the time of arrest, when they were in shops dining, or about to board LRTs while others were attacked after arrest and despite the absence of struggle. Some were alleged to have been assaulted by over 30 police personnel. Many speak of having to “run the gauntlet” of police personnel and beaten repeatedly before being loaded onto police trucks.

The brutality suggests that a segment of the police force on duty that day had acted with vengeance against BERSIH 3.0 participants whether due to orders given to them or because they had lost control. There are too many reports of police officers who were wearing blue police uniforms but without their names and police identity numbers so as to prevent the victims of violence from identifying the perpetrators of police violence.

In addition to BERSIH 3.0 participants, it must not be forgotten that more than 12 photographers and journalists were assaulted, intimidated or detained by police while reporting the rally, and cameras, memory cards and video equipment were taken away.

Given the violence towards members of the media, we find it shameful that fellow members of the mainstream media, continue with their blatant censorship of the news on the violence committed against civilians by the police.  It is at this critical time that the media must step up to the plate, serve the interests of justice and report the truth and the whole truth. In not doing so, they fail the rakyat and their fellow journalists, many of whom (including those in the mainstream media) are now bravely voicing their concerns. We support these journalists who are claiming their rights as professionals.

The proposed independent panel

The “independent panel” that is to be set up is to apparently look into violence against journalists only.  What of violence against the other participants?  Is that unimportant to the government? BERSIH 2.0 calls upon SUHAKAM to conduct an urgent independent inquiry into one of the most extensive acts of violence perpetrated by the authorities upon the people of Malaysia.

The Rejection of Stadium Merdeka

As to the rejection of the stadium by BERSIH as a reason for the violence, this is wholly without basis. The offer for Stadium Merdeka came too late for BERSIH 2.0 to re-organise its event. It is evident from the vast number of people who turned up that day that any change in venue at the last minute would have created certain chaos on the day.  We were therefore right in the decision not to change venue at short notice.

In hindsight, we believe it was also a good thing not to have accepted the Stadium Merdeka. Given the conduct and ill intent of some of the police force, the Stadium would have been a trap that would have been wholly unsafe for the participants.

Overthrowing the Government?

As far as the statement about overthrowing the government is concerned, BERSIH 2.0 rejects it entirely. BERSIH 2.0 wants free and fair elections. The Government has not explained how occupying Dataran Merdeka constitutes a threat to Government, or an attempt to overthrow the Government.

It is our wish that any changes to those who will ultimately represent us in government be made through the ballot box in elections that are clean and fair.

Which brings us back again to BERSIH’s demands. Are they all going to be implemented before the 13th G.E.? Are the EC Chairman and Deputy Chairman going to be asked to step down if it is confirmed they are UMNO members?

Those that choose to ignore the cry of over 250,000 people for clean and fair elections, by labelling it something else, insult the intelligence of the people.  What we want is for candidates who win the elections to do so honourably. And what we need to see now are statesmen and stateswomen who handle the grievances of the people sensitively and responsibly.

Salam BERSIH!

The Steering Committee of BERSIH 2.0 comprises:

Dato’ Ambiga Sreenevasan (Co-Chairperson), Datuk A. Samad Said (Co-Chairperson), Ahmad Shukri Abdul Razab, Andrew Ambrose, Andrew Khoo, Anne Lasimbang, Arul Prakkash, Arumugam K., Awang Abdillah, Dr Farouk Musa, Hishamuddin Rais, Liau Kok Fah, Maria Chin Abdullah, Matthew Vincent, Niloh Ason, Richard Y W Yeoh, Dr Subramaniam Pillay, Dato’ Dr Toh Kin Woon, Dr Wong Chin Huat, Dato’ Yeo Yang Poh, Zaid Kamaruddin.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 5 May 2012, 6:07 pm and is filed under
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Blind baseless support by 3 ex IGPs  for Najib’s wild allegation that Bersih 3.0 “sit-in” was Opposition bid to topple the government latest proof there is no level playing field for free and fair elections

Almost every day, Malaysians are provided with fresh proof that there is just no level playing field for free and fair elections in Malaysia and that the Barisan Nasional government is still a very long way off from fulfilling  Bersih 2.0 Eight Demands for free and fair elections highlighted in the  July 9, 2011 rally, let alone the Further Three Demands of the Bersih 3.0 “sit-in” on April 28 last month.

The Eight Demands of the Bersih 2.0 rally were:

1.	Clean the electoral roll

2.	Reform postal voting

3.	Use of indelible ink

4.	A minimum campaign period of 21 days

5.	Free and fair access to mainstream media

6.	Strengthen public institutions

7.	Stop corruption

8.	Stop dirty politics

The Further Three Demands of the Bersih 3.0 “sit-in” are:

1.       The Election Commission must resign, as it has failed in its responsibility and has lost the confidence of the public.

2.       The electoral process must be cleaned before the 13th General Elections.

3.       Invite international observers to observe the 13th General Elections.

The latest proof that Malaysia is still a long way off from a level playing field for the holding of free and fair elections are firstly,  the wild and baseless allegation by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak that Bersih 3.0 was an attempt by the opposition to topple the Barisan Nasional government; and secondly, the blind and baseless support given by three former Inspector-Generals of Police to Najib’s wild allegation.

In a  front-page report by UMNO-owned Berita Harian today, three former IGPs, Tun Haniff Omar, Tan Sri Rahim Noor and Tan Sri Musa Hassan lent credence to Najib’s wild claim that the “428” Bersih 3.0 “sit-in” was an attempt to topple the government by calling on the police to act against the “alleged coup attempt”.

It would appear that the three former IGPs are being used to justify a major crackdown reminiscent of Operation Lalang mass arrests in 1987!

Is there any iota of  evidence that there was indeed an attempted coup by Bersih 3.0 “sit-in” to topple the elected government as alleged by Najib and supported by the three former IGPs  so as to justify a major crackdown?

No, there is none whatsoever, as evident from Haniff’s own admission. This is what Haniff said:

“There has to be a basis because the prime minister cannot simply make claims. It could happen and there are always people bidding their chance to do it for their own interest.”

This is the height of ridiculousness and the first time in the nation’s 55-year history that there is any claim that a Prime Minister’s words, however wild and far-fetched, are  themselves proof of their truth and sufficient basis for government action.

Never before had the previous five Prime Ministers, including Tun Dr. Mahathir during his 22-years as fourth Prime Minister, had ever laid claim that his words themselves are evidence of their veracity.

This is not only a ludicrous and dangerous  attempt to make the Prime Minister’s words the law of the land, but also to  constitute the evidence as well –  regardless of however wild, ridiculous or baseless the claim or allegation.

Two of Bersih 2.0 Eight Demands are for a “free and fair access to mainstream media” and “stop dirty politics”.

Malaysians are seeing “dirty politics” at their worst in the nation’s 55-year history in the run-up to the 13th General Elections, all given full and free rein in the mainstream media, which is denied  free and fair access to all contestants and stakeholders of a free and fair elections.

The irresponsible antics by the Prime Minister and the three IGPs are the latest and most  vivid examples why the Eight Demands of Bersih 2.0 remain relevant, pertinent and unfulfilled – and why Bersih 2.0 and all justice-and-freedom loving Malaysians  must continue to demand a level playing  field for the holding of the 13th General Elections.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 6 May 2012, 4:24 pm and is filed under
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BN on track for snap poll, looking at July date

By Jahabar Sadiq

Editor

The Malaysian Insider

May 06, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, May 6 — A general election could be called as early as July, before the Ramadan fasting month begins, as the Bersih 3.0 rally has not affected support for the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, sources say.

The Malaysian Insider understands that a June election has been ruled out as Datuk Seri Najib Razak will be away on holiday for nearly two weeks from the middle of May, although he will attend a “Friends of BN” gathering in London on May 14.

“After Umno anniversary celebrations on May 11, the prime minister will go for an event in London, then he will attend his son’s graduation before going off to Spain for a vacation,” a source told The Malaysian Insider.

“So, it isn’t likely in June. July looks good as most BN warlords are ready for a general election,” he added, saying it could be held before July 19 when the fasting month is expected to begin. More than 60 per cent of Malaysians are Muslims who generally refrain from political activity during the fasting month.

Another source said the BN chairman has been inspecting and encouraging his colleagues and supporters across the country, with a recent visit to Gua Musang on Friday where he brushed off speculation that the polls may be delayed following the Bersih 3.0 fracas, saying the date would be decided based on how the people view the government.

Several foreign media reports have predicted that the Najib administration may have to postpone the 13th general election due to a possible negative backlash over the government’s handling of last Saturday’s protest.

But the prime minister, responding to the speculation at a press conference here, smiled when posed the question and said on Friday, “The date of the election is not contingent upon all this.”

“Well, it’s up to the public to decide. We will decide on the basis of how the people view the government, you see,” Najib said.

The source also pointed out that Najib and deputy prime minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, have visited all states in the past few months, with the BN chief in Sarawak last week while his deputy was in Sabah last weekend.

“They are confident and the BN chiefs in the states are confident too. So an early general election is on the cards,” he added.

He noted that the Bersih 3.0 sit-in rally, held in 11 cities across the country and some 80 locations around the world, had only reinforced voters’ preference for an election.

“BN is still strong. Bersih had little effect as it was hijacked by PKR and the violence has put off fence-sitters,” the source added.

Najib’s approval rating, at a lofty 69 per cent in the most recent opinion poll, had led to speculation of a June election although the BN mandate only expires in March next year. The coalition controls 138 out of the 222 seats in the Dewan Rakyat and all states except four, ruled by the rival Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

The next election will see some 2.2 million new voters, who registered between the last general election in 2008 and the end of last year. Nearly 60 per cent of the new voters are Malays, the dominant community in the country.

Election Commission (EC) statistics showed that Selangor had registered the highest number of voters during that period with 165,222 individuals, followed by Johor (124,240), Perak (96,710), Sabah (86,927), Kedah (84,704), Kelantan (69,344), Penang (64,029), Sarawak (63,305), Kuala Lumpur (61,040), Pahang (59,639), Terengganu (45,190), Negeri Sembilan (42,009), Malacca (31,827), Perlis (9,881), Labuan (2,863) and Putrajaya (1,920).

Bersih, a coalition of 84 groups, have disputed the EC electoral rolls and have called for a clean and fair election during their three rallies from 2007, the last being on April 28 where tens of thousands turned up for a peaceful sit-in. It was marred by violence when several protestors breached barricades from Dataran Merdeka which the authorities closed down to prevent the sit-in.

The Najib administration responded after Bersih 2.0 last July with the formation of a parliamentary select committee (PSC) that made 22 recommendations but Bersih still insist the electoral rolls are not cleaned up.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 6 May 2012, 11:32 am and is filed under
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Harris pours scorn on Mahathir’s rosy outlook

FMT Staff | May 6, 2012

KOTA KINABALU: Former Sabah chief minister Harris Salleh has accused Dr Mahathir Mohamad of duplicity during his 22-year tenure as prime minister, which saw the Bornean state rapidly fall from riches to rags.

Lashing out at the man who ruled the country with an iron fist from 1981 to 2003, Harris said in a statement that Mahathir was to be blamed for the current impoverished state Sabah is in.

“Had he mentioned and practised the rule of law, Sabah would remain the richest state,” Harris said in response to Mahathir’s lecture recently at Universiti Malaysia Sabah .

Harris was irked by Mahathir’s claim that Sabah, which was declared as the poorest state in the country by the World Bank, would take back its mantle as the richest Malaysian state soon.

Harris, who helmed the Berjaya state government from 1976 to 1985, said there were many instances when the former premier and the federal government had failed the state.

One instance, he cited, was the federal government’s disregard of an audit report by Price Water House that pointed to a RM4 billion shortfall in Yayasan Sabah accounts.

He said even when Mahathir announced the missing funds in 1994, alleging fraud, he failed as a prime minister to act through.

He had all the powers to correct any wrongdoings, recover the funds and prosecute the culprits, but did nothing.

“Anything announced by a prime minister is a serious matter. Since there was no action taken against the wrongdoers on the issue, the people take it for granted that the announcement by the then prime minister was just another political slogan to suit and pacify himself only,” he said.

If Mahathir proceeded according to the law, Harris said, the people of Sabah through the foundation, which was set up by the Usno government in the 1970s, would be richer by RM6 billion now.

‘Dr M knew about fraud’

Scoffing at the former premier’s rosy outlook for Sabah in the long term, he said Mahathir was merely pointing out that the state was rich in natural resources, a fact widely known.

Based on this fact, he said, Sabah and its people should have become rich many years ago as the state had been exporting its natural resources since the time of the British colonial government and right up to now.

“Unfortunately, nobody dare(s) to single out why Sabah is now the poorest state in Malaysia,” he said, adding that being endowed with natural resources does not automatically make a country and its people rich as could be seen around the world.

He said that an analysis would show that the state was mismanaged by successive governments and also because the authorities and voters had been turning a blind eye to corruption right up to the present day.

Harris added that the failure by the federal government to act, despite clear indications that something was not right in the management of state resources, only indicated that such corruption and fraud was condoned.

He also said that despite Mahathir’s optimistic outlook, there was no guarantee that Sabah would become rich anytime soon.

Harris also dismissed claims that Sabah’s rich natural resources would play a roll in helping to make its people rich as its oil and gas and oil palm lands are not in the hands of Sabahans.

“Oil and gas are controlled by non-Sabahans and this is also true for oil palm plantations. Therefore, there is not much left for Sabahans to do and carry out economic activities,” he said, pointing out that even workers in both sectors are mostly non-Sabahans.

Harris also said that while more than 90% of the cash from both sectors was already being siphoned off to Peninsular Malaysia, it was a “double-whammy” that the federal government had awarded gambling licences to certain companies.

This, Harris said,will further drain away half-a-billion-ringgit from the state based on figures gathered by the Sabah Chinese Chamber of Commerce 10 years ago.

Sabahans’ best bet under the current scenario, he said, was to gradually move from low income to middle income by planting cash crops and produce.

He added that the state should also export tapioca starch and chips which were in demand in China.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 6 May 2012, 12:27 pm and is filed under
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Keberangkalian Umno menjadi pembangkang adalah tinggi

 — Aspan Alias

The Malaysian Insider

May 06, 2012

6 MEI — Kali ini saya teruskan lagi tentang perlunya kerajaan diubah, dianjak dan di alih, kalau boleh sebelum pilihanraya umum. Sambutan himpunan Bersih menunjukkan sokongan kepada perubahan dan rakyat tidak lagi mahu menerima pujukan kerajaan dan pimpinan hari ini agar mereka diberikan sekali lagi sambungan untuk memerintah negara kita yang kaya raya tetapi disalah tadbir ini.

Apa pun kata pihak media massa arus perdana jumlah peserta himpunan Bersih 3.0 tetap jauh melebihi 200,000 orang. Siapa pun boleh nafikan angka ini, tetapi itulah angka yang sebenarnya. Tetapi angka itu tidak penting. Yang penting dalam pilihanraya kali ini BN akan sampai penghujung hayatnya untuk mentadbir negara kita setelah memerintah begitu lama yang membuatkan pemimpin-pemimpin mereka menjadi seperti orang yang kufur nikmat.

Mahu tidak mahu kita mesti terima hakikat yang Bersih 3.0 telah berjaya besar yang tidak disangka-sangka. Pihak BN boleh berkata mengikut apa yang mereka mahu dengar tetapi hakikatnya rakyat telah membuat keputusan yang ‘conclusive’; iaitu, untuk menggantikan BN, justru rakyat akan ditadbir oleh kerajaan baru. Seperti yang saya sebut dalam posting saya beberapa hari yang lalu sokongan terhadap Bersih 3.0 Sabtu lepas memberikan ‘signal’ yang rakyat akan diperintah oleh pihak ‘alternative’.

Sesungguhnya, apa pun yang dilakukan oleh Najib dan barisan pimpinan negara, majoriti rakyat Malaysia sudah kehilangan keyakinan terhadap BN. Persepsi majoriti rakyat terhadap BN sudah sampai keperingkat optima dan tidak ada jalan lagi untuk BN diyakini oleh rakyat yang ramai ini. Semalam saya berada di Terengganu dan sebahagian yang mendengar ceramah yang saya sampaikan itu adalah dari mereka yang baru pulang dari Kota Baru kerana mereka diberikan bas dan berbagai-bagai kemudahan untuk menyambut PM Najib di sana.

Rakyat tahu yang pimpinan hari ini tidak akan mampu melakukan perubahan yang baik kerana kecelaruan yang dialami oleh rakyat adalah hasil dari sikap kufur nikmat yang keterlaluan jelasnya. Secara saikologinya rakyat sesungguhnya sedang menukar ‘mindset’ mereka untuk bersedia menerima perubahan kepada kerajaan baru negara.

Perubahan kerajaan dalam sistem demokrasi adalah ‘normal’. Hanya dinegara ini sahaja pertukaran kerajaan akan di alami oleh rakyat buat kali pertamanya selepas pilihanraya yang akan diadakan pada bila-bila masa sahaja. Jika sudah biasa dengan pertukaran kerajaan dan pentadbiran bertukar ganti maka dengan ‘natural’nya akan berlaku sistem dua parti dinegara ini.

Penjawat awam juga tidak perlu runsing kerana jika BN kalah dalam PRU kali ini, penjawat awamnya adalah pegawai-pegawai dan kakitangan yang sama. Malahan Polis yang membedil rakyat dengan gas pemedih mata itu pun akan kekal. Oleh itu pihak polis dan penjawat awam tidak perlu resah gelisah dengan pemindahan kuasa dari BN kepada PR.

Saya menyebut ini kerana saya hendak memberi tahu semua pihak yang ‘there is life after the demise of Umno’. Tidak lama lagi kita akan mendapat bukti yang jika Umno diketepikan rakyat akan berpeluang dan mempunyai harapan yang perubahan kepada kehidupan mereka yang lebih terjamin akan dibuktikan. Masa itu nanti baru lah rakyat tahu yang mereka tidak akan terjejas kehidupan walaupun Umno akan tidak lagi berkuasa.

Peluang untuk Umno kekal dalam kuasa adalah tipis walaupun bukan mustahil. Umno selama ini hidup di atas kebijaksanaan mereka membohongi rakyat dengan retorik lapuknya. Maklum sajalah berbohong itu merupakan satu perkara yang telah menjadi makanan kepada Umno dan BN.

Umno sekarang sedang dalam kekalahan walaupun mereka berpengalaman dalam mengelirukan rakyat. Perang saikologi yang dilakukan oleh media massa seperti TV3 tidak pergi kemana kerana rakyat begitu jemu mendengarnya. Malahan TV3 pun sudah tidak lagi mujarab untuk mengubah hati rakyat yang telah tercalar oleh tingkah laku Umno dan BN sejak beberapa ketika dahulu.

Segala institusi demokrasi yang telah diporak perandakan oleh pemimpin Umno sejak hampir tiga dekad dahulu akan pasti dipulihkan imejnya selepas Umno tidak lagi berkuasa di Putrajaya. Polis yang menendang dan memukul peserta Bersih baru-baru ini akan sampai masanya untuk mengetahui yang mereka juga akan terus berkhidmat dan masa itu nanti barulah mereka (polis) yang sesiapa pun memerintah kedudukan mereka tidak akan terjejas.

PDRM sebaliknya akan merasakan yang mereka tidak didendami walaupun mereka pernah berlaku zalim kepada rakyat yang membayar gaji mereka dan bayaran pencen mereka. Sementara keadaan itu berlaku PDRM janganlah bersikap angkuh jika ada lagi himpunan rakyat serperti Bersih 4.0 misalnya. Tidak perlulah menyelitkan agen ‘provocateur’ dalam perhimpunan Bersih jika ia berlaku lagi.

TV3 juga akan tetap kekal dan tidak payah lagi membodek kerajaan baru nanti. Pengurusan Media Prima tidak payah hendak bertanya kepada pihak berkuasa macam mana hendak spin berita-berita tentang Umno yang akan menjadi parti pembangkang Mereka dari sekarang boleh lah berlatih untuk menjadi pengamal media massa secara professional, dan tidak payah mengampu lagi.

Semasa itu nanti kita berharap pendokong Umno tidak lagi mencarut dan membabikan pihak lain atau menjatuhkan hukum murtad kepada pihak lain. Berbuat baiklah sambil kita bersama-sama memperbetulkan diri dan melakukan intropeksi yang secukupnya. Saya bukan hanya menyeru orang lain untuk berubah kepada kebaikkan ini. Saya juga menyeru kepada diri saya sendiri untuk melakukan perkara yang sama.

Yang terpenting sekarang ini melakukan perubahan adalah satu perkara yang sangat mendesak kerana jika tidak dilakukan sekarang tidak tahulah apa yang akan terjadi kepada rakyat dan negara kita ini pada masa-masa yang akan datang. — aspanaliasnet.blogspot.com

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 6 May 2012, 2:51 pm and is filed under
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Road to Malaysia’s day of destiny

Bridget Welsh | May 6, 2012

Malaysiakini

COMMENT

With well over 100,000 people gathering last week for electoral reform in the largest street protest in the nation’s history – and the event marred by violence by both state and non-state actors alike – Malaysian politics has reached an important impasse.

The Bersih 3.0 rally and its aftermath reveal that the path ahead for Malaysian politics will grow even more contentious and complex. As the different ‘Bersih stories’ pour in, ranging from ‘ordinary’ heroism to the darker accounts of beatings and abuse of power, the move of Malaysian politics outside of the realm of elite to the streets and social media is both empowering and scary.

Prime Minister Najib Razak’s decision not to accommodate the concerns of the protesters last week, and even to demonise their actions, now prods Malaysia further along the road to its day of destiny, where the political fate of Malaysia’s 54-year government will be determined. So far, the routes chosen are one of confrontation rather than compromise, making resolution to differences even more difficult.

Before the rally, I
argued
 that four actors would shape politics around Bersih 3.0 – the youth, the middle class, the police and East Malaysians. Of these, three were decisive on rally day itself (the latter will grow more so as elections approach).

The youth and the middle-class attended the rally in large numbers, marking a new generation’s engagement with politics and transforming a largely apathetic middle class into a more engaged electorate.

Those wearing yellow and green included Malaysia’s soccer moms, the shopping mall princesses, disgruntled students, retirees and usually reticent professionals.

These individuals comprised those who had for years enjoyed the air-conditioned comfort of Malaysia’s success, yet with different levels of concern and angst chose to brave Kuala Lumpur’s hot and humid conditions on April 28. It was uncomfortable, but overwhelmingly, this embrace of discomfort shows how engaged Malaysians are with hot-button political issues and their willingness to stand up and be counted.

They were there because they see the country moving in the wrong direction and wanted to make it right. At the very least, the Bersih rally revealed the shortcomings of the country’s leaders in addressing the concerns of a large, important and increasing number of its citizens.

Much of the attention focused on the third actor, the police, whose over-the-top actions in the use of tear gas and their attacks on journalists have permanently stained their reputation among those connected to the rally.

For those not at the rally, the picture is less clear as the mainstream media has manipulated the event in an attempt to snatch the moral high ground, with the government going as far as censoring the international media and destroying cameras. Often the characterisation of police action has been one of black and white, where in actual fact there is much more gray, and views are evolving as more and more stories are shared.

Questions will remain about the breaching of the barricade, and unless a truly independent party investigates, the ‘he said, she said’ dynamic will be rife with conspiracy theories that breed confusion and suspicion rather than promote genuine respect for the rule of law.

Ultimately, Malaysian voters will decide on who ordered what and why, as the truth cannot be censored with over 100,000 Malaysians from all walks of life sharing their experiences back inside their air-conditioned homes through a social network that directly and indirectly touched over half of the electorate.

Different narratives

Bersih 3.0 was a nationalistic event, a moment of patriotism. What is striking to see are two conflicting ‘Save Malaysia’ narratives that have emerged. The first is one that is shared by rally attendees and its supporters as those who braved the tear gas decided to come out to ‘save’ the country.

This vision is one in which the event becomes a turning point towards greater freedom and empowerment. The symbolism of Dataran Merdeka runs deep as this nationalist narrative is one of rights and fairness.

The core of electoral reform involves guaranteeing that the voice of the people is heard fairly and freely. As such, for Bersih supporters attending the rally, it was about this democratic image for the country as it hopes to move towards a stronger system based on integrity and inclusion.

This stands in stark contrast to the alternative image based on a more reactionary nationalism, one in which the threat is defined as the protestors, ordinary people, who are challenging the status quo. They were portrayed as attacking the country, first on the police force and then later the incumbent system as a whole.

This government-linked ‘image building’ has attempted to showcase the protestors as national security threats (needing barbed wire), immoral actors who are ‘dirty’ rather than clean. Embedded in this narrative is the image that the protestors are anti-Malay, initially as attackers of the Malay police force and later as supposedly immoral individuals.

It is hate-speech that is reminiscent of regimes that feed on fear and hold onto power through exclusion. Also weaved into this narrative is the image of destabilising reformasi proponent fighting for power in the form of Anwar Ibrahim, who is ironically attacked even further in what can be seen as an effort to bring back the Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s base of supporters into Najib’s political fold.

The efforts to stoke hatred of the Bersih movement and its supporters, especially opposition leaders, are extensive, involving the manipulation of the foreign media and threats against journalists and observers, such as Australia’s Senator Nicholas Xenophon.

This narrative is about using racism and fear, hoping to tap into underlying conservatism and relying heavily on state power to hold onto power. This is all couched in an alternative narrative of patriotism, where Dataran Merdeka is portrayed as the place where challengers to power are putting the country governed by the BN under attack.

For the democratic nationalists in this equation, Bersih 3.0 was a mass rebellion. It was attacked, put down and described in such a manner that will build anger. The calls for Bersih 4.0 are already being voiced among supporters.

For the reactionary nationalists, Bersih 3.0 represents a revolutionary event that they have chosen to demonise, not fully realising that in doing so they are sowing the seeds of further discontent.

Supporters on this pole are demanding for arrests, with Bersih leaders and opposition activists top of the list, as they are blinded by authoritarian tools used in the Mahathir era that are outdated in Malaysia’s more mature polity.

Four fundamental mistakes

The reason that these narratives are so different is a continued misreading of Bersih 3.0. There are four fundamental mistakes that the reactionary nationalists made about the Bersih rally. First of all, they continue to equate the movement with the opposition.

This stems from a deep-seated fear of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim. While both Pakatan Rakyat and the civil society-led Bersih movement share some common interests in reform, as do the overwhelming majority of Malaysians from across the political divide, they are not the same. Bersih represents a broad social movement that goes beyond opposition political leaders, and arguably even the Bersih leaders themselves.

It is about reform in governance and better representation, including on the part of opposition parties. This expansion of civil society into places such as Kota Kinabalu and Ipoh, as well as broadening within Kuala Lumpur itself, illustrates the new people-oriented politics of Malaysia. Elites on both sides will have to accommodate a more active and engaged public.

The days when people blindly follow the leaders or go to the streets for personalities alone are gone. Attacks on individual politicians in the wake of the rally just reveal a complete misunderstanding of the movement.

The second mistake of the reactionary nationalists is that Bersih 3.0 is about separate groups of Malaysians divided by ethnicity, organised by clearly ethnically divided groups. While ethnic identity remains important for Malaysian politics, for rally goers this was not about race, but about the country. The consistent theme is one of Malaysian identity, where one of the rally’s theme songs was ‘Negaraku’.

The impact of this public move to embrace non-ethnic politics is profound. In March 2008, voting across ethnic lines was largely private. The reality of common purpose came when the results came out.

Many of the motivations of March 2008 – Hindraf, religious rights and more – were ethnic in nature. Bersih 3.0 was markedly different. It was about a common purpose, where ethnicity was put aside in favour of community building. Bersih 3.0 was arguably the largest trust-building event in Malaysia’s history after Merdeka.

Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Ibans and more met each other, shared laughter, water, sweets, salt… and tears. (The spillover is that it helps build trust among many opposition supporters who came to the rally, as well as the middle-ground Malaysians who met die-hard opposition members for the first time. For PAS in particular, perhaps the biggest success was its Amal security units, which were seen protecting rally goers across races.)

After years of movement towards differences, towards less understanding, this was put aside on a hot afternoon. Bersih 3.0 has set in place conditions where trust building among ordinary people can grow stronger.

Ironically, the reactionary nationalists have underestimated the dissipation of fear in Malaysian politics. This is their third mistake. The bravery among Malaysians is growing. You do not need to look at the numbers of the crowd, although this should not be ignored.

You do not need to even look at the leaders of the movement or the examples of police officers who offered helping hands to rally goers while some of their peers were abusing their positions. Malaysians are increasingly willing to take ownership of their future and are willing to do so again.

Conservatively, the size of Bersih 3.0 doubled in less than a year. The authorities are fooling themselves if they think that these people will not stand up again. Bersih conservatively directly touched over 20 percent of the electorate and indirectly much more. The large participation of young people is especially important as they are traditionally the strongest risk-takers.

One student remarked to me afterwards how the taste of the tear gas the second time was sweeter and she was ready for more. Yes, a she. This is a less fearful Malaysia, and a more angrier one.

Finally, the reactionary nationalists appear to be mistakenly ignoring the issue behind the rally – electoral reform. Polling conducted in late 2011 shows before Bersih 3.0 that only a third of citizens think the electoral process is fair and free – very much in line with the Umno hardcore.

Whatever people think about the tactics and individuals in Bersih – and views differ – the overwhelming majority of Malaysians see a problem with the electoral system.

The government should bear in mind that globally, the single most important event that triggers political transitions is a fraudulent election. If the BN goes to the polls under the circumstances that are already widely seen to be unfair and lacking integrity, they are miscalculating the underlying sentiments of a growing number of people about the core issue of the rally.

They will be seen to be illegitimate by a large share of the population. This size of the rally should be sending clear signals to leaders to properly engage in electoral reform. Anything else will be seen by many as a desperate measure to hold onto power rather than a genuine mandate of a leader.

No compromises, only confrontation

Attention has centred on the timing of the polls. It looks more and more likely that these will occur as early as next month. Najib, over the past week, has embraced a hardline position, with an attempt to unite his base and papering over the divisions within Umno.

The media inundation of a turned-over car and the resultant violence aims to bring the rural base back into the BN fold. To add onto this, the hardline efforts involving personal attacks – with bizarre photos bordering on pornography on the front-page of national newspapers and complete fabrications of speeches – reflects the beginnings of an assault on the opposition and international observers.

These tactics coupled with the embedded advantages in the electoral system and support from East Malaysia appear to form the strategy that is perceived to bring a BN victory, albeit one that will be highly contentious.

To follow the path of confrontation rather than compromise is very risky. First of all, it ignores the elephant in the room associated with elections, the need for the elections to be seen as legitimate.

To date, the government’s outreach to Bersih is missing and genuine avenues for electoral reform remain unexplored. While Bersih faces the challenge of illustrating the need for reforms and moving the movement forward, its central message has resonated among many Malaysians. The greater the demonisation and distancing away from Bersih, the harder compromise is possible.

Second, it assumes that Najib can control the actors who are carrying out hardline maneuvers. Already the Umno-linked New Straits Times has been internationally shamed. How many other institutions will have to compromise themselves in this battle for power, in which more authoritarian measures are adopted?

What makes the current environment complex for the current leadership is that even its own actors on the BN side have become more non-state in nature and are increasingly mobilised, making this move toward legitimising hardline approaches even more risky.

Letting this sort of politics rule reflects on the leadership. Physics teaches us that with every action there is another reaction. Hardline options provoke hardline responses. This dynamic will serve to polarise the electorate into political camps and harden positions in these camps. The days of polarisation of families post-1999 reformasi are coming again, but with even greater intensity given the mobilisation of the young.

Finally, this apparent choice by Najib to embrace the hardline political path will make it even harder to bring about any reform in any realm. To delink economic reform from political change is unviable. There is a need to implement the rule of law fairly to promote the economy, and this involves a fair and unbiased investigation.

To give in to the hardline political position will undermine economic reform and contribute to the bad practices of using resources to win political allies rather than in building a sustainable and inclusive economy.

Indeed, the miscalculations of a growing social movement by reactionary nationalists will make Najib’s national leadership even more vulnerable.

The title was inspired by a Bersih 3.0 protester, whose remarks on BBC was censored by local satellite TV station Astro.

——————————————————————————–

DR BRIDGET WELSH is associate professor of political science at Singapore Management University and she can be reached at
[email protected]
.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 6 May 2012, 2:13 pm and is filed under
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An exhilarating experience – being tear gassed

By LK

Free Malaysia Today

May 7, 2012

After reading so many touching My Bersih 2.0 stories last July, most of which moved me to tears, I decided that I would definitely stand up for our rights as a civic-minded citizen.. As the ancient Chinese saying goes: “Guo jia xing wang, pi fu you zhe”. It means – If my beloved country is in trouble, everyone is responsible.

After checking out the “situation” on the alternative media on-line, I started to pack two sets of “Bersih” kits with the recommended “must-haves” like salt, mask, wet towel, a bottle of water, identity card and, of course, hand-phone and camera.

My son and I proceeded to a bus-stop at the edge of our housing estate. “Tak p’gi Masjid Jamek, Titiwangsa saja”, said the bus driver to my son. “Never mind”, my son told me, “we can take the LRT from there.” When we reached the Titiwangsa LRT station at around 10.30 am, a crowd of “yellow warriors” was already there. In the train, we were in a jovial mood; everyone was smiling and chattered cheerfully, like a bunch of excited school children going on an excursion.

As the train was approaching Masjid Jamek station, from the overhead bridge, I saw many were already there.

As we alighted from the station, we quickly went to the washroom to change into our yellow t-shirts. (My son’s advice: Don’t wear yellow, to avoid being arrested as in Bersih 2.0 previously) When we stepped out of the station, merging into the sea of yellow and green, loud chants of “Bersih” and “Hidup Rakyat” were heard.

Soon we started snapping photos with those people who came prepared with posters and banners bearing their heart-felt messages. One of those that caught my attention is a large photo of our prime minister with a caption “Najib, Do you really care?” If he really did care, this rally would not have happened, I thought to myself.

We then walked towards Dataran Merdeka, but could only get to the traffic light intersection, as it was jammed with a sea of people , clad mostly in yellow, stretching to as far as the eyes could see. Later, we sat on the road kerb along Jalan Tun Perak, in front of OCBC Bank, as it was the perfect shaded spot (under the LRT bridge, near Masjid Jamek station) to watch any parades or processions going past. Around 1.45 pm, the crowd was told to “duduk” and almost everyone, except those who could not find any space on the road, obeyed and sat down without a word. The crowd was led into chanting and singing Bersih in tune of “Ole,Ole,Ole” intermittently.

The fast food restaurant nearby was filled to the brim with hungry customers while the convenience store across the road had bustling business, because other shops along the road were closed.  Who says Bersih rally was bad for business?

The crowd was especially exhilarated when Karpal Singh arrived with his delegation. This was followed later by Lim Kit Siang who came with Dato’ Ambiga waving to the crowd with a bouquet of yellow chrysanthemums in her hand, on the back of a truck. All of them headed towards Dataran Merdeka.

We did not hear any message of dispersing, but at around 2.45 pm we decided that we had already made our point and wanted to head home. Just as we found LRT station at Masjid Jamek was closed, we heard some sounds of gunfire and realized that tear gas canisters were shot into the crowd. The crowd immediately ran helter skelter, instantaneously turning a carnival-like atmosphere to what looked like a chaotic war zone on television.

Soon I felt pain in my eyes though I had quickly put on my mask. I quickly washed my eyes with water and covered my face with the wet towel. The stinging pain on my eyes and face was unbearable. Moments later, a bunch of masks was thrown from the second floor of a shop lot into the escaping crowd. God bless those kind souls who threw those masks.

Although I was quite far from where the tear gas was shot, I felt the stinging effect. How about those who were near? I heard someone said, “Jangan lari, nanti jatuh!”  Some “traffic marshals” who had climbed onto some railings along the street, were seen directing the crowd away from the tear gas and indeed, the true 1Malaysia spirit was clearly portrayed with people of all races helping each other, sharing water and salt.

I saw some men carrying a lady, seemingly injured on a plank and asked whether there was any doctor in the crowd, who could help. Since there was none, they disappeared in the crowd probably looking for an ambulance.

My son and I ended up behind HSBC Bank building, across the river opposite Masjid Jamek. There was a mobile drink stall, which was completely “bersih” as everything was sold out. I guessed the stallholder was happy that he took the “risk” to open for business that day.  As we walked towards Plaza Rakyat from there, there were shots again on the other side of the street.

“Don’t worry mom  we’ll get out from here soon”, my son assured me . In fact, I was not scared but was angry at the police who used the tear gas and water cannons paid by our taxpayers’ money on our fellow unarmed civilians.  Or are they trying to clear their expiring tear gas stock?

Finally we decided to walk to Leboh Ampang, along Jalan Ampang and proceeded to back lane behind ex-Globe Silk Store, but were again tear gassed. There, the angry crowd was having a face-off with the police, probably because they were annoyed being trapped in the back lane with both ends sealed off by tear gas. However, the pasar malam traders went on with their business quietly, with masks over their noses. Scores of yellow and green “warriors” were seen having drinks at the stalls there, while watching the on-going fracas from a distance.

We then got into Capsquare, via the side entrance, (main entrance was closed) to change from our yellow shirts and proceeded to take LRT ride home from Medan Tuanku. We were glad to be able to get out safely from the “war zone” created by our police. Upon reaching home, my 8 year old son asked, “Mom, how’s Bersih?” “Great, I’ll bring you and sister the next time”, I replied.

Joining the Bersih 3.0 rally was the greatest moment of my life. Together with my son, I witnessed the true 1Malaysia spirit – the coming together of fellow Malaysians, as one people, regardless of race and religion. I strongly believe that free and fair elections is a fundamental right of any citizen of the world. We should make a difference in standing up for our rights and encourage others who are watching on the sidelines to do the same, by answering to our call of duty.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 7 May 2012, 2:26 pm and is filed under
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