GUEST COLUMNISTS
The BERSIH (Coalition for Free and Fair Elections) Rally of 10 November, 2007 pressing for electoral reforms will surely go down as a watershed in our political history, for more reasons than one. The last time the nation witnessed such a mammoth gathering of protestors, was almost a decade back, along the Kesas Highway, in the raging day of Reformasi.
Like that of Kesas, Umno, being the real perpetrator on the assault of ‘Justice’ and now ‘Rape of Democracy’, remains its primary target. Similarly like Kesas, 10 November turns out to be a real double whammy unto Umno. Firstly, BERSIH’s choice of holding the 100,000 gathering of people, the following day after the conclusion of their general assembly was too outrageous for their ego, especially because BERSIH is bent on submitting their memorandum to the Constitutional Monarch, the Yang DiPertuan Agong and not to the CEO of the government.
Much worse, despite the strong reprimand and threat, tens of thousands of supporters and well-wishers from all walks of life and all over the country, blissfully congregated, embracing all risks and as if oblivious of the pending danger. That was even more intimidating and offensive. After all that have been so arrogantly vouched about its imminent failure, have we now to present them humble pies?
The forbidden rally is now recorded almost verbatim not only by local alternative media, but as well by global media network like Al-Jazeera, BBC and the CNN. Visibly disturbed by the yellow sea of peaceful demonstrators, the entire mainstream media characteristically failed to carry its footage save the little skirmishes ‘designed’ to demonise the rally and maliciously blaming them for causing massive jam and chaos to the public, caused actually by numerous unnecessary roadblocks. This piece neither pretends nor intends to be another narration of the good, the bad and the ugly episodes of the rally. Keen readers must have read and witnessed the various reports, now abound.
That said, the writer would like to share some perspectives of things though, that may have again fallen on the ‘blindspot’ of some people. Perchance it may do some good to be able to shed some lights.
Of Umno General Assembly
It doesn’t take a pundit to point out that the gathering of the biggest Malay party this time round, was meant to ‘atone’ for their excessiveness in the last one. ‘Umno waging war against the rest of the nation’ was the phrase this writer used in his piece last year.
With the General Election looming closer, it was only sane for the President to remind delegates to observe restraint. The President has to lead by example. Going by his presidential speech, he truly enough didn’t mince his words and said it loud and clear. In all fairness, it was a gallant attempt at shifting political paradigm for a political party that has been too entrenched and embedded in race-based politics. Never mind about the brandishing of the keris again as they insisted and defended it so vehemently. But after 3 days of debate, ranting and raving as usual, albeit a lot more restrained, the outcome was quite expectedly confusing t o say of the least.
While the Umno president proclaimed that ‘time for parochial interest is over’, a conceptual framework, much less a practical one, on genuine ‘power-sharing, equal partnership and consensus-building’ was far from crystal clear even within the BN fraternity.
The rhetoric on achieving a more tolerant society based on mutual respect sounded very shallow, observed one analyst, ‘when merely pointing out abuses and unfair treatment by fellow BN coalition members, let alone others, were seen as questioning, worse still undermining, Malay rights and privileges’.
On a more substantive note, the writer has to concur with the observation of a veteran Umno member, who incidentally was also a former finance minister that ‘many issues are escaping Pak Lah’s grip’. This writer will be more audacious to say that the Umno president was trapped into his ‘parochial mindset’ of merely winning the next GE. Well, it is understandable that all political parties must, in the final analysis, be focused on winning election. Umno is surely one party that is willing to do it at all and any costs.
But after all that have been said and concluded, one couldn’t escape noticing that the omission by the president and subsequently by delegates, on the systemic rot of critical institutions of the nation was very regrettable. It is all well and good, enticing voters especially the ‘unsuspecting’ and the ‘less informed’ rural folks about the billions that will be spent on the various corridors and all. It doesn’t take much to be harping on Islam Hadhari and how the people have misunderstood it, while religiously paying lip-service to the need of enhancing racial harmony.
But failure to critically address party delegates to understand how the systemic rot on integrity and the impact of corruptions, in all critical institutions of the state is most deplorable. The Corruption-Crime Scourge has become the twin number one enemy of the state, affecting every ministry and agency linked to the government. It has seriously damaged our integrity. Relegating the task and simply praising the Anti-Corruption Agency for a job well done by apprehending small fries doesn’t redress the systemic rot in the entire machinery. Umno must be made to realize that the president won handsomely in 2004 on the back of a campaign to fight corruption and improving the delivery system. He has, up to this point in time, yet to deliver both promises.
On the brink of the next GE, Umno looks desperate to placate various grouses, seen exploited by the opposition namely the rising cost of living and inflation, especially to the rural and lower-income groups that have given them fat mandate in every election. Visibly obsessed and anxious, a substantial time of the debate was spent specifically by the deputy-head of the Youth Wing, to convince delegates that the government was wrong in continuing a regressive policy of fuel subsidy that didn’t benefit the poor. Others echoed and concurred, while many were still in the dark or baffled. Contentious issue of regressive versus progressive subsidy and the distortion it causes has been debated by experts, for quite some years now. The fact that it appears in the debate in Umno general assembly is quite amusing. It may not be the best of forum. But it is in fact parochial interest more than ‘correcting the many wrongs’ of the government policies that has given the chance to the deputy head of the Youth Wing to exhibit his economic acumen. Admittedly he argued well, but if he thinks that it is his ideas he has become too vain.
Of BERSIH Rally
Umno and her president could have stood tall to walk the talk, should they have truly understood the true import of the “time for parochial interests is over”. BERSIH rally calling for some urgent electoral reforms, couldn’t have been a better opportunity to ‘show-case’ their earnestness and honesty of shifting from parochialism to the bigger interest of the nation. Electoral Reforms is surely one of the critical reforms in achieving a democracy worthy of Malaysia.
Admission by none other than the Chairman of the Election Commission of the need for various electoral reforms have been repeated not once or twice but many time over. SUHAKAM similarly expressed concern over the many undemocratic practices rampant in this country as amply argued in their many publications. BERSIH is ready to join hands with anyone, any party and any organization, so as to provide a functional democracy worthy of being inherited by our grand-children and all. It surely is beyond the parochial interest of both ruling and opposition parties. It serves the national interest of every citizen in the entire society.
But alas, Umno’s parochial interest took sway of their better selves!
By outlawing and forbidding BERSIH peaceful rally, they have indeed confirmed and reaffirmed of how parochial and more-than-narrow-minded they actually are! It is again an epitome of a ‘legacy of lost opportunity’ for the president of Umno.
Be that as it may, BERSIH, now a coalition of 6 political parties and over 70 NGOs must step up their relentless effort to achieve their electoral demands before the next GE. The Umno/BN government have denied BERSIH their right to a peaceful assembly, but the rakyat are resolute and unflinching to achieve the electoral reforms!
“The Time for Parochial Interest is Over”. What say you Mr Premier? Is it really over?
Dr Dzulkifli Ahmad
Director of PAS Research Centre
(Member of the Steering Committee of BERSIH)
The BERSIH (Coalition for Free and Fair Elections) Rally of 10 November, 2007 pressing for electoral reforms will surely go down as a watershed in our political history, for more reasons than one. The last time the nation witnessed such a mammoth gathering of protestors, was almost a decade back, along the Kesas Highway, in the raging day of Reformasi.
Like that of Kesas, Umno, being the real perpetrator on the assault of ‘Justice’ and now ‘Rape of Democracy’, remains its primary target. Similarly like Kesas, 10 November turns out to be a real double whammy unto Umno. Firstly, BERSIH’s choice of holding the 100,000 gathering of people, the following day after the conclusion of their general assembly was too outrageous for their ego, especially because BERSIH is bent on submitting their memorandum to the Constitutional Monarch, the Yang DiPertuan Agong and not to the CEO of the government.
Much worse, despite the strong reprimand and threat, tens of thousands of supporters and well-wishers from all walks of life and all over the country, blissfully congregated, embracing all risks and as if oblivious of the pending danger. That was even more intimidating and offensive. After all that have been so arrogantly vouched about its imminent failure, have we now to present them humble pies?
The forbidden rally is now recorded almost verbatim not only by local alternative media, but as well by global media network like Al-Jazeera, BBC and the CNN. Visibly disturbed by the yellow sea of peaceful demonstrators, the entire mainstream media characteristically failed to carry its footage save the little skirmishes ‘designed’ to demonise the rally and maliciously blaming them for causing massive jam and chaos to the public, caused actually by numerous unnecessary roadblocks. This piece neither pretends nor intends to be another narration of the good, the bad and the ugly episodes of the rally. Keen readers must have read and witnessed the various reports, now abound.
That said, the writer would like to share some perspectives of things though, that may have again fallen on the ‘blindspot’ of some people. Perchance it may do some good to be able to shed some lights.
Of Umno General Assembly
It doesn’t take a pundit to point out that the gathering of the biggest Malay party this time round, was meant to ‘atone’ for their excessiveness in the last one. ‘Umno waging war against the rest of the nation’ was the phrase this writer used in his piece last year.
With the General Election looming closer, it was only sane for the President to remind delegates to observe restraint. The President has to lead by example. Going by his presidential speech, he truly enough didn’t mince his words and said it loud and clear. In all fairness, it was a gallant attempt at shifting political paradigm for a political party that has been too entrenched and embedded in race-based politics. Never mind about the brandishing of the keris again as they insisted and defended it so vehemently. But after 3 days of debate, ranting and raving as usual, albeit a lot more restrained, the outcome was quite expectedly confusing t o say of the least.
While the Umno president proclaimed that ‘time for parochial interest is over’, a conceptual framework, much less a practical one, on genuine ‘power-sharing, equal partnership and consensus-building’ was far from crystal clear even within the BN fraternity.
The rhetoric on achieving a more tolerant society based on mutual respect sounded very shallow, observed one analyst, ‘when merely pointing out abuses and unfair treatment by fellow BN coalition members, let alone others, were seen as questioning, worse still undermining, Malay rights and privileges’.
On a more substantive note, the writer has to concur with the observation of a veteran Umno member, who incidentally was also a former finance minister that ‘many issues are escaping Pak Lah’s grip’. This writer will be more audacious to say that the Umno president was trapped into his ‘parochial mindset’ of merely winning the next GE. Well, it is understandable that all political parties must, in the final analysis, be focused on winning election. Umno is surely one party that is willing to do it at all and any costs.
But after all that have been said and concluded, one couldn’t escape noticing that the omission by the president and subsequently by delegates, on the systemic rot of critical institutions of the nation was very regrettable. It is all well and good, enticing voters especially the ‘unsuspecting’ and the ‘less informed’ rural folks about the billions that will be spent on the various corridors and all. It doesn’t take much to be harping on Islam Hadhari and how the people have misunderstood it, while religiously paying lip-service to the need of enhancing racial harmony.
But failure to critically address party delegates to understand how the systemic rot on integrity and the impact of corruptions, in all critical institutions of the state is most deplorable. The Corruption-Crime Scourge has become the twin number one enemy of the state, affecting every ministry and agency linked to the government. It has seriously damaged our integrity. Relegating the task and simply praising the Anti-Corruption Agency for a job well done by apprehending small fries doesn’t redress the systemic rot in the entire machinery. Umno must be made to realize that the president won handsomely in 2004 on the back of a campaign to fight corruption and improving the delivery system. He has, up to this point in time, yet to deliver both promises.
On the brink of the next GE, Umno looks desperate to placate various grouses, seen exploited by the opposition namely the rising cost of living and inflation, especially to the rural and lower-income groups that have given them fat mandate in every election. Visibly obsessed and anxious, a substantial time of the debate was spent specifically by the deputy-head of the Youth Wing, to convince delegates that the government was wrong in continuing a regressive policy of fuel subsidy that didn’t benefit the poor. Others echoed and concurred, while many were still in the dark or baffled. Contentious issue of regressive versus progressive subsidy and the distortion it causes has been debated by experts, for quite some years now. The fact that it appears in the debate in Umno general assembly is quite amusing. It may not be the best of forum. But it is in fact parochial interest more than ‘correcting the many wrongs’ of the government policies that has given the chance to the deputy head of the Youth Wing to exhibit his economic acumen. Admittedly he argued well, but if he thinks that it is his ideas he has become too vain.
Of BERSIH Rally
Umno and her president could have stood tall to walk the talk, should they have truly understood the true import of the “time for parochial interests is over”. BERSIH rally calling for some urgent electoral reforms, couldn’t have been a better opportunity to ‘show-case’ their earnestness and honesty of shifting from parochialism to the bigger interest of the nation. Electoral Reforms is surely one of the critical reforms in achieving a democracy worthy of Malaysia.
Admission by none other than the Chairman of the Election Commission of the need for various electoral reforms have been repeated not once or twice but many time over. SUHAKAM similarly expressed concern over the many undemocratic practices rampant in this country as amply argued in their many publications. BERSIH is ready to join hands with anyone, any party and any organization, so as to provide a functional democracy worthy of being inherited by our grand-children and all. It surely is beyond the parochial interest of both ruling and opposition parties. It serves the national interest of every citizen in the entire society.
But alas, Umno’s parochial interest took sway of their better selves!
By outlawing and forbidding BERSIH peaceful rally, they have indeed confirmed and reaffirmed of how parochial and more-than-narrow-minded they actually are! It is again an epitome of a ‘legacy of lost opportunity’ for the president of Umno.
Be that as it may, BERSIH, now a coalition of 6 political parties and over 70 NGOs must step up their relentless effort to achieve their electoral demands before the next GE. The Umno/BN government have denied BERSIH their right to a peaceful assembly, but the rakyat are resolute and unflinching to achieve the electoral reforms!
“The Time for Parochial Interest is Over”. What say you Mr Premier? Is it really over?
Dr Dzulkifli Ahmad
Director of PAS Research Centre
(Member of the Steering Committee of BERSIH)
GUEST COLUMNISTS
My report from the 10 Nov Bersih Rally
Rashaad Ali
This is not some second-hand story; this is an account from the front line.
These are not borrowed photographs; these are pictures from the epicentre.
Because that was what the situation descended to in the city centre this afternoon, where my entire view of the present government was shattered the moment I saw those first gas cannisters fly. You can read it in a paper, on a website, in a forwarded email, but the magnanimity of the brutality will never compare to the panic that infiltrated into my being, and the fear that I now harbour for the government.
You could feel the stillness in the air, the sudden descent of tension into the atmosphere. Ominous signs paraded before us, my younger brother, my sister and I, before we even left the house. We headed toward the city via the Putra LRT, where Shaz managed this almost candid shot of policemen in RapidKL uniforms being briefed by a senior officer.
Once we exited the station at Masjid Jamek, we were greeted by the ever heart-warming sight of riot police. Here they call them the Federal Reserve Unit, but they are nothing more than mercenaries in uniform. Zealots armed with batons and gas launchers, completely apathetic to the growing crowd, swollen by passer-bys and passionate Malaysians. The police sprayed preliminary water-cannon fire on the crowd, which I wasn't to concerned about. It was only upon reaching home that I found out they were contaminated with chemicals.
Now there is something of great importance that I need to stress; in no way, absolutely none, did the demonstrators aim to incite the police. There was lots of chanting, of slogan shouting, of crowd rallying, but there was no hatred or contempt hurled against those in power. In short, we did not merit the treatment we received. One may say, "But it was an illegal gathering anyway." How can the executive issue a decree banning the people in a democracy from voicing their opinion? We are not looking for a riot. We're not looking for impeachment. We're not looking for a revolution. We want clean elections. After all, if the government did its job efficiently, without corruption,racism and wanton aggression, why would we want to vote for the opposition? The demonstration today was truly a model demonstration. A peaceful, passionate crowd standing defiant, in a completely passive manner. It was a moment to remember, the solidarity on the f aces of others as we stared down the threats in the hope of a better tomorrow.
All until the police became violent.
And then God played his hand; the heavens opened as it started to pour. As the precipitation flowed down my skin, a sickening sight developed before my eyes. If you notice in the above picture, the corner was crowded with people, having made some headway, only for cannon fire to push us back to the aforementioned corner. That's when the police formed a line, and fired tear gas at the crowd.
Fellow Malaysians, firing on their countrymen. It wasn't so much as the actual shooting which was horrendous, but seeing them take their line of sight made my stomach turn. These uncompassionate robots, protectors of the society shooting against the people they swear to protect. Here they are, ladies and gentlemen, "dispersing crowds", while paedophiles run riot, pun very much intended.
When they fired, they shot directly infront of the crowd. Shaz and I happened to be caught in between a mass of bodies and a drain barrier. Just like some bad war movie, everything seemed to happen in slow motion, as the cannister rolled to a stop barely 10 feet away. Time sped back to normal as the people around me started scrambling into the nearby station. Shaz and I were stuck outside, but fortunately, my brother was pulled in by a fairy-tale hero.
"Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death", but don't give me tear gas. The following account is in no way dramatisation, it is, as it is. Maybe it was my severe underestimation of the pain, both physical and psychological, that caused my hesitation. If not for the rain, I shudder to think of the potential pain. Had I known...
Completely immobile and covering our faces with wet cloths, we were powerless for a good 45 seconds to the gas. Initially, you feel a sting in your nose. As the pain increases, it ignites your eyeballs into blindness. As the pain mounts unbearable, tears streaming uncontrollably out of your eyes, the gas enters the pores on your face, the sensation acid to the pH. As you try and escape the gas, running literally blindly, with your skin aflame, the gas enters your lungs, constricting respiration to almost nil. Every inhalation you take is void of oxygen, and soon you will not be able to breathe. More than once the thought of death surfaced in my mind, as I moved with, not fought against the crowd to clear the area. Shazee later told me she thought she was as good as gone as well. Tear gas brings you to the edge of death, only for you to be resuscitated back into Hell.
Finally, we broke into the station, where the gas was less. The stations themselves had all been shutdown, effectively freezing all those in the city centre, as the station officials looked on with barely masked glee. The three of us huddled in a small corner, tears, mucus and saliva smeared all over our faces like a child's hand painting, resisting the temptation to throw up. We sat there recuperating for much of the time, before continuing down the street, away from the uncivil servants. We lingered on the corner, based on utter foolishness, that the police wouldn't shoot again with so many ordinary civilians. Around us were myriad characters, women and children, to armchair politicians raised to a fury.
And then they fired again.
Now I'm unaware in the ensuing panic whether they fired two volleys or one, for as we moved away from the gas (by the way, huge kudos to all BERSIH chaps for ensuring people kept cool) we turned into the corner. The shots were similar to the first episode in that they were fired infront of the crowd, however, as we entered the corner there was ANOTHER canister on my right barely 10 feet away. What luck.
As we scrambled yet again, in my mind I was still able to ponder, as the familiar pain returns, "Are they aware of how devastatingly painful it is?" I question the tactics of the police. Why fire so unbelievably close to the crowd? The gas is supposed to deter and disperse, not to cause chaos and anarchy. How would they have liked it, that fatalistic sensation creeping upon themselves?
We were able to move quicker this time. The crowd pushed and heaved past empty buildings, knocking over motorcycles carelessly parked. An entry point of one office building, and we all rushed in, taking to the stairs, and as the sensation died down the sight in the stairwell was one to behold. Like some kind of urban warfare, there were people slumped against the wall, faces in disarray, completely broken in spirit, trying to regain some semblance of composure. Around went a saviour passing out salt, which miraculously rid us of the worst effects almost instantly. Resigned to painful defeat, we decided to walk back home, with public transport at the mercy of the government.
Funnily enough, we found ourselves walking towards Istana Negara, where the memo was to be passed to the king. And i've just learned from dad that as we left the city, people lingered on as a decoy, while a mass gathering took place at the Istana. Ingenious, when you see the size of the crowd. Once again, hats off and big kudos the the organisers who did a fantastic job of keeping everyone calm, orderly, help direct traffic, etcetera, etcetera.
At the Istana, it was a normal looking sort of demonstration, one which did not look like it was gonna get ugly. Cheers as I presume the memo was handed over, and the crowd slowly dispersed. As quickly as the tear gas hit, it was all over.
Even now, as I write this, I feel a mild headache coming on. It may or may not be a side effect, but surely the worrying thing is my willingness to believe it is born out of injustice. For now, I have come to a deeper understanding as to why private security is still employed despite the police, and I may cower everytime I see smoke or smell something foreign in the air.
Today serves as a landmark for my patriotism. Today serves as a landmark for the nation's patriotism, for in the face of such cruelty and opposition we prevailed and were crowned victors of the day. I also hope, that with the events of today, change shall, God willing, be effected. The people have spoken, the people have risen, the people have taken action. The onus passes to the King as a test of strength, and to the government to clean up its act.
You want the votes? Bloody earn it.
My report from the 10 Nov Bersih Rally
Rashaad Ali
This is not some second-hand story; this is an account from the front line.
These are not borrowed photographs; these are pictures from the epicentre.
Because that was what the situation descended to in the city centre this afternoon, where my entire view of the present government was shattered the moment I saw those first gas cannisters fly. You can read it in a paper, on a website, in a forwarded email, but the magnanimity of the brutality will never compare to the panic that infiltrated into my being, and the fear that I now harbour for the government.
You could feel the stillness in the air, the sudden descent of tension into the atmosphere. Ominous signs paraded before us, my younger brother, my sister and I, before we even left the house. We headed toward the city via the Putra LRT, where Shaz managed this almost candid shot of policemen in RapidKL uniforms being briefed by a senior officer.
Once we exited the station at Masjid Jamek, we were greeted by the ever heart-warming sight of riot police. Here they call them the Federal Reserve Unit, but they are nothing more than mercenaries in uniform. Zealots armed with batons and gas launchers, completely apathetic to the growing crowd, swollen by passer-bys and passionate Malaysians. The police sprayed preliminary water-cannon fire on the crowd, which I wasn't to concerned about. It was only upon reaching home that I found out they were contaminated with chemicals.
Now there is something of great importance that I need to stress; in no way, absolutely none, did the demonstrators aim to incite the police. There was lots of chanting, of slogan shouting, of crowd rallying, but there was no hatred or contempt hurled against those in power. In short, we did not merit the treatment we received. One may say, "But it was an illegal gathering anyway." How can the executive issue a decree banning the people in a democracy from voicing their opinion? We are not looking for a riot. We're not looking for impeachment. We're not looking for a revolution. We want clean elections. After all, if the government did its job efficiently, without corruption,racism and wanton aggression, why would we want to vote for the opposition? The demonstration today was truly a model demonstration. A peaceful, passionate crowd standing defiant, in a completely passive manner. It was a moment to remember, the solidarity on the f aces of others as we stared down the threats in the hope of a better tomorrow.
All until the police became violent.
And then God played his hand; the heavens opened as it started to pour. As the precipitation flowed down my skin, a sickening sight developed before my eyes. If you notice in the above picture, the corner was crowded with people, having made some headway, only for cannon fire to push us back to the aforementioned corner. That's when the police formed a line, and fired tear gas at the crowd.
Fellow Malaysians, firing on their countrymen. It wasn't so much as the actual shooting which was horrendous, but seeing them take their line of sight made my stomach turn. These uncompassionate robots, protectors of the society shooting against the people they swear to protect. Here they are, ladies and gentlemen, "dispersing crowds", while paedophiles run riot, pun very much intended.
When they fired, they shot directly infront of the crowd. Shaz and I happened to be caught in between a mass of bodies and a drain barrier. Just like some bad war movie, everything seemed to happen in slow motion, as the cannister rolled to a stop barely 10 feet away. Time sped back to normal as the people around me started scrambling into the nearby station. Shaz and I were stuck outside, but fortunately, my brother was pulled in by a fairy-tale hero.
"Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death", but don't give me tear gas. The following account is in no way dramatisation, it is, as it is. Maybe it was my severe underestimation of the pain, both physical and psychological, that caused my hesitation. If not for the rain, I shudder to think of the potential pain. Had I known...
Completely immobile and covering our faces with wet cloths, we were powerless for a good 45 seconds to the gas. Initially, you feel a sting in your nose. As the pain increases, it ignites your eyeballs into blindness. As the pain mounts unbearable, tears streaming uncontrollably out of your eyes, the gas enters the pores on your face, the sensation acid to the pH. As you try and escape the gas, running literally blindly, with your skin aflame, the gas enters your lungs, constricting respiration to almost nil. Every inhalation you take is void of oxygen, and soon you will not be able to breathe. More than once the thought of death surfaced in my mind, as I moved with, not fought against the crowd to clear the area. Shazee later told me she thought she was as good as gone as well. Tear gas brings you to the edge of death, only for you to be resuscitated back into Hell.
Finally, we broke into the station, where the gas was less. The stations themselves had all been shutdown, effectively freezing all those in the city centre, as the station officials looked on with barely masked glee. The three of us huddled in a small corner, tears, mucus and saliva smeared all over our faces like a child's hand painting, resisting the temptation to throw up. We sat there recuperating for much of the time, before continuing down the street, away from the uncivil servants. We lingered on the corner, based on utter foolishness, that the police wouldn't shoot again with so many ordinary civilians. Around us were myriad characters, women and children, to armchair politicians raised to a fury.
And then they fired again.
Now I'm unaware in the ensuing panic whether they fired two volleys or one, for as we moved away from the gas (by the way, huge kudos to all BERSIH chaps for ensuring people kept cool) we turned into the corner. The shots were similar to the first episode in that they were fired infront of the crowd, however, as we entered the corner there was ANOTHER canister on my right barely 10 feet away. What luck.
As we scrambled yet again, in my mind I was still able to ponder, as the familiar pain returns, "Are they aware of how devastatingly painful it is?" I question the tactics of the police. Why fire so unbelievably close to the crowd? The gas is supposed to deter and disperse, not to cause chaos and anarchy. How would they have liked it, that fatalistic sensation creeping upon themselves?
We were able to move quicker this time. The crowd pushed and heaved past empty buildings, knocking over motorcycles carelessly parked. An entry point of one office building, and we all rushed in, taking to the stairs, and as the sensation died down the sight in the stairwell was one to behold. Like some kind of urban warfare, there were people slumped against the wall, faces in disarray, completely broken in spirit, trying to regain some semblance of composure. Around went a saviour passing out salt, which miraculously rid us of the worst effects almost instantly. Resigned to painful defeat, we decided to walk back home, with public transport at the mercy of the government.
Funnily enough, we found ourselves walking towards Istana Negara, where the memo was to be passed to the king. And i've just learned from dad that as we left the city, people lingered on as a decoy, while a mass gathering took place at the Istana. Ingenious, when you see the size of the crowd. Once again, hats off and big kudos the the organisers who did a fantastic job of keeping everyone calm, orderly, help direct traffic, etcetera, etcetera.
At the Istana, it was a normal looking sort of demonstration, one which did not look like it was gonna get ugly. Cheers as I presume the memo was handed over, and the crowd slowly dispersed. As quickly as the tear gas hit, it was all over.
Even now, as I write this, I feel a mild headache coming on. It may or may not be a side effect, but surely the worrying thing is my willingness to believe it is born out of injustice. For now, I have come to a deeper understanding as to why private security is still employed despite the police, and I may cower everytime I see smoke or smell something foreign in the air.
Today serves as a landmark for my patriotism. Today serves as a landmark for the nation's patriotism, for in the face of such cruelty and opposition we prevailed and were crowned victors of the day. I also hope, that with the events of today, change shall, God willing, be effected. The people have spoken, the people have risen, the people have taken action. The onus passes to the King as a test of strength, and to the government to clean up its act.
You want the votes? Bloody earn it.
GUEST COLUMNISTS
M. Bakri Musa
“Saya pantang dicabar!” (lit: “I am allergic to challenges;” fig. “Don’t challenge me!”) declared Prime Minister Abdullah in an uncharacteristically bold assertion to the media on the eve of BERSIH’s massive street demonstrations in Kuala Lumpur last Saturday, November 10, 2007.
You have now been challenged, Mr. Prime Minister, openly and publicly by your own citizens, and you have emerged impotent! That huge street rally may be illegal to you, but the King had consented to receiving its leaders and their petition. In effect, the King too has challenged you, Abdullah! In case you did not get the message, you had just been served a very public royal rebuff.
I too, challenge you, Abdullah! Instead of arresting those ordinary citizen demonstrators, I dare you to arrest their leaders, Anwar Ibrahim, Hadi Awang, Lim Kit Siang, and Raja Petra Kamarudin. Those ordinary folks were merely exercising their basic rights as citizens of a democracy: the right to free assembly and to petition the authorities.
As per the refrain of the Ghostbusters theme song, “Who are you gonna call now!” Mr. Prime Minister? Your fabulous Fourth Floor boys? Your son-in-law who is using you as his “protection?” Imagine being considered as such by your son-in-law!
Khairy Jamaluddin obviously had not heard of your “demonstrations are not part of our Malay culture” bit. Either that or Khairy had blissfully ignored it as when he led that pathetic street demonstration against your official guest, US State Secretary Rice.
In a speech earlier in the week, Khairy demanded that the authorities “come down hard” on the BERSIH demonstrators. While there were some water cannons and tear gas canisters unloaded, the demonstrations went ahead smoothly and successfully to the palace. The police even released most of those arrested. Your son-in-law challenged you to be tough on the demonstrators, and you came out lembik (limp).
Dim Wit Understanding of Democracy
In denying the BERSIH demonstrators their police permit, Abdullah demonstrated only a dim wit understanding of democracy, akin to that held by Saddam Hussein and Pervez Musharraf. Both were voted in with over 98 percent of the votes, and they took that to mean they could ride roughshod over their country and citizens. Never mind that their elections were anything but fair and free.
Democracy means rule of the people, but it does not mean mob rule legitimized through the ballot box. Electoral victory is not a license for tyranny of the majority. As Fareed Zakaria wrote so eloquently in his book, The Future of Freedom, democracy is more than just elections. Even if elections were fair and free (far from the reality in Malaysia, hence the demonstrations!), obsession with or sole reliance on them would threaten the other far more important aspects like the rule of law, private property rights, separation of powers, and the right to free speech and to assemble freely.
Elections regular or otherwise, honest or rigged, do not guarantee these; only independent and impartial judges could. An independent judiciary is thus the hallmark as well as the guarantor of democracy and freedom, certainly much more than universal adult suffrage.
As for the state of the Malaysian judiciary, the Lingam tapes painfully showed what a sorry mess it is in. Even if BERSIH were completely successful with its petition and the Elections Commission completely overhauled, there is still the monumental task of cleaning up the judiciary and restoring its long lost integrity.
These points are elementary and obvious to all, save the dim witted.
Time to Deliver The Next Lesson
There is another feature of the dim witted; they are slow learners. It is unlikely for them to have learned a lesson from Bersih’s successful rally, or if they did it may not have stuck.
Since the only lesson that would register on their thick skulls is election returns, my friend Din Merican had started a campaign to register voters. The next step would be to ensure that they will vote against the Barisan coalition.
It would encourage voters to do that if there were to be substantial and effective co-ordination among the opposition parties to ensure that there would only be a one-on-one battle with the Barisan in every constituency. The objective here is rather modest, to inflict enough damage to the Barisan coalition such that it would precipitate internal squabbling especially within UMNO to trigger its implosion.
Selecting the best candidate, meaning one who would most likely defeat the Barisan’s nominee, involves studying the demographics of the constituency as well as the Barisan’s candidate. Since race is never far from voters’ considerations, the best avenue to neutralize this crucial factor would be to field candidates of the same race as the Barisan’s nominees. This was the clear lesson from the recent Ijok by-elections. Thus the opposition must be ready to change candidates on nomination day depending on who would represent Barisan.
For example, if Barisan were to re-nominate the current MCA candidate but at the last minute the seat were to go to UMNO, then the opposition must be ready to substitute a Malay candidate. If that party (like DAP for instance) cannot come up with a Malay nominee, then it should be willing to give the slot to a Malay from one of the other parties.
BERSIH’s victory should embolden the citizens to impart to the Barisan government the other equally important lesson: cleaning out the rot in the judiciary. No less than a full Royal Commission with full powers to subpoena witnesses and grant them immunity should be the objective. As Fareed Zakaria noted, an impartial and independent judiciary is the best guarantor of our freedoms and democracy. We must keep drumming these lessons lest they forget easily.
We must keep mencabar (challenging) Abdullah until he comes to his senses and realizes the obvious: the job of being a Prime Minister of our great nation is way above his head. If he does not, others either within or outside his party should be emboldened enough to tell him so.
M. Bakri Musa
“Saya pantang dicabar!” (lit: “I am allergic to challenges;” fig. “Don’t challenge me!”) declared Prime Minister Abdullah in an uncharacteristically bold assertion to the media on the eve of BERSIH’s massive street demonstrations in Kuala Lumpur last Saturday, November 10, 2007.
You have now been challenged, Mr. Prime Minister, openly and publicly by your own citizens, and you have emerged impotent! That huge street rally may be illegal to you, but the King had consented to receiving its leaders and their petition. In effect, the King too has challenged you, Abdullah! In case you did not get the message, you had just been served a very public royal rebuff.
I too, challenge you, Abdullah! Instead of arresting those ordinary citizen demonstrators, I dare you to arrest their leaders, Anwar Ibrahim, Hadi Awang, Lim Kit Siang, and Raja Petra Kamarudin. Those ordinary folks were merely exercising their basic rights as citizens of a democracy: the right to free assembly and to petition the authorities.
As per the refrain of the Ghostbusters theme song, “Who are you gonna call now!” Mr. Prime Minister? Your fabulous Fourth Floor boys? Your son-in-law who is using you as his “protection?” Imagine being considered as such by your son-in-law!
Khairy Jamaluddin obviously had not heard of your “demonstrations are not part of our Malay culture” bit. Either that or Khairy had blissfully ignored it as when he led that pathetic street demonstration against your official guest, US State Secretary Rice.
In a speech earlier in the week, Khairy demanded that the authorities “come down hard” on the BERSIH demonstrators. While there were some water cannons and tear gas canisters unloaded, the demonstrations went ahead smoothly and successfully to the palace. The police even released most of those arrested. Your son-in-law challenged you to be tough on the demonstrators, and you came out lembik (limp).
Dim Wit Understanding of Democracy
In denying the BERSIH demonstrators their police permit, Abdullah demonstrated only a dim wit understanding of democracy, akin to that held by Saddam Hussein and Pervez Musharraf. Both were voted in with over 98 percent of the votes, and they took that to mean they could ride roughshod over their country and citizens. Never mind that their elections were anything but fair and free.
Democracy means rule of the people, but it does not mean mob rule legitimized through the ballot box. Electoral victory is not a license for tyranny of the majority. As Fareed Zakaria wrote so eloquently in his book, The Future of Freedom, democracy is more than just elections. Even if elections were fair and free (far from the reality in Malaysia, hence the demonstrations!), obsession with or sole reliance on them would threaten the other far more important aspects like the rule of law, private property rights, separation of powers, and the right to free speech and to assemble freely.
Elections regular or otherwise, honest or rigged, do not guarantee these; only independent and impartial judges could. An independent judiciary is thus the hallmark as well as the guarantor of democracy and freedom, certainly much more than universal adult suffrage.
As for the state of the Malaysian judiciary, the Lingam tapes painfully showed what a sorry mess it is in. Even if BERSIH were completely successful with its petition and the Elections Commission completely overhauled, there is still the monumental task of cleaning up the judiciary and restoring its long lost integrity.
These points are elementary and obvious to all, save the dim witted.
Time to Deliver The Next Lesson
There is another feature of the dim witted; they are slow learners. It is unlikely for them to have learned a lesson from Bersih’s successful rally, or if they did it may not have stuck.
Since the only lesson that would register on their thick skulls is election returns, my friend Din Merican had started a campaign to register voters. The next step would be to ensure that they will vote against the Barisan coalition.
It would encourage voters to do that if there were to be substantial and effective co-ordination among the opposition parties to ensure that there would only be a one-on-one battle with the Barisan in every constituency. The objective here is rather modest, to inflict enough damage to the Barisan coalition such that it would precipitate internal squabbling especially within UMNO to trigger its implosion.
Selecting the best candidate, meaning one who would most likely defeat the Barisan’s nominee, involves studying the demographics of the constituency as well as the Barisan’s candidate. Since race is never far from voters’ considerations, the best avenue to neutralize this crucial factor would be to field candidates of the same race as the Barisan’s nominees. This was the clear lesson from the recent Ijok by-elections. Thus the opposition must be ready to change candidates on nomination day depending on who would represent Barisan.
For example, if Barisan were to re-nominate the current MCA candidate but at the last minute the seat were to go to UMNO, then the opposition must be ready to substitute a Malay candidate. If that party (like DAP for instance) cannot come up with a Malay nominee, then it should be willing to give the slot to a Malay from one of the other parties.
BERSIH’s victory should embolden the citizens to impart to the Barisan government the other equally important lesson: cleaning out the rot in the judiciary. No less than a full Royal Commission with full powers to subpoena witnesses and grant them immunity should be the objective. As Fareed Zakaria noted, an impartial and independent judiciary is the best guarantor of our freedoms and democracy. We must keep drumming these lessons lest they forget easily.
We must keep mencabar (challenging) Abdullah until he comes to his senses and realizes the obvious: the job of being a Prime Minister of our great nation is way above his head. If he does not, others either within or outside his party should be emboldened enough to tell him so.
GUEST COLUMNISTS
A fiction writer writes in support of journalists
Dear Prime Minister Abdullah,
26 September 2007 saw two thousand lawyers “Walk for Justice” to defend the good name and protest the sliding standards of their profession. “When lawyers march,” said Ambiga Sreenevasan, President of the Bar Council, “something must be wrong.”
Last Saturday (10 November 2007), 40,000 people from all walks of life and all ages walked through rain-drenched Kuala Lumpur, skirting roadblocks, locked LRT stations, FRU batons, tear gas and water cannons, as well as weeks of misinformation and propaganda through the mainstream media and hacked alternative media. They marched to show their disappointment in the current electoral system and their hopes for reform.
Malaysian citizens travelled for hours through the night from all over the country to play cat-and-mouse in Kuala Lumpur with an intimidating array of security forces, whose role was clearly not to secure our safety.
I saw men armed only with shouted slogans beaten with batons and shields and thrown to the ground. I saw an old woman in a wheelchair halted by a barricade of troops, wielding a deafening siren at her ears. I saw a child clinging to his mother’s shoulders being crushed back, and back. He looked terrified, and rightly so.
This was at Jalan Mahameru, not Masjid Jamek where, in spite of what IGP Tan Sri Musa Hassan described as police “restraint” (Sunday Star, 11 Nov 2007), unarmed marchers, including journalists, were beaten, teargassed and bombarded by chemical-laced water cannons. At Jalan Mahameru, we faced two rows of riot police, smashing batons against their shields. I saw and photographed people dropping to the ground around me.
This should be the journalist’s privilege, to be allowed to witness and report the uncensored fruits of that act of witness. But in this country, the journalists and their editors are not afforded even this, or any other kind of professional privilege, or protection, in order to carry out their jobs according to the Journalists’ Code of Ethics. That is, among other things, to pursue factual accuracy and report objectively, without fear or favour.
Instead, journalism in Malaysia seems to be ruled by a Code of Fear and Favour. Here, our mainstream journalists and editors are directly or indirectly on the State’s payroll, and therefore accountable to the State. Those who aren’t are kept on a tight leash of precarious licences and legislation designed to pit self-censorship against financial ruin. Which the bosses will prioritise is a no-brainer.
It seems to me our media professionals do their best to navigate these treacherous waters, getting by in terms of professional pride through little acts of bravery, defiance and subterfuge. The travesty of it is that, in a true democracy, they shouldn’t have to.
Our journalists and editors shouldn’t have to find themselves in the pitiful position of being cowed mouthpieces of the State, obediently failing to report once a news blackout is ordered, or “reporting” factual inaccuracies of an astounding magnitude.
Like most of your state controlled media, Prime Minister Abdullah, yesterday’s Sunday Star reported only the IGP’s version of Saturday’s events. Journalism 101 requires a range of eyewitnesses to describe an event objectively yet only your Ministers were allowed airtime; only aggrieved shopkeepers were interviewed and photos of traffic jams published, to support our Deputy PM’s lament that the march only served to disrupt traffic, create loss of business and “mar the general perception others have of our society”.
The police were depicted as being “forced” to use their batons, boots, shields, helmets, trucks, water cannons and helicopters against unarmed men, women and children (New Sunday Times, November 11, 2007).
This reconstruction of reality is one that I, and 40,000 other marchers, do not recognise. In spite of what we saw and experienced, we are told that we were only 4000 in number and that 245 of us were detained, as opposed to the 24 I later saw released at IPPK (Police Contingent Headquarters), Kuala Lumpur. It was later reported in the NST (12 November 2007) that the majority of detentions were pre-emptive, taking place outside Kuala Lumpur the day before. The reasons for arrest included being in possession of yellow t-shirts and bandanas.
Yes, there were massive traffic jams in KL that day, and yes, I saw shopkeepers hurriedly pull down their shutters, but only when the FRU and police amassed in battle formation at Central Market. Logic tells us that the traffic jams were caused by numerous police roadblocks and other hindrances to public transport as much as by our march, which was marshalled and orderly.
We were constantly told to keep to the pavements, not to throw rubbish or disrupt public property, and even not to trample on plants along our way. Many people stuck in jams wound down their windows as we passed, smiling and shaking our hands. Others looked annoyed, of course.
I’m sitting at my local late night kopi tiam as I write this. It’s filled with college students chatting and watching football to go with their teh tarik and cigarettes. I can see how successful your media machinery is, Prime Minister, from what they say. They use the word “riots” to talk about the march, which even a police spokesman described as, for the most part, peaceful (RTM2 news, 10 November 2007).
This is no surprise given the propaganda clips that have been running as part of news bulletins on RTM1 and 2 for the past few months, intercutting flag-burning with demonstrators getting their heads bashed in. These, as any adman will confirm, effectively equate demonstrations of any sort with escalating acts of violence on both sides. “Ini bukan budaya kita,” are the stern words of warning.
On TraxxFM, I’ve heard an odd and therefore oddly outstanding song about democracy being played frequently, a lullaby sung in a soothing paternal voice, about how taking democracy to the streets leads to a loss of self-respect and violence, which is not our way. This song is in stark contrast to the ones TraxxFM’s hip and joking DJs usually play.
This psychological embedding seems odd, Prime Minister, in the year we celebrate our 50 years of Independence, which was won exactly by our forefathers taking their struggle for freedom, equality and justice to the streets, as well as the media and the discussion table. They did so peacefully then, as we did so last Saturday.
Prime Minister Abdullah, one of the reasons we marchers, men, women, children, and even incapacitated old folks, braved confrontation in the streets of Kuala Lumpur last Saturday was to call for “equal access to the media” as part of BERSIH’s push for electoral reforms, including the use of indelible ink, clean electoral rolls and the abolition of untraceable postal votes.
I didn’t wear yellow on the march because even though I’m a sympathiser with the struggle for electoral reform, I’m also a witness to both sides of the story. But I wore my yellow ribbon of “press freedom”, proudly, even though I’m not a journalist. I’m still wearing it now, with the poignant realisation that I can only write this letter, without fear or favour, precisely because I’m not a mainstream Malaysian journalist. Of course, whether any of your editors will publish it or not is entirely a different matter.
That little scrap of ribbon, like the seemingly frail ribbon of marchers patiently weaving their way from all over the city to the Yang Di Pertuan Agong’s palace last Saturday, is symbolic of something far larger and far more important than our aching legs or bruises or our shivers caused by sitting uncomplainingly in the rain while the leaders delivered our memorandum to the King.
It symbolizes what you have encouraged us repeatedly to celebrate and embrace: our “Merdeka Spirit” of independence that causes the rakyat to come out, in spite of fear and intimidation, to show their grave concern when the state of things seems very wrong indeed. This is, despite attempts at historical revisionism, a part of our Malaysian culture.
With all due respect, Prime Minister, your admonition on the eve of the march: “Saya pantang dicabar,” (Utusan Malaysia, 9 November 2007) is rather an odd thing for the leader of a democratic nation to say, given that the basic rule of democracy is the right of all citizens to challenge, and to defend against challenge. Everyone is entitled to this right, whether in their living rooms or in Parliament.
Challenges and debates also constantly take place in the media, whose fundamental role is to provide factual information and objective viewpoints by journalists and editors, as well as to allow equal access to publication and broadcast by proponents from either side of any argument.
Only in this way can we, ordinary citizens, partake in democracy. Only then can we weigh up differing statements and opinions against accountable facts. We may be allowed to vote, yes, but how can we choose effectively without freedom of media access and information?
When this integral pillar of any democratic system is obstructed, and belittled, as it is in Malaysia, we cannot claim to live in a democracy. Our mainstream media then becomes merely a tool of the State, used to hoodwink, brainwash and intimidate the people it should rightly be serving. Instead, we, the people, are spoon-fed, led and expected to go quietly like sheep to any foregone conclusion.
If we beg to differ, offer alternative information and viewpoints, or even protest, we are called beruk. I rather think it preferable to be a monkey, curious, inventive and mischievous, than a sheep trotting meekly to my pen, or the slaughterhouse, nose pointed to the ground.
Prime Minister, we are indeed not Pakistan or Myanmar, as your Information Minister Datuk Seri Zainuddin Maidin blustered on Al Jazeera (10 November 2007), accusing them of presenting a contrary view to what has appeared on our Malaysian news, and of only talking to the opposition, not Government representatives—even as they were interviewing him.
This is a case of the pot calling the kettle black, since almost no opposition figures are allowed to speak in our mainstream media, although their images are used in conjunction with images of street violence, for example, to influence viewers’ opinions about them.
“Malaysia… is a democratic country,” Zainuddin fumed. But based on your State’s handling of the rakyat’s peaceful march last Saturday, Prime Minister, and your own media coverage prior to and about the actual event, it’s hard to entirely agree.
Unfortunately for Malaysia, this is the perception that will be further broadcast internationally, by journalists and editors who are fortunately less muzzled than their mainstream Malaysian colleagues.
Therefore, Prime Minister Abdullah, I sincerely urge you and your Government, as our democratically elected leaders, to “walk the talk” and unmuzzle our journalists, editors and broadcasters. I entreat you to fully and fairly endorse and practice democracy in our country. That is, democracy for everyone, not just a powerful few.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
Beth Yahp
Author
Petaling Jaya, 12 November 2007
Biodata:
Beth Yahp’s prize-winning novel, The Crocodile Fury, has been translated and published in several languages. She wrote the libretto for Liza Lim’s contemporary opera Moon Spirit Feasting, which premiered at the 2000 Adelaide International Festival of the Arts, with productions also in Melbourne, Berlin, Zurich and Tokyo. It won the Australian APRA Best Classical Composition Award in 2002. Beth’s short fiction, essays and articles have appeared in numerous publications in Australia, South-east Asia and Europe. Her latest fictional work, about sexual double standards in Malaysia, appears in HEAT 14 (Giramondo Press, Sydney, Spring 2007). Beth is currently Fiction Editor for Off the Edge, a Malaysian business/ lifestyle/ culture magazine.
A fiction writer writes in support of journalists
Dear Prime Minister Abdullah,
26 September 2007 saw two thousand lawyers “Walk for Justice” to defend the good name and protest the sliding standards of their profession. “When lawyers march,” said Ambiga Sreenevasan, President of the Bar Council, “something must be wrong.”
Last Saturday (10 November 2007), 40,000 people from all walks of life and all ages walked through rain-drenched Kuala Lumpur, skirting roadblocks, locked LRT stations, FRU batons, tear gas and water cannons, as well as weeks of misinformation and propaganda through the mainstream media and hacked alternative media. They marched to show their disappointment in the current electoral system and their hopes for reform.
Malaysian citizens travelled for hours through the night from all over the country to play cat-and-mouse in Kuala Lumpur with an intimidating array of security forces, whose role was clearly not to secure our safety.
I saw men armed only with shouted slogans beaten with batons and shields and thrown to the ground. I saw an old woman in a wheelchair halted by a barricade of troops, wielding a deafening siren at her ears. I saw a child clinging to his mother’s shoulders being crushed back, and back. He looked terrified, and rightly so.
This was at Jalan Mahameru, not Masjid Jamek where, in spite of what IGP Tan Sri Musa Hassan described as police “restraint” (Sunday Star, 11 Nov 2007), unarmed marchers, including journalists, were beaten, teargassed and bombarded by chemical-laced water cannons. At Jalan Mahameru, we faced two rows of riot police, smashing batons against their shields. I saw and photographed people dropping to the ground around me.
This should be the journalist’s privilege, to be allowed to witness and report the uncensored fruits of that act of witness. But in this country, the journalists and their editors are not afforded even this, or any other kind of professional privilege, or protection, in order to carry out their jobs according to the Journalists’ Code of Ethics. That is, among other things, to pursue factual accuracy and report objectively, without fear or favour.
Instead, journalism in Malaysia seems to be ruled by a Code of Fear and Favour. Here, our mainstream journalists and editors are directly or indirectly on the State’s payroll, and therefore accountable to the State. Those who aren’t are kept on a tight leash of precarious licences and legislation designed to pit self-censorship against financial ruin. Which the bosses will prioritise is a no-brainer.
It seems to me our media professionals do their best to navigate these treacherous waters, getting by in terms of professional pride through little acts of bravery, defiance and subterfuge. The travesty of it is that, in a true democracy, they shouldn’t have to.
Our journalists and editors shouldn’t have to find themselves in the pitiful position of being cowed mouthpieces of the State, obediently failing to report once a news blackout is ordered, or “reporting” factual inaccuracies of an astounding magnitude.
Like most of your state controlled media, Prime Minister Abdullah, yesterday’s Sunday Star reported only the IGP’s version of Saturday’s events. Journalism 101 requires a range of eyewitnesses to describe an event objectively yet only your Ministers were allowed airtime; only aggrieved shopkeepers were interviewed and photos of traffic jams published, to support our Deputy PM’s lament that the march only served to disrupt traffic, create loss of business and “mar the general perception others have of our society”.
The police were depicted as being “forced” to use their batons, boots, shields, helmets, trucks, water cannons and helicopters against unarmed men, women and children (New Sunday Times, November 11, 2007).
This reconstruction of reality is one that I, and 40,000 other marchers, do not recognise. In spite of what we saw and experienced, we are told that we were only 4000 in number and that 245 of us were detained, as opposed to the 24 I later saw released at IPPK (Police Contingent Headquarters), Kuala Lumpur. It was later reported in the NST (12 November 2007) that the majority of detentions were pre-emptive, taking place outside Kuala Lumpur the day before. The reasons for arrest included being in possession of yellow t-shirts and bandanas.
Yes, there were massive traffic jams in KL that day, and yes, I saw shopkeepers hurriedly pull down their shutters, but only when the FRU and police amassed in battle formation at Central Market. Logic tells us that the traffic jams were caused by numerous police roadblocks and other hindrances to public transport as much as by our march, which was marshalled and orderly.
We were constantly told to keep to the pavements, not to throw rubbish or disrupt public property, and even not to trample on plants along our way. Many people stuck in jams wound down their windows as we passed, smiling and shaking our hands. Others looked annoyed, of course.
I’m sitting at my local late night kopi tiam as I write this. It’s filled with college students chatting and watching football to go with their teh tarik and cigarettes. I can see how successful your media machinery is, Prime Minister, from what they say. They use the word “riots” to talk about the march, which even a police spokesman described as, for the most part, peaceful (RTM2 news, 10 November 2007).
This is no surprise given the propaganda clips that have been running as part of news bulletins on RTM1 and 2 for the past few months, intercutting flag-burning with demonstrators getting their heads bashed in. These, as any adman will confirm, effectively equate demonstrations of any sort with escalating acts of violence on both sides. “Ini bukan budaya kita,” are the stern words of warning.
On TraxxFM, I’ve heard an odd and therefore oddly outstanding song about democracy being played frequently, a lullaby sung in a soothing paternal voice, about how taking democracy to the streets leads to a loss of self-respect and violence, which is not our way. This song is in stark contrast to the ones TraxxFM’s hip and joking DJs usually play.
This psychological embedding seems odd, Prime Minister, in the year we celebrate our 50 years of Independence, which was won exactly by our forefathers taking their struggle for freedom, equality and justice to the streets, as well as the media and the discussion table. They did so peacefully then, as we did so last Saturday.
Prime Minister Abdullah, one of the reasons we marchers, men, women, children, and even incapacitated old folks, braved confrontation in the streets of Kuala Lumpur last Saturday was to call for “equal access to the media” as part of BERSIH’s push for electoral reforms, including the use of indelible ink, clean electoral rolls and the abolition of untraceable postal votes.
I didn’t wear yellow on the march because even though I’m a sympathiser with the struggle for electoral reform, I’m also a witness to both sides of the story. But I wore my yellow ribbon of “press freedom”, proudly, even though I’m not a journalist. I’m still wearing it now, with the poignant realisation that I can only write this letter, without fear or favour, precisely because I’m not a mainstream Malaysian journalist. Of course, whether any of your editors will publish it or not is entirely a different matter.
That little scrap of ribbon, like the seemingly frail ribbon of marchers patiently weaving their way from all over the city to the Yang Di Pertuan Agong’s palace last Saturday, is symbolic of something far larger and far more important than our aching legs or bruises or our shivers caused by sitting uncomplainingly in the rain while the leaders delivered our memorandum to the King.
It symbolizes what you have encouraged us repeatedly to celebrate and embrace: our “Merdeka Spirit” of independence that causes the rakyat to come out, in spite of fear and intimidation, to show their grave concern when the state of things seems very wrong indeed. This is, despite attempts at historical revisionism, a part of our Malaysian culture.
With all due respect, Prime Minister, your admonition on the eve of the march: “Saya pantang dicabar,” (Utusan Malaysia, 9 November 2007) is rather an odd thing for the leader of a democratic nation to say, given that the basic rule of democracy is the right of all citizens to challenge, and to defend against challenge. Everyone is entitled to this right, whether in their living rooms or in Parliament.
Challenges and debates also constantly take place in the media, whose fundamental role is to provide factual information and objective viewpoints by journalists and editors, as well as to allow equal access to publication and broadcast by proponents from either side of any argument.
Only in this way can we, ordinary citizens, partake in democracy. Only then can we weigh up differing statements and opinions against accountable facts. We may be allowed to vote, yes, but how can we choose effectively without freedom of media access and information?
When this integral pillar of any democratic system is obstructed, and belittled, as it is in Malaysia, we cannot claim to live in a democracy. Our mainstream media then becomes merely a tool of the State, used to hoodwink, brainwash and intimidate the people it should rightly be serving. Instead, we, the people, are spoon-fed, led and expected to go quietly like sheep to any foregone conclusion.
If we beg to differ, offer alternative information and viewpoints, or even protest, we are called beruk. I rather think it preferable to be a monkey, curious, inventive and mischievous, than a sheep trotting meekly to my pen, or the slaughterhouse, nose pointed to the ground.
Prime Minister, we are indeed not Pakistan or Myanmar, as your Information Minister Datuk Seri Zainuddin Maidin blustered on Al Jazeera (10 November 2007), accusing them of presenting a contrary view to what has appeared on our Malaysian news, and of only talking to the opposition, not Government representatives—even as they were interviewing him.
This is a case of the pot calling the kettle black, since almost no opposition figures are allowed to speak in our mainstream media, although their images are used in conjunction with images of street violence, for example, to influence viewers’ opinions about them.
“Malaysia… is a democratic country,” Zainuddin fumed. But based on your State’s handling of the rakyat’s peaceful march last Saturday, Prime Minister, and your own media coverage prior to and about the actual event, it’s hard to entirely agree.
Unfortunately for Malaysia, this is the perception that will be further broadcast internationally, by journalists and editors who are fortunately less muzzled than their mainstream Malaysian colleagues.
Therefore, Prime Minister Abdullah, I sincerely urge you and your Government, as our democratically elected leaders, to “walk the talk” and unmuzzle our journalists, editors and broadcasters. I entreat you to fully and fairly endorse and practice democracy in our country. That is, democracy for everyone, not just a powerful few.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
Beth Yahp
Author
Petaling Jaya, 12 November 2007
Biodata:
Beth Yahp’s prize-winning novel, The Crocodile Fury, has been translated and published in several languages. She wrote the libretto for Liza Lim’s contemporary opera Moon Spirit Feasting, which premiered at the 2000 Adelaide International Festival of the Arts, with productions also in Melbourne, Berlin, Zurich and Tokyo. It won the Australian APRA Best Classical Composition Award in 2002. Beth’s short fiction, essays and articles have appeared in numerous publications in Australia, South-east Asia and Europe. Her latest fictional work, about sexual double standards in Malaysia, appears in HEAT 14 (Giramondo Press, Sydney, Spring 2007). Beth is currently Fiction Editor for Off the Edge, a Malaysian business/ lifestyle/ culture magazine.
GUEST COLUMNISTS
By Farish A. Noor
That elections should be free, fair and transparent is perhaps one of the most basic requirements of any working democracy, and to demand that elections should be free, fair and transparent is perhaps one of the most fundamental rights of any society. When citizens demand such things it can and should be seen as an act of civic responsibility and they should commended for it. Indeed, it ought to be seen as a test of civic participation and citizenship that all citizens should demand that their state works and functions properly and accountably, to serve the interest of the nation as a whole and not a select coterie of landed elites and entrenched class interests.
That was exactly what happened in the streets of Kuala Lumpur on 10th November and for that reason alone Malaysians should be proud to say that they are in the process of reclaiming the state and demanding their country back. As in the cases of Pakistan and Burma – as well as the pro-democracy movements that swept across Southeast Asia in the 1980s and 1990s which led to the fall of dictators like Ferdinand Marcos and General Suharto – what happened in Malaysia was, in many ways, a landmark moment in the country’s postcolonial history.
Yet ironically elements in the Malaysian government – the very same elements that ostensibly supported the recent pro-democracy campaign in Burma – were at the forefront of demonising their fellow citizens and doing their utmost to prevent the demonstration in Kuala Lumpur from taking place. Leaders of the ruling UMNO party issues a continuous stream of warnings to the general public, warning them not to take to the streets. UMNO leaders and members who were willing to join in the rallies calling for democratic reform in Burma were suddenly taking the opposite side when the very same demands were being articulated in Malaysia by their fellow Malaysians. Malaysians were told that they would be arrested if they attended the rally; that the demonstrators were a nuisance and a security threat; that the demonstration would deter foreign investment into Malaysia. Yet the mind boggles at the logic of such arguments, when it should be clear that what is deterring investment into the country is not public demonstrations but rather mismanagement of the economy, allegations of corruption and abuse of power by the elite instead.
For a nation that has always been cast in a passive light as docile and apathetic, Malaysians defied their own stereotype by coming out in huge numbers and braving the rain from above and the tear gas and batons on the ground. Contrary to the scare-mongering campaign of the government, the rally proved to be ordered and peaceful. What does this say about Malaysia today and where the country is heading?
According to prominent lawyer and human rights activist Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, Malaysia’s ‘civil society coalesced today, in a way that was unprecedented since the formation of Malaya in 1957. Today Malaysians began to learn not to fear’. The same sentiments were shared by Latheefa Koya of the People’s Justice Party (PKR) who opined that ‘despite threats of harsh action by the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and the police, the people who rallied clearly defied them and sent a strong message for the need for free and fair elections. Lawyers marched for a free judiciary and the people marched for justice. When is the state going to wake up?’. Haris Ibrahim, the lawyer who was one of the organisers of the rally summed up the event thus: ‘If the Prime Minister is unable to take any criticism of his government, now we see that the Malaysian people will no longer remain passive and accept things as they are.’ The tide, apparently, has changed at last.
That the Malaysian public has been kept docile and submissive for half a century is the result of a host of historically determined factors dating back to the colonial era; which in turn has been compounded by a postcolonial government that has used the very same tools of the former colonial masters – such as the Internal Security Act – to keep them passive for so long. For five decades the ruling elite of Malaysia – led and dominated by the right-wing ethno-nationalists of the UMNO party – have divided Malaysian society along the lines of race and religion; scared off any attempts at reform through the use of repressive laws like the ISA, Sedition Act and others; dominated the press and nearly eliminated all alternative sources of information and news; systematically used the national economy as a patronage machine to maintain its clientelist networks; eroded the country’s intellectual culture via its draconian control of the universities and campuses; while turning the UMNO party into a fiefdom for a increasingly small number of Malay leaders from selected elite families. A cursory look at the leadership of UMNO today will show that it has become like a club for ruling elite families, with at least two senior UMNO leaders – Najib Razak and Hishamuddin Onn – being the sons of former Prime Ministers and party Presidents.
In a typical case of arrested postcolonial development, Malaysian politics – and UMNO politics in particular – has been reduced to a feudal clannish cosy arrangement where the sons of leaders can mingle and wait for their turn to power. Is this what the founders of Malaysia dreamt of when the country was created? To create an authoritarian state where what passes as governance is little more than a dressed up version of a typical postcolonial guardkeeper state with power increasingly concentrated in the hands of fewer and fewer (Malay, Muslim, Male) leaders?
Despite all the talk of reform and promises of openness and change since he came to power, the administration of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has hardly served up any of the promises he made. The numerous allegations and cases of high-level and high-profile corruption remain unresolved, while increasingly there are serious allegations of mismanagement, elite manipulation of the judiciary, abuse of power by the police. Is it a wonder then if the Malaysian public has had enough, and will now take to the streets to make their voices heard? The leaders of the opposition parties in Malaysia were the first to tap into the anger and frustration of the public, and to echo the clamour for change. As Lim Kit Siang, leader of the Malaysian Democratic Action Party (DAP) noted: ‘Malaysians have spoken loud and clear for electoral reform and for free and fair elections. Now will Prime Minister Abdullah listen and act, or will he remain blind and deaf?’
There is no telling how the Malaysian government and the UMNO elites will react to this clear demonstration of public disquiet in the once-sleepy streets of Kuala Lumpur. But what is clear is that Malaysia at least is no longer the kingdom of the blind that it was once made out to be.
Dr. Farish A. Noor is a Malaysian political scientist and historian based at the Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin; and one of the founders of the www.othermalaysia.org research site.
By Farish A. Noor
That elections should be free, fair and transparent is perhaps one of the most basic requirements of any working democracy, and to demand that elections should be free, fair and transparent is perhaps one of the most fundamental rights of any society. When citizens demand such things it can and should be seen as an act of civic responsibility and they should commended for it. Indeed, it ought to be seen as a test of civic participation and citizenship that all citizens should demand that their state works and functions properly and accountably, to serve the interest of the nation as a whole and not a select coterie of landed elites and entrenched class interests.
That was exactly what happened in the streets of Kuala Lumpur on 10th November and for that reason alone Malaysians should be proud to say that they are in the process of reclaiming the state and demanding their country back. As in the cases of Pakistan and Burma – as well as the pro-democracy movements that swept across Southeast Asia in the 1980s and 1990s which led to the fall of dictators like Ferdinand Marcos and General Suharto – what happened in Malaysia was, in many ways, a landmark moment in the country’s postcolonial history.
Yet ironically elements in the Malaysian government – the very same elements that ostensibly supported the recent pro-democracy campaign in Burma – were at the forefront of demonising their fellow citizens and doing their utmost to prevent the demonstration in Kuala Lumpur from taking place. Leaders of the ruling UMNO party issues a continuous stream of warnings to the general public, warning them not to take to the streets. UMNO leaders and members who were willing to join in the rallies calling for democratic reform in Burma were suddenly taking the opposite side when the very same demands were being articulated in Malaysia by their fellow Malaysians. Malaysians were told that they would be arrested if they attended the rally; that the demonstrators were a nuisance and a security threat; that the demonstration would deter foreign investment into Malaysia. Yet the mind boggles at the logic of such arguments, when it should be clear that what is deterring investment into the country is not public demonstrations but rather mismanagement of the economy, allegations of corruption and abuse of power by the elite instead.
For a nation that has always been cast in a passive light as docile and apathetic, Malaysians defied their own stereotype by coming out in huge numbers and braving the rain from above and the tear gas and batons on the ground. Contrary to the scare-mongering campaign of the government, the rally proved to be ordered and peaceful. What does this say about Malaysia today and where the country is heading?
According to prominent lawyer and human rights activist Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, Malaysia’s ‘civil society coalesced today, in a way that was unprecedented since the formation of Malaya in 1957. Today Malaysians began to learn not to fear’. The same sentiments were shared by Latheefa Koya of the People’s Justice Party (PKR) who opined that ‘despite threats of harsh action by the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and the police, the people who rallied clearly defied them and sent a strong message for the need for free and fair elections. Lawyers marched for a free judiciary and the people marched for justice. When is the state going to wake up?’. Haris Ibrahim, the lawyer who was one of the organisers of the rally summed up the event thus: ‘If the Prime Minister is unable to take any criticism of his government, now we see that the Malaysian people will no longer remain passive and accept things as they are.’ The tide, apparently, has changed at last.
That the Malaysian public has been kept docile and submissive for half a century is the result of a host of historically determined factors dating back to the colonial era; which in turn has been compounded by a postcolonial government that has used the very same tools of the former colonial masters – such as the Internal Security Act – to keep them passive for so long. For five decades the ruling elite of Malaysia – led and dominated by the right-wing ethno-nationalists of the UMNO party – have divided Malaysian society along the lines of race and religion; scared off any attempts at reform through the use of repressive laws like the ISA, Sedition Act and others; dominated the press and nearly eliminated all alternative sources of information and news; systematically used the national economy as a patronage machine to maintain its clientelist networks; eroded the country’s intellectual culture via its draconian control of the universities and campuses; while turning the UMNO party into a fiefdom for a increasingly small number of Malay leaders from selected elite families. A cursory look at the leadership of UMNO today will show that it has become like a club for ruling elite families, with at least two senior UMNO leaders – Najib Razak and Hishamuddin Onn – being the sons of former Prime Ministers and party Presidents.
In a typical case of arrested postcolonial development, Malaysian politics – and UMNO politics in particular – has been reduced to a feudal clannish cosy arrangement where the sons of leaders can mingle and wait for their turn to power. Is this what the founders of Malaysia dreamt of when the country was created? To create an authoritarian state where what passes as governance is little more than a dressed up version of a typical postcolonial guardkeeper state with power increasingly concentrated in the hands of fewer and fewer (Malay, Muslim, Male) leaders?
Despite all the talk of reform and promises of openness and change since he came to power, the administration of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has hardly served up any of the promises he made. The numerous allegations and cases of high-level and high-profile corruption remain unresolved, while increasingly there are serious allegations of mismanagement, elite manipulation of the judiciary, abuse of power by the police. Is it a wonder then if the Malaysian public has had enough, and will now take to the streets to make their voices heard? The leaders of the opposition parties in Malaysia were the first to tap into the anger and frustration of the public, and to echo the clamour for change. As Lim Kit Siang, leader of the Malaysian Democratic Action Party (DAP) noted: ‘Malaysians have spoken loud and clear for electoral reform and for free and fair elections. Now will Prime Minister Abdullah listen and act, or will he remain blind and deaf?’
There is no telling how the Malaysian government and the UMNO elites will react to this clear demonstration of public disquiet in the once-sleepy streets of Kuala Lumpur. But what is clear is that Malaysia at least is no longer the kingdom of the blind that it was once made out to be.
Dr. Farish A. Noor is a Malaysian political scientist and historian based at the Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin; and one of the founders of the www.othermalaysia.org research site.
GUEST COLUMNISTS
By Ioannis Gatsiounis
KUALA LUMPUR - Bad weather and government intimidation tactics failed to prevent as many as an estimated 40,000 people from gathering in the Malaysian capital to demand electoral reforms, marking the country's largest public protest in nearly 10 years and a stiff new opposition challenge to Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's scandal-plagued administration.
On Friday, Abdullah said the government would not tolerate street demonstrations, while his son-in-law, Khairy Jamaluddin, called the activists "monkeys" and said if the protesters sought to challenge the ruling coalition that has ruled the country since independence to do so at the polls - ignoring, or merely failing to comprehend, the premise of the rally.
Police checkpoints were stationed at all major arteries into the city and as far as the northern state of Kedah to prevent ralliers from attending, those involved in the demonstrations said. On Saturday, thousands of police were on hand, blocking off roads and cordoning protesters in various locations, to keep them from gathering en masse. Outside the Jamek Mosque train terminal police fired tear gas at largely quiescent demonstrators. According to government news reports, 245 people were arrested and later released.
The ralliers, many wearing yellow t-shirts, planned to march from the Jamek Mosque area to the king's palace to deliver a memorandum containing their electoral reform demands, including a cleanup of the voter rolls and free and fair access to the state-controlled media. Elections have in the past been plagued by allegations of phantom voting, vote-buying and manipulative gerrymandering. The election commission has failed to address these issues, said rally organizers BERSIH (Clean), a coalition of 26 non-governmental organizations as well as non-ruling political parties.
An incident witnessed by this correspondent at about 4pm on Tun Perak Road on Saturday was a window into the ill health of Malaysian democracy. As riot police stood watch behind shields, ralliers began to move parallel to them down the sidewalk. Those in the front urged the others to pull forward, but there was a pronounced apprehension about the crowd - a stutter in the step, as if the notion of free expression was only vaguely familiar.
Some twirled Malaysian flags. Others waved to police in a gesture of goodwill. Then suddenly police blitzed from the side, sending protesters scurrying. Some of those caught were dragged to the ground and kicked and punched by several officers before being hauled away. Minutes later, police rushed the shop-lined alleys behind the Jamek Mosque area, barking and banging their clubs against drawn shop fronts, as shopkeepers and customers sought cover behind lattice doors.
Plainclothesmen demanded those with cameras to shut them off or risk arrest. Back on Tuangku Abdul Rahman Road, police fired water cannons from atop police trucks crawling toward retreating protesters. An estimated 30,000 protestors managed to reach the king's palace and deliver the memorandum, according to the rally's organizers. Fitri Shukri, 31, a consultant who traveled from the northern state of Penang to attend the rally, said overall he was encouraged by the day: "This is a start. We know it takes time. But sitting at home won't help and Malaysians are beginning to realize it."
Broken promises
Abdullah came to power in late 2003, promising greater transparency and to fight the country's endemic graft. However, the general perception is that he has failed to deliver and there is a growing sense as he becomes entrenched in power that he no longer intends to. He has retained a number of high-ranking officials widely suspected of corruption. The anti-corruption agency remains under the purview of the ruling government. Critics also charge Abdullah with neglecting to address judicial corruption and electoral fraud and other cases of official abuse and neglect.
Malaysia's race-based political landscape means agendas often play out along ethnic lines. Saturday's protest witnessed the participation of a large number of members from the opposition, the ethnic Malay-dominated, Islamic PAS party, which apart from running on a clean governance platform would like to turn Malaysia into an Islamic state. But a much broader swath of Malaysian society was represented - activists, ordinary citizens, young, old, Indian, Malay, Chinese. Police expressed alarm at the large number of children present, state media reported.
"It was a citizens' event involving an issue that is quite universal," said activist Tian Chua. The last time Malaysians took to the street on such a scale was during the reformasi movement in 1998 after the nation's then deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim was sacked after challenging former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad's hold on power and later received a black eye from a beating in jail by police chief Rahim Noor.
Public participation in the political process waned sharply after reformasi, however. Indeed, a much overlooked consequence of the period is that the government has used that tumultuous turn of events to repel many Malaysians from being active stakeholders of the national development process. The ruling elite now often brands those vocalizing dissatisfaction with official policy short-sighted troublemakers intent on destabilizing the nation, and many Malaysians today echo that government line.
The government's rhetoric of fear and intimidation was employed once again during Saturday's protest. For instance, Abdullah was quoted as saying, "They are challenging the patience of the people who want the country to be peaceful and stable." Anonymously sent text messages warned people to stay away from Freedom Square, where an "illegal anti-government" rally would be held. It was illegal in the sense that gatherings of more than five people require a police permit and organizers were unable to obtain one on the grounds that it would block traffic and disturb business.
That the demonstration still managed to attract so many people (though supporters estimated as many as 40,000, police estimates put the number at 4,000) is testament to the level of dissatisfaction over Abdullah's governance, said Tian. Although the ralliers themselves were peaceful, and state security officials violent, it did not stop the state-run New Straits Times newspaper from running a story on Sunday entitled, "Illegal gathering causes traffic chaos in city." The story was buried on page four, reserving the front page for a photo of a girl who had had a heart transplant chomping on chicken from a skewer.
This despite that fact that international eyes were trained on Malaysia over the weekend, as much if not more over the government's handling of the rally than the calls of the demonstrators. The government's violent response to basic democratic rights has led some advocates and analysts to draw comparisons with the repressive military regime in Myanmar, which likewise aggressively extinguished street protests in August and September.
The New York-based rights group Human Rights Watch said in a statement, "If Malaysia wants to count itself a democracy, it can begin by upholding constitutional guarantees of free speech and assembly. The way the system works now, only the ruling coalition can get its messages out."
General elections are expected to be held by early next year and as it stands the voices for reform will probably only be heard in protests to those polls, which they argue will be systematically stacked in Abdullah's favor.
Ioannis Gatsiounis, a New York native, is a Kuala Lumpur-based writer.
By Ioannis Gatsiounis
KUALA LUMPUR - Bad weather and government intimidation tactics failed to prevent as many as an estimated 40,000 people from gathering in the Malaysian capital to demand electoral reforms, marking the country's largest public protest in nearly 10 years and a stiff new opposition challenge to Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's scandal-plagued administration.
On Friday, Abdullah said the government would not tolerate street demonstrations, while his son-in-law, Khairy Jamaluddin, called the activists "monkeys" and said if the protesters sought to challenge the ruling coalition that has ruled the country since independence to do so at the polls - ignoring, or merely failing to comprehend, the premise of the rally.
Police checkpoints were stationed at all major arteries into the city and as far as the northern state of Kedah to prevent ralliers from attending, those involved in the demonstrations said. On Saturday, thousands of police were on hand, blocking off roads and cordoning protesters in various locations, to keep them from gathering en masse. Outside the Jamek Mosque train terminal police fired tear gas at largely quiescent demonstrators. According to government news reports, 245 people were arrested and later released.
The ralliers, many wearing yellow t-shirts, planned to march from the Jamek Mosque area to the king's palace to deliver a memorandum containing their electoral reform demands, including a cleanup of the voter rolls and free and fair access to the state-controlled media. Elections have in the past been plagued by allegations of phantom voting, vote-buying and manipulative gerrymandering. The election commission has failed to address these issues, said rally organizers BERSIH (Clean), a coalition of 26 non-governmental organizations as well as non-ruling political parties.
An incident witnessed by this correspondent at about 4pm on Tun Perak Road on Saturday was a window into the ill health of Malaysian democracy. As riot police stood watch behind shields, ralliers began to move parallel to them down the sidewalk. Those in the front urged the others to pull forward, but there was a pronounced apprehension about the crowd - a stutter in the step, as if the notion of free expression was only vaguely familiar.
Some twirled Malaysian flags. Others waved to police in a gesture of goodwill. Then suddenly police blitzed from the side, sending protesters scurrying. Some of those caught were dragged to the ground and kicked and punched by several officers before being hauled away. Minutes later, police rushed the shop-lined alleys behind the Jamek Mosque area, barking and banging their clubs against drawn shop fronts, as shopkeepers and customers sought cover behind lattice doors.
Plainclothesmen demanded those with cameras to shut them off or risk arrest. Back on Tuangku Abdul Rahman Road, police fired water cannons from atop police trucks crawling toward retreating protesters. An estimated 30,000 protestors managed to reach the king's palace and deliver the memorandum, according to the rally's organizers. Fitri Shukri, 31, a consultant who traveled from the northern state of Penang to attend the rally, said overall he was encouraged by the day: "This is a start. We know it takes time. But sitting at home won't help and Malaysians are beginning to realize it."
Broken promises
Abdullah came to power in late 2003, promising greater transparency and to fight the country's endemic graft. However, the general perception is that he has failed to deliver and there is a growing sense as he becomes entrenched in power that he no longer intends to. He has retained a number of high-ranking officials widely suspected of corruption. The anti-corruption agency remains under the purview of the ruling government. Critics also charge Abdullah with neglecting to address judicial corruption and electoral fraud and other cases of official abuse and neglect.
Malaysia's race-based political landscape means agendas often play out along ethnic lines. Saturday's protest witnessed the participation of a large number of members from the opposition, the ethnic Malay-dominated, Islamic PAS party, which apart from running on a clean governance platform would like to turn Malaysia into an Islamic state. But a much broader swath of Malaysian society was represented - activists, ordinary citizens, young, old, Indian, Malay, Chinese. Police expressed alarm at the large number of children present, state media reported.
"It was a citizens' event involving an issue that is quite universal," said activist Tian Chua. The last time Malaysians took to the street on such a scale was during the reformasi movement in 1998 after the nation's then deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim was sacked after challenging former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad's hold on power and later received a black eye from a beating in jail by police chief Rahim Noor.
Public participation in the political process waned sharply after reformasi, however. Indeed, a much overlooked consequence of the period is that the government has used that tumultuous turn of events to repel many Malaysians from being active stakeholders of the national development process. The ruling elite now often brands those vocalizing dissatisfaction with official policy short-sighted troublemakers intent on destabilizing the nation, and many Malaysians today echo that government line.
The government's rhetoric of fear and intimidation was employed once again during Saturday's protest. For instance, Abdullah was quoted as saying, "They are challenging the patience of the people who want the country to be peaceful and stable." Anonymously sent text messages warned people to stay away from Freedom Square, where an "illegal anti-government" rally would be held. It was illegal in the sense that gatherings of more than five people require a police permit and organizers were unable to obtain one on the grounds that it would block traffic and disturb business.
That the demonstration still managed to attract so many people (though supporters estimated as many as 40,000, police estimates put the number at 4,000) is testament to the level of dissatisfaction over Abdullah's governance, said Tian. Although the ralliers themselves were peaceful, and state security officials violent, it did not stop the state-run New Straits Times newspaper from running a story on Sunday entitled, "Illegal gathering causes traffic chaos in city." The story was buried on page four, reserving the front page for a photo of a girl who had had a heart transplant chomping on chicken from a skewer.
This despite that fact that international eyes were trained on Malaysia over the weekend, as much if not more over the government's handling of the rally than the calls of the demonstrators. The government's violent response to basic democratic rights has led some advocates and analysts to draw comparisons with the repressive military regime in Myanmar, which likewise aggressively extinguished street protests in August and September.
The New York-based rights group Human Rights Watch said in a statement, "If Malaysia wants to count itself a democracy, it can begin by upholding constitutional guarantees of free speech and assembly. The way the system works now, only the ruling coalition can get its messages out."
General elections are expected to be held by early next year and as it stands the voices for reform will probably only be heard in protests to those polls, which they argue will be systematically stacked in Abdullah's favor.
Ioannis Gatsiounis, a New York native, is a Kuala Lumpur-based writer.
GUEST COLUMNISTS
Din Merican
KeADILan Programme Director
At 4:00 PM on November 10th thousands of Malaysians converged at Istana Negara to express their concerns over the conduct of elections in Malaysia to our beloved Duli Yang Maha Mulia Seri Yang Di-Pertuan Agong (His Majesty The King). Leading a coalition of opposition party leaders and some 60 civil society organisations, de facto KeADILan chief Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim, PAS Al-Fadil Hadi Awang and DAP head Lim Kit Siang successfully delivered a memorandum of concern to the King’s private secretary.
My fellow Malaysians, mission accomplished! But the battle continues.
The numbers here matter. The media has reported up to 40,000 were amassed outside the Royal Palace. That is close to the truth, but it fails to account for the tens of thousands gathered simultaneously at Masjed Negara, Masjed Jamek, the Central Market, Dayabumi and Sogo. I would estimate the total number of participants closer to 100,000. Factor the thousands stuck in roadblocks, those would be participants sent home by aggressive police and check points, or dissuaded by the campaign of disinformation launched by the government and the numbers grow even larger.
Not since the days of reformasi has Kuala Lumpur seen such a massive outpouring of popular support for an issue which, at its heart, reflects a profound disenchantment with the incompetent and corrupt practices of the current Government.
In 1998 the Malaysian people denounced the unceremonious removal from office and unjust conviction and incarceration of the Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim. But reformasi represented more than just outrage over the injustice heaped upon one man. That same injustice that Dato Seri Anwar bore in solitary confinement for six years was inflicted on all Malaysian people of good conscience who suffer from the affects of a corrupt UMNO kleptocracy, cronyism and nepotism, and a judiciary beholden to the powers that be.
Today the Badawi Administration faces the same outcry of dissatisfaction. BERSIH’s rallying cry was for electoral reform. No more gerrymandered districts. No more phantom voters. Equal access to the media and a cleaning of the electoral role.
But my sense is that electoral fraud was the tip of the iceberg. Why did 100,000 people risk police brutality and the arrogant threats of UMNO leaders including the Prime Minister himself?
Perhaps it also had something to do with the crisis in our judiciary? Almost two months after Dato Seri Anwar released the video tape VK Lingam recording, and a few days after Ahmed Fairuz’s involvement was conclusively established the government continues to mishandle the investigation into misconduct. VK Lingam remains silent and Tun Ahmed Fairuz, now retired, has yet to publicly defend his reputation.
What about the massive corruption that has leaked billions of ringgit of taxpayers’ money to the families and friends of ministers and cabinet members? What about the rise in crime and the increase in cost of living? What about the decrepit state of our national universities? We look across our borders and see nations with whom we were once peers, like Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan far ahead of us in terms of national income and FDI inflows and we are enraged.
The ruling coalition has established its vice-grip on business and politics through a combination of fear-tactics, unfair laws, intimidation and good old-fashioned vote rigging. They thought the people had submitted and so the Prime Minister could make statement like the one he uttered on Friday night with impunity. How dare the people challenge his authority, the Prime Minister bragged and barked.
But he miscalculated on two key facts. One is the courage and resolve of Malaysians. It has always been there but has been dormant for a few years. He also underestimated the organisation and the strength of the opposition.
So I say to the Prime Minister, how dare we? How dare he? How dare he allow the police to shoot innocent civilians with chemical agents and arrest citizens at Masjid Jamek for exercising their democratic right to peaceful assembly. We have had enough. Give us one free and fair election and we will clean house.
I extend my deep and sincere appreciation to the organisers and the volunteers who should be heralded as national heroes for their diligent work in making this event a reality. I must also thank the majority of the officers and men of the Royal Malaysian Police and the battle ready Federal Reserve Units. They were generally helpful and patient as they truly showed that they were well disciplined and sympathetic to the BERSIH movement. Inspector General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan and his colleagues who threatened a show of force could take a few lessons from their underlings who understand the proper way to treat their fellow brothers and sisters.
On Sunday we rest and we reflect but our repose should not lull us into a false sense of security. The pendulum is swinging in our direction and we must double and triple our efforts. Our opponents are confused. Their tactics are failing and the edifice upon which they have built their golden palaces is falling apart, first brick-by-brick, but now in large chunks.
The thunder and rain were an appropriate backdrop for the November 10 event. Thunder – the unitary voice of diverse Malaysians coming together in the nation’s capital to call for one simple thing – change before calamity, change for dignity.
The rain as we all know symbolises rebirth, purity, and a cleansing. That is precisely what Malaysia needs. A rebirth that will connect us once again to the core principles of justice, freedom and equity envisioned by our founding fathers, and a clearing away of the rot which has crippled our nation.
Din Merican
KeADILan Programme Director
At 4:00 PM on November 10th thousands of Malaysians converged at Istana Negara to express their concerns over the conduct of elections in Malaysia to our beloved Duli Yang Maha Mulia Seri Yang Di-Pertuan Agong (His Majesty The King). Leading a coalition of opposition party leaders and some 60 civil society organisations, de facto KeADILan chief Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim, PAS Al-Fadil Hadi Awang and DAP head Lim Kit Siang successfully delivered a memorandum of concern to the King’s private secretary.
My fellow Malaysians, mission accomplished! But the battle continues.
The numbers here matter. The media has reported up to 40,000 were amassed outside the Royal Palace. That is close to the truth, but it fails to account for the tens of thousands gathered simultaneously at Masjed Negara, Masjed Jamek, the Central Market, Dayabumi and Sogo. I would estimate the total number of participants closer to 100,000. Factor the thousands stuck in roadblocks, those would be participants sent home by aggressive police and check points, or dissuaded by the campaign of disinformation launched by the government and the numbers grow even larger.
Not since the days of reformasi has Kuala Lumpur seen such a massive outpouring of popular support for an issue which, at its heart, reflects a profound disenchantment with the incompetent and corrupt practices of the current Government.
In 1998 the Malaysian people denounced the unceremonious removal from office and unjust conviction and incarceration of the Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim. But reformasi represented more than just outrage over the injustice heaped upon one man. That same injustice that Dato Seri Anwar bore in solitary confinement for six years was inflicted on all Malaysian people of good conscience who suffer from the affects of a corrupt UMNO kleptocracy, cronyism and nepotism, and a judiciary beholden to the powers that be.
Today the Badawi Administration faces the same outcry of dissatisfaction. BERSIH’s rallying cry was for electoral reform. No more gerrymandered districts. No more phantom voters. Equal access to the media and a cleaning of the electoral role.
But my sense is that electoral fraud was the tip of the iceberg. Why did 100,000 people risk police brutality and the arrogant threats of UMNO leaders including the Prime Minister himself?
Perhaps it also had something to do with the crisis in our judiciary? Almost two months after Dato Seri Anwar released the video tape VK Lingam recording, and a few days after Ahmed Fairuz’s involvement was conclusively established the government continues to mishandle the investigation into misconduct. VK Lingam remains silent and Tun Ahmed Fairuz, now retired, has yet to publicly defend his reputation.
What about the massive corruption that has leaked billions of ringgit of taxpayers’ money to the families and friends of ministers and cabinet members? What about the rise in crime and the increase in cost of living? What about the decrepit state of our national universities? We look across our borders and see nations with whom we were once peers, like Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan far ahead of us in terms of national income and FDI inflows and we are enraged.
The ruling coalition has established its vice-grip on business and politics through a combination of fear-tactics, unfair laws, intimidation and good old-fashioned vote rigging. They thought the people had submitted and so the Prime Minister could make statement like the one he uttered on Friday night with impunity. How dare the people challenge his authority, the Prime Minister bragged and barked.
But he miscalculated on two key facts. One is the courage and resolve of Malaysians. It has always been there but has been dormant for a few years. He also underestimated the organisation and the strength of the opposition.
So I say to the Prime Minister, how dare we? How dare he? How dare he allow the police to shoot innocent civilians with chemical agents and arrest citizens at Masjid Jamek for exercising their democratic right to peaceful assembly. We have had enough. Give us one free and fair election and we will clean house.
I extend my deep and sincere appreciation to the organisers and the volunteers who should be heralded as national heroes for their diligent work in making this event a reality. I must also thank the majority of the officers and men of the Royal Malaysian Police and the battle ready Federal Reserve Units. They were generally helpful and patient as they truly showed that they were well disciplined and sympathetic to the BERSIH movement. Inspector General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan and his colleagues who threatened a show of force could take a few lessons from their underlings who understand the proper way to treat their fellow brothers and sisters.
On Sunday we rest and we reflect but our repose should not lull us into a false sense of security. The pendulum is swinging in our direction and we must double and triple our efforts. Our opponents are confused. Their tactics are failing and the edifice upon which they have built their golden palaces is falling apart, first brick-by-brick, but now in large chunks.
The thunder and rain were an appropriate backdrop for the November 10 event. Thunder – the unitary voice of diverse Malaysians coming together in the nation’s capital to call for one simple thing – change before calamity, change for dignity.
The rain as we all know symbolises rebirth, purity, and a cleansing. That is precisely what Malaysia needs. A rebirth that will connect us once again to the core principles of justice, freedom and equity envisioned by our founding fathers, and a clearing away of the rot which has crippled our nation.
GUEST COLUMNISTS
Imran Imtiaz Shah Yacob
Imran Imtiaz Shah Yacob is a lawyer and Malaysian commentator. He writes for numerous international newspapers/online journals as well as hosts Face to Face, an interview segment of Malaysian issues and personalities hosted on Malaysia Today. He also serves as foreign Correspondent for foreign news organizations.
Vietnam and Malaysia are two very different countries that exist on an unchanging timeline of progress. Few Malaysians have been to Vietnam before the inception of Doi Moi. We may have fought against colonialists in dissimilar ways but we share a common dream to be a developed and united nation which is truly independent of the yoke of colonialism. Vietnam craves the economic prosperity and progress that has eluded them. Malaysia on the other hand struggles to preserve its economic miracle. The hard lessons to be learnt are many and it goes both ways.
Tân Sõn Nhất International Airport reminds Malaysians of an exciting spell that was full of anticipation. We didn’t have modern facilities but we were hopeful for the future. In 1965 our old airport had the longest runaway in Southeast Asia. Malaysia had just begun to embrace the world whilst the United States Marines landed in Da Nang in that same year. Malaysians battled against an apologetic mindset while the first bloody battle (Operation Starlite) was fought in Vietnam.
What draws the world to Vietnam is its charm. What makes them stay is its potential. An emerging tiger that’s different in many ways. Vietnam distinguishes itself from Asia’s Four Little Dragons (Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Korea) otherwise known as Yazhou Si Xiao Long in Chinese. Adopting the ‘Asian Way’ coupled with Vietnamese determination, strong community bonds and resilience, Vietnam is now seen as one of the Four New Asian Tigers. Differences in Vietnam’s ascent into the new world order is marked by Vietnam’s focus on not just export-driven trade strategies at the cost of import-demand thereby reducing over-dependence on targeted export countries. The 1997 Asian financial crisis silenced the roar of the Tigers but Vietnam’s entry into the WTO signals her re-birth. Membership is a leap forward but Vietnam must now strive to take its place as a full fledge member and earn the respect of the rest of the member nations.
On a recent visit, the loyalty and love of the Vietnamese people for their country was glaring. I saw an elderly Vietnamese lady leading a young tourist across Vietnam’s infamous traffic. Despite her diminished physical form she was adamant in wanting to give a good first impression of the Vietnamese people. The next day, a tourist guide recounts his struggle to survive as a teenager by means of smuggling TV sets from Cambodia. He said that “I was advised by my teachers who said that it was bad for the country and so I stopped doing that”.
The Vietnamese people’s deep sense of history and patriotism is their greatest asset. Vietnam must draw on their love for their country as the greatest war is about to be fought. Modernization and globalization will be a battle for the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese people, particularly the younger generation who have been fortunate enough to be spared the horrors of the Vietnam war. The growing gap between the old ways and beliefs against the westernized young is changing the face of Vietnam in this new millennium. Conversely, the rapid modernization of Malaysia, has taken its toll on its people. Malaysian leaders frequently complain about first-class facilities with third-class mentality while Malaysians themselves lament on the rise of violent crime.
The Vietnamese people must now fight an enemy from within. Materialism, corruption and social ills are the evil minions of mad development. Vietnam may indeed suffer worse than what Malaysia is now facing as Vietnam’s huge potential may accelerate development as never seen before by the Asian Tigers.
In Malaysia, the United Malay National Organisation’s Annual General Assembly is currently underway. Malaysians furiously debate about the nation’s very fabric of society and ways to re-forge unity and loyalty. All eyes are on both countries. Malaysia aspires to be a developed nation and Vietnam a modern industrial nation by the year 2020. Observers think that Malaysia has already veered from the track of progress while Vietnam may attain industrialization even before the year 2020. So now, Malaysia fights for its lost innocence as Vietnam embraces the giddy prospects of a prosperous future. Malaysia and Vietnam are at a critical point. Without careful examination, we could figuratively speaking end-up like the Malayan Tiger and the Indochinese Tiger that have been poached and used for the benefit of others to near extinction.
Imran Imtiaz Shah Yacob
Imran Imtiaz Shah Yacob is a lawyer and Malaysian commentator. He writes for numerous international newspapers/online journals as well as hosts Face to Face, an interview segment of Malaysian issues and personalities hosted on Malaysia Today. He also serves as foreign Correspondent for foreign news organizations.
Vietnam and Malaysia are two very different countries that exist on an unchanging timeline of progress. Few Malaysians have been to Vietnam before the inception of Doi Moi. We may have fought against colonialists in dissimilar ways but we share a common dream to be a developed and united nation which is truly independent of the yoke of colonialism. Vietnam craves the economic prosperity and progress that has eluded them. Malaysia on the other hand struggles to preserve its economic miracle. The hard lessons to be learnt are many and it goes both ways.
Tân Sõn Nhất International Airport reminds Malaysians of an exciting spell that was full of anticipation. We didn’t have modern facilities but we were hopeful for the future. In 1965 our old airport had the longest runaway in Southeast Asia. Malaysia had just begun to embrace the world whilst the United States Marines landed in Da Nang in that same year. Malaysians battled against an apologetic mindset while the first bloody battle (Operation Starlite) was fought in Vietnam.
What draws the world to Vietnam is its charm. What makes them stay is its potential. An emerging tiger that’s different in many ways. Vietnam distinguishes itself from Asia’s Four Little Dragons (Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Korea) otherwise known as Yazhou Si Xiao Long in Chinese. Adopting the ‘Asian Way’ coupled with Vietnamese determination, strong community bonds and resilience, Vietnam is now seen as one of the Four New Asian Tigers. Differences in Vietnam’s ascent into the new world order is marked by Vietnam’s focus on not just export-driven trade strategies at the cost of import-demand thereby reducing over-dependence on targeted export countries. The 1997 Asian financial crisis silenced the roar of the Tigers but Vietnam’s entry into the WTO signals her re-birth. Membership is a leap forward but Vietnam must now strive to take its place as a full fledge member and earn the respect of the rest of the member nations.
On a recent visit, the loyalty and love of the Vietnamese people for their country was glaring. I saw an elderly Vietnamese lady leading a young tourist across Vietnam’s infamous traffic. Despite her diminished physical form she was adamant in wanting to give a good first impression of the Vietnamese people. The next day, a tourist guide recounts his struggle to survive as a teenager by means of smuggling TV sets from Cambodia. He said that “I was advised by my teachers who said that it was bad for the country and so I stopped doing that”.
The Vietnamese people’s deep sense of history and patriotism is their greatest asset. Vietnam must draw on their love for their country as the greatest war is about to be fought. Modernization and globalization will be a battle for the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese people, particularly the younger generation who have been fortunate enough to be spared the horrors of the Vietnam war. The growing gap between the old ways and beliefs against the westernized young is changing the face of Vietnam in this new millennium. Conversely, the rapid modernization of Malaysia, has taken its toll on its people. Malaysian leaders frequently complain about first-class facilities with third-class mentality while Malaysians themselves lament on the rise of violent crime.
The Vietnamese people must now fight an enemy from within. Materialism, corruption and social ills are the evil minions of mad development. Vietnam may indeed suffer worse than what Malaysia is now facing as Vietnam’s huge potential may accelerate development as never seen before by the Asian Tigers.
In Malaysia, the United Malay National Organisation’s Annual General Assembly is currently underway. Malaysians furiously debate about the nation’s very fabric of society and ways to re-forge unity and loyalty. All eyes are on both countries. Malaysia aspires to be a developed nation and Vietnam a modern industrial nation by the year 2020. Observers think that Malaysia has already veered from the track of progress while Vietnam may attain industrialization even before the year 2020. So now, Malaysia fights for its lost innocence as Vietnam embraces the giddy prospects of a prosperous future. Malaysia and Vietnam are at a critical point. Without careful examination, we could figuratively speaking end-up like the Malayan Tiger and the Indochinese Tiger that have been poached and used for the benefit of others to near extinction.
GUEST COLUMNISTS
KAMAL AMIR MENULIS
SUNGGUH tidak patut! Itulah yang termampu dilafazkan bila menatap laporan polis oleh penulis dan penganalisa politik dari Segamat, Johor bernama Johari Ismail berhubung permohonannya agar pihak polis menyiasat konspirasi besar didakwa dilakukan oleh Abdullah Ahmad Badawi terhadap mantan Perdana Menteri Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.
Sampai hati sungguhnya Johari melakukan tindakan tersebut hingga boleh mengheret parti Umno menjadi tidak sah atau sebagai sebuah pertubuhan haram seperti yang berlaku di era pencabaran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah ke atas Dr. Mahathir.
Bukankah Umno merupakan parti pemerintah? Tidak sedarkah Johari Ismail, jawatan Ketua Polis Negara adalah dari ehsan Perdana Menteri merangkap Presiden Umno, bagaimana mungkin orang kepercayaan Abdullah Ahmad Badawi melakukan siasatan ke atas pemberi jawatan kepadanya?
Kalaupun terdapat kebenaran dalam dakwaan Johari bagaimana Abdullah Ahmad Badawi melakukan konsiprasi begitu menjijikkan dalam sejarah politik bangsa, sedarkah Johari kebal dan maksumnya Presiden Umno itu?
Namun, laporan sudahpun dilakukan olehnya dan seharusnya pasukan polis yang berwibawa serta menjunjung keluhuran perlembagaan, terpaksalah melakukan siasatan sejauh mana benarnya dakwaan Johari.
Bagaimana pula jadinya jika terdapat kebenaran dakwaan Abdullah Ahmad Badawi melanggar perlembagaan parti dengan melakukan konsipirasi menghalang Tun Dr. Mahathir dari menjadi perwakilan, apakah ahli-ahli Umno yang bersidang selama lima hari di bangunan PWTC bersedia menerima hakikat bahawa mereka telah melakukan perhimpuinan haram?
Aduhai, kasihan sungguh nasib mereka yang berhempas pulas membahaskan usul agar agama Islam hanya menjadi istimewa sahaja dalam mahzab hadhari. Lebih malang lagi perhimpunan tersebut diangap tidak sah, buat penat sahaja mereka bersongkok dan berbaju Melayu segak bergaya, rupa-rupanya, sekadar menjadi perwakilan yang tidak sah di sisi undang-undang.
Tidak terfikirkah oleh Johari kesan dari laporan tersebut bakal mendedahkan Umno sebagai parti yang tidak sealiran dengan undang-undang negara? Kita amat faham bahawa dalam apa keadaan setiap pertubuhan mahupun persatuan yang didaftarkan mesti mematuhi undang-undang negara. Dalam erti kata lain, kalaulah sesebuah pertubuhan itu melanggar serta bertentangan dengan undang-undang, maka ia boleh diharamkan oleh kerajaan.
Sebagai contoh, bagaimana mungkin kita menubuhkan sebuah pertubuhan atau kesatuan untuk melakukan rompakan? Meskipun dalam perlembagaan, pertubuhan tersebut mengizinkan ahli-ahlinya merompak dan menyamun, namun undang-undang di Malaysia tidak memberi kebenaran maka dengan sendirinya pertubuhan tersebut dianggap tidak sah. Dalam erti kata lain, undang-undang negara dan perlembagaan mengatasi mana-mana peraturan dan perlembagaan pertubuhan tersebut.
Johari kena faham se faham-fahamnya kesan laporan polis yang dilakukan olehnya itu. Ia bukan seperti kes Muhammad anak Muhammad membuat laporan polis terhadap Raja Petra Kamarudin. Dalam kes tersebut ia sekadar menyangkut soal mencari populariti dan upaya menyambung nyawa dalam kerjaya politik.
Apa yang dilakukan oleh Johari lebih buruk dari itu kerana kesannya bukan kepada Abdullah Ahmad Badawi tetapi ia boleh menjerumuskan parti Umno sebagai sebuah pertubuhan tidak sah. Ini sudah kes berat!
Menyorot perbahasan dan debat di persidangan Agung Pergerakan Pemuda Umno kelmarin, Johari kena ingat dan insaf betapa hebatnya perjuangan pemuda hari ini untuk tidak tunduk kepada tuntutan parti lain agar senjata keris tidak dipamerkan mahupun dijadikan sebagai simbol.
Kalaupun Johari marah bila melihat Hishammuddin Tun Husein Onn mencabut keris dan mengucupnya, beliau mesti sedar itulah warisan peninggalan datuknya supaya Melayu tetap gagah menghunus keris, sama ada siapa dan ke arah mana sasarannya bukan persoalan penting. Acara cabut keris dan potong kek merupakan budaya baru dalam Umno. Ertinya, bila setiap musuh berjaya dihapuskan maka perlulah merayakannya dengan memotong Kek seperti dilakukan oleh Makcik Montel @ Rafidah Aziz.
Hayatilah jaguhnya ayam sabung Pergerakan Pemuda Umno “Perwira Mat Lela Gila” menuntut dalam ucapannya supaya pihak polis menangkap dan memenjarakan setiap demonstran bersih yang mahu berarak di dataran merdeka pada 10 November 2007. Johari kena hayati dan sedar diri betapa hebatnya menantu Perdana Menteri memberikan arahan kepada pihak polis walaupun dia tidak memegang sebarang jawatan dalam kerajaan.
Kalau seorang budak hingusan boleh mengarahkan pasukan polis menyekat serta menangkap rakyat yang melakukan perarakan secara aman bagi menuntut sebuah pilihan raya dikendalikan dengan adil dan saksama, bagaimana mungkin pihak polis boleh menyiasat konsiprasi Abdullah Ahmad Badawi menyekat Tun Dr. Mahathir sebagai perwakilan dalam perhimpunan Agung Umno tahun lalu (2006).
Semua harus insaf, Perwira Mat Lela Gila adalah menantu kesayangan Abdullah Ahmad Badawi yang dianggap sebagai pintar dan boleh dinobatkan sebagai Perdana Menteri sebelum berusia 40 tahun. Kerana itu pihak polis mesti akur menurut perintah calon Perdana Menteri.
Bukankah Abdullah Ahmad Badawi berkali-kali menyatakan Perwira Mat Lela Gila sehebat Hang Nadim semasa Singapura dilanggar todak? Dan atas kebijaksanaannya itu tidak mungkin dia boleh mengizinkan Singapura memiliki walau seincipun bumi ini untuk dijajah oleh kuasa asing.
Perwira Mat Lela Gila pasti akan berpencak dan menentang siapa sahaja yang mahu merampok harta rakyat, Perwira Mat Lela Gila tidak akan menjilat kaki Singapura untuk mengemis simpati, semua itu adalah gambaran hebatnya menantu perdana menteri sehingga berjaya memanusiakan Jibrail sebagai anaknya. Hebat lagi menghebatkan.
Kerana itulah bila ada cakap-cakap di kalangan perwakilan Umno bercerita tentang kelewatan Timbalan Perdana Menteri menghadiri upacara menaikkan bendera Umno sebagai gambaran kurang hormatnya beliau terhadap Perdana Menteri harus segera disangkal kerana tidak mungkin Najib mampu mengguris hati Abdullah sebagai orang nombor dua.
Malahan cakap-cakap kononnya Datuk Najib bakal mencabar jawatan Presiden Umno sebagai satu dongeng kosong. Bukankah berkali-kali Najib melafazkan ikrar taat setianya terhadap Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, untuk itu tidak perlu dipertikaikan kesetiaannya. Perwira Mat Lela Gila tetap akan menghormati Datuk Najib sebagai Timbalan Presiden dan tidak mungkin akan menjatuhkannya.
Semua perlu sedar, Perwira Mat Lela Gila @ menantu PM adalah anak Melayu tulen yang tidak mungkin bersedia untuk bersikap “Kurang ajar” terhadap pemimpin. Perwira Mat Lela Gila juga sentiasa bersopan dalam menangani sesuatu masaalah politik. Dia juga adalah calon maksum yang perlu dinobatkan sebagai pemimpin tulen Melayu yang berjiwa Melayu serta punya akal budi menghormati orang lain. Setiap tindak-tanduknya adalah jujur sejujur-jujurnya. Dia bukan agen asing seperti yang didakwa mahu melingkupkan bumi bertuah ini.
Kerana itulah Johari Ismail tidak sewajarnya membuat laporan polis terhadap Umno. Hari ini Umno bukan sebuah parti politik seperti ditahun 1957 atau tahun-tahun enam puluhan, Umno dulu tidak hebat. Hari ini Umno adalah satu-satunya pertubuhan politik yang berjuang untuk bangsa agama dan negara kerana setiap pemimpinnya tetap meletakkan kepentingan bangsa mengatasi segala-galanya.
Pemimpin Umno seperti Perwira Mat Lela Gila bukan perampok wang rakyat, pemimpin Umno semuanya jujur dan hebat seperti Norza Zakaria yang ikhlas mencari sinar di hujung terowong. Dan sempena merayakan kejayaan Malaysia menghantar rakyatnya menjadi angkasawan sewajarnya saranan Datuk Seri Mohd Najib untuk segera mengangkasakan bangsa dilakukan. Namun untuk tahun depan sempena kedatangan kapal selam Scorpione, jangan pula ada kata-kata mari kita tenggelamkan bangsa pula itu lagi tidak patut………!
KAMAL AMIR MENULIS
SUNGGUH tidak patut! Itulah yang termampu dilafazkan bila menatap laporan polis oleh penulis dan penganalisa politik dari Segamat, Johor bernama Johari Ismail berhubung permohonannya agar pihak polis menyiasat konspirasi besar didakwa dilakukan oleh Abdullah Ahmad Badawi terhadap mantan Perdana Menteri Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.
Sampai hati sungguhnya Johari melakukan tindakan tersebut hingga boleh mengheret parti Umno menjadi tidak sah atau sebagai sebuah pertubuhan haram seperti yang berlaku di era pencabaran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah ke atas Dr. Mahathir.
Bukankah Umno merupakan parti pemerintah? Tidak sedarkah Johari Ismail, jawatan Ketua Polis Negara adalah dari ehsan Perdana Menteri merangkap Presiden Umno, bagaimana mungkin orang kepercayaan Abdullah Ahmad Badawi melakukan siasatan ke atas pemberi jawatan kepadanya?
Kalaupun terdapat kebenaran dalam dakwaan Johari bagaimana Abdullah Ahmad Badawi melakukan konsiprasi begitu menjijikkan dalam sejarah politik bangsa, sedarkah Johari kebal dan maksumnya Presiden Umno itu?
Namun, laporan sudahpun dilakukan olehnya dan seharusnya pasukan polis yang berwibawa serta menjunjung keluhuran perlembagaan, terpaksalah melakukan siasatan sejauh mana benarnya dakwaan Johari.
Bagaimana pula jadinya jika terdapat kebenaran dakwaan Abdullah Ahmad Badawi melanggar perlembagaan parti dengan melakukan konsipirasi menghalang Tun Dr. Mahathir dari menjadi perwakilan, apakah ahli-ahli Umno yang bersidang selama lima hari di bangunan PWTC bersedia menerima hakikat bahawa mereka telah melakukan perhimpuinan haram?
Aduhai, kasihan sungguh nasib mereka yang berhempas pulas membahaskan usul agar agama Islam hanya menjadi istimewa sahaja dalam mahzab hadhari. Lebih malang lagi perhimpunan tersebut diangap tidak sah, buat penat sahaja mereka bersongkok dan berbaju Melayu segak bergaya, rupa-rupanya, sekadar menjadi perwakilan yang tidak sah di sisi undang-undang.
Tidak terfikirkah oleh Johari kesan dari laporan tersebut bakal mendedahkan Umno sebagai parti yang tidak sealiran dengan undang-undang negara? Kita amat faham bahawa dalam apa keadaan setiap pertubuhan mahupun persatuan yang didaftarkan mesti mematuhi undang-undang negara. Dalam erti kata lain, kalaulah sesebuah pertubuhan itu melanggar serta bertentangan dengan undang-undang, maka ia boleh diharamkan oleh kerajaan.
Sebagai contoh, bagaimana mungkin kita menubuhkan sebuah pertubuhan atau kesatuan untuk melakukan rompakan? Meskipun dalam perlembagaan, pertubuhan tersebut mengizinkan ahli-ahlinya merompak dan menyamun, namun undang-undang di Malaysia tidak memberi kebenaran maka dengan sendirinya pertubuhan tersebut dianggap tidak sah. Dalam erti kata lain, undang-undang negara dan perlembagaan mengatasi mana-mana peraturan dan perlembagaan pertubuhan tersebut.
Johari kena faham se faham-fahamnya kesan laporan polis yang dilakukan olehnya itu. Ia bukan seperti kes Muhammad anak Muhammad membuat laporan polis terhadap Raja Petra Kamarudin. Dalam kes tersebut ia sekadar menyangkut soal mencari populariti dan upaya menyambung nyawa dalam kerjaya politik.
Apa yang dilakukan oleh Johari lebih buruk dari itu kerana kesannya bukan kepada Abdullah Ahmad Badawi tetapi ia boleh menjerumuskan parti Umno sebagai sebuah pertubuhan tidak sah. Ini sudah kes berat!
Menyorot perbahasan dan debat di persidangan Agung Pergerakan Pemuda Umno kelmarin, Johari kena ingat dan insaf betapa hebatnya perjuangan pemuda hari ini untuk tidak tunduk kepada tuntutan parti lain agar senjata keris tidak dipamerkan mahupun dijadikan sebagai simbol.
Kalaupun Johari marah bila melihat Hishammuddin Tun Husein Onn mencabut keris dan mengucupnya, beliau mesti sedar itulah warisan peninggalan datuknya supaya Melayu tetap gagah menghunus keris, sama ada siapa dan ke arah mana sasarannya bukan persoalan penting. Acara cabut keris dan potong kek merupakan budaya baru dalam Umno. Ertinya, bila setiap musuh berjaya dihapuskan maka perlulah merayakannya dengan memotong Kek seperti dilakukan oleh Makcik Montel @ Rafidah Aziz.
Hayatilah jaguhnya ayam sabung Pergerakan Pemuda Umno “Perwira Mat Lela Gila” menuntut dalam ucapannya supaya pihak polis menangkap dan memenjarakan setiap demonstran bersih yang mahu berarak di dataran merdeka pada 10 November 2007. Johari kena hayati dan sedar diri betapa hebatnya menantu Perdana Menteri memberikan arahan kepada pihak polis walaupun dia tidak memegang sebarang jawatan dalam kerajaan.
Kalau seorang budak hingusan boleh mengarahkan pasukan polis menyekat serta menangkap rakyat yang melakukan perarakan secara aman bagi menuntut sebuah pilihan raya dikendalikan dengan adil dan saksama, bagaimana mungkin pihak polis boleh menyiasat konsiprasi Abdullah Ahmad Badawi menyekat Tun Dr. Mahathir sebagai perwakilan dalam perhimpunan Agung Umno tahun lalu (2006).
Semua harus insaf, Perwira Mat Lela Gila adalah menantu kesayangan Abdullah Ahmad Badawi yang dianggap sebagai pintar dan boleh dinobatkan sebagai Perdana Menteri sebelum berusia 40 tahun. Kerana itu pihak polis mesti akur menurut perintah calon Perdana Menteri.
Bukankah Abdullah Ahmad Badawi berkali-kali menyatakan Perwira Mat Lela Gila sehebat Hang Nadim semasa Singapura dilanggar todak? Dan atas kebijaksanaannya itu tidak mungkin dia boleh mengizinkan Singapura memiliki walau seincipun bumi ini untuk dijajah oleh kuasa asing.
Perwira Mat Lela Gila pasti akan berpencak dan menentang siapa sahaja yang mahu merampok harta rakyat, Perwira Mat Lela Gila tidak akan menjilat kaki Singapura untuk mengemis simpati, semua itu adalah gambaran hebatnya menantu perdana menteri sehingga berjaya memanusiakan Jibrail sebagai anaknya. Hebat lagi menghebatkan.
Kerana itulah bila ada cakap-cakap di kalangan perwakilan Umno bercerita tentang kelewatan Timbalan Perdana Menteri menghadiri upacara menaikkan bendera Umno sebagai gambaran kurang hormatnya beliau terhadap Perdana Menteri harus segera disangkal kerana tidak mungkin Najib mampu mengguris hati Abdullah sebagai orang nombor dua.
Malahan cakap-cakap kononnya Datuk Najib bakal mencabar jawatan Presiden Umno sebagai satu dongeng kosong. Bukankah berkali-kali Najib melafazkan ikrar taat setianya terhadap Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, untuk itu tidak perlu dipertikaikan kesetiaannya. Perwira Mat Lela Gila tetap akan menghormati Datuk Najib sebagai Timbalan Presiden dan tidak mungkin akan menjatuhkannya.
Semua perlu sedar, Perwira Mat Lela Gila @ menantu PM adalah anak Melayu tulen yang tidak mungkin bersedia untuk bersikap “Kurang ajar” terhadap pemimpin. Perwira Mat Lela Gila juga sentiasa bersopan dalam menangani sesuatu masaalah politik. Dia juga adalah calon maksum yang perlu dinobatkan sebagai pemimpin tulen Melayu yang berjiwa Melayu serta punya akal budi menghormati orang lain. Setiap tindak-tanduknya adalah jujur sejujur-jujurnya. Dia bukan agen asing seperti yang didakwa mahu melingkupkan bumi bertuah ini.
Kerana itulah Johari Ismail tidak sewajarnya membuat laporan polis terhadap Umno. Hari ini Umno bukan sebuah parti politik seperti ditahun 1957 atau tahun-tahun enam puluhan, Umno dulu tidak hebat. Hari ini Umno adalah satu-satunya pertubuhan politik yang berjuang untuk bangsa agama dan negara kerana setiap pemimpinnya tetap meletakkan kepentingan bangsa mengatasi segala-galanya.
Pemimpin Umno seperti Perwira Mat Lela Gila bukan perampok wang rakyat, pemimpin Umno semuanya jujur dan hebat seperti Norza Zakaria yang ikhlas mencari sinar di hujung terowong. Dan sempena merayakan kejayaan Malaysia menghantar rakyatnya menjadi angkasawan sewajarnya saranan Datuk Seri Mohd Najib untuk segera mengangkasakan bangsa dilakukan. Namun untuk tahun depan sempena kedatangan kapal selam Scorpione, jangan pula ada kata-kata mari kita tenggelamkan bangsa pula itu lagi tidak patut………!
GUEST COLUMNISTS
By Farish A. Noor
The dangerous thing about sectarian politics is how it becomes normalised so easily and quickly. Taking a leaf from the book of Speer and Goebels, the old Fascist maxim proves itself true time and again: Once the public is made to realise that they are impotent and unable to affect change, the ruling elite can hoist almost anything upon them. One affront leads to another, and the common tactic is to follow-up a public outrage with yet another that is even more outrageous. Hence when politicians issue their sexist slurs and the the media reacts to them, the tactic often favoured by some is to reply with a racist slur even more unpalatable to most right-minded adults.
We have seen this strategy employed so often by now: The rise of the extreme Hindu right in India was a case of leap-frogging from one insulting comment against Muslims, Christians and other minorities to the next. Likewise the shift to the right that is seen in Europe today was occassioned by extreme right-wing politicians vying for media attention and out-doing themselves by playing to the gallery.
Malaysia of course is no exception to the rule and during the past five decades the tone and tenor of Malaysian politics has been set by the standards of racialised communitarian politics that is divisive to the country. Again and again we have seen Malaysian politicians come to power by playing the race - and now increasingly religion - card above all else, pandering to their own communities at the expense of the rest. And over the past three years in particular the country has witnessed the rising of its
politiical temperature thanks to the amateurish pyrotechnics of loud politicians standing on the soapbox to play to the communitarians in their midst. The precedent was set three years ago when the leader of the Youth Wing of the ruling UMNO party - Hishamuddin Onn - brandished a keris - the traditional Malay dagger - in a symbolic act of defiance that many regarded as frothy bravado and little else. In the context of multi-racial Malaysia where racial sensitivities run deep, such gestures can have the effect of antagonising the non-Malay and non-Muslim communities further and deepening the racial divide that already splits the country in many ways.
At this years General Assembly of the UMNO party the leaders of the UMNO Youth Wing were once again seen playing with their toys in public, claiming that their gesture was intended to symbolise UMNO's fighting spirit (odd to say the least, considering the UMNO did not engage in armed struggle against the colonial powers of the past but rather opted for a more docile form of negotiation instead) and commitment to the country. Needless to say the expected reaction has ensued, with many members of the non-Malay and non-Muslim communities worried about the growing assertion of Mlalay-Muslim dominance in the country.
Ironically, the spin-doctors of UMNO have been hard at work to justify the symbolic unsheathing of the keris and the hysterical screaming and yelling of slogans that often follows. Cognisant of the fact that the juvenile antics of the party's leaders are under scrutiny, at this years UMNO assembly the leaders of the party went to great lengths to explain how and why the keris was unsheathed and brandished in public on stage. The UMNO party's deputy leader Najib Razak went as far as claiming that the waving of the keris should not be interpreted by the non-Malays as a declaration of war, but rather as the party's defence of the Malay race. Where, pray tell, is the difference?
No matter how hard the spin-doctors of UMNO try to pass off this episode as another harmless escapade in the party's sorry history, the fact remains that racial and communal tensions are high in the country at the moment. While the ethno-nationalist Malay communitarians of UMNO claim that their party is merely there to defend the Malay race, the fact remains that this defence of 'Malayness' is couched in terms of a rhetoric and discourse of Malay supremacy. Furthermore the non-Malays of Malaysia are left with the stark reality that while UMNO caters primarily to Malay demands, dozens of Hiindu temples have been demolished all over the country and the non-Muslim NGOs of Malaysia are increasingly vocal in their defence of the rights of non-Muslim citizens.
But UMNO's hotheads have been caught in a trap of their own making. During a previous assembly the very same leader of UMNO Youth was challenged by an UMNO delegate who asked him : 'Now that you have unsheathed the keris, when will you use it?' This is the real context against which such puerile and
shameless theatrics are being enacted: of a party that is becoming increasingly insecure, defensive and unsure of its future, edged and goaded by irresponsible politicians who have let the genie of communitarianism out of the bottle and are now unable to put it back in. One is reminded of the likewise violent symbolism of the extreme right wing BJP and RSS in India, whose leaders brandished Indian swords - tulwars and shamsirs - before their supporters and potential voters, and who later claimed that they were not responsible for unleashing the racial and religious terror that swept across
states like Gujarat.
Mlalaysia's politicians would do better to grow up and behave like matured adults who can deal with real issues such as corruption, abuse of power and the crisis of confidence in the judiciary rather than playing with knives on the stage. The growing income disparity in Malaysia, the low ranking of Malaysia in the press freedom index, the brain drain which is leading to the loss of thousands of intelligent and educated professionals; are all real problems that need real solutions put forward by sincere politicians with real intelligence. Leave the knife in the kitchen, and try to manage the country instead: That would be sage advice to Youth leaders who should have grown up long ago.
Dr. Farish A. Noor is a Political Historian based at the Zentrum Moderner Orient and guest affiliated professor at Universitas Muhamadiyah Surakarta and Sunan Kalijaga Islamic University of Jogjakrata. He is also one of the founders of the www.othermalaysia.org research site.
By Farish A. Noor
The dangerous thing about sectarian politics is how it becomes normalised so easily and quickly. Taking a leaf from the book of Speer and Goebels, the old Fascist maxim proves itself true time and again: Once the public is made to realise that they are impotent and unable to affect change, the ruling elite can hoist almost anything upon them. One affront leads to another, and the common tactic is to follow-up a public outrage with yet another that is even more outrageous. Hence when politicians issue their sexist slurs and the the media reacts to them, the tactic often favoured by some is to reply with a racist slur even more unpalatable to most right-minded adults.
We have seen this strategy employed so often by now: The rise of the extreme Hindu right in India was a case of leap-frogging from one insulting comment against Muslims, Christians and other minorities to the next. Likewise the shift to the right that is seen in Europe today was occassioned by extreme right-wing politicians vying for media attention and out-doing themselves by playing to the gallery.
Malaysia of course is no exception to the rule and during the past five decades the tone and tenor of Malaysian politics has been set by the standards of racialised communitarian politics that is divisive to the country. Again and again we have seen Malaysian politicians come to power by playing the race - and now increasingly religion - card above all else, pandering to their own communities at the expense of the rest. And over the past three years in particular the country has witnessed the rising of its
politiical temperature thanks to the amateurish pyrotechnics of loud politicians standing on the soapbox to play to the communitarians in their midst. The precedent was set three years ago when the leader of the Youth Wing of the ruling UMNO party - Hishamuddin Onn - brandished a keris - the traditional Malay dagger - in a symbolic act of defiance that many regarded as frothy bravado and little else. In the context of multi-racial Malaysia where racial sensitivities run deep, such gestures can have the effect of antagonising the non-Malay and non-Muslim communities further and deepening the racial divide that already splits the country in many ways.
At this years General Assembly of the UMNO party the leaders of the UMNO Youth Wing were once again seen playing with their toys in public, claiming that their gesture was intended to symbolise UMNO's fighting spirit (odd to say the least, considering the UMNO did not engage in armed struggle against the colonial powers of the past but rather opted for a more docile form of negotiation instead) and commitment to the country. Needless to say the expected reaction has ensued, with many members of the non-Malay and non-Muslim communities worried about the growing assertion of Mlalay-Muslim dominance in the country.
Ironically, the spin-doctors of UMNO have been hard at work to justify the symbolic unsheathing of the keris and the hysterical screaming and yelling of slogans that often follows. Cognisant of the fact that the juvenile antics of the party's leaders are under scrutiny, at this years UMNO assembly the leaders of the party went to great lengths to explain how and why the keris was unsheathed and brandished in public on stage. The UMNO party's deputy leader Najib Razak went as far as claiming that the waving of the keris should not be interpreted by the non-Malays as a declaration of war, but rather as the party's defence of the Malay race. Where, pray tell, is the difference?
No matter how hard the spin-doctors of UMNO try to pass off this episode as another harmless escapade in the party's sorry history, the fact remains that racial and communal tensions are high in the country at the moment. While the ethno-nationalist Malay communitarians of UMNO claim that their party is merely there to defend the Malay race, the fact remains that this defence of 'Malayness' is couched in terms of a rhetoric and discourse of Malay supremacy. Furthermore the non-Malays of Malaysia are left with the stark reality that while UMNO caters primarily to Malay demands, dozens of Hiindu temples have been demolished all over the country and the non-Muslim NGOs of Malaysia are increasingly vocal in their defence of the rights of non-Muslim citizens.
But UMNO's hotheads have been caught in a trap of their own making. During a previous assembly the very same leader of UMNO Youth was challenged by an UMNO delegate who asked him : 'Now that you have unsheathed the keris, when will you use it?' This is the real context against which such puerile and
shameless theatrics are being enacted: of a party that is becoming increasingly insecure, defensive and unsure of its future, edged and goaded by irresponsible politicians who have let the genie of communitarianism out of the bottle and are now unable to put it back in. One is reminded of the likewise violent symbolism of the extreme right wing BJP and RSS in India, whose leaders brandished Indian swords - tulwars and shamsirs - before their supporters and potential voters, and who later claimed that they were not responsible for unleashing the racial and religious terror that swept across
states like Gujarat.
Mlalaysia's politicians would do better to grow up and behave like matured adults who can deal with real issues such as corruption, abuse of power and the crisis of confidence in the judiciary rather than playing with knives on the stage. The growing income disparity in Malaysia, the low ranking of Malaysia in the press freedom index, the brain drain which is leading to the loss of thousands of intelligent and educated professionals; are all real problems that need real solutions put forward by sincere politicians with real intelligence. Leave the knife in the kitchen, and try to manage the country instead: That would be sage advice to Youth leaders who should have grown up long ago.
Dr. Farish A. Noor is a Political Historian based at the Zentrum Moderner Orient and guest affiliated professor at Universitas Muhamadiyah Surakarta and Sunan Kalijaga Islamic University of Jogjakrata. He is also one of the founders of the www.othermalaysia.org research site.