Umno Deputy Youth Leader and the Prime Minister's son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin has offended Hindus and the Indian community by attacking Indian newsvendors at the recent Umno General Assembly.
We are outraged when Khairy blamed Indians as the cause why Umno President Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's presidential address at the Umno General Assembly was not published on Thursday which is deepavali day and a press shut down day.
It is foolish to blame newsvendors for your own foolishness to fix the Umno assembly on a deepavalli day.
Why were the Umno officers so slack. Everybody knows that deepavali is a pores shut down day and there will be no newspapers. But Umno and Datuk Seri Abdullah when ahead and now blame the poor vendors.
Khairy said "Today is the first time the Umno president's speech is not being read by the masses because a particular ethnic group controls the distribution line of newspapers and they are on holiday."
Yes, true. Who is too blame, Umno or the poor newsvendors.
The holding of the Umno General Assembly during Deepavali, a gazette public holiday, had also upset many Malaysians, both Hindus and non-Hindus, as it seems to point to a growing pattern of insensitivity by the powers-that-be in the country.
If the MIC, MCA or Gerakan had held their annual party assemblies during Hari Raya holidays, it would have been regarded as highly insensitive, offensive and unacceptable – and undoubtedly pressures would have been brought to bear to move such assemblies to another date.
Why wasn't the same consideration given in the case of this year's Umno General Assembly clashing with Deepavali – as the excuse that Abdullah had a "tight schedule" is simply just unacceptable?
Newsvendors wake up at 3am to start distributing newspapers from 5am. They work very hard and their labour should be admired and respected not belittled.
Khairy should apologies to the Indian community for his uncalled-for and most unwarranted aspersions on the Indian community yesterday.
M. Kulasegaran
We are outraged when Khairy blamed Indians as the cause why Umno President Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's presidential address at the Umno General Assembly was not published on Thursday which is deepavali day and a press shut down day.
It is foolish to blame newsvendors for your own foolishness to fix the Umno assembly on a deepavalli day.
Why were the Umno officers so slack. Everybody knows that deepavali is a pores shut down day and there will be no newspapers. But Umno and Datuk Seri Abdullah when ahead and now blame the poor vendors.
Khairy said "Today is the first time the Umno president's speech is not being read by the masses because a particular ethnic group controls the distribution line of newspapers and they are on holiday."
Yes, true. Who is too blame, Umno or the poor newsvendors.
The holding of the Umno General Assembly during Deepavali, a gazette public holiday, had also upset many Malaysians, both Hindus and non-Hindus, as it seems to point to a growing pattern of insensitivity by the powers-that-be in the country.
If the MIC, MCA or Gerakan had held their annual party assemblies during Hari Raya holidays, it would have been regarded as highly insensitive, offensive and unacceptable – and undoubtedly pressures would have been brought to bear to move such assemblies to another date.
Why wasn't the same consideration given in the case of this year's Umno General Assembly clashing with Deepavali – as the excuse that Abdullah had a "tight schedule" is simply just unacceptable?
Newsvendors wake up at 3am to start distributing newspapers from 5am. They work very hard and their labour should be admired and respected not belittled.
Khairy should apologies to the Indian community for his uncalled-for and most unwarranted aspersions on the Indian community yesterday.
M. Kulasegaran
Pilihanraya yang tidak adil dan berat sebelah adalah sama dengan tiada demokrasi kerana system pilihanraya yang berat sebelah hanya akan melahirkan natijah yang serupa dengan sekiranya tiada pilihanraya: pengekalan regim yang serupa.
Dalam dua tiga hari ini kita melihat berbagai2 respon datang dari pimpinan2 UMNO sebagai reaksi kepada Perhimpunan Bersih pada 10 November 2007.
Di sini suka saya memberi komen kepada beberapa komen yg telah dilayangkan oleh pemimpin2 UMNO.
Komen pertama dari Menteri Penerangan Datuk Zainuddin Maidin (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4ZTHXn5g7Y&NR=1):
“Demonstrasi tidak perlu kerana kita sudah ada piliharaya di dalam Negara kita”
Respon saya: Mungkin Datuk Zam kurang memahami dan memperlihatkan kurang-cerdiknya kerana tidak celik apa itu demokrasi. Sekiranya kenyataan Datuk Zam ini benar, mengapa di keseluruhan Negara Barat yang mempraktik demokrasi, rapat umum dan demonstrasi dibenarkan? Bukan sahaja Negara Barat, jiran kita Indonesia rakyatnya berhimpun dan berdemonstrasi, jiran kita Thailand, rakyatnya demo sampai berminggu sehingga PM dia terpaksa lari keluar negara. Malah Negara Korea Selatan yang begitu berdisiplin rakyatnya berdemo dengan teratur, siap menyanyi dan berpakaian seragam. Orang London berdemo beratus ribu keluar kejalan raya beberapa hari kerana masalah duit pencen sahaja.
Datuk Zam nampaknya amat dangkal di dalam memahami demokrasi. Demokrasi tidak terbatas kepada pilihanraya semata-mata. Demokrasi juga bergantung kepada kebebasan bersuara, kebebasan berfikir, kebebasan menulis dan menyebarkan maklumat, kebebasan berkumpul dan beraktiviti dsbnya.
Umpama, demokrasi adalah sebuah kereta, pilihanraya adalah enjinnya, kebebasan bersuara adalah tayarnya. Tanpa tayar, walau semana kuat dan bagus enjin, kereta tetap tidak bermakna.
Datuk Zam juga sepatutnya sedar bahawa yang dipersoalkan sekarang adalah system pilihanraya di Malaysia. Sistem pilihanraya di Malaysia adalah berat sebelah, korup, tidak adil dan tidak telus. Bagaimana sebuah system pilihanraya yang tidak adil seperti di Malaysia boleh dijadikan hujjah oleh Datuk Zam?
Komen kedua dari Datuk Nazri Aziz (http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/74681);
“Kami menyokong demonstrasi Myanmar kerana di Myanmar tiada pilihanraya, tiada demokrasi. Di Malaysia, kita ada pilihanraya dan ada demokrasi”
Respon saya: Apa bezanya sistem pilihanraya yang berat sebelah dengan tiada pilihanraya. Kedua2 nya mempunyai natijah yang serupa, yakni pengekalan rejim yang sedia ada.
Pilihanraya bertujuan memberi kuasa kepada rakyat untuk memilih siapa yang mereka kehendaki untuk memerintah mereka. Sekiranya system pilihanraya itu sendiri songsang dan berat sebelah, suara rakyat sudah tiada makna sama sekali.
Keluarlah rakyat kesemuanya untuk mengundi namun natijahnya tetap serupa. Samalah seperti di Myamar.
Komen ketiga dari Khary Jamaluddin (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-hU3bHjSIQ):
“That’s why we have seen in the last few elections they’ve been given more access in the media, before there was almost none, of course they would like more in the main stream media but they enjoyed a lot more in their party organs, in their web sites they publish in web sites that supports them. These are all editorial preferences and it’s the same in the West as well”
Komen : Apa yang saudara Khairy Jamaluddin tidak sebut ialah di Negara Barat, sesiapa sahaja mempunyai kebebasan untuk menubuhkan serta menjalankan media mereka sendiri, tidak seperti di Malaysia.
Semua pihak menerima konsep “editorial preference” yang dinyatakan oleh Khairy. PAS sebagai contoh tidak mempunyai masaalah sekiranya akhbar NST hendak menyokong UMNO 100%.
Apa yang menjadi masaalah ialah mengapa Kerajaan Malaysia menghalang kami untuk menubuhkan media kami sendiri. Juga, kes yang sama kepada pihak2 lain.
Sebagai contoh, sekiranya Malaysia benar2 mempraktik kebebasan bersuara, mengapa:
a. Permohonan Kerajaan Negeri Kelantan untuk mengadakan stesen radio sendiri tidak diluluskan sehingga sekarang?
b. Harakah tidak dibenarkan diterbitkan dua kali seminggu
c. Permohonan Akhbar “Purnama” tidak diluluskan sehingga sekarang
d. Permohonan Malaysiakini untuk menerbitkan versi cetak tidak diluluskan sehingga sekarang.
Hakikatnya Khairy Jamaluddin cuba bermain wayang kerana kebebasan media tidak wujud di Malaysia. Dan, antara tuntutan Bersih yang utama adalah supaya kebebasan media diberikan kepada semua pihak yang bertanding dan tidak bertanding di dalam pilihanraya.
Tanpa kebebasan media, tidak jauh bezanya pilihanraya di Malaysia dengan keadaan ketiadaan pilihanraya di Myanmar.
Komen keempat adalah dari Khairy Jamaluddin (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FybbGOvvjo)”
“Selama-lama ini mereka bertanding tapi hari ini mereka menutut untuk pilihanraya yang bersih”
Komen saya: Sekiranya pilihanraya benar2 bersih nescaya selama ini pembangkang tidak kalah di dalam bertanding di dalam pilihanraya.
Komen kelima: Dato Azalina kata peserta Himpunan Bersih dayus.....
Komen saya: Kesian saya pada Dato kerana tidak faham makna dayus. Dayus maknanya seseorang yang tidak berani, penakut, tidak mahu dan tidak berusaha untuk melunasi tanggung jawabnya. Contoh seorang suami yang tidak memeberi nafkah kepada isteri kerana malas hendak bekerja. Contoh seorang suami yang juga pemimpin Negara yang biar isteri dia berlaga pipi dengan selebriti. Contoh seorang bapa yang membiarkan anak perempuannya diusung oleh lelaki sana-sini. Contoh orang Islam UMNO yang membiarkan masjid dan surau dirobohkan walaupun ada kuasa. (Samy Vellu lebih berani dan tidak dayus sehingga membatalkan semua hari terbuka deepavali demi membela kuil yang dirobohkan). Contoh ahli UMNO/BN yang takut untuk berhadapan dengan parti” pembangkang dalam pilihan raya yang adil dan telus. Itulah contoh2 dayus sebenarnya Kami yang turun beratus ribu pada 10 Nov meski pun diugut dan dihalang begitu hebat adalah rakyat yang berani, tidak dayus dan bukan penakut macam perwakilan UMNO yang hendak bercakap perkara benar isu semasa dalam perhimpunan agung UMNO baru-baru ini.
Sebenarnya dayus ialah apabila sebuah parti politik menggunakan jentera kerajaan, undang-undang, polis dan tentera dsbnya untuk memenangi plihanraya. Tidak mahu bergantung kepada usaha dan kudrat sendiri, terpaksa bergantung kepada jentera milik raykat untuk memenangkan diri sendiri. Itulah sebenarnya definisi dayus.
Sekiranya UMNO tidak dayus, nescaya UMNO tidak akan menggunakan polis untuk menggagalkan perhimpunan 10 November 2007.
Komen Keenam dari Datuk Johari Baharom:
“Perhimpunan ini adalah perhimpunan haram”
Komen saya : Kalau hendak diikutkan perhimpunan menentang Malayan Union dalam tahun 1946 dahulu pun adalah perhimpunan haram. Mengapa sehingga hari ini UMNO meraikan ulangtahun “perhimpunan haram” menentang Malayan Union?
Dr Lo’ Lo’ Ghazali
AJK PAS Pusat
Dalam dua tiga hari ini kita melihat berbagai2 respon datang dari pimpinan2 UMNO sebagai reaksi kepada Perhimpunan Bersih pada 10 November 2007.
Di sini suka saya memberi komen kepada beberapa komen yg telah dilayangkan oleh pemimpin2 UMNO.
Komen pertama dari Menteri Penerangan Datuk Zainuddin Maidin (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4ZTHXn5g7Y&NR=1):
“Demonstrasi tidak perlu kerana kita sudah ada piliharaya di dalam Negara kita”
Respon saya: Mungkin Datuk Zam kurang memahami dan memperlihatkan kurang-cerdiknya kerana tidak celik apa itu demokrasi. Sekiranya kenyataan Datuk Zam ini benar, mengapa di keseluruhan Negara Barat yang mempraktik demokrasi, rapat umum dan demonstrasi dibenarkan? Bukan sahaja Negara Barat, jiran kita Indonesia rakyatnya berhimpun dan berdemonstrasi, jiran kita Thailand, rakyatnya demo sampai berminggu sehingga PM dia terpaksa lari keluar negara. Malah Negara Korea Selatan yang begitu berdisiplin rakyatnya berdemo dengan teratur, siap menyanyi dan berpakaian seragam. Orang London berdemo beratus ribu keluar kejalan raya beberapa hari kerana masalah duit pencen sahaja.
Datuk Zam nampaknya amat dangkal di dalam memahami demokrasi. Demokrasi tidak terbatas kepada pilihanraya semata-mata. Demokrasi juga bergantung kepada kebebasan bersuara, kebebasan berfikir, kebebasan menulis dan menyebarkan maklumat, kebebasan berkumpul dan beraktiviti dsbnya.
Umpama, demokrasi adalah sebuah kereta, pilihanraya adalah enjinnya, kebebasan bersuara adalah tayarnya. Tanpa tayar, walau semana kuat dan bagus enjin, kereta tetap tidak bermakna.
Datuk Zam juga sepatutnya sedar bahawa yang dipersoalkan sekarang adalah system pilihanraya di Malaysia. Sistem pilihanraya di Malaysia adalah berat sebelah, korup, tidak adil dan tidak telus. Bagaimana sebuah system pilihanraya yang tidak adil seperti di Malaysia boleh dijadikan hujjah oleh Datuk Zam?
Komen kedua dari Datuk Nazri Aziz (http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/74681);
“Kami menyokong demonstrasi Myanmar kerana di Myanmar tiada pilihanraya, tiada demokrasi. Di Malaysia, kita ada pilihanraya dan ada demokrasi”
Respon saya: Apa bezanya sistem pilihanraya yang berat sebelah dengan tiada pilihanraya. Kedua2 nya mempunyai natijah yang serupa, yakni pengekalan rejim yang sedia ada.
Pilihanraya bertujuan memberi kuasa kepada rakyat untuk memilih siapa yang mereka kehendaki untuk memerintah mereka. Sekiranya system pilihanraya itu sendiri songsang dan berat sebelah, suara rakyat sudah tiada makna sama sekali.
Keluarlah rakyat kesemuanya untuk mengundi namun natijahnya tetap serupa. Samalah seperti di Myamar.
Komen ketiga dari Khary Jamaluddin (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-hU3bHjSIQ):
“That’s why we have seen in the last few elections they’ve been given more access in the media, before there was almost none, of course they would like more in the main stream media but they enjoyed a lot more in their party organs, in their web sites they publish in web sites that supports them. These are all editorial preferences and it’s the same in the West as well”
Komen : Apa yang saudara Khairy Jamaluddin tidak sebut ialah di Negara Barat, sesiapa sahaja mempunyai kebebasan untuk menubuhkan serta menjalankan media mereka sendiri, tidak seperti di Malaysia.
Semua pihak menerima konsep “editorial preference” yang dinyatakan oleh Khairy. PAS sebagai contoh tidak mempunyai masaalah sekiranya akhbar NST hendak menyokong UMNO 100%.
Apa yang menjadi masaalah ialah mengapa Kerajaan Malaysia menghalang kami untuk menubuhkan media kami sendiri. Juga, kes yang sama kepada pihak2 lain.
Sebagai contoh, sekiranya Malaysia benar2 mempraktik kebebasan bersuara, mengapa:
a. Permohonan Kerajaan Negeri Kelantan untuk mengadakan stesen radio sendiri tidak diluluskan sehingga sekarang?
b. Harakah tidak dibenarkan diterbitkan dua kali seminggu
c. Permohonan Akhbar “Purnama” tidak diluluskan sehingga sekarang
d. Permohonan Malaysiakini untuk menerbitkan versi cetak tidak diluluskan sehingga sekarang.
Hakikatnya Khairy Jamaluddin cuba bermain wayang kerana kebebasan media tidak wujud di Malaysia. Dan, antara tuntutan Bersih yang utama adalah supaya kebebasan media diberikan kepada semua pihak yang bertanding dan tidak bertanding di dalam pilihanraya.
Tanpa kebebasan media, tidak jauh bezanya pilihanraya di Malaysia dengan keadaan ketiadaan pilihanraya di Myanmar.
Komen keempat adalah dari Khairy Jamaluddin (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FybbGOvvjo)”
“Selama-lama ini mereka bertanding tapi hari ini mereka menutut untuk pilihanraya yang bersih”
Komen saya: Sekiranya pilihanraya benar2 bersih nescaya selama ini pembangkang tidak kalah di dalam bertanding di dalam pilihanraya.
Komen kelima: Dato Azalina kata peserta Himpunan Bersih dayus.....
Komen saya: Kesian saya pada Dato kerana tidak faham makna dayus. Dayus maknanya seseorang yang tidak berani, penakut, tidak mahu dan tidak berusaha untuk melunasi tanggung jawabnya. Contoh seorang suami yang tidak memeberi nafkah kepada isteri kerana malas hendak bekerja. Contoh seorang suami yang juga pemimpin Negara yang biar isteri dia berlaga pipi dengan selebriti. Contoh seorang bapa yang membiarkan anak perempuannya diusung oleh lelaki sana-sini. Contoh orang Islam UMNO yang membiarkan masjid dan surau dirobohkan walaupun ada kuasa. (Samy Vellu lebih berani dan tidak dayus sehingga membatalkan semua hari terbuka deepavali demi membela kuil yang dirobohkan). Contoh ahli UMNO/BN yang takut untuk berhadapan dengan parti” pembangkang dalam pilihan raya yang adil dan telus. Itulah contoh2 dayus sebenarnya Kami yang turun beratus ribu pada 10 Nov meski pun diugut dan dihalang begitu hebat adalah rakyat yang berani, tidak dayus dan bukan penakut macam perwakilan UMNO yang hendak bercakap perkara benar isu semasa dalam perhimpunan agung UMNO baru-baru ini.
Sebenarnya dayus ialah apabila sebuah parti politik menggunakan jentera kerajaan, undang-undang, polis dan tentera dsbnya untuk memenangi plihanraya. Tidak mahu bergantung kepada usaha dan kudrat sendiri, terpaksa bergantung kepada jentera milik raykat untuk memenangkan diri sendiri. Itulah sebenarnya definisi dayus.
Sekiranya UMNO tidak dayus, nescaya UMNO tidak akan menggunakan polis untuk menggagalkan perhimpunan 10 November 2007.
Komen Keenam dari Datuk Johari Baharom:
“Perhimpunan ini adalah perhimpunan haram”
Komen saya : Kalau hendak diikutkan perhimpunan menentang Malayan Union dalam tahun 1946 dahulu pun adalah perhimpunan haram. Mengapa sehingga hari ini UMNO meraikan ulangtahun “perhimpunan haram” menentang Malayan Union?
Dr Lo’ Lo’ Ghazali
AJK PAS Pusat
By Old Sea Dog
Tuan-tuan dan puan-puan, the regional development corridors being proposed by Abdullah Badawi are just media hype prior to the next General Elections. Once the elections are over these development corridors are just not going to happen. This is becoming more obvious.
Firstly the Government cannot even agree on what to call these ‘development corridors’. In the beginning they called it the South Johor Economic Region or SJER. Then on the day of its launching in November last year the Prime Minister called it ‘Iskandar’ – in honour of the Sultan of Johor. But even the Sultan was surprised at his name being used without his prior consultation. Now the SJER is called the Iskandar Development Region or IDR.
Then the PM launched the NCER or Northern Corridor Economic Region covering Perak, Penang, Kedah and Perlis. After this the ECER or Eastern Corridor for Economic Development was launched covering Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan. There is no serious planning about any of these corridors hence even the names are just plucked out of thin air.
The Prime Minister said that he would prefer the name WEPT for the ECER. The Prime Minister dwelt at length on this subject. He said WEPT stood for ‘Wilayah Ekonomi Pantai Timur’ but someone told him ‘wept’ means ‘to cry’. Being a graduate of Islamic Studies the PM was not aware of this before. However, his wife told him that WEPT was ok because even if it meant crying it was in the past tense. The people had wept or cried, now they need not cry anymore. So WEPT was good. At the last minute someone told the Prime Minister that ‘ecer’ in the local dialect meant to divide or share. So ECER has stuck.
Melaka and Negeri Sembilan have been completely left out of the development corridors on the Peninsula. They will not get any ‘ecer’. So Melaka and Negeri Sembilan can weep. Then over in Sarawak the Prime Minister was supposed to launch the last economic corridor today, November 13, 2007. But there is some confusion about the Sarawak corridor.
According to the Borneo Times ‘Sarawak’s regional corridor of development will span from Tanjong Manis to Bintulu.’ It was known as ‘Ricoda’ which stands for ‘regional corridor of development’. Or so everyone thought. However, ‘Ricoda’ has somehow changed name to become something called ‘Score’. Here is yesterday’s Borneo Times:
Monday, November 12th, 2007 : Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is expected to officially launch the corridor, which is believed to be named the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (Score), soon.
So now it is a 'Corridor of Renewable Energy'. But according to Bernama there is no such launching of either Score or Ricoda today. Instead the Prime Minister will be launching a ‘mega’ road junction near the Kuching airport. After that he will officiate the construction of a hotel, an Islamic Centre worth RM100.0 million and then end up having dinner with the Chief Minister before returning home to Kuala Lumpur.
Unlike Melaka and Negeri Sembilan which have decided to keep mum (they are smarter) about not being included in any of the development corridors, Sabah has kicked up a fuss and demanded their own development corridor. Not to worry. The Prime Minister said that the Sabah development corridor will take off by the end of the year. Here is The Star:
“After six months of planning, the details of Sabah’s development corridor will be finalised in a meeting in Kuala Lumpur this Friday. Speaking at the launching of the Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) 22nd congress yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said he was happy that there were no obstacles in finalising the corridor’s blueprint.”
As for its name the Prime Minister is pondering ‘Breaking Wind’ to tally with ‘Land Below the Wind’.
These are not real mega projects. They are only ‘mega announcements’. It is not just the confusing names which expose the fraud. The mind boggling numbers that are being thrown out are completely not feasible.
For comparison the North South Highway cost RM4.0 billion. The KLCC Twin Towers project cost about RM2.5 billion. The KLIA was initially costed at RM3.5 billion but went beyond that. Putrajaya is estimated to have cost RM8.0 billion. The Putra LRT system initially cost under RM2.0 billion. The Star LRT cost about RM1.0 billion. The first Penang Bridge was built for under RM900 million. The Sepang F1 Circuit cost under RM350 million. This only adds up to RM22.25 billion. Even allowing a RM10.0 billion margin for error, it could not exceed RM32.25 billion. These projects were built over 22 years of Dr Mahathir’s administration and have helped put our country on the world map.
Now let us look at Abdullah Bodowi’s numbers : The Northern Corridor Economic Region or NCER will require RM118.0 billion over 10 years. The ECER will require RM112.0 billion over 12 years. The first five years of the IDR will involve RM50.0 billion. This already adds up to RM280 billion. We have not heard the numbers for Ricoda (or Score) and Breaking Wind yet. If we conservatively estimate RM50 billion each for Sarawak and Sabah the total amount of investments needed in all the corridors will be RM380 billion, all within the next 12 years. This means there must be an average of RM31 billion being spent on development projects in the country every year for the next 12 years.
To put it into perspective, we must build a KLIA, a new KLCC Twin Towers, a new Putrajaya, a new N-S Highway, at least two LRT systems, a new Sepang circuit and a Penang Bride every year for the next 12 years. This is just not going to happen. The Prime Minister is lying. This is why if we visit the Iskandar Development Region website at http://www.irda.com.my there is no more mention of all these Ringgit amounts anymore. They have all been removed.
According to a senior Government official, at the recent launch of the ECER in Kota Bharu, the Menteri Besar of Kelantan Dato Nik Aziz Nik Mat reminded the Prime Minister that there are two types of development. One is ‘pembangunan yang benar’ or real development. The other one is ‘pembangunan bercakap’ or just empty talk. The Menteri Besar also made known that all the hundreds of billions of Ringgit that were being bandied about were ‘mengkagumkan’ or awesome. In other words he did not believe a word of what the Prime Minister was saying. The Tok Guru was correct on this one.
Tuan-tuan dan puan-puan, the regional development corridors being proposed by Abdullah Badawi are just media hype prior to the next General Elections. Once the elections are over these development corridors are just not going to happen. This is becoming more obvious.
Firstly the Government cannot even agree on what to call these ‘development corridors’. In the beginning they called it the South Johor Economic Region or SJER. Then on the day of its launching in November last year the Prime Minister called it ‘Iskandar’ – in honour of the Sultan of Johor. But even the Sultan was surprised at his name being used without his prior consultation. Now the SJER is called the Iskandar Development Region or IDR.
Then the PM launched the NCER or Northern Corridor Economic Region covering Perak, Penang, Kedah and Perlis. After this the ECER or Eastern Corridor for Economic Development was launched covering Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan. There is no serious planning about any of these corridors hence even the names are just plucked out of thin air.
The Prime Minister said that he would prefer the name WEPT for the ECER. The Prime Minister dwelt at length on this subject. He said WEPT stood for ‘Wilayah Ekonomi Pantai Timur’ but someone told him ‘wept’ means ‘to cry’. Being a graduate of Islamic Studies the PM was not aware of this before. However, his wife told him that WEPT was ok because even if it meant crying it was in the past tense. The people had wept or cried, now they need not cry anymore. So WEPT was good. At the last minute someone told the Prime Minister that ‘ecer’ in the local dialect meant to divide or share. So ECER has stuck.
Melaka and Negeri Sembilan have been completely left out of the development corridors on the Peninsula. They will not get any ‘ecer’. So Melaka and Negeri Sembilan can weep. Then over in Sarawak the Prime Minister was supposed to launch the last economic corridor today, November 13, 2007. But there is some confusion about the Sarawak corridor.
According to the Borneo Times ‘Sarawak’s regional corridor of development will span from Tanjong Manis to Bintulu.’ It was known as ‘Ricoda’ which stands for ‘regional corridor of development’. Or so everyone thought. However, ‘Ricoda’ has somehow changed name to become something called ‘Score’. Here is yesterday’s Borneo Times:
Monday, November 12th, 2007 : Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is expected to officially launch the corridor, which is believed to be named the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (Score), soon.
So now it is a 'Corridor of Renewable Energy'. But according to Bernama there is no such launching of either Score or Ricoda today. Instead the Prime Minister will be launching a ‘mega’ road junction near the Kuching airport. After that he will officiate the construction of a hotel, an Islamic Centre worth RM100.0 million and then end up having dinner with the Chief Minister before returning home to Kuala Lumpur.
Unlike Melaka and Negeri Sembilan which have decided to keep mum (they are smarter) about not being included in any of the development corridors, Sabah has kicked up a fuss and demanded their own development corridor. Not to worry. The Prime Minister said that the Sabah development corridor will take off by the end of the year. Here is The Star:
“After six months of planning, the details of Sabah’s development corridor will be finalised in a meeting in Kuala Lumpur this Friday. Speaking at the launching of the Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) 22nd congress yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said he was happy that there were no obstacles in finalising the corridor’s blueprint.”
As for its name the Prime Minister is pondering ‘Breaking Wind’ to tally with ‘Land Below the Wind’.
These are not real mega projects. They are only ‘mega announcements’. It is not just the confusing names which expose the fraud. The mind boggling numbers that are being thrown out are completely not feasible.
For comparison the North South Highway cost RM4.0 billion. The KLCC Twin Towers project cost about RM2.5 billion. The KLIA was initially costed at RM3.5 billion but went beyond that. Putrajaya is estimated to have cost RM8.0 billion. The Putra LRT system initially cost under RM2.0 billion. The Star LRT cost about RM1.0 billion. The first Penang Bridge was built for under RM900 million. The Sepang F1 Circuit cost under RM350 million. This only adds up to RM22.25 billion. Even allowing a RM10.0 billion margin for error, it could not exceed RM32.25 billion. These projects were built over 22 years of Dr Mahathir’s administration and have helped put our country on the world map.
Now let us look at Abdullah Bodowi’s numbers : The Northern Corridor Economic Region or NCER will require RM118.0 billion over 10 years. The ECER will require RM112.0 billion over 12 years. The first five years of the IDR will involve RM50.0 billion. This already adds up to RM280 billion. We have not heard the numbers for Ricoda (or Score) and Breaking Wind yet. If we conservatively estimate RM50 billion each for Sarawak and Sabah the total amount of investments needed in all the corridors will be RM380 billion, all within the next 12 years. This means there must be an average of RM31 billion being spent on development projects in the country every year for the next 12 years.
To put it into perspective, we must build a KLIA, a new KLCC Twin Towers, a new Putrajaya, a new N-S Highway, at least two LRT systems, a new Sepang circuit and a Penang Bride every year for the next 12 years. This is just not going to happen. The Prime Minister is lying. This is why if we visit the Iskandar Development Region website at http://www.irda.com.my there is no more mention of all these Ringgit amounts anymore. They have all been removed.
According to a senior Government official, at the recent launch of the ECER in Kota Bharu, the Menteri Besar of Kelantan Dato Nik Aziz Nik Mat reminded the Prime Minister that there are two types of development. One is ‘pembangunan yang benar’ or real development. The other one is ‘pembangunan bercakap’ or just empty talk. The Menteri Besar also made known that all the hundreds of billions of Ringgit that were being bandied about were ‘mengkagumkan’ or awesome. In other words he did not believe a word of what the Prime Minister was saying. The Tok Guru was correct on this one.
13/11: Goebbels salutes Malaysian news coverage of the Bersih free elections Memorandum to the Palace
Dr. Lim Teck Ghee
Hitler’s notorious Minster of Propaganda would have been proud of the way the Editors of our English and some vernacular national media covered what is probably the most important event the country has seen in relation to public outrage over the way the ruling party has rigged the conduct of elections. The two English papers almost entirely focused on the massive traffic jams and the Government’s version of the historic gathering held to present public concerns on election rigging to the Palace.
Such incredibly biased spinning by our mainstream media of the Istana Negara March on 10 November 2007 – and the further efforts by the Government to discredit the organizers and opposition parties - is an attempt to conceal what almost two generations of Malaysian and international political and social scientists have written numerous books and research papers on: the systematic debasement of the credibility and legitimacy of the electoral process over the last 50 years. Dishonest electoral conduct by the ruling party includes:
1. the manipulation of electoral boundaries
2. the vast disparity of voter numbers among the constituencies
3. the grossly unfair use of the governmental machinery in support of ruling party candidates
4. the growing incidence of phantom, postal and absentee voters
5. various other irregularities and unethical practices
Add to this, the denial of legitimate media space to the opposition parties; silence over the issues that they have raised and minimal if any coverage of their proposals for change; and it is no wonder that the leaders of the ruling party are confident the Barisan Nasional can be in power for the next fifty years.
Readers interested in how the ruling party has manipulated the electoral process to its advantage are spoilt for choice. Reference to any of the following scholars - Sothi Rachagan, Mavis Puthucheary, Noraini Othman, Lim Hong Hai, Wong Chin Huat, Harold Crouch, James Jesudason, John Funston, Rainer Heufers, Bridget Welsh, Ong Kian Meng, Mustafa Anuar, James Chin, William Case, Francis Loh Kok Wah, Andrew Aeria and others - will provide important facts and figures on the truth behind the facade of “free and fair” elections in the country. Unfortunately such analysis and data have been deliberately obliterated – ala Goebbels style - from the national media coverage so far.
Finally, the Malaysian public will be interested to know some of the important ideas on reform and change needed to ensure a free and fair political process that have emerged from the independent scholarship. They include:
• Reintroduction of local elections
• Upholding the principle of “one person one vote”, by restricting the disparity in constituency sizes and prohibiting gerrymandering; or introducing the elements of Proportional Representation (PR) into the electoral system.
• Adherence to the principle of administrative neutrality, by barring ruling parties from buying votes through development pledges and misusing public service facilities and apparatus for electioneering purposes.
• Ensuring free and fair access to mass media by all parties.
• Elimination of polling irregularities by cleaning up the electoral roll, abolishing domestic postal voting and employing indelible ink.
• Repeal of the1962 amendment to the Constitution which abrogated the Electoral Commission’s right to enforce fair delineation of constituencies
• Guarantees to ensure that the Electoral Commission is free from any form of political pressure or influence.
Hitler’s notorious Minster of Propaganda would have been proud of the way the Editors of our English and some vernacular national media covered what is probably the most important event the country has seen in relation to public outrage over the way the ruling party has rigged the conduct of elections. The two English papers almost entirely focused on the massive traffic jams and the Government’s version of the historic gathering held to present public concerns on election rigging to the Palace.
Such incredibly biased spinning by our mainstream media of the Istana Negara March on 10 November 2007 – and the further efforts by the Government to discredit the organizers and opposition parties - is an attempt to conceal what almost two generations of Malaysian and international political and social scientists have written numerous books and research papers on: the systematic debasement of the credibility and legitimacy of the electoral process over the last 50 years. Dishonest electoral conduct by the ruling party includes:
1. the manipulation of electoral boundaries
2. the vast disparity of voter numbers among the constituencies
3. the grossly unfair use of the governmental machinery in support of ruling party candidates
4. the growing incidence of phantom, postal and absentee voters
5. various other irregularities and unethical practices
Add to this, the denial of legitimate media space to the opposition parties; silence over the issues that they have raised and minimal if any coverage of their proposals for change; and it is no wonder that the leaders of the ruling party are confident the Barisan Nasional can be in power for the next fifty years.
Readers interested in how the ruling party has manipulated the electoral process to its advantage are spoilt for choice. Reference to any of the following scholars - Sothi Rachagan, Mavis Puthucheary, Noraini Othman, Lim Hong Hai, Wong Chin Huat, Harold Crouch, James Jesudason, John Funston, Rainer Heufers, Bridget Welsh, Ong Kian Meng, Mustafa Anuar, James Chin, William Case, Francis Loh Kok Wah, Andrew Aeria and others - will provide important facts and figures on the truth behind the facade of “free and fair” elections in the country. Unfortunately such analysis and data have been deliberately obliterated – ala Goebbels style - from the national media coverage so far.
Finally, the Malaysian public will be interested to know some of the important ideas on reform and change needed to ensure a free and fair political process that have emerged from the independent scholarship. They include:
• Reintroduction of local elections
• Upholding the principle of “one person one vote”, by restricting the disparity in constituency sizes and prohibiting gerrymandering; or introducing the elements of Proportional Representation (PR) into the electoral system.
• Adherence to the principle of administrative neutrality, by barring ruling parties from buying votes through development pledges and misusing public service facilities and apparatus for electioneering purposes.
• Ensuring free and fair access to mass media by all parties.
• Elimination of polling irregularities by cleaning up the electoral roll, abolishing domestic postal voting and employing indelible ink.
• Repeal of the1962 amendment to the Constitution which abrogated the Electoral Commission’s right to enforce fair delineation of constituencies
• Guarantees to ensure that the Electoral Commission is free from any form of political pressure or influence.
13/11: Gift from BN
Our twin tower is the tallest
Our airport is among the biggest
Our bridge is among the longest
Our court in Jalan Duta is second largest
Despite being the largest, longest and tallest
The maintenance work is the poorest
Our contractors want to complete the fastest
Fixing pipes that are the cheapest
Buying parts that probably the lousiest
Our government buildings are now the dampest
And some dumb MPs will say we are luckiest
Water flow in the house meaning we are bless the most
Our MPs thought they are the smartest
But in reality they are among the dumbest
By making remarks they thought sexiest
Smoking in parliament is very thoughtless
Shouting in parliament is very discourteous
They are probably bunch of uncultivated ruthless
Even though they thought they are cleanest
But Malaysia corruption index are among the worst
From lowest rank to the highest
Yes the pay rise might be the biggest
But I doubt they are honest
The gift is for BN to remain strongest
Despite all the scandalous cases of dishonest
Voters just being fed with the sweetest
Goverment people driving BMW Merc became fatter,
Rakyat kesian pakai public transport became thinner.
They promise improve this and that infrastructures,
But what we get is still empty containers.
Build more tolls say want to make us better,
In the end the toll we pay getting higher.
Big shots do nothing and gain richer,
Us people work like shit pay tax felt poorer.
We always like to complain about these robbers,
Yet we still vote for these bloody suckers.
Vineeth Menon
Our airport is among the biggest
Our bridge is among the longest
Our court in Jalan Duta is second largest
Despite being the largest, longest and tallest
The maintenance work is the poorest
Our contractors want to complete the fastest
Fixing pipes that are the cheapest
Buying parts that probably the lousiest
Our government buildings are now the dampest
And some dumb MPs will say we are luckiest
Water flow in the house meaning we are bless the most
Our MPs thought they are the smartest
But in reality they are among the dumbest
By making remarks they thought sexiest
Smoking in parliament is very thoughtless
Shouting in parliament is very discourteous
They are probably bunch of uncultivated ruthless
Even though they thought they are cleanest
But Malaysia corruption index are among the worst
From lowest rank to the highest
Yes the pay rise might be the biggest
But I doubt they are honest
The gift is for BN to remain strongest
Despite all the scandalous cases of dishonest
Voters just being fed with the sweetest
Goverment people driving BMW Merc became fatter,
Rakyat kesian pakai public transport became thinner.
They promise improve this and that infrastructures,
But what we get is still empty containers.
Build more tolls say want to make us better,
In the end the toll we pay getting higher.
Big shots do nothing and gain richer,
Us people work like shit pay tax felt poorer.
We always like to complain about these robbers,
Yet we still vote for these bloody suckers.
Vineeth Menon
Link to vid : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzqSddWkxGs
I wasn't there from the beginning.
I had to wait for a friend at KL Sentral, and we were blocked from going to Masjid Jamek at 3 pm. They even shut down Pasar Seni Putra LRT station, and taxi drivers refused to take us there. There were no busses going to Dataran Merdeka either. Having no choice, we decided to walk to the venue instead. Much to our relief, some other protestors, equally foiled by the persistent roadblocks (4 lanes in a highway, they blocked 3 and allowed this small funnel to go, causing unnecessary stress and jam for the whole citizens of KL while they gosspied at the sides) and clamp down of public transport decided to do the same. We, along with a few confused tourists followed along.
A small scattering of us 'lost souls' followed a highway road and miraculously found that a large gathering of people, as yellow clad as we underneath our jacket and sweater were already there. We took said covers off and blended sort of right in. Apparently we accidentally bumped into the already abused protesters (with water cannons and god knows what else by the FRU) blocked by the FRU from going any nearer to the Istana Negara.
What greeted us was a tamarine river of people in various hues of yellows, wearing raincoats, plastic bags, hankerchiefs, kain buruks or carrying umbrellas. At the further front were the formidable blood-red trucks of FRU, and rows of the anti-riot police, equipped with paddings, large shields, nasty looking wooden batons, and so forth that looked like what I saw from the movie Bad Boys. It surprised me a little that I could detect at least 3 different Malay dialects from the protestors, proving that many came from far to protest and call on the Agong to heed our plight. My friend Ralph took as many pictures as we could impeded by an umbrella I was holding and the limitations of a PDA camera phone. Considering our different ethnic affiliations, we probably look a sight.
By the time Ralph and I found a comfortable spot, finding friends new and old to band together in case anything happened, we already started chanting. People came continuously, and we literally grew even though there weren't that many at first, hampered by the obstacles set in our path. The human spirit, it looks to me, is unbeatable in its ingenuity. To be absolutely truthful, when you're in the middle of several thousand or so bunch of people, and I mean at the very midst of things, too young and fresh for your own good, and yet near enough to risk serious harm, you don't really understand what's really going on. Neither did many of the pak cik-mak ciks and their children (the youngest protester looked barely older than 3!) who trailed the furthest behind or the Pak Haji who courtesy of the white cresent moon on the green and blue banner signifies their loyalties are opposition.
You know you're there because of a long list of dissatisfaction that goes on in the current administration. You know you're there because BERSIH fights for clean elections, is against corruption, and every single thing that's wrong with this country except mutual gluttony in nationwide festivals. You know that if the government truly commits towards good governance, they wouldn't condemn it as they did, in these critical months before the next election. You know that the mainstream news is not relevant anymore, and everything else pales in this moment when your fist punches the air and your voice rings loud in the crowd.
Oddly enough, a liberal Malay and an errant Chinese, neither who had voted in the elections, neither who actually bothers with whether we are 'with us or against us' (BN or Opposition) or cared, felt like we belong amongst these alim people who would normally verbally strike me for my Britney Spears-like clothing or find it odd that we both leaned on each other for support for demonstrating is new still, and kind of scary. One thing I found a bit off was that, despite the Agong and Sultan admittedly being more of a Malay's Islamic monarch, I find that our fellow non-Muslim protesters couldn't join in the "Allahu Akbar" and the "La illa ha illawah", and yet they heartily yelled out "Hidup Hidup! Hidup Rakyat! Pilihanraya Bersih!" when they could.
Maybe we can edit a bit our slogans so that our demonstrations can swell more in ranks?
There were helicopters everywhere. Two of them and when they nearly crashed together, we cheered. Many protesters found the helis annoying. We cheered when someone way in front made a speech of defiance. We cheered a man wearing a black and yellow songkok (palace official) came out at last after voicing our demands, all of us shivering in damp smelling air, crouching in a sitting position when we were told. We cheered two other times, I know not why until I read the news when I arrived back home, for Anwar, and for the BERSIH leader. When the palace official received the memorandum officially, we peacefully retreated. It wasn't much really, but what happened next was fun, convincing me that we are doing the right thing.
We followed the crowd to Masjid Negara. The police was troublesome, they were technically surrounding us, so we had not much of a choice but to also walk on to the other highway road to accomodate the swell of our numbers and to avoid provoking the skittish police. We obstructed traffic. Funny thing is, the drivers, minus a few who were probably in trouble for some business meeting didn't mind. Drivers rolled down their windows and greeted us, encouraging us, telling to us "Stay safe." Some said their thanks for doing our part in helping the people keep their liberties. It doesn't matter who they were; Indian lorry drivers, Malay families, Chinese Merc drivers, rich and poor (at least according to the model of their vehicles), hell, even bread lorry drivers waved at us. Many honked, not for us to get the hell out of the way, but grinning and smiling, giving us the Bagus sign.
Several protestors started to become volunteer traffic police. We yelled out whenever a car needed to pass by, made sure no one would be rammed down, and waved the cars through. They thanked us for that too. Apparently they are far more irritated by the unnecessary police road blocks than people just going back home on a weekend after a demonstration. It was a mocing ripe paddy river, all the way. We passed by glaring and fierce looking FRU policemen with wary anxiety and hesitation in their eyes. Here's another moment of lighthearted humour that we saw when we passed by a FRU truck parked at the side of the road. We saw no less than two camera phones peeking from the grilled windows of the said truck. Me & Ralph waved, grinning. The phones flashed.
Finally, we are at the road's end, the mosque in view. Now what? I was tired and my feet were aching, not to mention hungry. Then someone took the center stage, I caught the word 'lawyer' and 'human rights' but not much, it was rather difficult to hear because there was no loudspeaker or hailer. He said that today was a success. He said that we were doing something that was historic. We did it right. I smiled because I wanted to believe it, and because I do believe it. Then an Indian man took over, giving a speech that nobody could hear because the darn helicopted was too close. After that was a simple doa of thanks that all survived relatively unscathed.
It was over, at least for a while.
And yet, as I watched the news on Al-Jazeera, I was aghast. Ralph and I was lucky, we were late enough not to be unjustly sprayed with water cannons and tear gas or chemicals. This demonstration is peaceful. All of us did our best to wave, smile, and be friendly to the police, following their advice (other than don't protest) to the tee. When one policeman waved another route, we followed. When they lined up intimidatingly in full gear on some flyover, I asked them politely whether I could pass so that my parents could pick me up, and they did let me through; I was being respectful. They're doing their job, we're doing this not merely for ourselves, but for them as citizens of Malaysia too. I did nothing wrong, and neither did Ralph, or anyone in the protest.
The people who participated in this demonstration are practically harmless people. They were whole families, grandparents, parents, teenagers, children, heck, even toddlers was here with us yesterday. If all of us protesters are violent ex-Navy Seals commandos then all the measures that was done was justified, but these are people who merely wanted to a) gather at Dataran Merdeka, go chant some slogans, get a bit excited and b) send off a memorandom (or a piece of highly A-Grade and environmentally friendly paper) to the Agong. Sure, UMNO finds what's written on the piece of paper objectionable but that's not why these policemen entered the police force, I am sure.
The official account in 15, but some say up to 30 is in police jail at the moment, taking the fall for the 'we must have a scapegoat to backup our story for our mess up with this water cannon and tear gas' business. I suggest we try to do something about this.
Sophia
I wasn't there from the beginning.
I had to wait for a friend at KL Sentral, and we were blocked from going to Masjid Jamek at 3 pm. They even shut down Pasar Seni Putra LRT station, and taxi drivers refused to take us there. There were no busses going to Dataran Merdeka either. Having no choice, we decided to walk to the venue instead. Much to our relief, some other protestors, equally foiled by the persistent roadblocks (4 lanes in a highway, they blocked 3 and allowed this small funnel to go, causing unnecessary stress and jam for the whole citizens of KL while they gosspied at the sides) and clamp down of public transport decided to do the same. We, along with a few confused tourists followed along.
A small scattering of us 'lost souls' followed a highway road and miraculously found that a large gathering of people, as yellow clad as we underneath our jacket and sweater were already there. We took said covers off and blended sort of right in. Apparently we accidentally bumped into the already abused protesters (with water cannons and god knows what else by the FRU) blocked by the FRU from going any nearer to the Istana Negara.
What greeted us was a tamarine river of people in various hues of yellows, wearing raincoats, plastic bags, hankerchiefs, kain buruks or carrying umbrellas. At the further front were the formidable blood-red trucks of FRU, and rows of the anti-riot police, equipped with paddings, large shields, nasty looking wooden batons, and so forth that looked like what I saw from the movie Bad Boys. It surprised me a little that I could detect at least 3 different Malay dialects from the protestors, proving that many came from far to protest and call on the Agong to heed our plight. My friend Ralph took as many pictures as we could impeded by an umbrella I was holding and the limitations of a PDA camera phone. Considering our different ethnic affiliations, we probably look a sight.
By the time Ralph and I found a comfortable spot, finding friends new and old to band together in case anything happened, we already started chanting. People came continuously, and we literally grew even though there weren't that many at first, hampered by the obstacles set in our path. The human spirit, it looks to me, is unbeatable in its ingenuity. To be absolutely truthful, when you're in the middle of several thousand or so bunch of people, and I mean at the very midst of things, too young and fresh for your own good, and yet near enough to risk serious harm, you don't really understand what's really going on. Neither did many of the pak cik-mak ciks and their children (the youngest protester looked barely older than 3!) who trailed the furthest behind or the Pak Haji who courtesy of the white cresent moon on the green and blue banner signifies their loyalties are opposition.
You know you're there because of a long list of dissatisfaction that goes on in the current administration. You know you're there because BERSIH fights for clean elections, is against corruption, and every single thing that's wrong with this country except mutual gluttony in nationwide festivals. You know that if the government truly commits towards good governance, they wouldn't condemn it as they did, in these critical months before the next election. You know that the mainstream news is not relevant anymore, and everything else pales in this moment when your fist punches the air and your voice rings loud in the crowd.
Oddly enough, a liberal Malay and an errant Chinese, neither who had voted in the elections, neither who actually bothers with whether we are 'with us or against us' (BN or Opposition) or cared, felt like we belong amongst these alim people who would normally verbally strike me for my Britney Spears-like clothing or find it odd that we both leaned on each other for support for demonstrating is new still, and kind of scary. One thing I found a bit off was that, despite the Agong and Sultan admittedly being more of a Malay's Islamic monarch, I find that our fellow non-Muslim protesters couldn't join in the "Allahu Akbar" and the "La illa ha illawah", and yet they heartily yelled out "Hidup Hidup! Hidup Rakyat! Pilihanraya Bersih!" when they could.
Maybe we can edit a bit our slogans so that our demonstrations can swell more in ranks?
There were helicopters everywhere. Two of them and when they nearly crashed together, we cheered. Many protesters found the helis annoying. We cheered when someone way in front made a speech of defiance. We cheered a man wearing a black and yellow songkok (palace official) came out at last after voicing our demands, all of us shivering in damp smelling air, crouching in a sitting position when we were told. We cheered two other times, I know not why until I read the news when I arrived back home, for Anwar, and for the BERSIH leader. When the palace official received the memorandum officially, we peacefully retreated. It wasn't much really, but what happened next was fun, convincing me that we are doing the right thing.
We followed the crowd to Masjid Negara. The police was troublesome, they were technically surrounding us, so we had not much of a choice but to also walk on to the other highway road to accomodate the swell of our numbers and to avoid provoking the skittish police. We obstructed traffic. Funny thing is, the drivers, minus a few who were probably in trouble for some business meeting didn't mind. Drivers rolled down their windows and greeted us, encouraging us, telling to us "Stay safe." Some said their thanks for doing our part in helping the people keep their liberties. It doesn't matter who they were; Indian lorry drivers, Malay families, Chinese Merc drivers, rich and poor (at least according to the model of their vehicles), hell, even bread lorry drivers waved at us. Many honked, not for us to get the hell out of the way, but grinning and smiling, giving us the Bagus sign.
Several protestors started to become volunteer traffic police. We yelled out whenever a car needed to pass by, made sure no one would be rammed down, and waved the cars through. They thanked us for that too. Apparently they are far more irritated by the unnecessary police road blocks than people just going back home on a weekend after a demonstration. It was a mocing ripe paddy river, all the way. We passed by glaring and fierce looking FRU policemen with wary anxiety and hesitation in their eyes. Here's another moment of lighthearted humour that we saw when we passed by a FRU truck parked at the side of the road. We saw no less than two camera phones peeking from the grilled windows of the said truck. Me & Ralph waved, grinning. The phones flashed.
Finally, we are at the road's end, the mosque in view. Now what? I was tired and my feet were aching, not to mention hungry. Then someone took the center stage, I caught the word 'lawyer' and 'human rights' but not much, it was rather difficult to hear because there was no loudspeaker or hailer. He said that today was a success. He said that we were doing something that was historic. We did it right. I smiled because I wanted to believe it, and because I do believe it. Then an Indian man took over, giving a speech that nobody could hear because the darn helicopted was too close. After that was a simple doa of thanks that all survived relatively unscathed.
It was over, at least for a while.
And yet, as I watched the news on Al-Jazeera, I was aghast. Ralph and I was lucky, we were late enough not to be unjustly sprayed with water cannons and tear gas or chemicals. This demonstration is peaceful. All of us did our best to wave, smile, and be friendly to the police, following their advice (other than don't protest) to the tee. When one policeman waved another route, we followed. When they lined up intimidatingly in full gear on some flyover, I asked them politely whether I could pass so that my parents could pick me up, and they did let me through; I was being respectful. They're doing their job, we're doing this not merely for ourselves, but for them as citizens of Malaysia too. I did nothing wrong, and neither did Ralph, or anyone in the protest.
The people who participated in this demonstration are practically harmless people. They were whole families, grandparents, parents, teenagers, children, heck, even toddlers was here with us yesterday. If all of us protesters are violent ex-Navy Seals commandos then all the measures that was done was justified, but these are people who merely wanted to a) gather at Dataran Merdeka, go chant some slogans, get a bit excited and b) send off a memorandom (or a piece of highly A-Grade and environmentally friendly paper) to the Agong. Sure, UMNO finds what's written on the piece of paper objectionable but that's not why these policemen entered the police force, I am sure.
The official account in 15, but some say up to 30 is in police jail at the moment, taking the fall for the 'we must have a scapegoat to backup our story for our mess up with this water cannon and tear gas' business. I suggest we try to do something about this.
Sophia
12/11: Who is the real Beruk now?
This is in reference to Khairy Jamaluddin's recent insulting remark associating a large swathe of Malaysians participating in the Bersih campaign as "beruk-beruk jalanraya".
Well, the Bersih March is now history and has been widely documented by both national and international media as a successful campaign of peaceful citizens gathering in an orderly manner.
The only primate behaviors observed on this day were from the police force, who randomly attacked innocent bystanders with tear gas and acid-laced water. In fact, the police force descended to such primate-like knee-jerk reaction that they were reportedly reacting in a rather paranoid fashion at anything or anyone donned in the color yellow, even if it was a wristband; much like wild monkeys going ape over a bunch of ripe yellow bananas. And in the fashion of wild gorillas trying to exert dominance over their territory, the police force was also reported to have acted violently by clobbering several foreign journalists covering the event.
But we can't entirely blame the police force, can we? After all, they are obliged to take orders from the head of the Home Ministry, currently under the purview of Chimp-in-Chief Bodohwi.
Despite the recent dire warnings from the Chimp-in-Chief and the family pet kera, the fact that the event was successful only indicates that this family-run circus act of chimps-on-unicycles is running out of political capital and clout. Not to mention that their unsuccessful attempt at crushing the event has bordered on the treasonous, especially when the Agung had given his consent to receiving the Bersih memorandum from the people.
In sum, the people have spoken. And Bodohwi and his pet kera have demonstrated themselves to be on the wrong side of history. It is best if both of them pack up their bags and go join their simian cousin in the treetops of Kebinatangan, and leave the running of the country to fully evolved Homo Sapiens who don't sleep on the job.
And in case Khairy is still confused about what constitutes beruk-ish behavior, he should either look in the mirror or view the above picture.
There are two indisputable facts about the rally on Saturday. The first is that all the chaos on that day was caused by the police. It was the police who set up the road blocks disrupting the movement of traffic all over KL. It was the police who adopted an aggressive stance towards the crowd of demonstrators. It was the police who precipitated all the acts of violence and without any provocation. It was the police who sprayed the extremely well-behaved crowd with chemical laced water cannon and tear gas and it was the police who cannoned sections of the crowd standing inside the gate of Masjid Jamek. I know because I was standing inside the gates of the mosque and got saturated and was left standing in a pool of foaming water.
Sure, the crowd made plenty of noise and there were many fists being shaken at the police but whenever threatened the crowd backed off and took alternative routes to seek their destination. I witnessed no attempt by the police to warn off the crowd using loud hailers even though I was at the front line of the crowd.
In Jalan Tuanku Rahman, it was the police who again used tear gas and cannon and resorted to baton charges, beating their batons on their shields to further break up an already dispersed crowd. And it was the police who were seen to violently manhandle members of the crowd. It was the police who closed off access to the LRT stations within the city area thus causing disruption to many non-participating citizens
I guess because I am a white man I was able to simply walk through the police barricades even though I was wearing a yellow shirt... so I walked over to Dataran Merdeka which was so tightly closed off by police that not even a Malaysian mouse wearing a yellow shirt could have entered.
Had the police offered a protective organisational role the whole event would have gone off without a glitch. They should have realised that they could never have controlled a crowd as large as the one that joined together on that day because they were totally outnumbered. As it is all they managed to do was further destroy their reputation which was previously none too pretty in the minds of most Malaysians.
Fallacy number two. A permit to march was not given to the organisers not because of the chaos and disturbance to the peace. It was not because a few shopkeepers were worried and it wasn’t because of the potential to cause traffic chaos. And it had nothing to do with the perception others have of our society
As pointed out above, the chaos and traffic disruption was caused solely by the police, had they done their job properly the chaos would have been kept to an absolute minimum. The concerns of the few shopkeepers involved is laughable, any good retailer would have taken advantage of the huge passive crowd at his doorstep
The permit was not issued for two reasons: the present government deplores democracy and will do anything to prevent the people from exercising their right to run the country: and the egos of those in power are so massively inflated that they cannot possibly bear the insult associated with the people saying what they think.
I would go so far as to suggest that Malaysia's international reputation has been significantly enhanced through the efforts of the people who were brave enough to stand up to injustices in this country
A braver man than Badawi would have already resigned in the face of the massive insult he has delivered to the people of Malaysia. But in this ego driven country a full apology and an explanation of the reasons why the police behaved as they did is the least that should be expected.
Instead we get him blaming the demonstrators for politicising the role of the King. Maybe someone should point out that as Head of State, the King has a constitutionally defined role in the politics of Malaysia, and as a citizen of a constitutionally defined democracy he also has the right to a political opinion
Yours sincerely,
Dennis Madden aka Densemy
Sure, the crowd made plenty of noise and there were many fists being shaken at the police but whenever threatened the crowd backed off and took alternative routes to seek their destination. I witnessed no attempt by the police to warn off the crowd using loud hailers even though I was at the front line of the crowd.
In Jalan Tuanku Rahman, it was the police who again used tear gas and cannon and resorted to baton charges, beating their batons on their shields to further break up an already dispersed crowd. And it was the police who were seen to violently manhandle members of the crowd. It was the police who closed off access to the LRT stations within the city area thus causing disruption to many non-participating citizens
I guess because I am a white man I was able to simply walk through the police barricades even though I was wearing a yellow shirt... so I walked over to Dataran Merdeka which was so tightly closed off by police that not even a Malaysian mouse wearing a yellow shirt could have entered.
Had the police offered a protective organisational role the whole event would have gone off without a glitch. They should have realised that they could never have controlled a crowd as large as the one that joined together on that day because they were totally outnumbered. As it is all they managed to do was further destroy their reputation which was previously none too pretty in the minds of most Malaysians.
Fallacy number two. A permit to march was not given to the organisers not because of the chaos and disturbance to the peace. It was not because a few shopkeepers were worried and it wasn’t because of the potential to cause traffic chaos. And it had nothing to do with the perception others have of our society
As pointed out above, the chaos and traffic disruption was caused solely by the police, had they done their job properly the chaos would have been kept to an absolute minimum. The concerns of the few shopkeepers involved is laughable, any good retailer would have taken advantage of the huge passive crowd at his doorstep
The permit was not issued for two reasons: the present government deplores democracy and will do anything to prevent the people from exercising their right to run the country: and the egos of those in power are so massively inflated that they cannot possibly bear the insult associated with the people saying what they think.
I would go so far as to suggest that Malaysia's international reputation has been significantly enhanced through the efforts of the people who were brave enough to stand up to injustices in this country
A braver man than Badawi would have already resigned in the face of the massive insult he has delivered to the people of Malaysia. But in this ego driven country a full apology and an explanation of the reasons why the police behaved as they did is the least that should be expected.
Instead we get him blaming the demonstrators for politicising the role of the King. Maybe someone should point out that as Head of State, the King has a constitutionally defined role in the politics of Malaysia, and as a citizen of a constitutionally defined democracy he also has the right to a political opinion
Yours sincerely,
Dennis Madden aka Densemy
By Old Sea Dog
Is the Mahathir Conspiracy at last manifesting itself in full force? What is the Mahathir Conspiracy? One view is that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed, Malaysia's fourth Prime Minister and president of the UMNO party for almost 22 years, has never forgiven UMNO for kicking him out of the party most unceremoniously in 1970. After the racial riots of 1969 the young firebrand Dr Mahathir had strongly criticised then Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman for his laid back administration of the country which led to the riots. This resulted in Dr Mahathir being dismissed from UMNO and wandering in the wilderness for a few years. He was only reinstated in the party after Tunku had resigned as Prime Minister.
As Malaysians discovered over 22 years of his rule, Tun Dr Mahathir has great love for his people the Malays and for all Malaysians. However, the same may not be true about his feelings for the UMNO party. Dr Mahathir has never forgotten that UMNO once kicked him out.
Perhaps, to teach UMNO a lesson, Dr Mahathir promoted the less capable and often imbecile to important positions within the party. One such example is the present Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi who is becoming increasingly known among the Malaysian public as 'bodowi'. In Malay 'bodoh' means 'stupid'. Pundits say that it was not possible for Dr Mahathir not to have known Abdullah Badawi's lack of capacity for the top job. Yet he chose Abdullah Badawi to replace him. Not only the present Prime Minister but many of his Cabinet members like Zainuddin Mydin, Syed Hamid Albar, Nor Mohamed Yakcop, Johari Baharom and others are proving particularly inept in their jobs.
The Badawi administration has been bungling and fumbling along for the past four years. Even Dr Mahathir's strongest critics now openly acknowledge the world of difference between his administration and the present Government. Dr Mahathir was well known as a good planner and efficient administrator. Abdullah Badawi on the other hand is frequently caught dozing at official functions.
Responding to Saturday's massive peaceful protest which shut down the capital city of Kuala Lumpur, where 50,000 citizens pleaded for Royal intervention by the King to end vote rigging and manipulating the elections, Prime Minister Badawi warned Malaysia's King and Constitutional monarch Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin to have sufficient wisdom and maturity not to be taken in by 'Opposition parties'.
"I believe the king is wise and mature and would not fall into their (the opposition's) political trap," Abdullah said (NST 12/11/07).
This is a serious breach of etiquette by the Prime Minister. The Malay Rulers are held in much respect and reverence by all Malaysians - irrespective of race or religion. They are seen as the last bulwark of justice and the last bastion of appeal for the ordinary citizenry beset by an oppressive and inept Government.
It is not good etiquette for political leaders to make patronising remarks about the Malay Rulers, especially the King in the media. Certainly the Prime Minister has bungled this one too. But he is not alone. Just a day before his Minister of Information Zainuddin Mydin had shown complete ignorance of diplomatic decorum by declaring on an international news network that Malaysia 'was not like Myanmar or Pakistan'. Obviously the Minister of Information thought that he could downplay the massive citizens' protest by insulting Malaysia's neighbours.
Before this Malaysia's Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar had declared on BBC's Hardtalk news program that in Malaysia, Muslims could not leave Islam without suffering imprisonment because Muslims were a 'tribe'. He was referring to the well publicised case of Lina Joy and Revathy who were facing severe persecution and prosecution at the hands of the Government because they wanted to change their faith.
Syed Hamid declared to the world that in a tribe, if any member wanted to leave the tribe, there were rules to be observed and one had no choice in the matter. The Minister had reduced Islam to uncivilised tribal behaviour.
The media bungles and diplomatic faux pas by the Prime Minister and senior members of his Cabinet are testimony to the malaise and lacklustre performance of the Badawi Administration since taking office four years ago. The economy has no direction and is buoyed by high oil and commodity prices. The country has no new foreign policy initiatives. The education system is in a shambles and universities produce thousands of graduates who are unemployable.
Racial tensions are increasing. Despite the Chief Justice of the country having to leave office under a cloud after video footage implicating him in fixing the appointment of judges were made public, no investigation or indictments have been made. Johari Baharom the Deputy Minister of Internal Security who oversees the Police lodged a Police report against the Inspector General of Police, the nation's top cop for corruption. But soon after this Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi who also doubles up as the Minister of Internal Security extended the Inspector General's tenure by another five years.
Malaysians are becoming increasingly dismayed at all this dysfunctional behaviour that is being manifested by the country's political leadership. No doubt there will be a sea change in the coming polls where much of this dissatisfaction will be vented against the Government.
Is the Mahathir Conspiracy at last manifesting itself in full force? What is the Mahathir Conspiracy? One view is that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed, Malaysia's fourth Prime Minister and president of the UMNO party for almost 22 years, has never forgiven UMNO for kicking him out of the party most unceremoniously in 1970. After the racial riots of 1969 the young firebrand Dr Mahathir had strongly criticised then Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman for his laid back administration of the country which led to the riots. This resulted in Dr Mahathir being dismissed from UMNO and wandering in the wilderness for a few years. He was only reinstated in the party after Tunku had resigned as Prime Minister.
As Malaysians discovered over 22 years of his rule, Tun Dr Mahathir has great love for his people the Malays and for all Malaysians. However, the same may not be true about his feelings for the UMNO party. Dr Mahathir has never forgotten that UMNO once kicked him out.
Perhaps, to teach UMNO a lesson, Dr Mahathir promoted the less capable and often imbecile to important positions within the party. One such example is the present Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi who is becoming increasingly known among the Malaysian public as 'bodowi'. In Malay 'bodoh' means 'stupid'. Pundits say that it was not possible for Dr Mahathir not to have known Abdullah Badawi's lack of capacity for the top job. Yet he chose Abdullah Badawi to replace him. Not only the present Prime Minister but many of his Cabinet members like Zainuddin Mydin, Syed Hamid Albar, Nor Mohamed Yakcop, Johari Baharom and others are proving particularly inept in their jobs.
The Badawi administration has been bungling and fumbling along for the past four years. Even Dr Mahathir's strongest critics now openly acknowledge the world of difference between his administration and the present Government. Dr Mahathir was well known as a good planner and efficient administrator. Abdullah Badawi on the other hand is frequently caught dozing at official functions.
Responding to Saturday's massive peaceful protest which shut down the capital city of Kuala Lumpur, where 50,000 citizens pleaded for Royal intervention by the King to end vote rigging and manipulating the elections, Prime Minister Badawi warned Malaysia's King and Constitutional monarch Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin to have sufficient wisdom and maturity not to be taken in by 'Opposition parties'.
"I believe the king is wise and mature and would not fall into their (the opposition's) political trap," Abdullah said (NST 12/11/07).
This is a serious breach of etiquette by the Prime Minister. The Malay Rulers are held in much respect and reverence by all Malaysians - irrespective of race or religion. They are seen as the last bulwark of justice and the last bastion of appeal for the ordinary citizenry beset by an oppressive and inept Government.
It is not good etiquette for political leaders to make patronising remarks about the Malay Rulers, especially the King in the media. Certainly the Prime Minister has bungled this one too. But he is not alone. Just a day before his Minister of Information Zainuddin Mydin had shown complete ignorance of diplomatic decorum by declaring on an international news network that Malaysia 'was not like Myanmar or Pakistan'. Obviously the Minister of Information thought that he could downplay the massive citizens' protest by insulting Malaysia's neighbours.
Before this Malaysia's Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar had declared on BBC's Hardtalk news program that in Malaysia, Muslims could not leave Islam without suffering imprisonment because Muslims were a 'tribe'. He was referring to the well publicised case of Lina Joy and Revathy who were facing severe persecution and prosecution at the hands of the Government because they wanted to change their faith.
Syed Hamid declared to the world that in a tribe, if any member wanted to leave the tribe, there were rules to be observed and one had no choice in the matter. The Minister had reduced Islam to uncivilised tribal behaviour.
The media bungles and diplomatic faux pas by the Prime Minister and senior members of his Cabinet are testimony to the malaise and lacklustre performance of the Badawi Administration since taking office four years ago. The economy has no direction and is buoyed by high oil and commodity prices. The country has no new foreign policy initiatives. The education system is in a shambles and universities produce thousands of graduates who are unemployable.
Racial tensions are increasing. Despite the Chief Justice of the country having to leave office under a cloud after video footage implicating him in fixing the appointment of judges were made public, no investigation or indictments have been made. Johari Baharom the Deputy Minister of Internal Security who oversees the Police lodged a Police report against the Inspector General of Police, the nation's top cop for corruption. But soon after this Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi who also doubles up as the Minister of Internal Security extended the Inspector General's tenure by another five years.
Malaysians are becoming increasingly dismayed at all this dysfunctional behaviour that is being manifested by the country's political leadership. No doubt there will be a sea change in the coming polls where much of this dissatisfaction will be vented against the Government.
12/11: The people have prevailed
Well, it looks that the information Minister will have to eat his own words. He will have to believe what he sees. His eyes are not playing tricks. It is indeed true that concerned Malaysians did turn up in their thousands to demand clean and fair elections.
They were not intimidated by the heavy presence of the police and the FRU; they were not discouraged by the water cannons or the riot police with their shields and batons. These are brave Malaysians who have had enough of the arrogance of the powers-that-be. They are here to demonstrate to the democratic world that there are Malaysians who are prepared to stand up and march for justice.
In his arrogance, the Minister of Information sneered, "Do you believe thousands of people will be coming for the rally? Don't be so silly as to be taken in by them," he said, adding that even the Umno annual meeting could not gather such a number of people.
Well Zam, what have you to say now? These are ordinary people who don't need to be enticed with pocket money, transport and nasi bongkus. When you genuinely walk for justice, you are driven by noble ideals and propelled by sincerity. It is this commitment to the values that we hold dearly that has brought out people in solidarity to raise an issue and to state a point.
What has Nazri to say about this mammoth crowd who braved the rain and faced the risks involved and displayed an indomitable spirit to seek justice and right the wrong? He had haughtily dismissed the crowd of 2,000-odd lawyers who also had marched in an attempt to stop the rot in the judiciary as being in the minority.
Well, Nazri if you had dared to persuade the police to allow the proposed march to proceed unhindered, then you would have witnessed a crowd that would have been bigger than the Kesas Highway gathering.
It is because the Barisan government does not want the people of Malaysia to witness how upset and unhappy many Malaysians are - that is the sole reason that they had brought in their mighty strength represented by the police and the FRU with the sole purpose of disrupting the gathering. In this way they had hoped that Malaysians would not get to witness the truth that exposed their lies and distortions.
What took place today was a peaceful, democratic and legitimate exercise undertaken by concerned Malaysians to seek a remedy for our tainted, lopsided elections. Whatever may be said in defence of the Election Commission or the manner in which elections take place in our country, the truth is that there has never been equal opportunity to fight clean and fair in the general elections. It has been always tilted in favour of the Barisan Nasional, which abuses state facilities and state coffers to entice the electorate - and that must be seen by any impartial observer as clearly constituting corruption.
P. Ramakrishnan
President
Aliran
They were not intimidated by the heavy presence of the police and the FRU; they were not discouraged by the water cannons or the riot police with their shields and batons. These are brave Malaysians who have had enough of the arrogance of the powers-that-be. They are here to demonstrate to the democratic world that there are Malaysians who are prepared to stand up and march for justice.
In his arrogance, the Minister of Information sneered, "Do you believe thousands of people will be coming for the rally? Don't be so silly as to be taken in by them," he said, adding that even the Umno annual meeting could not gather such a number of people.
Well Zam, what have you to say now? These are ordinary people who don't need to be enticed with pocket money, transport and nasi bongkus. When you genuinely walk for justice, you are driven by noble ideals and propelled by sincerity. It is this commitment to the values that we hold dearly that has brought out people in solidarity to raise an issue and to state a point.
What has Nazri to say about this mammoth crowd who braved the rain and faced the risks involved and displayed an indomitable spirit to seek justice and right the wrong? He had haughtily dismissed the crowd of 2,000-odd lawyers who also had marched in an attempt to stop the rot in the judiciary as being in the minority.
Well, Nazri if you had dared to persuade the police to allow the proposed march to proceed unhindered, then you would have witnessed a crowd that would have been bigger than the Kesas Highway gathering.
It is because the Barisan government does not want the people of Malaysia to witness how upset and unhappy many Malaysians are - that is the sole reason that they had brought in their mighty strength represented by the police and the FRU with the sole purpose of disrupting the gathering. In this way they had hoped that Malaysians would not get to witness the truth that exposed their lies and distortions.
What took place today was a peaceful, democratic and legitimate exercise undertaken by concerned Malaysians to seek a remedy for our tainted, lopsided elections. Whatever may be said in defence of the Election Commission or the manner in which elections take place in our country, the truth is that there has never been equal opportunity to fight clean and fair in the general elections. It has been always tilted in favour of the Barisan Nasional, which abuses state facilities and state coffers to entice the electorate - and that must be seen by any impartial observer as clearly constituting corruption.
P. Ramakrishnan
President
Aliran