13 July 2011

BERSIH Rally 2.0 thoughts

Well, Malaysia made the international headlines again lately, which the reason is obvious due to the large scale rally happened on last Saturday, 9th July.
This time, I observe things happened from distance away. Reading reports on the Internet, browsing through pictures and videos captured during the event.

To understand a little better what took place on that day, please watch this comprehensive video, the truth instead of believing what you read from the official mainstream medias.

Truth that Cannot Be Covered - Bersih 2.0 09/07/2011 [Link]


As ugly as it seems, and yet the government is trying to play down the rally's influence and deny allegations regarding police's abuse of power during the rally. It's ashamed to see police's brutal treatment on weapon-less people. Attack and arrest on weapon-less "opponent" cannot be considered as heroic act eh.

When protest at such scale happens, casualty is almost unavoidable. But of course, the police force could have done better in order to get things under control. Although I'm not sure about this, but it's said that the police attacked the protesters first due to the protester's verbal provocation. Languages can turn ugly in such situation but come on, can't the police force handle just a few lines of words hmm? Physically tough, but mentally not?

But then, police themselves aren't to be solely blamed over the havoc happened during the rally. They are after all, was commanded to act by the upper level command line.
Shall we turn our focus point to the main culprit, the current government?

Regardless of whether the government declared it to be illegal and trying to prevent it from happening, trying to cover up the truth when obviously the incidents happened are supported by image and video evidences, is a real disgust.

The government suggested that:

- No physical contact between police and the protesters
If you've watched the video above this statement can be dully nullify with police's brutal treatment to the protesters. Besides, how can you arrest someone without having physical contact with them?

- Didn't launch tear gas or water cannon hospital
One of the biggest point of argument is police's tactics dealing with protesters seeking refuge in a hospital after being blasted by the water cannon and tear gas. Although the police's "truck of terror" did not drove into the hospital compound, it's still capable of launching long-range attack from the outside. The evidence in the video is shown at 7:27 onward. Hospital is meant for those who're sick and weak, and although no casualty is reported within the hospital compound, I don't think attacking hospital is part of police's working agenda huh.

- The rally is a failure
Although they may not be able to make it to the targeted Stadium Merdeka (no thanks to the police blockage), but the real purpose of the rally is to unite fellow Malaysians who care for the nation and with this context, the rally has SUCCESSFULLY unite those Malaysians who joined the rally on that day. Based on their first-hand experiences, those proud Malaysians shared their stories with friends or on the Internet and quickly the influence spread among many Malaysians (especially netizens).
Of course, the government, as usual is trying to play down this and even threaten to punish those medias who reported otherwise.

One thing the government said correctly was the rally doesn't reflect the opinions of all Malaysians, but they do reflect the opinions of many Malaysians.

And it's a big contrast to see what's reported on the government-controlled mainstream media versus those of independent source or foreign press. One trying to play down the situation with altered statements while another side uncovers the lies and show what's really happening to the entire world. Call it treason, embarrassing one's own nation, but for the sake of a better nation we hoped for, it's more gallantry than pushing on with nonsense.

But it's sad that folks who rely news on mainstream media actually believe in what the government said, making the protesters looked like the baddies while the government is the hero. But the fact is totally the reverse, where the people is the hero and the government is the loser.

" Adults taught us not to tell lies, and yet they are the one lying huh?"

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Although BERSIH is supposed to be a neutral organization aligned to neither political parties, but because of the "participation" of the opposition party, the government decided to label BERSIH as the opposition's agenda, thus trying to oppress it. I do reckon that even if the opposition would eventually won in the coming general election, of course it wouldn't be a smooth journey from that point onward.

Ideally, would love to see the people select those who would serve the people with their heart regardless of party background, race or religion. Well, that's ideally..... And it would be nice too if a 3rd power emerge from this tussle between BN and PR, a little more choices and competitions would be good for the market, eh?

Actually, there are a lot of good reasons why the people are annoyed with the government. Mostly are regarding the usage of public funds, one most recent example would be RM 1.7 million spent on Tourism Malaysia's Facebook page, which I doubt it will cost that much. Another point would be the never-ending allegations and insult thrown at other races or religions in order to gain political mileage. It seems that those politicians spend more time trying to figure out what fabrications to be made on which unfortunate opposition member than focusing on their portfolio.

Ever since Tun Mahathir stepped down as PM, seems like the 2 successors had problem to settle with the Malaysians, no thanks to their incompetence. abdullah the sleeper and then the current najib the...... dunno what title he should be named yet. Although najib first seems to be slightly more promising than abdullah, what happened within these past few years did not much good to him, with a bunch of raging people displease with the government.
In the nation there are extreme views, one side fiercely defending the decades-long administration and another side seeking for a refresh change in the political landscape.

For the upcoming general election, I'm not surprised if the opposition party manage to secure a few more seats, and the fact that they might be taking over the government is not impossible. Even so, I think that Klang Valley will eventually be under the opposition party's control. They've done it in Selangor, and it's time for Kuala Lumpur then.

Malaysia is having transaction period before a big change happens. Eventually people will be the victor. But what will the losers from BN will react then? We shall know the answer in few years to come.....

Few pictures to share at the end of this blog post.

Shaking hand with the police when the rally is over. As I said, the real enemy is not the police, but the government.

Auntie Anne, made famous for the contrasting image of her being "attacked" by the tear gas and water cannon. Salute her spirit of marching with the crowd!

A senior citizen who're disappointed with the government.



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