Now, I’ll attempt to put my puny little
mind and try to digress some of the underlying dynamics that were going on
while 250,000 people screamed, fought for their rights, attacked, were
attacked, ran, cried, bled and so on at the Bersih 3.0 rally in KL.
I have decided to join in this year’s rally
and observe. Last year, I declined to join in for reasons stated previously. I admit
a Pink Floyd song helped me decide to make my way to Kuala Lumpur.
Let me share the lyrics with you here:
Wish you were here - Pink Floyd
So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell,
blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?
And did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?
How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have you found? The same old fears.
Wish you were here.
 |
| Not quite blue skies |
IF you don't quite get why this song seemed to change my stance, I really can't help you.
Call it catch-22s, conspiracies, paradoxes,
what-ifs or what not. I don’t really care.
Let me begin with:
Ambiga’s
call for early “bersurai..”
Way before 4pm, the appointed time to call
it quits, Ambiga called for the gathering to go home, stating success.
It seems the sitting protest wouldn’t work.
Was it because there were too many present?
I doubt it.
Perhaps she sensed the presence of agent
provocateurs?
Possible.
I think she was using reversed psychology. After
calling the rally to an end I saw a bloke whisper something to her and she
responded with: No, no, I’m not going to announce that.
I read books better than I read lips but
the megaphone microphone wasn’t too far from her mouth. So I heard it which
makes me wonder – if she was planning to go ahead to Dataran Merdeka, why ask
everyone to go home?
Knowing the state of mind of the people,
one would believe a riot was going to happen either way.
Agent
Provocateurs
Either planted by the police the government
as a whole, one surely feel that there were some forms of ‘agents’ around.
I was pretty convinced that the rally was
really meant and was carried out peacefully until the deadly razor wire barrier
was breached.
Pictures on facebook showed some ‘agents’
provoking violence amongst the crowd and the same ones were there taking ‘lawful’
action when chaos began.
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| Taken from Facebook, you be the judge |
I feel on the whole, the government, Najib,
BN, DBKL or otherwise could have handled the situation better.
We all know you won’t
implement changes and meet the demands overnight or at all for that matter,
which will leave you with watching 250,000 sitting in the hot sun for hours.
We were unarmed la, cibai! I don’t know
about the rest but the Rakyat has trusted you for more than 50 years, can’t you
trust us for a couple of hours? How much damage could we have done? Your goons
in blue were there in case it hit the fan and wouldn’t it be easier to contain
a surrounded target?
Let’s not look at governing bodies in China,
the UK or Australia because they seem to be of more liberal mind-sets than us
in KL.
Why did I say mention KL and not Malaysia?
It seems, while teargas were fired rather
freely in KL, some 130km down south, a similar gathering was held in Malacca
and there were no radical incidents reported. Protesters were not allowed onto Dataran Pahlawan due to a concert, it seems; yes they were unruly, but to what
effect?
Either way, get this:
Malacca is nowhere near prime location
International press wouldn’t go to Malacca
to cover it
So, why bother placing agent provocateurs
there?
Every other location, even underwater in
Indonesia, things were pretty much peaceful and uneventful.
Had the government allowed the use of the
Dataran Merdeka, things would be different and they will be forced to admit
that rallies in Malaysia could be peaceful and any unruliness will be on the
shoulders of Ambiga and her associates.
Necessities
Politicians
If the Bersih cause is totally apolitical
as it seems, why allow the opposition front the liberty on your pick-up van and
let Anwar address the public?
Was it a measure he doesn’t get beaten up
and arrested like the last time?
Why were there chants for an anti-BN
government?
Does this mean that as long as the
opposition is not in power, the elections aren’t ‘clean?’
With the presence of big name politicians
around, I couldn’t help but wonder if they were using Bersih to gain political
leverage. Don’t they have tonnes of dewans to do this? You have been entrusted
with the confidence of the Rakyat to do something in office and you show up at
a rally trying to make a difference?
I hope that someday, be it 5 weeks or 50
years from today, when our electoral processes magically are clean, should the
opposition lose, they can swallow the bitter pill and not bitch anymore about
this.
Police enforcement (no photos for this segment, go Youtube it)
Why hit, torment and inflict so much pain
on protesters?
I accept that there are blood-thirsty,
anarchy-loving scumbags on both sides of the divide. And not taking anything
from our brave law enforcers, they did relatively well in exercising restraint
until the boiling point but that is that.
I understand that they had to do their
level best to disperse the crowd, and I didn’t mind getting hosed and gassed;
were the beatings, kicking and so forth really necessary? Can’t they just cuff ‘em
and put them in a truck?
You are our protectors, first; violators,
never!
I am pretty sure that there are cops
looking for the missing kid and will not question the priorities, but if they
were really looking for culprits and not punching bags, go to Anwar’s, Ambiga’s,
Kit Siang’s house and arrest them too; I mean if you can go as far as SOGO to
bash people up, you can make the trip.
Plus, capturing 300 out of 250,000 isn’t a
proud number, they should be taught simple tactics: spread it out a little, two
cops to one protester would do and your numbers would’ve been greater. We were
unarmed la, for fuck’s sake!
I suggest the PDRM stick to punching the
bags in the gym or start a fucking fight club in the car park for all I care.
The rally
Many-a-times, I have said among friends and
once before here (oh go click ‘Older Posts’ already) that I’m not a big fan of
the rally. Admittedly, I had one hell of an experience, yet I felt cheated at
the same time.
Against an autocratic government, it is always
hard to shove one’s points to the government. However, since Bersih 1.0 was
incepted, besides the rallies, I’m not quite convinced that the push is done
from all angles.
he rally sometimes I feel is a little convenient
and aimed too close to the predicted General Elections. Apart from that,
perhaps their efforts are intangible but I don’t really see much being done by
our freedom fighters.
Correct me if I’m wrong but don’t go acting like a
keyboard warrior, thanks.
When it comes to electoral processes, how
can one party rule so long? Something fishy? The PAS fellas in Kelantan don’t
seem to think so. No complaints from Penang with pre-BN Gerakan and now DAP. Elections
fair in these two states? How about Selangor? Perak? Kedah?
One thing remains clear; there is a need
for fresh vision for my beloved Malaysia, regardless of who is brave enough to
take that responsibility or given that trust. Undoubtedly, some systems need to
be overhauled while others need to be reconsidered its validity and relevance
since the laws were written over half a century ago.
My dad fought with bullets for his Malaysia (Air Force, not Communist);
I’ll continue with words for mine
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| Tanah tumpah darahku |
