Bersih 2.0 Outcome

Malaysians at KLCC

Now that the dust is settling, it is evident that there are many significant lessons and outcomes from the brave Malaysians standing up for a justice against oppression by their own Government and Police.

Here is a dozen.

1. Malaysians have shown that they are mature and will stand up for justice. This is true people power yet Malaysians are peaceful people. Regardless how the Police tried to lock down the city and barricade Merdeka Stadium, there were over 100,000 assembling all over the vicinity of Merdeka Stadium to get pass the Police and all their tear gas and water canons. And peacefully too. Noticeable amidst them was 76 year old national laureate A Samad Said.

2. Najib who last minute decided not to leave town after being severely criticized for wanting to abandon the country at such an hour. Najib who reneged on his stadium offer. Najib who ignored the King to discuss with Bersih. Najib who totally played deaf and dumb to the 100,000 crowd in KL and pretending they were a small group of dissent. Najib who has lost all credibility as a statesman of Malaysia allowing the Home Ministry to severely oppress the people. Najib who remote controlled the Police. Najib who may be having his last term as PM after today.

3. Hishammuddin and the Police oppressive actions that borders on madness have left a bitter taste in the mouths of all Malaysians. Peaceful gatherings, wearing yellow and walking in peace have met with violent beatings, illogical arrests, tear gas shootings and water canons laced with chemicals. The People will remember that they now have a power weapon to fight back. Their bold people power stand with their VOTES in the next General Election.

4. Technology like sms, the internet news, blogs and twitter have brought significant information that the people will believe to be true over the Government controlled media. Twitter was used widely in the Arab Spring upheaval. Twitter was used extensively today to track what was happening, where to move, who got arrested as well as pictures of the moment. Malaysians are all tech savvy and the use of such technology allowed such massive coordination of 100,000 crowd all over KL to march towards Merdeka Stadium. Check out #bersihstories to read how Malaysians supported each other regardless of ethic groups. Truly 1Malaysia!

5. Peaceful rally is what Bersih 2.0 was all about to highlight 8 points for an Electoral Reform. Instead of taking the claims head on, the Government decided to demonize Bersih, declared illegal including the collor yellow, made numerous arrests with the city locked down together with FRU actions, attempting to use a wild reasoning as if KL was going to be under attack of a foreign force. Bersih 2.0 remained peaceful. Only the Police and FRU were the aggressors.

6. The King demonstrated that he is above politics much to the dismay of Umno. He gave a rare instruction apparently approved by the PM which somehow showed his Kingship caring for the People and truly independent. Najib eventually ignored the King’s advice to work things out with Bersih when he realized that the King met with Bersih thus giving them credibility. Daulat Tuanku! Najib ignores the King’s advice, Ibrahim Ali criticize the King for meeting Bersih. Eventually, the King ignored him and not grant him an audience. The message is clear!

7. Perkasa is a washout. After criticizing the King and received no repercussions, Ibrahim Ali ordered his group to gather at Titiwangsa today at 12pm while he stays home. There were no members from Perkasa even at 2pm. Big mouth Ali has no followers. Bersih had 100,000 Malaysians walking for the future of the country.

8. Umno Youth ‘Patriot’ group led by Khairy gathered at Bukit Bintang. It too fizzled out after the 500 clashed with the FRU and KJ was arrested. At least he had courage but for the wrong thing.

9. Bersih 2.0 committee led by Ambiga stood out as heros for they had nothing to gain but stood up with brave Malaysians for justice in the face of ugly threats and oppressions. These are exemplary Malaysians. Malaysians salute you. BN condems you.

10. Pakatan Rakyat leaders like Anwar, Hadi Awang, Mat Sabu, Lim Kit Siang, Nurul Izzah, Tian Chua, and many more stood up to face possible arrests for walking with Malaysians. Even with the court injunction which is so bizzare, they stood with equal boldness with the rest of Malaysians unlike Ibrahim Ali who is only all mouth. Even KJ had the courage. This will give them full identity with the people whio wants justice and a clean and fair election. PR believes they can now win the next election, thanks to how 9 July has panned out.

11. BN will suffer severe backlash in the next election for sure. The way Umno influenced the maddening reaction to Bersih 2.0 also allowed Umno internal dissent to hit out at Najib. Notice how quiet the other component parties were. They dare not oppose Umno or say anything that might jeopardize BN giving a wrong impression.

12. The writing is on the wall. The people wins. The BN Government loses. The actual effects can only be seen at GE13. The sledgehammer approach to Bersih 2.0 which was declared peaceful did not find acceptance with Malaysians. Instead nobody can believe the madness that the Government conducted themselves as if there was going to be an overthowing of Government today.

There is only one redemption for Najib and BN. Listen to the People. Serve them clean and fair. Malaysia wants a government of the people, by the people and for the people. Mr Prime Minister, can you do that?

Bersih 9 July: Over and Message is Loud and Clear

At Puduraya

The crowd dispersed and some seen shaking hands with the police. Malaysians are truly mature and the peaceful rally was truly peaceful and the police and FRU were the ones oppressive with shooting tear gas directly at the public, including man handling both man and woman they harassed and arrested.

The police action arrested a reportedly over 1,000 people including MPs. As predicted, Ambiga was arrested with some other Bersih committee members. Khalid Samad was injured by a tear gas shot directly at him.

Updated 7pm: Ambiga was released.

Reports and pictures of Anwar hurt and in the hospital would have given him tremendous boost in his image. His younger daughter was arrested.

Hadi Awang and Mat Sabu along with Maria Chin Abdullah and Tian Chua amongst others were arrested. Apparently, Mat Sabu was riding pillion and was allegedly knocked down by a police car and hurt his knee badly.

Regardless of a “headless” rally that built up with tens of thousands from various locations in the city, they managed to march up to the Merdeka Stadium and at 4pm the crowd dispersed peacefully.

A. Samad Said, 76 year old national laurate, finished with the gallant but mature crowd and commented “I’ve never seen all races in Malaysia so united for one cause before.” And this cause is apolitical. The people has been tolerating a high handed and oppressive pre-emptive actions bordering on madness and ridiculous and braved all the government deterents to gather even such large numbers. One report has put it at 100,000 in various parts of KL. Najib called the crowd a small number of people whilst the IGP claims he counted 6,000.

It is now generally agreed by observers including some Umno leaders that the brazzen mishandling of the Bersih 2.0 rally will see serious repercussions at the next General Election for sure. Some even believe that BN who lost the plot today will lose the GE13.

A number of international locations including Melbourne, Sydney, London, HK, Taipei, Osaka and Singapore held peaceful demonstrations in support of Bersih 2.0. We are witnessing a new dawn of people power and a maturity that the BN Government had so poorly underestimated. See the pictures of the Global Bersih rallies here.

The world can now see how the Malaysian Government has embarassed the country in the oppressive manhandling of Bersih 2.0 acting with madness and making up fantastic excuses to justify their actions. Najib now has his work cut up, and maybe cut off soon enough as he struggles to do the impossible to redeem himself and keep other internal oppressors off his back.

Bravo! Malaysians have and will continue to bravely stand up for injustice and a clean and fair election!

The Brave Malaysians

Bersih 9 July Morning: Government Insanity Prevails

The Police madness that has put the entire Klang Valley under siege has tipped the anger of all Malaysians. Whatever their reasons, only they can see the logic in their otherwise warpped mind.

in their attempt to prevent people not to go to KL and to stop the rally, they have succeeded in

• stopping tourists to come to Malaysia
• getting the worst press in international media
• showing the insanity of the BN government to oppress the nation
• causing massive illegal rallies across major roads going into KL
• showcasing the nobility of Bersih 2.0 and the Rakyat
• and you can figure out the next dozen or so repercussions.

At this stage, any number of people walking to the Merdeka Stadium will have proven an additional point – the people’s peaceful resolve cannot be stopped even in the face of Police and Government insincerity, double talk and warpped logic.

In trying to stop what they call an illegal rally, they have started numerous illegal rallies on the road. And if they think these motorists are going to be so happy with the Police and the BN Government for doing this, they are so wrong.

Loss of Business
By locking down KL, the Police has caused massive hardship to KL business for the past few days. Where are those who claimed that Bersih 2.0 Walk for Democracy is bad for business? Long before the walk, the Government and the Police are killing the KL business and it will go into the hundreds of million if not billion Ringgit loss! Thanks to a pro-stop business police and government who have gone mad over a yet to happen peaceful event. At this stage, Bersih 2.0 is absolutely peaceful – it has not even happened yet but the government and police reaction is like there are terrorists about to take over the city!

Who is Disloyal to King and Country?
The peaceful Malaysians have been pushed beyond tipping point and have now clearly seen the political selfishness even to ignore and go against the King’s advice. So who is disloyal to King and Country? You have the answer.

Bersih 2.0 has been given a new determination now that the PM is insincere, Home Minister is mad and illogical, DPM who is blind to fairness and the IGP who is too eager to serve his political master rather than the master of the country – we Malaysians!

No matter how it turns out today, almost all observers believe that the undecided voters, young voters, slow to action voters, BN voters who are doubting the coalition, are all going to vote the opposition to vent their anger and give the Opposition a chance to turn the country aroundand make it better.

Bersih 2.0 – The Stadium Backfires

I wrote a posting entitled Bersih 2.0: Keep it in the Stadium? You must be Joking where I rejected the idea. However, now that the dust has settled after Ambiga met with the King, Bersih 2.0 has agreed to hold the rally in the Stadium. Najib has to sort this out now and Khalid has offered Shah Alam Stadium for the rally.

I stand by what I wrote but the twist to this stadium situation is that though technically speaking it is not a street rally but in a practical way, the hundreds of thousand of people going and leaving the stadium works out like a street rally. And in a legal way too.

The police fear should subside although the Home Minister is now in a bind after declaring Bersih as “illegal” but the King and Najib have come to terms with Bersih to hold it in a stadium. All the mad arrests no longer have any basis, eventhough there wasn’t any in the first place.

Najib doesn’t want to tell Hishammuddin what to do. Hishammuddin and the police keeps doing it. What in the world is going on with the BN Government? They have gone mad?

All the drummed up so called Communist charges on the 6 PSM must be dropped and they must be released.

The rest of them arrested for wearing yellow and promoting Bersih must be freed immediately as the basis is negated by Najib and the King.

Everyone can join the rally on 9 July with no fear and should enjoy Police protection.

In fact, Umno Youth will be there in support as Khairi has said he will support if Bersih is held in a stadium. And if Perkasa and Umno Youth so protest again, they should be made illegal and all arrested to be consistent.

So this twist is a very interesting one and all to gain for the Rakyat and all to lose for Najib, Hishammuddin and the Police. They have been totally embarassed, called mad and oppressive and lost the Rakyat’s little trust totally. And this can be translated at GE13.

9 July is not here yet and what we say now may not happen the way we see it. Truly, Malaysians are living in interesting times.

Bersih Hilarious Satire by RPK

Datuk: Tan Sri!

Tan Sri: Calm down, Datuk….apa hal bising sangat ni?

Datuk: I have some good news, Tan Sri.

Tan Sri: Ah, what is it this time? Ambiga has migrated and has applied for Australian citizenship? 

Datuk: No lah, Tan Sri. Better than that.

Tan Sri: What can be better than Ambiga leaving Malaysia?

Datuk: The BERSIH march is off…cancelled…batal.

Tan Sri: Hmm…that is certainly good news. How come?

Datuk: Ambiga had an audience with the Agong this afternoon and BERSIH has agreed to cancel the street march and hold a rally in the stadium instead.

Tan Sri: His Majesty agreed to meet Ambiga?

Datuk: Yes.

Tan Sri: So that means His Majesty recognises BERSIH?

Datuk: Looks like it.

Tan Sri: So that means we can’t ban BERSIH then.

A very insightful and funny satire with a check-mate by Bersih on a FICTIONAL Datuk and Tan Sri.

Read here for the complete dialog.

Enjoy!

Bersih 2.0: Keep it inside the Stadium? You must be Joking

In an attempt to limit the repurcussions of Bersih 2.0, Najib has offered to allow the rally to be held in a Stadium instead.

And make Walk for Democracy a farce and walk in circles?

Najib has gotten this all wrong from the very start in his mishandling a simple Bersih 2.0 and this really shows his out-of-touch-with-Rakyat syndrome.

Firstly, did he ignore the King’s advice to hold talks with Bersih 2.0? Yes absolutely. In the same fashion of brushing aside Hindraf and Bersih, he side stepped the King’s advice blatantly. Reinforcing that there’s nothing wrong with the electoral system, Najib has clearly done 4 things in one action:

1. ignored the King
2. forgot that Bersih was declared “illegal” and making an offer to an “illegal” entity
3. treat the Rakyat as dumb fools who must listen to him however illogical
4. forgot all the oppressive actions on the innocent Rakyat thus far with arrests for wearing yellow t-shirts and using silly “communist revival” charges link to their t-shirts

Najib hopes to quell any Rakyat expression of disgust, anger and disappointment that was inevitably stroked by all the oppressive actions by containing it in a stadium when it started as a noble and simple rally. Essentially, go shut up and scream to yourself, nobody cares!

Why didn’t he hold his Million Youth Rally in the stadium instead of the Putrajaya streets?

Why don’t we do the KL Marathon in the stadium? And our Merdeka Parade too for that matter? Make all street events into a stadium event.

That warped logic just doesn’t hold. Umno can throw their Mat Rempits at the PKR HQ and at Lim GE at his office. Why not go to the stadium?

The next time anyone wants to march to the US Embassy, they should first be banned and made illegal, then told to march inside the stadium.

And remind the supporters of the Palestinians to do their floatilla in the stadium and not try to get through the sea barricade.

Did they think Bersih 2.0 is a concert?

What started as a simple, innocent, noble walk has turned into a nightmare for Najib. His fears that it can turn around and cause severe damage to Umno and BN is unmistakeable. His using the Emergency Ordinance, ISA, bans on Bersih and its apparels, the color yellow, drumming up silly “communist revival” charges, and stroking fear amongst the Rakyat shows serious desperation on his part.

And now ignoring the King will make things worse. It is obvious the statements made about no need for electoral reforms appear to contradict the King’s advice to sit down and resolve the impasse with Bersih 2.0 committee.

Najib now appears to offer a deal to an “illegal” entity where the King and the rest of Malaysians do not think that Bersih is illegal. If the King thought so, he would not have made the rarest of involvement to make a public advice to Najib and Bersih. In fact, because he can feel the frustration and anguish of the Rakyat that the King wants to diffuse the situation stroked by Najib and his administration that has become mad and oppressive against the Rakyat.

What is needed now is for Najib to rollback all that he has done to the Rakyat and talk with Bersih to buy time and lower any emotions. He has to take his step back as a true statesman and work for the best for the country and honor the King.

For now, he will be remembered as a Rakyat oppressor and Umno will blame him for any loss arising from his mismanagement of Bersih that can lead to further surprises in the GE13.

It is time for sanity and wisdom for the good of the Rakyat and the country to prevail and not just Umno sense of justice and good.