3 days after 10/11

This article was written after much hindsight and thoughts on the strategy that we employed.

Congratulations BERSIH marchers! We did it. I know some of you probably went through hell to get there but you did it! For those who couldn't be there, or were delayed in arriving, it's alright. Your heart is pure, your intentions true. You were there in spirit.

Now, the fact is, we won. Yes, that we did. No one can dispute that. But I worry. I worry that some of us might take this victory as a sign that our troubles are over...

Let me tell you, it has just begun.

We have won this small battle. But the war is still not over. Lets keep our eyes on the ball, our aim is to bring change to this country. Good, positive change.

We Are Party-less

Let's remember that in our fight against tyranny, corruption and votes tampering, that WE ARE PARTY-LESS. I think all of us welcome Keadilan, DAP, PAS etc but please don't let party politics come into the picture. I worry that this neutral, party-less march may be hi-jacked by the opposition. This memorandum affects all Malaysians and the involvement of party politics will backfire as many people who attended that rally were not associated with the opposition parties and future rallies might not have the desired turn out because of this.

Let me state here, that my opinions on this, is mirrored by many comrades I have spoken to - so I have decided to be their voice.

Another concern which was voiced by a BERSIH marcher, Why was the memorandum handed over by the opposition leaders? Why wasn't it handed over by a more neutral person? What about the person who started the petition? Sad to say, we have left our left flank open to cricism by allowing this to happen. I hope we will try not to allow our cause to be led by any opposition leaders as this might deter other people who otherwise, would support us.

For instance, there are many honest, good BN/UMNO supporters who support the call for judicial and electoral reform. But the moment we let opposition leaders lead us, they will think twice about joining us. This is quite saddening as they, too, deserve the right to join this noble cause being as Malaysian as we are.

Media Blackout of 10/11

This is where I express my greatest disappointment at the Malaysian media. I can say now, that I am witness to the death of press freedom in Malaysia. The Star and NST especially. Even tv stations like TV3, NTV7.. radio stations TRAXXFM. I am so disappointed in all of you. But i can't really blame you for doing the government's bidding. We all have to 'cari makan' right?

After my 10/11 experience, I felt elated. My faith in the Malaysian people restored. I anxiously awaited the newspapers the next day, wondering if BERSIH's memorandum will be shown.

At first I was in a state of disbelief when i saw the papers. I couldn't believe it! We were at page 8! It was obvious many Malaysians were affected during the rally and I had (naively) hoped that the media would at least give us 2nd page. But they didn't.

The fact that it was so blatantly done, fueled me even more. I took a 'news reporting' class when i was in college and I can remember some of the 'commandments' of journalism.

At least one commandment says that 'effective and good news reporting has to be impartial'. Impartial. This, to me means that news reporters must not have vested interests or report a one-sided view. This is good news reporting. So then, how come there were only views from the IGP and PM? Why weren't there eye-witness accounts or even views from BERSIH organizers?

Another commandment says that a news reporters must make sure his/her facts are correct before publishing them. Star reported that 4,000 people attended the rally. Try again Star. It was closer to 40,000 people.

It is a sad day, when Malaysian media turned its back on its people.

Let me say here, I do have friends working for Malaysian media companies and I know that they, too, are baffled by the media blackout. But we all know the truth don't we?

It is disappointing that the government feels that this is the correct path to take when dealing with a crisis. And this IS a crisis, mind you. It is a judicial crisis and electoral crisis when the people have no confidence in the systems in place. Why do they deny it? They don't decide if its a crisis, the people do.

A tip from me: It is the people's confidence that you must earn, PM. Not the crony's confidence.

Disgruntled Drivers

After looking at other blogs and comments, I noticed some people voicing out their unhappiness with the BERSIH rally.

Taken from another blogsite- Anonymous:

"I am sorry I do not agree with you. These people did nothing good but make a traffic jam. I was stuck for 5 hours in traffic. Why couldn't they just send a small group?"

Fellow marchers, how do you feel when faced with this criticism? I feel that this lack of support from fellow Malaysians stems from lack of information. Did you know that by standing up and voicing out our concerns to the government, we are exercising our rights? Did you know what we stood up for? Did you know that many of us sacrificed so much to be there? Did you know that you were actually privileged to witness history? It was a selfish yet selfless act. It showed that we care for one another. We care for you, enough to risk being there.

Like my fellow blogger Vijay said:

"I did not dodge the police, get tear gassed, risk being locked up and beaten just to cause a traffic jam."

On the other hand, I understand my fellow Malaysian's frustration. Being stuck in traffic for 5 hours is no joke. What if they had children in the car? Not funny. But I would like my beloved beloved Malaysians (KLites especially) to understand that the marchers did not make the roadblocks. Regardless of what the IGP would like you to believe, the roadblocks were not to make sure there were no 'weapons' or to ensure public safety. It was simply to stop the people in yellow from attending the rally.

I would like my beloved Malaysians to understand that if the police had let the march go on (whilst watching from the sidelines to ensure safety) the march would have been over faster and without incident. Instead, they chose to shower us with chemicals and tear gas while blocking us from proceeding to the palace so that traffic could flow.

It seems the government and police have so little faith in us, Malaysians. Sad isn't it? Your own government doesn't trust you.

Permit?

Another comment - Anonymous said:

"Padan muka. BERSIH rally konon. Nah, FRU dah BERSIHkan korang dengan air sabun. Tu la, lain kali takde permit jangan gatal nak pergi."

Fellow marchers, how do you feel about this one? Are some Malaysians still naive enough to think that we would ever get a permit? We requested and it was rejected (twice, i think - correct me if i am wrong). 'The powers that be' attempted to make us falter in so many different ways. You don't really believe that we would have gotten a permit, did you?

How they tried to stop us, you ask?

Well, they:-
1. Rejected our permits.
2. They issued threats through the media prior to the event.
3. They hi-jacked the BERSIH website and announced that the rally was postponed when it wasn't.
4. They issued more threats through the radio on march day.
5. They had roadblocks throughout the country stopping anyone in yellow the night before the rally.
6. They even stopped people at the airports arriving in yellow.
7. They barricaded the major roads to KL.
8. They had roadblocks on all major roads and highways on the day of the rally. Delaying and harassing marchers.
9. They surrounded the marchers at their meeting points, blocking them from moving anywhere.
10. They fired tear gas and chemicals onto the marchers. (I'm a witness) Without provocation.
11. They tried to stop us from communicating with one another by hijacking or crashing certain websites.

Think about it, people. Is this the practice of democracy? Are the people not allowed to criticize the government when we are not satisfied with their performance? Are we not allowed to demand our basic rights as people?

Is this the 'democracy' you want?

Even employee unions have practiced this right. What about the 'Malaysian People Union'?