I heard there were some kind of march went on today. There were policemen everywhere. And by everywhere I do mean Everywhere. There were a pair at the MRR2 exit, another pair at a LRT station, a whole unit at KLCC and dozens more on the road, which sparks a question; how can there be an enormous amount of police force sprouting from all corners of KL within a day?
Amazing I tell you.
It is as if they were brought here from all over Malaysia, just to regulate the BERSIH march. My commute to KLCC today was different than usual. There were more Kelantanese, more people with kopiahs and oh yes I'm saying it; more kampung people. By personal definition of kampung people, I mean no harm when I categorize old (35-50) malay folks with worn out tees, slacks and selipar jepun. And when I refer to the term kampung people, I really mean poor KL folks.
Because there ain't no Kampung 'ere in KL (except Kampung Bharu lah), so to speak.
The march, like any other rally including international ones like OIC and the likes only mean two things to most KL-ites: road closures and raids.
I know I am being an ass-wipe sceptic when I ask; do these people marching really know why exactly they're doing so? Were they paid to march? Were there an agreement stating an advance or even a chance to get contracts or tenders if they march? What exactly is the source of momentum to these sort of march? Is it 'I am unhappy that my family is poor and the government is responsible for my misfortune'?
Funny. If that is so, if the government is so unjust, shouldn't there be heaps of Indians and Chinese marching down the alleys at Brickfields or Bukit Bintang?
What exactly is the problem here; The government or them? Or both?
Here, here.
I am no fan of UMNO. Nor am I of Keadilan and the likes. I'm just saying... to change the nation, we have to first change ourselves.
12 comments:
well said ^-^
Dude, the govt is unjust towards the Malay, not towards the Chinese & Indians, that explains why.
To change the nation, we have to first change ourselves - like by dare to hit the street, asking the ruling party not to treat Suruhanjaya Pilihanraya as one of their proxies for power.
It just too obvious !
Think the march was just a waste of time and a pain on those who were not involved with it.
Had to cancel going to a gig at Zouk because of it.
The EC is nobody's proxy. If you have a complaint, write to them. I've written to them via e-mail a couple of times, and their representative in Selangor is a very fair fellow, at least.
anonymous,
As much as I would like to believe that the government is mainly responsible of the underdevelopment of malays, logic had proven otherwise.
This is the era of transition, where the new malays are all set for tomorrow's challenges and what can the whiny farts contribute to their next genereation's success?
They can help by investing in their childrens' education or even jumpstart their couriers and surely not by marching down the streets demanding 'answers'.
No matter how you look at it, we malays are more concern of ourselves than the development of our children. Period.
I for example happen to receive the PTPTN loan and will be obligated to pay for my education which may or may not affect my financial graph. In any sense, students who are not dependant on loan will jumpstart their couriers earlier, especially in businesses. Debts are burdens to be reckoned with and will somehow stunt my chance in accumulating wealth
So should parents go out and march for justice, or should they do themselves justice by working hard to improve their financial situation, not to renovate their homes but equip their children with the best education.
Why you ask? So the children will give back what they'd received?
Let me tell you this; as a parent, I am obligated to give my children the best possible options in life, not because they have to repay my debts but so they can contribute more to the ummah more than I can. Simple that.
So I don't really blame the government when the mentality of youths are wayward and static, I blame myself. The chinese and indian had distinguished the education flaws in Malaysia and had built their own schools to accomodate the success of their generation and they stood firmly on this issue.
Why shouldn't we? The government isn't the only driving force in this nation. A few malay businessman could simply envision and build a school that suits the future need of foreknowledge and education. But sadly, I haven't seen any.
I know you know why...
you ignorant afiq, you.
the whole purpose of the march is to give a memorandum to the Agong, demanding a clean and fair election.
that's all.
and all those people carrying signs are just side-shows only.
the representatives from the march met with agong's representative one day before that and the Agong agreed to accept the memorandum.
it's all like begging the King to clean the election. hence the gelombang kuning.
it has nothing to do with injustice, corruption, etc etc etc. it's just for clean and fair election.
My parents were part of the rally. And proudly so.
Because they were sick and tired of 'waiting until the next election' to make changes happen. My father has waited half a century for change. My mother has waited almost as long. But nothing.
The voices that bother to speak out for change are marginalized and downtrodden and censored.
The EC is actually a proxy. It has been inherently controlled by the government for ages. There is no neutrality in the EC. And after year after year of seeing fairness slowly getting chipped away during the balloting process itself, my parents decided that they would speak out by marching.
They did it because if they didn't, they wouldn't be able to face us, their children, the next time they lectured us about fairness and equality.
So au contraire, Afiq, they do care.
Have you guys heard of the protest in France, 1995? They defeated the President by street force. They prevented legislation change, because they took to the streets.
All I'm saying is, if we were a true democracy, we would be able to walk down the streets we paid good money to pave, and damn well say what we want to say. And no chemicals would be shoved down our faces in the process, either.
The kampung people were probably there because they CARED. And the people who didn't make it, because they didn't see the relevance of it, clearly need to stop being selfish and realize that there is more to reality than parties and cowardly criticism without action.
Nak dengar tak nak dengar, itu hak kerajaan. But the right to SPEAK is inherently ours. And if it isn't, then this 'democracy' they talk of is worthless.
(And I sincerely hope that Afiq doesn't censor this comment. Democracy, and all that jazz.)
*To call for FAIR elections. Typo.
And yeah, the whole thing about race being a factor at the rally - I saw a good number of Chinese and Indians in whatever footage I could find as well. My father is Chinese, and he feels the impact of the hak keistimewaan Melayu laws.
Obviously when it comes to the development of the nation, the people should look at themselves. But this wasn't the crux of the BERSIH gathering -- it was to call for elections. Because people want the people they elect to actually manage to get into government.
Two different issues, bud.
Plus, have you ever heard of what will happen to Chinese or Indians who actually speak out against figures of authority? Ungrateful immigrants, they're called. Walhal they've been a part of the nation for as long as we can remember.
I laud the Chinese, Indians and lain-lain who went down there to march. Because the odds of them getting arrested were greater than any Malay's.
Ignorant I may be, stupid I am not.
I'm against the Bersih march because the whole purpose displayed desperation. The king, for crying out loud has no more say than to change the set menus of the kerabat meet-up.
I just don't see how dividing ourselves with different affliation would actually be effective in producing any positive input to the country's governance.
Did the PM listened to their plea? He sees it as a challenge.
Did the locals benefit from it? Far from it.
If the King is so rakyat-friendly, why is he at Terengganu when he obviously had known that the march will be going on at his crub?
So in a nutshell, the BERSIH march not only caused loss to local businesses, it didn't even spark any sense of realization to the pulic.
So its practically a syok sendiri march.
Menyusahkan betul.
A more effective solution to sort out the election mismanagement is to come out with ideas that ensures authenticity of voting.
Parading about was, is, will always be useless since some ministers and MPS are biggots. Biggots do not care whether ur happy or unhappy about the election. They are only concerned on their state's coming foreign development commision.
Biggots, in a nutshell, do not care.
We are surely idiots if we think greedy parasites will leave their parasitical fangs from our rights and leave, out of good will.
There are other ways, smart liberating ways to educate the public about fair game, and expressing resentment by means of illegal rallying is out of the question. Sure it is effective, it's good propaganda. But is it eye-opening? Does it seperate the truths from the clamors of rumours.
The BERSIH rally was for sure a sign of desperation. It was a cry from people who could not speak anymore. Although I wasn't there (still am not, mind) in the lead up to the rally, and was unaware about it until I was told by my folks (gee, thanks, NST, for your unbiased coverage), and true, people have questioned, why appeal to the Agong, who obviously wields such little power in the country, and remains a monarch purely out of tradition?
Maybe the exhibitionism was the angle they were aiming for. You know, make a stand -- let those 'greedy parasites' (although 'parasite' indicates that it's a natural, inherent condition, rather than one that is fixable) know that the rakyat have had enough of the bullshit. I mean, I can understand when people take to the streets - what else can a continually oppressed voice, and of the masses, at that, do against a growing autocratic 'democracy'?
Take to the streets and prove that people still think something of a 'fair go'.
And while selfish bigots may remain selfish bigots, not all was lost. Some people, apathetic as they were, admitted that the rally made them think about the country's politics.
And while we're on the topic of change, dude, what do you seriously hope for the ruling government, eh? That some good samaritan with a thing for politics and diplomacy and a way up the social ladder can spark changes from the inside?
One only has to look at Anwar Ibrahim, and know that Malaysia, oh tanah airku, is far too gone to even hope for such an ideal.
As someone who sees protests held every. single. week. in Melbourne, it definitely rubs me the wrong way when a gathering of more than 5 people is labelled 'illegal' in my home country. Habis, yang lepak kat kedai kopi tu, haram jugak ke?
Last Saturday, the rest of the world laughed at us. And judging from a mock-news show I watched two nights back, they still are.
Next time I see some blonde Melayu with skinny jeans and a cigg, I might have some sympathy for them. Who can blame them for not wanting to seem Malaysian?
Patriotism has its limits.
How do you look Malaysian?
Heh.
I'm rooting for the ruling government, mainly UMNO and Pas. Why? Because they simply have a strong organizational foundation. That's it.
Say there's Wellesley College, a college for women that were super conservative during the fifties. It is a fantastic combination, women intuition and arts but Wellesly once made it clear it was against liberal arts. Some scholars decided to set up their own institution and others joined Wellesley and changed the college's stance on liberal arts slowly, but surely.
And now, Wellesley is the source of epidemy of liberal arts.
Tengtedengggg....
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