It makes me so sad hearing from friends and acquiantances, and reading all the blog and facebook updates, of their first hand experience on how the peaceful rally quickly descended into hell. It seemed the attacks started at the point when the organisers declared Bersih 3.0 a success and asked for everyone to disperse.
There's really no need for the excessive use of force against defenseless citizens.
Read more here:
1. http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/frontpage/2012/04/30/bersih-experience/
2. http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2012/04/29/punched-slapped-kicked/
3. http://rantingsbymm.blogspot.com/2012/04/my-bersih-30-experience-behind-barbed.html#!/2012/04/my-bersih-30-experience-behind-barbed.html
4. http://www.malaysiakini.cowarm/letters/196420
5. http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/196403
6. http://legod.blogspot.com/2012/04/arrogance-breeds-contempt.html
7. http://www.malaysiandigest.com/opinion/43511-lets-tell-the-main-story-of-bersih-30.html
Sadder still, what do people remember about Bersih 3.0? Was the coffeeshop talk about the 3 demands and whether or not the point got across? Or is everyone more preoccupied with conspiracy theories on who started the chaos?
Monday, April 30, 2012
Thursday, April 26, 2012
but why?
It was with utter disgust when I read that just last week, the Parliament had passed a bill to amend the Election Offences Act 1954.
(a) Section 11(c) which had required any print materials to have the names and addresses of its printer and publisher is DELETED IN FULL;
(b) Section 14 1(a) is replaced with a clause which allows the Election Commission (EC) to appoint time slots to determine when polling agents or counting agents of a candidate may be present. Therefore the time when an agent of a candidate is allowed into the polling station is no longer fixed and is now left to the discretion of the EC to decide. They are free to remove agents from polling station at will;
(c) Section 26 1(e) which allowed for checking of the identity of any person entering a polling centre is DELETED IN FULL; and
(d) Section 26A subsection (2) and (3) are DELETED IN FULL. This means that all channels of election observation are sealed off as it now does not allow election candidates and staff to observe the registration of voters during polling day. There will be no more Barung Observers who were previously the only non-EC people able to look at the IC of the voter and pick up discrepancies.
(Source: http://bersih.org/?p=4744)
What just happened here?
It's like all this campaigning for free and fair elections had fell on deaf ears, and we are now worse off than before. Clearly, the last minute move by BN and EC to push the amendments through sought to make the election process less transparent and easier to manipulate. Clearly, they are also saying to us, "So, what can you do about this, huh?"
I'm all for Bersih 3.0. I'm ready to don my yellow shirt and march with the masses. I'm ready to suffer whatever consequences for partaking in this rally. Most of all, I'm ready for change.
But why is Bersih so adamant on Dataran Merdeka? Why is Bersih refusing to negotiate? The government has offered four other venues to hold the rally. Stadium Merdeka would be a good choice if you're aiming for historical significance and symbolism. Wasn't that the chosen venue last year before the government went back on their promise? You know they will find a way to screw things up so why not just play by their rules for a while?
What's going to happen on Saturday is anyone's guess but I would imagine the government and police would come down hard on Bersih, and they would justify it by saying Bersih did not cooperate. The circumstances surrounding this Bersih 3.0 march and last year's Bersih 2.0 march is different; last year, the government played us for fools. I just feel that if all the chaos, tear-gassing, manhandling and arrests can be avoided this round, why not. Let's not lose focus here.
Are we now fighting for free and fair elections, or fighting to occupy Dataran Merdeka? I'm in two minds over going for the march...
(a) Section 11(c) which had required any print materials to have the names and addresses of its printer and publisher is DELETED IN FULL;
(b) Section 14 1(a) is replaced with a clause which allows the Election Commission (EC) to appoint time slots to determine when polling agents or counting agents of a candidate may be present. Therefore the time when an agent of a candidate is allowed into the polling station is no longer fixed and is now left to the discretion of the EC to decide. They are free to remove agents from polling station at will;
(c) Section 26 1(e) which allowed for checking of the identity of any person entering a polling centre is DELETED IN FULL; and
(d) Section 26A subsection (2) and (3) are DELETED IN FULL. This means that all channels of election observation are sealed off as it now does not allow election candidates and staff to observe the registration of voters during polling day. There will be no more Barung Observers who were previously the only non-EC people able to look at the IC of the voter and pick up discrepancies.
(Source: http://bersih.org/?p=4744)
What just happened here?
It's like all this campaigning for free and fair elections had fell on deaf ears, and we are now worse off than before. Clearly, the last minute move by BN and EC to push the amendments through sought to make the election process less transparent and easier to manipulate. Clearly, they are also saying to us, "So, what can you do about this, huh?"
I'm all for Bersih 3.0. I'm ready to don my yellow shirt and march with the masses. I'm ready to suffer whatever consequences for partaking in this rally. Most of all, I'm ready for change.
But why is Bersih so adamant on Dataran Merdeka? Why is Bersih refusing to negotiate? The government has offered four other venues to hold the rally. Stadium Merdeka would be a good choice if you're aiming for historical significance and symbolism. Wasn't that the chosen venue last year before the government went back on their promise? You know they will find a way to screw things up so why not just play by their rules for a while?
What's going to happen on Saturday is anyone's guess but I would imagine the government and police would come down hard on Bersih, and they would justify it by saying Bersih did not cooperate. The circumstances surrounding this Bersih 3.0 march and last year's Bersih 2.0 march is different; last year, the government played us for fools. I just feel that if all the chaos, tear-gassing, manhandling and arrests can be avoided this round, why not. Let's not lose focus here.
Are we now fighting for free and fair elections, or fighting to occupy Dataran Merdeka? I'm in two minds over going for the march...