Memahami Bersih- Bahagian 1

 

Saya telah menulis beberapa artikel mengenai Bersih dalam Bahasa Inggeris. Inginlah saya membuat suatu artikel dalam Bahasa Melayu pula supaya mudah mudahan isiu sebenar nya dapat di fahami.

Semua orang mahukan PRU yang bersih. PM Najib pun besyarah berapi api sehingga merah padam dan bersembur air liur, dia tidak mahu menang dengan cara tipu dan muslihat. Kita mengalu ngalukan keberanian PM kita. Tabik!

Sebab itu, 8 tuntutan yang di pelopori oleh Bersih, kita sokong. Kita bukan sokong siapa disebalik gerakan Bersih tersebut. Perkara yang di majukan itu kita sokong. Penglibatan parti pembangkang dalam gerakan Bersih jangan di jadikan alasan tuntutan tersebut tidak boleh di terima. Come on lah- takkan ini jawapan dari pengerusi SPR. Standard lah sikit Tan Sri.

Tuntutan Bersih tidak perlu di takuti. Hanya orang yang mampu menang dengan cara kotor sahaja yang takutkan PRU yang bersih.

Sebagai contoh: perimintaan untuk mendapat waktu siaran berkempen di udara adalah suatu yang munasabah. Sebab rakyat mahukan pimpinan dan kerajaan yang terbaik. Kita mahu mendengar buah fikiran oleh semua yang bertanding dalam PRU supaya kita boleh mengadili mereka dengan saksama.

Kita amat suka, jika Ibrahim Ali misalnya, di beri peluang bercakap 15 minit di TV supaya semua yang berminat untuk mengundi Ibrahim dapat dengar kehandalan Ibrahim Ali. Sebagai seorang panglima tentu Ibrahim Ali tidak gentar untuk memperlihatkan kehandalan serta bakat nya.

Pemimpin kerajaan pun dapat peluang yang sama. Dapat lah mereka menyampaikan dasar dan wawasan mereka. Dapat juga kita analisa standard pemimpin kita. Kita nak dengar anak Dr Mahathir bercakap. Hebat tak dia dari KJ contohnya?

Berpandukan prestasi mereka mereka ini, PM pun senang nak lantik siapa kedalam cabinet. Bukankah objektif kita hari ini, ialah untuk memastikan pimpinan yang terbaik menerajui negara? Banyak faedah boleh di hasilkan jika kita mendapat pimpinan ber-standard tinggi.

Semua tuduhan negatif kepada perserta perarakan bersih tempoh hari adalah sebahagian dari indoktrinasi dan brainwashing oleh media kerajaan. Yang demikian, janganlah kita terlalu susah hati. Sebab cara kerajaan menangani Bersih lebih banyak bodoh dari cerdiknya.

Almaklumlah, kebanyakan buah fikiran dan cara penyelesaian nya datang dari bekas wartawan yang sudah putus haidz yang sub-standard sebenarnya. Tapi oleh sebab mereka ada rakan rakan dan koneksi dalam pejabat PM, dapatlah mereka menjaja ilmu yang tak seberapa mereka itu.

Sebagai contoh: kalau lah benar cara menangani Bersih adalah seperti yang di karang oleh Jalil Hamid, maka standard nya amat menyedihkan. Sebab apabila di baca, kesan paling pantas dan lansung ialah mengalienasi sokongan dari golongan atas pagar dan mereka yang membaca antara baris tulisan. Orang akan meluat dan loya tekak dengan cara yang di anjurkan. Dia baca buku propaganda Bolshevik ke? Atau Propaganda for Dummies ke? agak nya target audiens Jalil Hamid ialah budak sekolah rendah. Darjah 1 hingga darjah 6.

Saya berharap orang orang kerajaan menyedari bahawa sekarang ini maklumat yang di sampaikan oleh media arus perdana- sama ada berbentuk audio visual atau citak, sukar hendak di percayai masyarakat.

Ini kerana mereka melihat permainan spin dari pengamal media sub-standard yang terdiri dari bekas wartawan dan mereka yang menganggap diri mereka legenda dalam benak mereka sendiri. Jadi, orang yang sudah tamat tempoh hayat hidup( past shelf lives) akan di ambil semula berkerja di akhbar2 dan insitusi media yang lain. Dari tempat kerja mereka, mereka menjalankan penjajaan mereka meng-kondisi pemikiran rakyat. Fakta nya, apa yang mereka spin dan putar alam, sukar hendak di terima bulat2.

Negara kita ini ketandusan bakat ke?

Baru baru ini, kita mendengar interview PM Najib dengan John Defterious. Dulu mamat ni kerja dengan CNN. Dia kemudian nya menubuhkan syarikat PR nya sendiri. Khidmat dan barangan yang di jaja nya ialah pembikinan feature interview – seperti yang di lakukan kepada PM kita.

Apa yang dia jual ialah PR space yang berjuta Ringgit yang kemudian nya di jual kepada media penyiaran top top seperti CNN atau Chanel News Asia yang berpangkalan di Singapura. Maka rakyat Malaysia akan terlopong lah bila mendapat perkhabaran PM kita bercakap dengan CNN. Oleh kerana siaran tersebut di bayar oleh kerajaan dengan nilai jutaan Ringgit, kita pun boleh cakap apa sahaja. Skrip yang disediakan oleh Defterios tentulah sudah di persetujui terlebih dahaulu.

Maka, apa yang terjadi sebenarnya? Yang terjadi ialah kita di sajikan dengan interview yang farcical yang berpihak berat sebelah. Penyiaran melalui CNN atau CNA di lihat sebagai memberikan respectability. Well, ianya suatu respectable farce.

Kita pun sedia maklum, PM Najib menggaji ramai bekas wartawan yang sudah pun menopause. Pejabat PM tambahan pula full of characters yang melihat beberapa perkerja impot sebagai bakat yang maha handal. Memang benar lah seperti dalam cerita A Passage to India, dalam babak peguam mendakwa Dr Azeez, peguam Mat Salih tu berkata- it is an axiom, all over the world, colored people will look up to the Caucasians.

Mamat yang inferiority complex ni ramai kat Pejabat PM. Sebagai contoh, kalau diri sendiri tak berapa pandai dalam Bahasa Inggeris, maka si fulan dan si fulanah yang cakap English macam bertih akan di lihat sebagai manusia luar biasa. Perkerja mat salih apatah lagi. Kalau ada anak perempuan mahu di jadikan menantu.

Kita tahu orang orang ini ply their trade kepada small minds yang memandang kepada Caucasians sebagai manusia luar biasa. Ini menyebabkan apa sahaja pakej PR yang di jual akan di beli dengan jutaan Ringgit. Kita semua tahu berapa juta kerajaan  membayar orang orang seperti APCO dan lain lain.

Saya rasa sudah tiba lah kita berjiwa besar dan menampakkan kepada dunia kita ada jati diri yang kental. Banyak mana lah pandai nya matlaon di APCO atau berapa pandai sangatlah orang seperti Alex Furguson yang menjadi perantaraan pelanggan dengan John Defterious. Kenapa kita harus membayar juaan Ringgit kepada mamat mamat ni hanya untuk menipu rakyat?

Tweet

Read more...

Untamable Bersih- part 2, understanding it.

 

Some spell it as tamable. Others as tameable. The fact remains, the marchers cannot be tamed and though battered and aspersed, remained unbowed and honorable.

How do we make sense and explain the actions that took place after Bersih ? Let's have our own debriefing session lest we agonized over how the media characterized our fellow citizens who marched on the 9th of July. On the whole, I think, those people who marched towards stadium merdeka on the 9th of July before being horribly set upon by the Police with tear gas and chemical-laced water sprays, are good honorable and public spirited people.

They carried no Parangs and other assortment of dangerous weapons which were displayed by the Police a few weeks ago and which looked suspiciously bought from a same single supplier. Perhaps one person was assigned to purchase the 'weapons' from a single supplier and then, the cache was displayed before all. Logic would have it that if the weapons were owned by different people, they would be of a jumbled up lot. Here an axe, there a pisau, over here a parang, over there a catapult. Where were the Molotov cocktails?

Samad Said the Nobel Laureate whose earliest novel Salina I read a long time ago could hardly be described a subversive or crook. Khalid Samad? Haji Hadi? These people consisted of ordinary people from all walks of lives- pensioners, taxi drivers, writers, lawyers. They are just plain public spirited individuals.

The bersih marchers are not street mobs on a rampage of looting spree. They are peaceful marchers making a statement about how elections are run in this country. But as usual UMNO and the government like to claim and exercise ownership on the bad things. So any attacks against the bad things owned by the government are taken as attacks against lawful government and therefore require punishment. The punishment came in baton wallops, water cannons ejecting chemical-laced water, tear gas and physical abuse. All these are of course mild treatment from our own chaps in blue.

If we read and listened to the pliant print and audio visual media machine, all those who participated in the Bersih march are subversives, traitors, and dummies. These people are tools for Lim Kit Siang, mules for Anwar Ibrahim, digits directed by Indians, especially that minachi named Ambiga. Those marchers and those who write in support for the Bersih cause will all perish. UMNO will triumph and those causing trouble will be punished.

How does the government explain Bersih?

1)    Bersih is an outlaw organization used as a front by opposition politicians and politicians who have lost credibility.

2)    Bersih is just a ploy by Anwar Ibrahim to revive his image.

3)    Bersih is a subversive effort by people to unseat the government unlawfully.

4)    Bersih is a strategy by non-Malays and foreign agents to destroy the Malay government.

5)    Bersih is anti-Islam.

This is the story that is going to retold over and over gain in kampong and villages.

Bersih 1 took place so many years ago. The previous Home Minister must have slept through his job, whoever he was. Perhaps at that time, he was busier overseeing the processing of immigrant workers from Nepal, Bangladesh and Indonesia.

Bersih who did the same thing as the intended one on the 9th of July, wasn't outlawed? The answer can only be straight and simple- simply because, it never contained any crook elements. This time, the government is more creative- first they discovered an assortment of weapons, then the NGO was outlawed. There was also an attempt to picture the marchers as communists because some posters of Shamsiah Fakeh were discovered. I thought some time ago, Utusan Malaysia hailed Shamsiah Fakeh as a freedom fighter? Bersih was also hinted on as a front for foreign powers and it received funding abroad.

Why would the Agong be allowed to meet up with representatives of an outlawed organization and why would the PM be willing to discuss with an outlawed organization?

The outlawing of Bersih smacks the use of unbridled discretionary power. If Bersih is outlawed, then it must have contained elements that were outlaw-able right from the beginning. That it was outlawed on the eve of the 9th of July March would suggest that, the decision to do so was done maliciously as it was unprincipled. This is the reason why Bersih was outlawed – to justify the actions intended upon the marchers.

Understanding why they were set upon then, would help marchers dispel any notions that they were crooks or subversive elements. These people are not crooks but participants and supporters to a cause espoused by a hastily and peculiarly outlawed organization.

The hidden agenda is, by outlawing Bersih, it will be possible for the government to declare whatever Bersih wanted to do such as declaring the participants and the organizers, en bloc as law breakers. As law breakers, they are subject to the laws governing crowd control and public disturbance. It will be easy henceforth to justify any actions against the marchers and organizers in accordance to the law.

I think the mainstream media is overplaying this point. There were elaborate attempts to show Bersih as a means to restore Anwar's sagging fortunes. Hence Utusan Malaysia gave coverage about Anwar's involvement in the rally. But this was truly and actually wasn't about Anwar anymore. If he feigned his injury, wearing the familiar neck brace and looking almost dead on the hospital bed, he must have gotten a miraculous recovery for the very same night he was in his element at the PKNS stadium in Kelana Jaya.

Everyone saw he fell down while negotiating somewhere after leaving his presidential suite at KL Hilton. Tian Chua was mobilizing marchers who stampeded through police cordon and in the melee, Anwar fell down. I am almost near to saying; Anwar was actually a liability in the Bersih Rally.

I am sure; the Police must have been instructed not to touch the 91 people classified persona non grata in KL on the 9th of July. The same cannot be said of the nameless but determined marchers on that day. Being nameless gave the Police a freer hand to deal at their discretion. Excessive force was applied on these people.

Let's push the argument further. Even if Anwar leveraged on the Bersih March, does association with Anwar make the march illegal? Somehow it must be wrong if Anwar is involved. Let's not forget that Anwar has paid a heavy cost for his 1 Sodomy. He has not been convicted yet and therefore technically must be presumed innocent.

Anwar Ibrahim is a former deputy PM and is currently battling legal charges and is on trial. Association with Anwar who is maligned with all sort of dirty description does not make Bersih and its cause any less honorable. Anwar's case is his and his alone- it does not pollute the cause of Bersih marchers. Hence, there is no shame for the marchers, if others accused the marchers as Anwar's mules. Anwar's presence does not diminish Bersih nor besmirch the honor of marchers.

Let's try to make some sense about how the government responded. Anwar was factored in the rally. First-hand accounts were elicited from international tourists. Traders and travellers were solicited for their comments. The whole rally was classified as haram. It caused great hardships to traders who lost business and the daily life disrupted. Bersih is an insidious ploy by non-Malays to undermine the Malay government.

Why is the government doing all these rather elaborately? The answer is it's all part of the mind conditioning process of the public. It's trying to isolate the Bersih marchers as some foreign substance to prevent it from becoming some integral element of a civil society.

But here is the thing. Spontaneous and voluntary banding up together is an important ingredient of a civilized and democratic society. Only 3rd world despots who are natural anti democracy respond the way the government did. Use batons and other harsh treatments on its own citizens.

Is Bersih an agenda for non-Malays to dislodge the Malays from political power? The bitter and inconvenient truth is the majority who marched with Bersih the other day were Malays. That makes the debatable fact that the rally was planned by Indians and that Malays are being used, insignificant.

The cause and the beliefs underlying the resolve to march with Bersih are more important. That the elections Commission hasn't been up to standard in ensuring elections are and are seen as clean was and shall remain the main objective. It wasn't about overthrowing the government though street actions. People marched because they are motivated by real concerns.

Why is the government afraid of electoral reforms? Everyone seems confident that the government will be returned with a bigger majority. The victory will be more honorable if it wins with integrity. The issue of postal voting is insignificant. Those in the service vote earlier because of operational reasons and the election process is done under watchful eyes. Representatives of political parties are present during the voting and vote counting process.

Why should aliens be given citizenship and rights to vote in order to ensure victory for certain people? The bigger issue here, how come they get citizenship with such ease and so large a number?

On TV, we were shown interviews with a few Caucasians. They were inconvenienced they said. The inconvenience of 2 or 3 Caucasians is considered to create a jarring impact on Malaysia? Their pedantic views are irrelevant; as though they are not inconvenienced by other things. Many of us had to waddle through crawling traffic. Come, interview us, we will tell you another story.

Our opinions, coming out as Malaysians are definitely more important than two backpacking Caucasians. The two Indian tourists said they had to go to bed starving. Were they going for a particular type of food that can't be found elsewhere?

We were of course made to listen to excerpted interviews. If these kwailos come from western democracies, they are not altogether strangers to marches and demonstrations. Everyone get inconvenienced especially those who want to use the same route.

The impression represented by the kwailos is irrelevant to Malaysia. Caucasian tourists will still come to Malaysia. All Ng Yen Yen needs to do, is to flash out on her expensive Facebook, routes to be avoided by the kwailos. Better still, redirect them to Jalan Alor so that they can have a good time there and thereafter form a better impression on Malaysia. Then we will hear satisfied testimonies of Oh yeah baby, oh yeah baby, give it to me baby reverberate around the world. Petite Asian babes are anytime preferable than Showamaru-able Caucasian mevrouws.

It's all part of the mind conditioning strategies of the print and audio visual media industry. Interviews with the Caucasians and the horny looking Egyptian will be exploited to show people that tourism in Malaysia will be affected. Ng Yen Yen came out with her usual condescending explanation of how much we lost in terms of tourist revenue. If we earn RM 30 billion over a month, a loss in one day's revenue is RM 1 billion, she will boom in her usual speech giving style as though she's talking to stupidas. We will teach you a lesson in Raub , nyonya.

Tweet

Read more...

Untamable Bersih- 1

The object of derision and concern is the Elections Commission. How does the government respond? They did so by demonizing the Bersih Rally. The PM went a step further and went on his, well now predictable, charm offensive. The business people complaining on TV3 about lost business would also not be doing good business on a normal day. But their grievance is now useful to the government because it can be used as testimony that the rally caused severe economic hardships.

The Egyptian tourist who talked about something similar happening in Cairo some weeks ago was probably looking for a good time in Bukit Bintang. He was also probably searching for Dato Eskay whom he may have heard can arrange for a good time for horny Egyptians.

What about those who made a roaring business because marchers were hungry and thirsty? Ask the 'mother of fish head curry' shop how much business they made that day? What about the vendor selling cold drinks on that hot day?

We will allow that president of the mamak eateries to state how much he can make in one day and then we will let the JHDN calculate whether he has been paying taxes on that daily revenue.

One day after the Bersih rally, the UMNO President came out with possibly his most forceful speech to date. He spoke with such intensity, vehemence and vigor and would surely succeed in inspiring the UMNO faithfuls. We have a fighting president after all. He seems almost believable.

He has thus redeemed himself- to be forceful and firm as demanded by Ibrahim Ali. Let's see how the UMNO president manages his new found vigorousness against the competing demands by anti Bersih online petitioners asking him to take stern action against Bersih organizers and the petitioners demanding his resignation. Will the intensity that aided him during his fiery speech helped him on?

Bersih has taken a life of its own and would have become what it became even if Ambiga wasn't around. Isn't it embarrassing for anyone to respond to Ambiga by asking her title be taken back and even her citizenship be revoked? Isn't this a sign of shallowness and an example of pitiable pettiness?

How would I understand his explosive speech? In order to properly place that speech in its context, we need to understand what Bersih has evolved into. Bersih started with its 8 demands on electoral reforms. That shouldn't scare UMNO in the first place. No problem with postal voting because violation on postal voting isn't as widespread as it was a long time ago. Unless of course the candidates' representatives during the voting and counting process were sleeping.

There should not be any problem even if voting is made compulsory on reaching 21 years of age. Cleaning up the electoral roles off dead people shouldn't be much of a problem because this is more administrative and technical. Making voting transparent shouldn't be a problem too.

The big issues are always money politics and Gerry meandering, and phantom voters. Thousands of people in Sabah are being issued IDs with addresses in Kelantan! Now this is a problem.

Gerry-meandering is a real problem. It seems that UMNO can only ensure it has more reps in parliament by creating more parliamentary seats of maybe with 5,000 voters per constituent. Hence an UMNO MP represents 5,000 people, while his opposite number represents 30,000 people. The UMNO MP represents the same number if that number includes 10,000 police and 10,000 army voters.

What has Bersih become? To me Bersih has come to represent the people's willingness to translate beliefs into action. That's what is troubling the UMNO president. Bersih represents willful readiness to translate articulation into action. The shocking thing is, he couldn't detect the same voluntariness and missionary zeal among UMNO people! No money no move.

In response, he came out with his fiery speech upon pressing the panic button.

Which silent majority is he talking? How would we categorize the more than 100,000 people asking him to resign? Maybe they are the silent subversives, anti-Malay, and anti-Islam and so on. Perhaps even traitors.

Here is another troubling thing for me. The Agong to whom everyone pledges allegiance and loyalty has ruled for conciliation. Yet the Home Minister countermanded that rule by unleashing security forces on peaceful marchers. Did the Police find any weapons among Bersih supporters that day?

I am sure, the video clip showing the man who eventually died after participating in the rally whose handcuffs were taken off only in the ambulance, will be played over and over again in the next coming general elections. The opposition already has a weapon. A portent one more worrisome that Anwar's black eye!

Anwar Ibrahim? He was largely incidental in the Bersih rally because the Bersih rally actually and truly wasn't about him. If he participated in the rally because of some personal motives, who are we to fault him on that? At least he wasn't as stupid as ex ITM guy who went around telling people that Bersih is really about overthrowing a Malay government. 70% of the rally participants were Malays!

Now, the number who attended the promptly arranged special penerangan session by UMNO was 6000 as claimed the organizers. I am thinking this impromptu congregation was planned by the backroom boys and the PM's strategists; only they could come out with this magical number! Definitely it wasn't planned by the UMNO Information chief. We couldn't give too much credit to Ahmad Maslan the UMNO information chief.

Except it also got me thinking- hmm, the number is almost the same as the figure attributed to the Bersih marchers. How come the number of marchers seems to fill up whole streets and stadiums, yet the number are still 6000? The number of delegates to any UMNO General assembly at any one time is around 2500. That means, around 3500 were standing on the balcony in the hall. It's a miracle with that big an attendance; the building didn't collapse under the collective weight. But it's been 4 years I have not attended the UMNO general assembly, maybe they have enlarged the space.

The UMNO president was talking to his flock. So, we should not over read the significance. You MUST sound fighting among your own people lest morale is lost. Even if 6000 attended, that's still not a number than can win votes. That represents a miniscule proportion of Malay voters.

So, let's remind my UMNO friends of the number. In 2008, there were 5.7 million Malay voters. How many did UMNO candidates get? UMNO got 2.38 million votes. Assuming 380,000 votes came from non-Malays, UMNO candidates got only 2 million votes.

That's strange. UMNO got 3.5 million members, yet it got only 2 million votes? If we assume that all the 2 million votes came from UMNO members, then 1.5 million UMNO members did not vote UMNO candidates for 1001 reasons.

Therefore I am not easily impressed when the UMNO president said, if we want, we can have 3 million marchers. Unless they are bussed into the city, given a t shirt maybe two for the missus back home, a packet of lamb or chicken mandi, RM 50 pocket money and a night's stay at Chow Kit. 

correction: see para on handcuffs. 

Tweet

Read more...

Bersih- the humbling of government

And then the whole country erupts into chaos. This is what I'm worried about. The government also keeps flip-flopping on whether it will allow the rally to go on or not. It needs to rule with a firmer hand!"

Now Ibrahim Ali is making sense. The whole country erupts into chaos because this country hasn't got a firm leadership.

But how does Ibrahim Ali define firm? By applying the big stick on Ambiga? On Bersih? It seems according to Ibrahim, general of Perkasa, Malay of the Malays, the government is firm only if they lock up Ambiga (who's trying to undermine the Malays, who is a threat to Islam etc.). The government is firm only when it does the bidding of Ibrahim Ali.

It depends who is defining what. Some people will say the government is firm if it arrests Ibrahim Ali and leaders of martial arts groups who subvert the legal apparatuses of coercion in this country- the police and the military. By not reigning in the forces of 'our 3^rd line of defense' the government is sending messages that other groupings can elevate their questionable statuses into respectable 3^rd line defense forces.

Pekida the shadowy group of Malay enforcers can, in future become one too. Toh Peh Kong group emerging from the bowels of Jinjang can become one. The Red Thali group from some estate somewhere can also become one.

Friends coming into the city called me in the wee hours of the morning lamenting of the traffic snarls. Surprisingly, they are blaming the police for causing the hardships in their daily routine. If people have not been paying attention to Bersih these past two weeks, today, they are asking one another what is Bersih?

The past two weeks, the government hasn't developed and earned a positive characterization; it is largely vilified as incompetent and confused in its responses. Here Hishamudin made some noises- eventually outlawing Bersih. There Muhyidin was spewing statements of no consequence.

Najib is fox-trotting with whatever came to his mind at the moment; first by sounding accommodative and willing to allow Bersih to do their thing in a stadium. Then backtracking because he wasn't aware that cousin Hisham has outlawed the NGO.

Hisham was bolder saying that despite being granted an audience with the King, the organization remains an outlawed entity. The King means nothing. Probably the King is fed-up of the whole messy and the make-it-up-as-you-go responses of the government.

The object of public concern is the conduct of the elections commission. Bersih represents the voice of the people who demand only 8 simple things from the election commission. They demand the electoral roll be cleaned, that the postal voting system be reformed, that indelible ink be used, a minimum 21 day campaign period be instated, free and fair access to media for all be provided, public institutions be strengthened, and for corruption as well as dirty politics to be stopped.

 

But these, say Ibrahim Ali, proxy of UMNO and Malay of the Malays, are actually disguises aimed at undermining the rule of the Malays, Malay rulers and whatever is of concern to the Malays.

The first and probably the only strategy UMNO and its supporters know is tocast aspersions on Bersih. Dig up any dirt you can find; destroy the credibility of the witness. Make him out as a fiend and traitor and all that. Hence Bersih is communist inspired because some photographs of Shamsiah Fakeh were found; Bersih is out to cause injury and bloodshed because some weapons(usually the stock in trade of secret societies) were found. Maybe the Police will be kind enough to allow inspection whether some items already in their inventory, were booked out temporarily to show the public the cache of arms belonging to Bersih?

Funny thing, people should start thinking why was Ambiga (that woman who is out to cause trouble and a threat to Islam) was able to meet up the King who is the head of the Islamic religion. Who is Ibrahim Ali to tell the king who he should or should not meet? Then I remember Nazri Aziz saying of Ibrahim Ali- he is nothing, nobody listens to him.

The government's ability in crisis management is now suspect. It put up a proxy fight through that pompous windbag from Pasir Mas and probably attempted to intimidate people through the show of force by 50,000 or whatever figures that can be conjured by one Silat Grandmaster. Didn't this person at one time stood as candidate opposing the BN at one point?

One son of the Linchah Grandmaster is an exco member of Pemuda UMNO who must have used his father's organization to scare the rally participants. I asked one fight trainer to the Police force what he thought about using martial arts groups for prop effects; he laughed it away by saying you think all silat opponents are lion hearted? Maybe 3 out of 10 will brave any onslaughts. You think they can withstand the forces of the moral majority? Silat proponents have conscience too.

The generals behind Mubarak and Zainal Abideen employed the might of the military forces. They can't forever strike at their own brothers and sisters. How can you even compare 50,000 martial arts experts to the well-equipped army of Mubarak and Zainal Abideen.

Here is a lesson painfully obvious. Once people are not intimidated with the show of force, your days are numbered.

We can spin till kingdom come about the willingness of the King to meet up with Ambiga. As one buffoon of a minister said, doing the hair splitting stuff- oh, the king met Ambiga in her capacity of a person. The king does not meet Bersih. However you say it, the people will say the King recognizes Ambiga as the leader of Bersih- whether that organization has been outlawed or not. She and what she represents is of some consequence.

Bersih is recognized while Ibrahim Ali, UMNO's proxy is not. To push the incredulity of the minister's twisted statement further- Ibrahim Ali, in person or representing a lawful society doing unlawful things isn't recognized. The government should outlaw Perkasa.

I would like to ask UMNO people, why do we support Ibrahim Ali who is not even an UMNO member? He has no moral standing to speak about the Malays in a space where it is UMNO who is claiming a monopoly to speak on and about Malays. If Ibrahim Ali is given that freedom, then by default UMNO accepts that it's no longer the sole and voice of choice for Malays.

What about those who insist- never mind, things will get back to normal for UMNO. We will let those who have no inkling about what's developing in the minds of the people, continue to think that by some miraculous act, UMNO will regain the ground that it lost, without doing anything substantial about it. What they have done is to psyche themselves into delusion.

This mistake is probably due to misreading history. In the history of revolutions and changes on the social and political scene, the catalytic forces of change always start in the towns and cities. Change is always started by progressive elements which are usually associated with towns and cities. Hence the consoling and self-patting assertions that, oh, this Bersih agenda will not be of any consequence because it doesn't affect the majority in the countryside, will be proven to be fallacious. Unfortunately this kind of torpid thinking seems to dominate UMNO's outlook.

Who keeps flip-flopping Ibrahim? I thought this was the moniker used to describe Pak Lah, our previous PM. He was OUR previous PM right- the one most UMNO people prostrate before and who was once carried on the shoulders of his staunch supporters when he won the Vice President's post at a time when Dr Mahathir wanted him booted out?

But then I realized that Ibrahim Ali is taking about our current PM. This was what Ibrahim Ali said. Now, this is the man who UMNO counts upon to help out when it feels hapless. This is a serious thing, for it suggests UMNO hasn't got leadership. When the PM reaches out to martial groups, imploring them to defend the nation from enemies from within, it shows that not only UMNO hasn't got leadership but it hasn't got responsible leadership.

This will serve to prove that all those talk about 1 Malaysia are all rhetoric. When the country is in trouble is should turn to the sanctity of the law of the land not to people like Ibrahim Ali or some martial arts group. Ibrahim Ali says it as much- the leader of this country is flip-flopping.

Tweet

Read more...

BERSIH and the inane responses

This present government has developed one distinguishing characteristic not unlike the previous administration. If the previous administration was maligned as being uninspiring and sleeping through its job, this present government isn't that far from being similarly aspersed. How so?

It has shown it has a knack of being inept at handling small shocks to the system. Many of us for example are not supporters of Anwar Ibrahim, but the manner the government handles the Anwar affairs- whether it's the sodomy 2 charge or the recent video clip showing a person resembling Anwar in a sexual tryst, the administration has shown its ineptness and incompetence.

In the video clip affair for example, people see the court as being a manipulated instrument to serve the interest of the siting government. The court has allowed itself to be the pulpit for making political statements; lawyers representing the three people accused of possession and distribution or broadcasting pornographic material, used that occasion to declare the authenticity of the video and its main actor. How was it relevant and moreover we heard it through a secondary source- i.e. regurgitation from the defense lawyers. That become hearsay evidence and can be contested.

Its Anwar again this time having his hands tied behind and walloped defenselessly. Last time it was the physical black eye. This time it is the legal black eye. The last time, it nearly cost the loss of Najib in Pekan, this time it could probably cost more to UMNO as a whole.

The current shock to the system- a system made merry by numerous announcements of projects by the PM and his chief major domo in this field of auta-mania, Idris Jala, is how the government handles the Bersih NGO. 

This is an NGO led by a Malaysian Indian lady by the name of S Ambiga. This lady has managed to rattle almost all the top guns in UMNO and those wishing they were part of UMNO.

Ibrahim Ali is responding mindlessly justifying his conduct as an answer to his interpretation of Bersih as being a movement to (1) unseat the government and (2) attacking the position of Malays. So he steps in as the self-appointed warrior defending the position of Malays. He says he is willing to be murderous and warned the Chinese to stay away. But he hasn't asked his Chinese business backers to do the same.

Bersih was a godsend re-invigorating Ibrahim Ali from an otherwise political stupor. He now has an issue and Ibrahim Ali lives.

But why is Ibrahim Ali defending the UMNO led government? Ibrahim Ali is not even an UMNO member. Two, has UMNO not got enough warrior politicians to defend it in its hour of need? UMNO does not need Ibrahim Ali to speak for the party. If it does, then the warrior politicians in UMNO have since become eunuchs.

The other reason for attacking Bersih as a movement to endanger Malays and Malay interests is too far-fetched to be dignified by answering it.

Who is the right mind will entertain the idea of unseating the government through undemocratic means? The only one that did, were the UMNO politicians who engineered the downfall of the Perak PR government. Already there are signs that the Perak government will be retaken by the PR forces.

Ambiga and the Bersih people must be absent minded or must have suffered a bout of spontaneous amnesia to not be aware that Governments can be unseated only though democratic means, that is by way of free and fair elections. Therefore to seriously suggest that Bersih is a copycat version of the mass movements in Tunisa and Egypt is not acceptable.

Our response becomes more bizarre when the discovery of the portrait of Shamsiah Fakeh among Bersih rally paraphernalia is taken as proof that Bersih is communist inspired! The whole handling becomes even more macabre with the 'discovery' of weapons said to belong to Bersih would be participants. Oh yes. Oh yes- more of the incompetence. The discovery is a miracle to happen just before the planned rally. I hope the people masterminding the discovery will also be ready with some creative answers to tell the PM, how the weapons were 'planted' there. How convenient! The gods must be smiling at the politicians and police.

And now the investigation into the finances of Bersih shall be used as proof that Bersih is a Trojan horse for foreign subversion. That would probably provide an aphrodisiac for the recuperating Dr Mahathir who is a well-known opponent of any form of colonialism.

People may get inspired by those movements but were probably so without seriously entertaining the idea of unseating a government by undemocratic or violent means. Public opinion will certainly go against Bersih if that is the case. Ambiga will be lynched for that.

But the aims of Bersih are not that. By asking the elections commission to conduct itself properly shows that Bersih accepts that the means to unseat a government is through the voting system. But the voting system is in need of better supervision and that's where the demands on the election commission come to the fore.

This aim should be supported. Some people will show their support by participating in the rally. Some will not do so. It's a matter of choice.

The right to express their wishes must be upheld by the government. If Perkasa and other groups supportive of the sitting government are allowed to gather and demonstrate, that right must also be given to others. If the Bersih planned rally is wrong in law, then the same judgment applies to the rallies carried out by supporters of the sitting government.

Our laws are clear. If people break the law, irrespective of who they are, they must be brought to before the forces of the law. We have the institutions to deal with that and we certainly don't need a third line of defense. Can any secret society and gangster organizations apply to be a bona-fide 3^rd line of defense?

The problem here is that the elections commission is seen as a pliant tool for one side of the contestants. It doesn't answer questions with solutions but gives all sorts of excuses. People accept the principle of elections as a means to establish governments. But they also want that means to be above board. They accept they are powerless unless they act collectively and speak as a voice. The powerless are striking back demanding that competition to get power to form governments be carried out fairly and in even handed manners.

The body that oversees elections is conducted fairly and transparently is the elections commission. We mustn't lose sight of the object of the current disputes now. Bersih's objective is to call upon the election commissions to conduct itself as it's chartered to do. This isn't a rally threatening the sovereignty of the Agong or to strike fear at Malays.

The election commission is an independent commission. It's not just another government department answerable to the Chief Secretary or even to the PM. It's the custodian of fair and transparent conduct of elections and it must guard this role jealously. It does so jealously from the meddling and intervention of interested parties. It must also rid itself of any perceptions of being a submissive tool for those holding power at the moment.

Its responses to criticisms therefore mustn't be evasive. It has to avail itself to the latest methods and technology that upgrade the participation of people in an electoral process. If the use of indelible ink is good for participatory democracy it must adopt the method as a natural development without having to be at pains defending its non-usage. If making voting compulsory and its cost effective doing so, then it must do so.

People are now diverting their attention to debating whether the planned assembly of people in the Bersih Rally should be allowed or otherwise. The real issue has and is always the conduct of the elections commission.

The watching majority must be dismayed at the response of our police. The police with all the sophisticated instruments of crowd control and other suppressive means appear to have admitted that they are powerless to control the crowds. What have we spent public money for then? The idea of a police is to keep the peace. In keeping the peace, it must conduct its business in a professional manner and be fair minded. If Bersih is not allowed to hold rallies, then other parties must also be disallowed.

In Penang, the police have given permit for some people to hold a rally? In Rembau, some people consisting of ex policemen were given permit? Ibrahim Ali was even given a permit to denounce a rally that has not taken place. He is a clairvoyant extraordinaire- can see the future. In ancient times, people like Ibrahim Ali got burnt at the stakes. Shall we roast Ibrahim Ali then?

Let's not forget the object of the issue. It's the election commission. It answers to the Agong and therefore should not be seen as working for an interested party. What's the problem with clearing the electoral registers off dead people? How can it apply its resources and time to restructure how postal votes can be seen to be fair and transparent? How can it monitor and apply strict rules to election spending and election funding etc.?

These are important issues to those looking at elections as a means to exercise their democratic rights to elect a government of their choice. This isn't an issue whether public demonstrations or going on a march as practices that are good only elsewhere but not suitable in Malaysia. The need to express publicly the collective wants and demands is part and parcel a democracy.

Tweet

Read more...

Tun Daim- The Game has changed: The real game.

Former Cabinet minister Tun Daim Zainuddin today said the obstacles facing the present day government are far removed from those just a decade ago, and old strategies are unlikely to find the success they once did.

Now, I have no direct access to Tun Daim but am in constant contact with his alter ego- someone who I characterized as The Oracle of Syed Putra. This shadowy figure has the inside track on Tun Daim's thoughts and it is to him, that I often refer to when trying to decipher what Tun Daim says.

My interest in what Tun Daim says piqued when he was proven to be prescient in his predictions in the 2008 elections. He warned the government then, that at least 5 states were in jeopardy. At the time, UMNO generally dismissed his prognoses as some ranting of a has-been and a retired politician. Some UMNO people even labeled him as having gone off his rockers.

Since then, people have taken note of what Daim says. This time he's saying and giving the same warnings to the UMNO leadership.

The top leader is impervious to the changing external environment. One thing he observes is that today's younger audiences, demanded communication that was accurate and honest, adding that this applied to businesses and governments alike.

The present generation is a questioning and informed public. Therefore the onus is on leaders of public and private sector to explain their actions. The rise of fuel price, inflation and food price globally is a good example. You can't explain these things summarily without doing more to reason things out.

So I asked The Oracle, what Tun Daim said and what was the occasion.

Tun Daim , said the Oracle recently gave a talk to senior civil servants who wanted to know of the current political scenario. It was also an opportunity for Daim to get to know the mindset of civil servants.

Here is what he said as I interpret from The Oracle.

The mindset of some civil servants is worrying. A section of the civil service is still besotted to the idea that the civil service is an island unaffected by political developments and is automatically identifiable with BN. They think, it is THEY who can determine what kind of government is voted in. hence a section of the civil servants clings to the idea that the opposition cannot govern this country because the opposition cannot factor in the high opinioned civil service.

The reality is, warned Daim, the country does not operate in accordance to this insular mindset. The civil service gets the government which the PEOPLE vote in. the people vote for a government which they want and what they want may not be in line with the civil service mentality. The role of the civil service is simply to serve the government of the day and the government of the day, is not necessarily what the civil service wants.

This small section of the civil service has better live up to the political realities that are taking hold in this country. Civil service has adapted to any government of the day that is not BN. the civil service can adapt to the government of the day in Penang, Kelantan, Selangor, Kedah. This shows, contrary to the wishes and insular opinion of some section of the civil service, it can operate under a government that isn't BN.

The national government of the day has also got to wake up to the disturbing trend that not all civil servants are for BN. the Police for example may give almost total support. But the government isn't getting total support from the military establishment for example. And there is also an increasing trend for civilian members of the civil service not to support bad policies of the government. Bad policies are read as reflecting a less than desirable government.

So, the top leadership of the present national government would be better off, abandoning rose colored spectacles which lead them thinking everything is rosy. Tun Daim may just be polite and acquiesce in the general mood of the more vocal sections of the civil servants attending his talk the other day; but it pays for everyone to listen to his private and independent views.

 

 

Tweet

Read more...

Leadership to save this country

Each time I write something uncomplimentary about Anwar, some people will say I have a blinkered view of the man. Sorry boys- never met him. Know of him, but never met. So I have no value judgment of the man.

I am afraid such counters are manifestation of empty hopes rather than hard-nosed realistic assessment. We hope somehow, through some miraculous and fortuitous turn of events, Anwar can escape the dragnet that is fast encroaching on him. Perhaps these people don't see the convergence of deliberate events that conspire to put Anwar where some people want to- behind bars. There is nothing fortuitous or happenstance about the whole thing. They are deliberate. This is real politik.

I think Anwar himself knows his days are numbered. He may probably be intimating to friends saying goodbye. Aku nak habaq selamat tinggai kat hampa semua. And the friends may have retorted jokingly by saying- lain kali hang nak bantai cina mana, hang panggil kita semua.

Here is the problem though. Anwar behind bars is as much a problem as he is outside. It will still cause BN so many seats. So the question how do we deal with Anwar?

Anwar's good fortune is brought about by the incompetence of UMNO. It messed up the video clip issue by way of mishandling it. It shouldn't have given a semblance of involvement or relationship with the video. We should have let this Eskay chap do it by himself. But the UMNO president felt compelled to meet up with Rahim Tamby Chik and Shuib Lazim, thereby giving the impression that UMNO is involved. UMNO has implied knowledge about it then, if not direct.

UMNO multiplied its stupidity by releasing clips involving Mat Sabu and the latest about Johari. Who are the ignoramuses surrounding the UMNO president?

The proximity of sequential releases of the clips would now suggest that only an organization with sufficient clout and resources can muster all the sideshows. All 10 fingers point toward UMNO. If we put up both up our legs or spread-eagle them, all 20 fingers point towards UMNO.

How do we deal with Anwar? It's not about doing something to save UMNO. It's about doing something to save the country. Anwar and all interested parties have to think about placing the country in capable hands now.

The irony is, the answer in dealing with Anwar for the purpose of saving the country lies with Anwar. Unfortunately, Anwar has no place in the equation for now at least. The best solution is for him to give up the de-facto leadership of the opposition in preference to someone else with the respectable clout. I have written some time ago, and I wasn't joking about it, perhaps the best way for Anwar to hasten the downfall of the BN government is to allow himself to be jailed. Then the government will fall and if he is jailed before the downfall, he will be out in no time.

By mid-July Anwar will know his fate. Judging from the case being built up against him, he is likely to be the government's special guest. Special guest is the title of the book once written by Aziz Ishak.

What will happen then? There will be a leadership vacuum in the opposition group. Anwar has been the unifying factor this far. He is a crowd puller but not necessarily a vote puller. If that happens, the opposition parties will have to look for a leadership material sufficiently credible and respectable to become the rallying point.

That person if one is around has to step up to assume the mantle of leadership to save this country from gross mismanagement, fraudulent management, corruption, widening income disparities, re organize institutions of governance, dispensing justice, stemming corruption and all that.

Who can that be?

Tweet

Read more...