Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Rally & aftermath
- Is Malaysia in Crisis?
- Malaysia: End mass repression of pro-reform activists
- BERSIH 2.0 Australia
- Monaco’s Prince Albert II asked to pay back dodgy Malaysian donation
- Why I will walk
- Home Minister invites the 'American Dream' to Malaysia?
| Posted: 30 Jun 2011 03:07 PM PDT
As with my previous experience during the Hindraf Rally, here are a few tips and information on how the GOM will handle the Rally, the participants and Public Relations as well as conclude it. By -Vetrivel- These are the events surrounding Bersih and the Aftermath that we expect will happen. As with my previous experience during the Hindraf Rally, here are a few tips and information on how the GOM will handle the Rally, the participants and Public Relations as well as conclude it. Buses were stopped by the numbers all over Malaysia. Any bus moving out from South or North were held at checkpoints by police from various states and taken away for questioning. Even those who were heading for weddings and receptions were not spared. People were checked randomly and even police checked handphone messages and sms-es as well as baggages, booth checks and in some cases harrassed people into admitting they are attending the Rally. News papers/media go to extremes to vilify anything to do with the Rally. The police will appear like clowns as they start randomly arresting people and give the most ridiculous reasons. This time they have already started the circus with trumped up charges which will not stick. (Remember the Terrorist link to Hindraf who were supposedly part of LTTE in Sri Lanka?) Massive Roadblocks not only to KL but to the entire Malaysia as well. All highway entry points around the Klang Valley will be monitored, KTM stations, LRT stations (maybe even shut down). Minimum 3 Blocks for a 45 km distance (example KESAS- One block per Tol). Frighten, create fear and chaos, use all means nessecery till the day of event. On the day of event (which happened on Nov 25th 2007) 2. The group that decided to go and wait in Batu Caves (as a sanctuary waiting for dawn) were the most unfortunate. They were locked inside the gates and sprayed with Chemical water. Over 2000 of them were stuck inside and even after the Rally they were not released out of the temple till nightfall! 3. Divide and Rule: Police swarming all over the city to block groups gathering and become larger. This will be used again. Those who tried to reach KLCC were blocked over at Jalan Ampang and never could join the Main Rally. There are 2 versions of the Rally - One on the other side of the city (Jln Ampang/ Jln Tun Razak/ Gombak/ Sentul/ Jalan pudu/ Jalan Cheras) and the other which was at KLCC and the area surrounding it. The cops and Rela managed to break the crowd into even smaller groups and attacked them easily. The cases of being arrested were from the Jalan Ampang side (which was the smaller group) and easier to handle. The KLCC side had hardly any arrests due to the sheer size of the crowd. The bigger crowds around KLCC area were broken up by chemical water and the best weapon was teargas. Hundreds of people were sprayed with teargas which made them run helter-skelter and easily broke them up. 4. Not to forget, helicopters were flying extremely low to intimidate as well as give information to the cops/Rela on the best locations to attack and disperse the crowd. 5. Provoke 1st blood. The Rally was extremely peaceful and people sat down below KLCC by the thousands and patiently listened to speeches when the sudden shower of teargas fell onto a peaceful crowd. Menacing batons, AK47s and marching police armed to create violence among a crowd with old people, ladies as well as handicapped people. Did they care? 6. Time and again the organizers controlled the crowd and got them back into submitting peacefully to walk and give the memorandum. But every time they gathered the people, they became easy targets for water canons and teargas. Teargas stings like crazy. It choked the people like inhaling fireworks and causes nausea, difficluty to breathe as well as lots of tears and phlegm to be coughed out. Those sitting were stampeded upon and became easy targets again. 7. How or why any police got hurt as claimed? Nobody knows but be prepared for gory pictures of policemen being hit by stones or any retaliation by the Rakyat to adorn the News as causing grievances to people. 8. No damage at all. But be prepared for Newsflashes claiming Millions were lost to damage and even more due to loss of business. Get ready for images of massive damage for govt to claim: "I told you so." 9. Eventually, it may take hours for the Rally to be over. But expect Mass arrests. Do not retaliate. Surrender peacefully. They are looking for people who fight back. They want to provoke and will provoke. 10. Take photos - These are evidence. We had Lau Weng San (now assemblyman of Kg.Tunku) who did maverick work and did good journalism and had excellent proof of Police brutality. 11. International News and Journalists will cover this event. Nevertheless, GOM will give a PR publicity stunt to say everything is A-OK. 12. Special Branch infiltration. There will be many Special Branch officers who will be part of the rally and may even get arrested and go to jail. Thats their job, to gather information and infiltrate. Be prepared for these people. They may be of any race. Hindraf claims one such person even became one of the main leaders who headed the group and was ready for even ISA. Aftermath Expect GOM to claim victory because Expect massive arrests and expect people to be charged unscrupulously. Expect ISA. Expect Demonisation of rakyat and legitimatise reasons to charge them. Expect the Unexpected. |
| Posted: 30 Jun 2011 03:03 PM PDT
The Malaysian government has so far merely reacted with the arrogance of expensive advertising campaigns to sing praises of Malaysia's well-being accompanied by silence and non-response to uncomfortable calls coupled with the suppression of democratic rights and the harassment and victimization of activists. By batsman It would appear that any sane person knowledgeable with the situations in the Arab and Mediterranean countries and that of Malaysia cannot but conclude that the Malaysian situation is far better off in terms of perceived peace and stability than the countries of the Jasmine Revolution or the Greek riots. Yet all does not seem to be well in Malaysia. The Malaysian Reform Movement is daily exposing the waste, corruption and abuse of the elites in power. Highly educated and knowledgeable economists warn of the dangerous levels of debt that the country is racking up and civil society is questioning the reliability of the figures that the government offers as economic health indicators. The Malaysian government has so far merely reacted with the arrogance of expensive advertising campaigns to sing praises of Malaysia's well-being accompanied by silence and non-response to uncomfortable calls coupled with the suppression of democratic rights and the harassment and victimization of activists. Can the efforts of the Malaysian government contain the stirrings of unrest in Malaysia? Should such unrest be contained in the first place as unrest often foreshadows the change that is already in the air? Does Malaysia have to wait until the situation deteriorates to the level of violence in the Arab countries or Greece before it condescends to change? Is change such a fearful thing? Malaysia's reluctance to change is based on the supposed social contract agreed upon by its founding forefathers. This "social contract" is deemed to be the bedrock of the Malaysian nation now and forever. It would be a great insult to Malaysia's forefathers if any change is tried or attempted. Such being the case, even calls for the reform of the electoral system is deemed an unacceptable change that must be suppressed with cruelty and violence. Such calls are deemed threats to national security. Have Malaysia's forefathers delivered her into a time capsule, unable to change with the times and unable to compete with more dynamic and aggressive neighbours? Have Malaysia's forefather trapped her into the vicissitudes and dangers of relying on her ruling elite's interpretation of what change means? What is this foundational bedrock that Malaysia is eternally bound to? When the British colonial masters ruled Malaya, they practiced "divide and rule" as one of their tactics and strategies of colonial administration. The Malays were contained in a time capsule as poverty ridden padi planters and fishermen. In addition to communities of Chinese and Indians who were already resident even before the British appeared, large waves of indentured labour from India and China were imported to work the mines and rubber estates as well as build and maintain the superstructure and infrastructure of a modern and profitable colony. Each community was arraigned against the other such that British colonial rule and administration became easy and required least effort at suppression of revolts. In spite of this the communities maintain very good relations with each other perhaps knowing that they were being cynically used by the British. When the British passed on power to UMNO and granted Malaya independence, Dato' Onn realized that for Malaya to become a true nation, all its races had to transcend race and religion to become united as one nation. Unfortunately this founding forefather of Malaya could not implement his vision and hope for the country. He was forced out of UMNO. Malaya became a country based on each race fending for itself. Worse still, the British policy of "divide and rule" was adopted to rule the country. The races were split farther and farther apart until race relations became poisoned and toxic. With this move, Malaya could no longer become a true nation. It was condemned for all time to be a rump nation, a dreg of colonial rule with toxic race relations and people hostile, suspicious and envious of each other. Suppression became the only possible policy of administration to hold all these disparate forces together. Is this what comprises the bedrock of the Malaysian nation? With this, I would like to quote a rather long passage from Don Martindale in his book "Institutions, Organizations and Mass Societies" (University of Minnesota ). It touches on change, what the bases of communities are and how change usually occurs. "If the evidence surrounding the emergence of the ancient Oriental city and the new types of economies on which it was based suggests a sudden and convulsive act, it is only what one would expect from the standpoint of the social-behavioristic theory of community formation. A community arises from the operation of the principles of stabilization, consistency and completeness. The resulting more or less integrated way of life forms an interrelated whole, in which behavior in any one area of life is held in place by behaviors in surrounding areas which have come to be bound in consistent ways. Any given area of social life could , potentially, begin at any time to sustain innovating processes; but when it did, the stabilized customs of other areas would act as a brake. Hence, the period during which new communities are forming is usually a time of major troubles when many vital areas of a community are in simultaneous transition. Again and again, when the foundations of new communities are examined, they are seen to have been laid in times of crisis: wars, conquests, and defeats, major natural catastrophes, and internal revolutions." To me change can be good or it can be bad. If we are to become a new community of true Malaysians instead of being split into quarrelling communities of various races, if Malaysia is to become a truly united and peaceful nation instead of a chimera of ugly races stitched together by suppression and violence, we have to embrace change when it is due, not resist it fanatically until all hell breaks lose So… is Malaysia in crisis or is it just the birth pangs of true nationhood? |
| Malaysia: End mass repression of pro-reform activists Posted: 30 Jun 2011 05:02 AM PDT
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE Malaysian authorities are arbitrarily arresting and detaining scores of peaceful electoral reform protesters in the worse repression of free speech and freedom of assembly in recent years, Amnesty International said today. Among those currently detained are 30 peaceful activists from the Socialist Party who were denied review of their detention today under accusations of "waging war against the king". |
| Posted: 30 Jun 2011 04:27 AM PDT
FELLOW MALAYSIANS WHO ARE INTERESTED IN BRINGING IN CHANGE ARE MOST WELCOME TO JOIN!! Let's join us to support BERSIH. For democratic, for clean & fair elections, for a better Malaysia. Canberra's Update: |
| Monaco’s Prince Albert II asked to pay back dodgy Malaysian donation Posted: 29 Jun 2011 07:03 PM PDT By BRUNO MANSER FUND, BASEL / SWITZERLAND Bruno Manser Fund, the Swiss rainforest advocacy group, is calling on Monaco ruler Prince Albert II to pay back a controversial 100,000 euro donation he received last year from Malaysia's First Lady, Rosmah Mansor, for his environmental foundation, the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation. Albert was given the cheque by Rosmah in August 2010 at an "Islamic Fashion Show" in Monaco, which was sponsored by the Sarawak government. During the ceremony, Rosmah was accompanied by Sarawak Chief Minister, Abdul Taib Mahmud ("Taib"), and her husband, the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. "The origin of the 100,000 euros is very unclear, and the fund should thus not have been accepted by Prince Albert's foundation", the Bruno Manser Fund stated on Thursday. "We suggest that Albert pays back the money to the Penan, Malaysia's most marginalized people, in order to support their struggle to defend their rainforests against logging." The Bruno Manser Fund suspects that the 100,000-euro cheque might have been funded by Taib, who maintains close ties with the Monaco ruler. Taib is the main culprit in the destructive logging of Sarawak's tropical rainforests, one of the world's most biodiversity-rich habitats. "Albert's relationship with Taib raises a lot of questions", the Bruno Manser Fund said. "Why is Albert, who is fond of his green image, associating himself with one of the world's worst environmental criminals?" In 2008, Albert visited Sarawak with one of Monaco's top private bankers and London property tycoon Achilleas Kallakis. Last year, Kallakis, a former member of the Prince Albert II Foundation, was charged with £61m of fraud in one of the most serious property frauds in UK history. The Bruno Manser Fund is afraid that Monaco's banks might be administering significant Taib corruption assets. – Ends – |
| Posted: 29 Jun 2011 02:19 PM PDT By A Malaysian Citizen Is exercising a democratic right in a democratic country now illegal? Not so long ago, I would have supported the objective of Bersih 2.0 purely on principle. The eight points are noble, idealistic and perfectly reasonable. Actually achieving the objectives, well, perhaps a little unrealistic. But there is nothing wrong with being idealistic, especially if it's balanced with a healthy dose of realism. I work on Saturdays. It is the busiest day of my working week, and one that I enjoy tremendously. Only 10 days ago, I would have been a silent supporter of the eight points of the memorandum, for there is nothing wrong with those eight points — I still don't understand what danger lies in those eight points. I would have gone to work, got on with my day, and perhaps expect to read in the news at some stage a press release along the lines of "we have taken the eight points into consideration...", without really expecting much. Personally, agreeing to the use of indelible ink alone would have been a more than acceptable first step for me. I fully expected the opposition to jump onto the Bersih bandwagon. What else would they do? I expected the government to accuse the opposition parties of doing so — because that is what political parties do, they politicise. And I fully expected certain NGOs to come out with their usual rhetoric, ranting against all sorts of things with accusations that completely boggle the mind. I am not political, although I am a voter — I vote because it is my civic duty; I vote because I can; I vote because there are millions of people in the world who would dearly love the opportunity to be able to turn up to a polling booth and make their voice heard; and, if nothing else, voting gives me the right to whinge about things I do not approve of. I do not support either side of the political divide. I personally believe both sides waste a lot of time trying to gain political mileage through petty and immature politicking. But that's what politicians do. So I ignore or laugh at the nonsense and simply try to get on with life in the most positive way I can. Having said that, I do acknowledge there are voices of reason and sincerity on BOTH sides of the political divide. I believe that real change comes from civil society. I believe that we behave better towards each other than some delinquents in the Dewan Rakyat. I believe in keeping my faith in basic human decency. I believe it is entirely possible to disagree with someone without resorting to name-calling and threats of violence. I believe that if I want to see certain changes, I must begin with myself. Has the Bersih rally been politicised? Of course it has, by both sides. Does that invalidate the eight points? Absolutely not. Rallies or demonstrations are not the Malaysian way? Rubbish. Since history is to be a compulsory pass for SPM, I suggest certain people brush up on this subject and see what a fallacy this claim is. Besides, the last time I checked, we were still a democracy — or did something change while I wasn't looking? To think, had this rally been allowed, had it even been supported by members of BN — oh, there were so many different options you could have chosen in response, and it's still not too late — the Bersih 2.0 rally could have been a peaceful non-event. People like myself would have gone on with our usual Saturday routines, lending our support in principle only. Am I afraid? Yes, I am. Do I think things could get ugly? Yes, I do. But I also have faith in my fellow Malaysians that they will try to keep things as peaceful as possible. I have faith that we Malaysians are not as divided as some would have us believe. If my faith is wrong, let it be proven wrong by fact, not by fear. I would have happily gone to work on July 9 and quietly wished Bersih all the best if not for the completely disproportionate response by the government (arrests, raids, threats, etc.), not to mention the ridiculous accusations of "illegality" among other threats that are completely illegitimate and nonsensical. It is not the Bersih organisers who have made it increasingly unpalatable for me, who force my conscience, who fill me with such depths of disbelief and disgust, who have pushed too far with fear-mongering that I can no longer sit and lend my support in principle only. Is exercising a democratic right in a democratic country now illegal? |
| Home Minister invites the 'American Dream' to Malaysia? Posted: 29 Jun 2011 12:49 PM PDT Indeed it is becoming crystal clear - by any accounts you use to validate the incidents talking shape in the country, that democracy has been finally quarantined with the ban on the yellow color. By J. D. Lovrenciear The Home Minister of Malaysia's outright ban on the wearing of anything yellow – be it a T-shirt, shoes, pants or skirts, headband, or whatsoever, is impacting shockwaves down the spine of caring, concerned citizens. The Home Minister's announcement and the immediate police action that went into over-drive with premises raided, will be ringing alarm bells all over the world for certain. The learned professor from the International Islamic University in Malaysia has in all honesty and with courage pointed out that there is no law in the country to effect such a ban. And that the highest law of a democratic nation - the Constitution of Malaysia is being compromised. The authorities are claiming that this mother of all bans on wearing anything yellow and suggesting 'Bersih 2.0' is being invoked for "national security". Simultaneously more threats are being pumped out of the government's nozzle – i.e. the police, the various pro-UMNO and BN agentries and from the corriodors of vested interests. Arrests have already started and more are expected. Those under detention are claimed to be abused with absolute disregard for human dignity and basic rights as provided for under the law. Bullying, rowdiness and vandalism against those supporting the rally for a fair, clean and just election is seen to be on the rise and unabated while some are even condoned with absolution. The media is being encouraged and protected to spew wild, fiery and seditious allegations with impunity. Parliamentary immunity is compromised. Parliamentary sessions are also being bulldozed through with utter disregard for democracy and respect for the august house. Now, all these are certainly more threatening to national security than the Bersih 2.0 rally. But how come the equation does not tally? How long more does the government of the day want to fight this induced war on its citizenry? Indeed it is becoming crystal clear - by any accounts you use to validate the incidents talking shape in the country, that democracy has been finally quarantined with the ban on the yellow color. Truly, bitter as it may be, the truth is when the citizens are denied of a free and peaceful assembly, the Constitutional rights have been hung. When the most supreme law of a nation – the Constitution, is not kept to the letter, democracy has been compromised. The world is taking stock of the current Malaysian PM's inability to deal with this development that is already deep into a crisis mode through the government's own doing. In fact, with the latest announcement by the highest authority of law enforcement – the Home Minister, Malaysia has virtually entered a crisis stage and no less. The leaders in the region are also very concerned with the way the government is reacting on a daily basis. It is not an understatement to say that many of these democratic leaders are distancing themselves from Malaysia. Civil society organizations in the region and the world are also zooming their lens on Malaysia. Painful as it may be to the ears and egos of power, the government has failed to tackle the cause and concern in a mature, transparent and respectful manner from the beginning without compromising democracy. It appears that going by the series of actions forced upon the rakyat in the interest of "national security", the Malaysian government has provided an impetus for the citizens to now join the ranks of the worldwide community of civil society protesting against perceived or real tyranny, regimes, and police state brutality. The 'American Dream' for true democracy and civil liberties that is sweeping the globe today has finally been invited by the kind courtesy of the Malaysian government, i.e. the Home Minister, with this 'yellow T-shirt and anything yellow' blanket ban.
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