but i question the movement's methods, and strategy in all 3 rallies that have taken place so far. it's three times that you have taken to the streets to send your message. but, all three have turned unruly. yes, you blame the authorities, especially the police. but i can't see why, after july 9th, would you plan another round of rallying on the streets?
july 9th was supposed to be a walk for democracy, and i must admit, the ruling coalition didn't do a good job for itself with the spectacular u-turn on their stadium offer. the rest is history.
april 28th was supposed to be a peaceful sit-in at dataran merdeka. but the request for the location was rejected and stadiums were offered. organisers rejected it, saying the offer came at the 11th hour and it was too late to change their plans. herein lie my questions.
if the organizers planned to have a sit-in, with songs to sing and speeches to give, for two hours, how is it too late to just have participants move to the stadiums instead of dataran? wouldn't a stadium be a better venue so that people are encamped in one place, where you can address all of them, without the need to fill up streets and disrupt businesses and traffic for the general public? wouldn't it be easier to station 6000 security personnel and hundreds of medical staff around a stadium instead of a town square? if it were at a stadium, would you even need such a large number of security and medical staff?
wouldn't you minimise the threat of agent provocateurs if you were at stadiums? wouldn't you minimise the possibility of violence if you were doing your own thing in an enclosed area? wouldn't you eliminate confrontation with the authorities, the need for tear gas and water canons? wouldn't the press be able to cover your demands in a peaceful environment? wouldn't your own voices be louder, thanks to stadium acoustics, than in the streets?
if it was about sending a message to the ruling coalition, wouldn't it be better to give hard proof instead of claiming to have the facts? wouldn't it be better to win the minds (and votes) of people that way? having listened to your speeches, mainly by opposition leaders, all i hear are claims, rhetoric, and sentiments.
if the sit-in was supposed to be non-political, why were there chants of reformasi and hapus BN? isn't that already political? you are trying to send a message to the ruling coalition to make changes, and to not hold elections until your demands are met. why then, are you chanting anti-government slogans? it does not make sense to me.
if the sit-in was supposed to be non-political, why were opposition leaders allowed to make their presence? as champions of electoral reform, accusing the election commission of having members of the ruling coalition in their ranks, shouldn't you be showing them the way it should be?
i don't see how taking to the streets has helped raise awareness of elections in this country being unfair and dirty. if anything, it disturbed the saturday of a larger population of malaysians who weren't able to have a normal weekend. policemen, reporters, medical staff, who could've had off days, had to be called back to serve.
it's sad to hear speeches making examples of the arab spring, that they want the same to happen here.they blame the police for the excessive violence, i say, that's expected of street protests. they claim the local media to be biased, i say, everyone is. do the foreign press covering the event not have their own agendas AGAINST our country? yes, our local media has it's issues. but that's an issue for another posting.
the call for free and fair elections in the country is something that the government cannot turn a deaf ear to. they must show the people that the calls are really just harmless dog barks. otherwise, the opinions of people may sway. we have enough fence sitters whose votes can be won, like their chairman said, and i agree with her on this point, the numbers who turned up for the 'sit-in' have sent their message to the ruling coalition. what is the coalition's response? for that is the true marker of their preparedness to open ballot boxes to the public.
but long after the dust settles, i still think you should have just gone to the stadiums. would've saved us all a lot of worry, panic, airtime, newsprint, hospital fees, overtime, off-days... it'll just go on. no more street bersih, please. use your intelligence to plan better methods of calling for the free and fair elections you yearn for.
i don't see how taking to the streets has helped raise awareness of elections in this country being unfair and dirty. if anything, it disturbed the saturday of a larger population of malaysians who weren't able to have a normal weekend. policemen, reporters, medical staff, who could've had off days, had to be called back to serve.
it's sad to hear speeches making examples of the arab spring, that they want the same to happen here.they blame the police for the excessive violence, i say, that's expected of street protests. they claim the local media to be biased, i say, everyone is. do the foreign press covering the event not have their own agendas AGAINST our country? yes, our local media has it's issues. but that's an issue for another posting.
the call for free and fair elections in the country is something that the government cannot turn a deaf ear to. they must show the people that the calls are really just harmless dog barks. otherwise, the opinions of people may sway. we have enough fence sitters whose votes can be won, like their chairman said, and i agree with her on this point, the numbers who turned up for the 'sit-in' have sent their message to the ruling coalition. what is the coalition's response? for that is the true marker of their preparedness to open ballot boxes to the public.
but long after the dust settles, i still think you should have just gone to the stadiums. would've saved us all a lot of worry, panic, airtime, newsprint, hospital fees, overtime, off-days... it'll just go on. no more street bersih, please. use your intelligence to plan better methods of calling for the free and fair elections you yearn for.
