post - bersih rally

So November 11th came and gone. The bersih rally met with a lot of opposition by police and FRU (anti-riot police). So what changes for the better will we see?

I'm afraid not much, at least not in the near future. There was an obvious local media blackout, most likely orchestrated by the government of course. I think it has become all to common for them and their spin doctors anyway. While there were probably 40,000 people who protested on the streets that day, local media reported 4,000. That's crazy.

Worst, they emphasised more on the jams that occured that day rather than the rally itself. But why was there serious jams in KL that day? Coz the police suddenly decided to make roadblocks everywhere, especially along roads entering KL. And coz the protesters were encouraged to wear yellow to signify the royal colors, people who wore yellow shirts were stopped or questioned! Incredible or laughable, depending on how you want to view it. It's sad that many of my fellow countrymen would have no idea about what happened.

The thing is, the whole thing was illegal. Permits for gatherings are necessary in Malaysia. But this bunch of people just wanted to do a peaceful rally, walking from Dataran Merdeka to Istana Negara to hand in a memorandum to the Agong. The coalition even had their own squadron for keeping the protesters calm and well-mannered. According to Al-Jazeera's reporter who was at the Masjid Jamek gathering spot, the FRU just sprayed a chemical-laced water out of the blue. The local media also reported that 275 people were detained when in reality only 34 were. I think they wanted to scare the public bah. Oh well.

Based on the forums and blogs that I've read, there were apparently more Malays than non-Malays who joined in this rally. The Bumiputera are the majority in Malaysia, but in KL the ratio between them and non-Bumiputera is rather equal. Given that information, why wasn't there a more significant non-Bumiputera presence?

1. they probably chickened out after the Prime Minister said "aku pantang dicabar" (I don't like to be opposed; don't challenge my authority), which I think he shouldn't have said coz it makes it sounds like he's a dictator.

2. Because they lack political awareness or are apathetic towards politics.

I think both of these reasons bah. I think it's sad. In my opinion, the Chinese in Malaysia suffer from the same disease Singaporeans suffer from. For example, saying things like "wah u say that u not scared later the government/police come and catch you ar", yet always interested to bitch about the government in a "safe setting".

My opinion has always been that people don't know how strong a political will or change can bring about benefits to the people. Politics is so interconnected with our lives. It's like, sure you have your businesses and education and science and stuff but when something wrong goes on in politics, you sure are going to be screwed in most of these fields. In a way, when MM Lee Kuan Yew said in an interview that "We [Singapore] are a standing indictment of all the things that they can be doing differently", I can relate to that. We could have been so much better and successful. I always like to take Myanmar as an example. Previously Burma, it had a higher GDP per capita than Malaysia when we became independent in 1957 if I remembered correctly, they have huge pieces of land suitable for agriculture, they have a great historic past and natural scenic environments (good for tourism), they had bountiful natural resources, they have (or had, I'm not sure now) a group of English-speaking people due to British colonial rule... but what has become of them?

Anyway, I was also dismayed that many of my friends were very negative about future prospects in Malaysia. Some basically just gave up hope. But I still have faith.

So... what is to become of Malaysia now? Let time tell.