KL112 rally: We gave each other courage
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Elections, Human Rights, Pakatan Rakyat on Tuesday, 15 January 2013, 10:50 am
By Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz | January 15, 2013
FMT
Last Friday night as I came back from a ceramah in Sabak Bernam, I stopped over at the Sungai Buluh Restoren Jejantas. There was an unusually large number of vehicles in the parking bays.
In the surau, there were many people sleeping and resting. How come there were so many people, I asked at this late hour (it was 2am).
When a friend asked a passerby where are these people from, he said they were from Perak and some from Penang. They have come to participate in the Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat (KL112) rally at Stadium Merdeka on Saturday (Jan 12).
The whole country, it seemed, was galvanised and geared to participate in the KL112 assembly.
Now, that’s all that matters as we inch closer to the 13th general election.
Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s time is running out.
The tens of thousands who rallied at KL112 on Saturday was proof of Umno’s end. What we achieved and celebrated at KL112 was the coming together of the various races in Malaysia, something which Umno and Barisan Nasional did not want us to achieve.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tips on winning the coming election
Posted by Kit in Elections, Pakatan Rakyat on Tuesday, 15 January 2013, 10:44 am
By Koon Yew Yin
The recently concluded mammoth Stadium Merdeka rally – Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat – has provided a much needed infusion of new life into the opposition campaign. Although they have invigorated their challenge to Barisan Nasional (BN) rule, opposition leaders must realize that they have an uphill battle to dislodge BN from power.
Instead of boasting or congratulating themselves on what they have achieved at the rally, it is essential that the opposition parties work harder in taking the fight especially to the Barisan strongholds.
The next few months will be crucial. The opposition must only show that it is alive and kicking. Pakatan Rakyat (PR) needs to prove that it is the superior coalition to run the country. The campaign to convince Malaysians to vote for change can work if PR keeps in mind the following key strategies.
Strategies to ensure electoral victory for PR
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Run a principled and ethical campaign. Malaysian voters know that the BN is a party that thrives on spinning and dirty tricks. From race baiting to inciting religious sentiments to demonization of the opposition, BN are masters of the sleazy campaign. The PR should not emulate the BN. Fight a clean campaign. This will resonate with the basic positive values and good sense of Malaysians.
Ripples of Hope, Sea of Change
Posted by Kit in Martin Jalleh on Tuesday, 15 January 2013, 10:34 am
By Martin Jalleh
The rally proves Malaysia has civil liberties?
Posted by Kit in Elections, Human Rights, Mahathir, Najib Razak on Tuesday, 15 January 2013, 8:30 am
— Fikry Osman
The Malaysian Insider
Jan 14, 2013
JAN 14 — Now that the Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat is over, the one question that begs to be answered is this: does the rally prove that civil liberties exist in Malaysia?
To the more than 100,000 who turned up at Stadium Merdeka last Saturday, maybe.
After all, the police stood by and ensured the peace. No riot police, water cannons, roadblocks, razor wire strung across roads or anything to make Malaysia look like a police state.
Maybe, it was the spirit of the times that such a rally could even take place without ending in teargas blanketing the air, water cannons drenching the crowd and everyone running helter-skelter to avoid being beaten up or arrested for assembling without a permit.
Oh, no more permit required. So, that makes Malaysia look better just months before the general election. That must be it, to give Malaysia an appearance of a modern democratic country where people can make a stand publicly and gather without the threat of being cowed by authority or violence.
See, even Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak praised the police and also the opposition for respecting the spirit of the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) 2012 at the rally. Read the rest of this entry »
Voting for the future
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Elections, Mahathir, Najib Razak, UMNO on Tuesday, 15 January 2013, 8:17 am
— Tommy Thomas
The Malaysian Insider
January 15, 2013
JAN 15 — Imagine Britain being governed by the same political party, say, Labour, for 55 successive years from 1957. Or the United States by the Republican party for the same continuous, unbroken period.
That has been Malaysia’s fate since Merdeka. The 13th general election, which must be held before June 28, gives Malaysians an opportunity to break free from the monopoly of political power exercised by Umno, first, in the guise of Alliance and subsequently as Barisan Nasional.
Umno dominance
The five years between the 12th general election in March 2008 and the 13th have been a watershed period in post-independent Malaysia because of the establishment of a truly functioning two-party system, with a strong opposition capable of forming the next government.
But it took half a century for our nation to accomplish this stage of democratic development. Like many peoples of nations emerging from colonial rule in the Third World, Malaysians were very grateful to the Alliance party, led by Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman, for gaining independence from the British.
The reservoir of goodwill for nationalist independence fighters greatly assisted Umno in the early decades. Race, which the colonial power had exploited in its divide-and-rule policy, became the singular fundamental feature of Malaysian politics since Merdeka, reflected at the centre by the Alliance coalition comprising Umno, the MCA and MIC, each representing a specific race, and expected to pursue the interests of its ethnic constituency.
In the early days, Umno acted as the elder brother, with a semblance of contribution from its junior siblings, the MCA and MIC. But there was never a question of parity. After the National Operations Council (NOC) through its director, Tun Abdul Razak, assumed actual power in the wake of the May 13, 1969 riots, Umno’s ascendency and dominance were never questioned.
Hence, the practical reality since the early 1970s is that Barisan is actually Umno, and major decisions affecting the nation are more often than not taken in the inner recesses of Umno rather than the Cabinet. Read the rest of this entry »
Myth of “UMNO is Malay; Malay, UMNO” Forever Shattered!
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Bakri Musa, Elections, Human Rights, Mahathir, Najib Razak, UMNO on Tuesday, 15 January 2013, 7:53 am
M. Bakri Musa
While UMNO apologists and sycophants in academia, blogosphere, and mainstream media quibbled over such minutia as the number of participants at last Saturday’s massive KL112 (January 12, 2013) rally, two facts are indisputable. First, that peaceful and largely Malay demonstration, the largest the nation had ever witnessed, forever shattered the myth that UMNO is Melayu, and Melayu, UMNO. Second, given a modicum of respect by and without provocation from the authorities, Malaysians are quite capable of partaking in peaceful rallies.
On this second point the authorities, specifically the police under its new leadership, are finally learning that water tankers, personnel with anti-riot gears or tear gas canisters, and other crude displays of power often precipitate rather than prevent violence. BERSIH 3.0 demonstrated that very clearly.
The size and orderliness of the rally, together with the bravery and determination of the participants, was reminiscent of the transformative event of over 66 years earlier, the opposition to the Malayan Union Treaty. That altered the course of our history. Insha’ Allah (God willing), last Saturday’s rally too, will.
The power imbalance between those demanding change and those in power back in 1946 was enormous. Then it was mostly illiterate and unsophisticated Malay peasants facing the much superior and more formidable colonial authorities. Yet in the end, right won over might, and justice prevailed!
Today, while the UMNO Government is detested to the same degree as the old colonials, it is nowhere as sophisticated wielder of power as the British. Meanwhile, those clamoring for change are far more worldly, more committed, and in far greater numbers than their adversary, UMNO and its supporters. More importantly, unlike the colonials, today’s UMNO government is crippled with corruption and incompetence while also being crude wielders of power. All the more we should expect that right and the truth, as well as justice, will again prevail. Read the rest of this entry »
Mahathir, Muhyiddin and mob-rule
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Elections, Mahathir, Mariam Mokhtar, Muhyiddin Yassin, Najib Razak on Monday, 14 January 2013, 11:54 pm
by Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysiakini
Jan 14, 2013
Oh, to be a fly-on-the-wall in the home of former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad when he witnessed the outpouring of support for the KL112 rally – dubbed the People’s Uprising Rally, last Saturday.
Did his purse his lips, clench his fists and tighten his resolve to remove the weaklings in Umno? His greatest fear is that the truth will emerge, his legacy is exposed as a sham and his dynasty is castrated.
Last Saturday, about 35km away from the Merdeka Stadium, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak attended a meet-the-people rally organised by the Malaysian Indian Progressive Front (IPF), and Bernama said he was “impressed by the strong support of the IPF”. Around 15,000 people had assembled in the sleepy town of Semenyih to welcome Najib.
The PM should have known that the IPF event would have been overshadowed by KL112 and that no amount of negative spin by the mainstream English and Malay newspapers would detract from the implications of KL112.
Was this a deliberate ploy by people in Najib’s camp to undermine him? Is Najib being prepared for the big push? Read the rest of this entry »
End days for the Great Survivor?
Stanley Koh | January 13, 2013
Free Malaysia Today
Dr Chua Soi Lek’s failure to unite his party may prove to be his downfall.
COMMENT
However much you may hate Dr Chua Soi Lek, you have to admire his ability to survive in the harsh and sordid world of Malaysian politics. His victory in the 2010 MCA presidential election will remain as one of the great comeback stories in our political history.
That victory came barely two years after he had confessed to a sexual indiscretion and resigned all party and government posts. It was no mean victory. His rivals were formidable; one was the incumbent president and the other a former president.
However, according to some pundits inside his own party, Chua may have used up all the dirty tricks in his survival kit and is facing his end days in politics.
They say his failure to fulfil a promise to unite the various factions in MCA and to regain voter support for the party will prove to be his final undoing. Read the rest of this entry »
A brief history of counting
Posted by Kit in Elections, Human Rights on Monday, 14 January 2013, 11:25 pm
by Goh Keat Peng
January 14, 2013
With so much counting activity going on in Malaysia these days, it sets me thinking of … NUMBERS. Of the first counting most normal human beings began with. We would have started with our fingers, one, two, three, four five, before we realised there were five more fingers on the other hand, making it ten! Then we discovered that our counting can even be extended with our toes, which took us to twenty, doubling our counting capacity! Then came the apparatus of rows of beads mounted on a stand which helped us to count way beyond our initial ten fingers and ten toes. Then much later on came the electronic calculator presenting us with any imaginable total at our finger tips. Only for us to discover when we know better that with the ancient abacus – with neither battery nor electronic circuitry – we could count to almost any number!
These days of course our nation is embroiled in a frenzied counting exercise. How many human beings can an old historic sports stadium contain?
The powers that be have their own inimitable way of crunching numbers. They saw the crowd and thought 80,000 but declared it to the world as 45,000. (Just as it used to be done when a returning citizen’s luggage was actually, physically checked by custom officers: “Berapa harga itu, pak?” And the traveller keeping as straight a face as he (or more likely she) could manage, replied, “Oh itu! Sikit sahaja, tuan. Beli di pasar murah!”)
The authorities do have a certain history about counting things their way. A sleight of hand performed on the calculator or more likely on their own inventive minds. It takes a David Copperfield to fathom what only a David Copperfield can do. Magic which defies the comprehension of ordinary minds.
Welcome to psychological counting! For which the figure could be anywhere up to 500,000 in the mind of the wistful organising committee who dream of future possibilities (in the fashion of Don Quixote) all the way down to 45,000 thousand according to wistful authorities desperate to bring the figures to a manageable, psychological size to facilitate their much-needed sleep and provide relief to their worried minds and hearts. Read the rest of this entry »
Why do we participate in rallies?
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Elections, Human Rights, Pakatan Rakyat on Monday, 14 January 2013, 11:05 pm
— Alfian Zohri
The Malaysian Insider
Jan 14, 2013
JAN 14 — I was too young to remember the 1998 reformasi demonstration in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. There was no Facebook or Twitter or any social media tools for live updates and the only mobile phones available were those huge solid ones, resembling a piece of brick! However, I do remember reading about the event on Utusan Malaysia. Yes, I used to read Utusan Malaysia. Anyhow, I was too callow to understand the politics and reasons behind those events.
As time has progressed, everything has changed. From September 11, 2001 to the recent Arab Spring (Arab Awakening as put by Robert Fisk) a new chapter of human struggle has been created. If in the 60s, Americans were protesting against the Vietnam War, today not just the Americans but the whole world is protesting against war, any war. We have anti ‘gitmo’ demonstration in New York or London; and we also have anti Internal Security Act (ISA) demonstrations in Kuala Lumpur. Anti nuclear power in Japan for instance, also happened in Australia, France, Germany and elsewhere in Europe. Public rallies or street protests, civil disobedience or whatever you want to call it, are a manifestation of the rejection of an unpopular regime in a particular country. It can be a single-man protest, a hundred, one thousand or a million it doesn’t matter. When you are oppressed, you stand up and fight for your rights. As simple as that.
Not too long ago, we witnessed a classic of domino effect in the Arab world. From one country to another, each one of those ruthless regimes responsible for numerous atrocities and human rights abuses collapsed due to the people’s uprising. But does it solve the problem? No! Does it create more problems? Yes! The problem is yet to be solved and as a matter of fact the problems only get worsen. Arbitrary killings, executions, violence against women, minorities and children and in fact a humanitarian crisis ensued at a rather alarming rate. Civil conflicts become our daily feed. Still the question remains: why is discontent met with further violence? Read the rest of this entry »
87-Day Countdown to 13GE – Persistently dishonest, unprofessional and lying BN mainstream media may prove to be the final undoing of Najib as Prime Minister and ousting of UMNO/BN from Putrajaya in 13GE
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Elections, Media, Najib Razak, Pakatan Rakyat on Monday, 14 January 2013, 8:16 am
It is not only ironic but simply unbelievable that on the night of KL112, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak could host the Umno general assembly 2012 Media Appreciation Night and speak about the importance of the media to UMNO.
Rational and independent-minded Malaysians, including the four million middle-ground voters who will decide whether it is Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat which will form the federal government in Putrajaya in the 13th general elections, must be asking whether Najib is rooted firmly to the ground in reality or is living in a make-believe world of his own.
What Najib said about the media a few hours after the KL112, which marked an important turning point in a maturing democracy, is simply surreal.
How could Najib with a straight face urge the media to play the role of an intermediary that delivers the feelings and aspirations of the people to the government and which report the grievances and criticisms leveled at the government to enable improvements to be carried out when the Barisan Nasional mainstream media, whether print, radio, television or online, have been most guilty of the very opposite, completely unrepentant in fabricating and purveying lies after lies about the Pakatan Rakyat?
For weeks, the Barisan Nasional mainstream media had told a “Big Lie” about KL112 and they are still purveying the “Big Lie” after KL112, although the “Big Lie” had been completely pulverized and demolished as baseless and untrue! Read the rest of this entry »
Pengiraan Detik 87 Hari ke PRU13 – Media perdana BN berterusan tidak jujur, tidak profesional dan berbohong terbukti merupakan kemusnahan terakhir Najib sebagai Perdana Menteri dan penyingkiran UMNO/BN dari Putrajaya dalam PRU13
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Elections, Media, Najib Razak, Pakatan Rakyat on Monday, 14 January 2013, 1:37 pm
Bukan sahaja ironi malah sukar dipercayai bahawa pada malam KL112, Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak menjadi tuan rumah Malam Penghargaan Media Perhimpunan Agung Umno 2012 dan bercakap tentang kepentingan media kepada UMNO.
Rakyat Malaysia yang berfikiran rasional dan bebas, termasuklah empat juta pengundi pertengahan yang akan menentukan sama ada Barisan Nasional atau Pakatan Rakyat akan membentuk kerajaan persekutuan di Putrajaya dalam pilihan raya umum 13, tentu akan tertanya adakah Najib betul-betul berpijak di bumi nyata atau sedang hidup dalam dunianya sendiri.
Apa yang Najib katakan tentang media beberapajam selepas KL112, yang menjadi titik penting demokrasi yang sedang matang, di luar alam nyata.
Bagaimana Najib dengan selamba meminta media memainkan peranan orang tengah yang menyampaikan kehendak dan perasaan orang ramai kepada kerajaan dan melaporkan rungutan dan kritikan terhadap kerajaan untuk membolehkan penambahbaikan dijalankan sedangkan media perdana Barisan Nasional, sama ada media cetak, radio, televisyen atau atas talian, bersalah melakukan sesuatu yang sebaliknya, benar-benar tanpa sesal mereka-reka pembohongan tentang Pakatan Rakyat?
Selama berminggu-minggu, media perdana Barisan Nasional telah melakukan “Pembohongan Besar” berkenaan KL112 dan mereka masih lagi menyempurnakan “Pembohongan Besar” selepas KL112, walaupun “Pembohongan Besar” itu telah dihancurkan dengan lumat sebagai tiada asas dan tidak benar!
Tidak diragukan lagi bahawa salah satu pihak yang kalah teruk kerana KL112 dijalankan dengan berjaya dan aman adalah media perdana Barisan Nasional (MSM), sebab itulah Malaysiakini di dalam “KL112: Winners and losers” menyenaraikan media perdana sebagai salah satu daripada tiga yang “tewas” selepas Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak dan UMNO/Barisan Nasional manakala The Malaysian Insider menerbitkan rencana editorial yang bertajuk: “Mainstream media’s epic fail”. Read the rest of this entry »
This is it
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Elections, Human Rights on Monday, 14 January 2013, 7:50 am
— Christine SK Lai
The Malaysian Insider
Jan 13, 2013
JAN 13 — How do you describe the feeling of being part of a historic moment in time? You can’t, you just have to be there. You can ooh and ahh over all the Instantgram and Utube downloads, but nothing absolutely nothing beats being there in person, to be counted as one of the thousands upon thousands who turned up for KL 112 Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat rally.
By the time my gang of 3 not-so-young aunties alighted from the LRT station at Pasar Seni at about 11 plus, the streets were already packed with people of all races and ages clad mostly in yellow and green, with bright splashes of some in orange and red. To their credit, police personnel stood around unobstrusively though watchfully. Kudos also to the Unit Amal folks who managed crowd control as best they could. As we finished lunch, the crowd had swelled noticeably, all moving steadily towards Stadium Merdeka. Mercifully the sky was overcast with clouds, offering some welcome shade from the heat of the afternoon sun. It even drizzled a little but the heavens held up as people streamed into the open-air stadium.
I thought we were early but by the time we got in, the stands were already 3/4 full with a huge crowd gathered on the centre field itself. The whole thing was like some mammoth family carnival, with colourful teams waving flags, banners and placards; the atmosphere noisy with the loud intermittent blaring of vuvuzelas ….And the crowd simply grew and grew and grew. It was an amazing sight from where we were seated on the stands — a vast colourful ocean of people as far and beyond what the eye could see. Apparently there was another sea of people milling about outside the stadium grounds. Doesn’t matter what’s the final count — even that one picture on a main-line newspaper’s front-page said it all… Read the rest of this entry »
A rally for the mind and soul
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Elections, Human Rights on Monday, 14 January 2013, 7:43 am
by KSD
Malaysiakini
Jan 13, 2013
I want to be completely honest. I did not expect a large crowd at the Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat (HKR).
I wasn’t pessimistic because I thought that sentiment had changed; my worries stemmed from the fact that the police and the government had surprising agreed to let the rally proceed without obstacles.
It is the nature of people to push back when pushed and I thought that without roadblocks, physical and psychological; without the presence of policemen in riot uniforms and tear gas canisters and without the threats of the goons from Perkasa, the people who want change would stay home.
And so, because I did not want the rally organisers to face the ignominy of an empty stadium, I went to the rally.
Before I tell you about my HKR experience, let me tell you who I am so that you can understand how I felt yesterday. Read the rest of this entry »
Mainstream media’s epic fail
— The Malaysian Insider
Jan 13, 2013
JAN 13 — Going by Malaysia’s mainstream media coverage of the Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat rally yesterday, a television viewer or newspaper reader can assume the organisers failed to get its targeted crowd, overfilled a stadium and participants broke the law by bringing their children.
And, oh, for some media, it was actually the Himpunan Shamsidar.
In both the Malay and English-language Sunday papers, there was no coverage of the issues of the day that drew thousands to Stadium Merdeka for three hours, or for the speakers who wanted to highlight burning issues that will be part of the election campaign this year.
None.
How can the media be mainstream if it stops covering a major event in the capital city or even cover it honestly? Is it a wonder that the circulation and readership of some newspapers have dropped? Read the rest of this entry »
