TV, radio told to demonise Bersih rally
By Lee Way Loon
Jul 1, 11 | MalaysiaKini
With the Bersih 2.0 rally just around the corner, the authorities have launched a media campaign to label the rally as an illegal gathering to the extent that TV stations are required to submit daily reports detailing their news coverage on the rally.
Malaysiakini learnt that the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), which oversees all private TV and radio stations, has directed the broadcasters to state the number and content of news related to Bersih in their reports. Read the rest of this entry »
Police to make sure July 9 rallies do ‘not take place’
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
July 01, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, July 1 — The police have shut out all forms of negotiations with organisers of the upcoming July 9 rallies, with Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar warning today that the police will make sure the rallies do not take place.
The Deputy Inspector-General of Police said that there would be no more room for discussions, and warned the organisers — Bersih, Perkasa and Umno Youth — to be prepared to be arrested if they did not abort the rally.
“We have given them explanations and warnings and reminders, but they do not heed. We will make sure the rallies do not take place.” Read the rest of this entry »
Religious council throws its weight behind all three rallies
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Human Rights on Friday, 1 July 2011, 2:26 pm
By Tarani Palani
July 1, 2011 | Free Malaysia Today
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) has thrown its weight behind all three planned rallies on July 9.
The organisation which propagates religious harmony said that the “supreme law” of the court, the Federal Constitution guarantees the freedom of assembly.
“Article 10 (1)(b) (states) all citizens have the right to assemble peaceably and without arms… it is one of the pillars of our Rukun Negara,” read the statement. Read the rest of this entry »
Of songkoks, uniforms and managing expectations
Posted by Kit in DAP, Politics, Zairil Khir Johari on Friday, 1 July 2011, 2:18 pm
by Zairil Khir Johari
July 01, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider
JULY 1 — I must admit to feeling a tad slighted when I read the recent reports of my friends and fellow comrades turning up on the first day of the Sarawak State Assembly in lounge suits instead of the ceremonial “number one” dress with songkok that was worn by everyone else.
Now, it must first and foremost be stated that no wrong was committed. The ceremonial uniform is not compulsory, and at no time did any breach of protocol occur. Neither is this issue a new one, having become a recurrent, though not persistent, occurrence at some of the legislative assemblies nationwide. Read the rest of this entry »
Open Letter – Cabinet should end the “madness” unleashed in past week
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Hishammuddin, Muhyiddin Yassin, Najib Razak, Perkasa, Police, UMNO on Friday, 1 July 2011, 9:00 am
The Prime Minister,
Deputy Prime Minister,
Cabinet Ministers.
Cabinet should end the “madness” unleashed in past week with police required to arrest those wearing the Bersih 2.0 T-shirt, yellow virtually becoming a colour of crime and “Bersih” a dirty word
I am writing this short Open Letter to the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and all Ministers to ask the Cabinet at its meeting this morning to end the “madness” unleashed in the past week with the police required to act unlawfully to arrest those wearing the Bersih 2.0 T-shirt, yellow virtually becoming a colour of crime and “Bersih” a dirty word.
Read the rest of this entry »
Bersih rally a turning point for democracy
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Elections, Human Rights on Friday, 1 July 2011, 3:29 am
by Kim Quek
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 30, 2011
JUNE 30 — Amidst the frenzy of draconian measures to prevent the July 9 Bersih rally from taking place, many Malaysians have begun to wonder: Has Malaysia descended into a state of lawlessness?
No sooner had the home minister declared that wearing the yellow Bersih T-shirt was illegal, the Inspector-General of Police up the ante by announcing that even “shoes, cars, buses or any medium that promote the Bersih rally are illegal, as this amounts to sedition”, and he said the people involved will be arrested.
To date, more than 100 people have been arrested all over the country in the past four days, mainly for wearing the yellow Bersih T-shirts. Read the rest of this entry »
I’ll wear yellow baju raya
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Elections, Human Rights on Friday, 1 July 2011, 3:10 am
by Mohd Syahir Sulaiman
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 30, 2011
JUNE 30 — Semakin lara kita didera bara, kita laungkan juga pesan merdeka, demokrasi sebenderang mentari, sehasrat hajat semurni harga diri — A. Samad Said.
Yellow symbolises wisdom.
July 9th is just around the corner, and talks get heated up in every corner, from Facebook urbanites to long house foyers. Thanks to RTM and Utusan for the free publicity.
People may differ. However, one thing in certain, all eyes are set on the upcoming saga. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia’s season of fear
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Elections, Human Rights on Friday, 1 July 2011, 2:48 am
by Praba Ganesan
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 30, 2011
JUNE 30 — “Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?”
Joseph Welch, the attorney representing the US Army, asked this of Senator Joseph McCarthy at the height of the series of “witch-hunts” under the guise of various congressional committees to uncover unAmerican activities in America between 1953-54.
America was in the early years of the Cold War when tales of communists, spies and those bent on destroying the American way of life were rife.
McCarthy felt his populism, electability and political future could benefit from playing up the “bogeyman.”
Proof or even truth was irrelevant in the dark period referred to as “McCarthyism”. Read the rest of this entry »
Why July 9 must go on
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Elections, Human Rights on Thursday, 30 June 2011, 7:19 pm
by June Rubis
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 30, 2011
JUNE 30 — I’ve noticed something interesting of late.
A few middle-class intellectuals back-pedalling on their initial support for Bersih 2.0. They say, yes I support this (in theory) but do we really need to march now? Haven’t we done enough to highlight the issues? Haven’t we won the PR (public relations, not Pakatan Rakyat) war?
I’m sorry, but I’m a bit confused.
The point of Bersih 2.0 isn’t about who gets best publicity, but rather for electoral reform. Read the rest of this entry »
23 Kajang councillors hauled up over Bersih T-shirts
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Human Rights on Thursday, 30 June 2011, 6:14 pm
Jimadie Shah Othman | Jun 30, 11
Malaysiakini
The clampdown against Bersih T-shirts continues, with 23 Kajang councillors being called up by police today for questioning for wearing the shirts at the full board meeting yesterday.
But of this number, only seven were present at the Kajang district police station this evening, while the others will give their statements in stages as they are not available today.
According to councilor Chandra Mohan ST, the police did not inform them under what section of the law they are being investigated. Read the rest of this entry »
EC Deputy Chairman Wan Ahmad showed his true colours of lacking 3Is of independence, impartiality and integrity when he launched attacks on Bersih as Pakatan Rakyat “stooge”
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Constitution, Elections, Pakatan Rakyat on Thursday, 30 June 2011, 5:52 pm
If there is a nation-wide quiz asking Malaysians who could be responsible for the two following headlines on online media today, “Bersih is Pakatan stooge in bid for Putrajaya” and “Bersih Pakatan’s catspaw”, I don’t think anyone who is not in the know could get it right despite everyone being given three guesses each.
The hot favourites for these guesses would be UMNO leaders headed either by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin or the Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, while others named would include the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and other Umno and Barisan Nasional (including MCA, Gerakan, MIC) leaders.
Nobody would have thought of any Election Commission high official as the culprit for these two quotes for they are completely out of character of what is expected of Election Commission officers. Read the rest of this entry »
Home minister ‘cooking up’ laws
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Hishammuddin, Law & Order, Parliament, Police on Thursday, 30 June 2011, 5:50 pm
By Tarani Palani | June 30, 2011
Free Malaysia Today
KUALA LUMPUR: Opposition MPs today criticised Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein for acting outside the law in banning the yellow Bersih 2.0 T-shirts and questioned the legal basis for the Bersih-related clampdown.”We have a minister who is making the law on the run without parliamentary sanction,” said DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang, adding that even Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar’s warning that any paraphernalia related to Bersih as illegal was deplorable.
During a press conference in Parliament, the Ipoh Timur MP said that such interpretation of the law coming from the home minister who had a legal background was disappointing.
He added that the opposition MPs, who had elements of yellow in their attire, were protesting the clampdown by the authorities and to show support for a peaceful Bersih demonstration on July 9.
Read the rest of this entry »
Bersih to cops: Name route, we will follow
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Elections, Human Rights, Police on Thursday, 30 June 2011, 4:57 pm
Joseph Sipalan | Jun 30, 11
Malaysiakini
Despite the string of arrests and dire warnings from the police, the Bersih 2.0 committee today sought to make peace with the men in blue and asked for their help to make their July 9 rally a peaceful event.
Bersih 2.0 chief S Ambiga said they had a “very friendly” half-hour meeting with inspector-general of police Ismail Omar, where the latter expressed his concerns over public safety if the rally were to go on as planned.
“We told him that we will do everything we can to make sure it is peaceful…
“That is why we suggested that the police decide on the route we should take and we will follow their directions,” she told journalists at the Bukit Aman police headquarters after the meeting Ismail.
Ambiga, who was accompanied by Bersih steering committee member Maria Chin Abdullah during the meeting, said the IGP was silent on their suggestion, but remains cautiously optimistic. Read the rest of this entry »
‘Yellow wave’ in Parliament by Pakatan reps
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Parliament on Thursday, 30 June 2011, 2:55 pm
By Hazlan Zakaria | Jun 30, 11
Malaysiakini
Pakatan Rakyat MPs turned up in Parliament decked out in various articles in the distinctive yellow of Bersih to protest the police clampdown on the electoral reform rally.
Most of the men sported ties in the ‘official’ Bersih 2.0 colour or others in shades of yellow, while the women were attired in yellow.
The rest wore various articles of clothing in the same colour, while those more daring like Bukit Gantang parliamentarian Nizar Jamaluddin and Bakri MP Er Teck Hwa (right) donned the official Bersih 2.0 T-shirt, which has caused the arrest of many since the crackdown began, in open defiance.
Read the rest of this entry »
Anas responds to Commander (Rtd) S. Thayaparan
By Anas Zubedy
Commander (Rtd) S. Thayaparan,
Thank you for your letter. It is nice to see that you started your letter with a salam, although in zorro-unmasked.blogspot.com, they took out the earlier parts of your letter.
I would like to make a few comments.
Like you, I am not for race-based political parties. I have, on many occasions, in my blog, full page ads, and talks, proposed that BN and PR slowly but surely work to make themselves one big party each which is non-race or religion based.
Like you, I too believe strongly that all socioeconomic policies must be based on needs, not race or religion.
Read the rest of this entry »
Good thing we are a democracy
By Natalie Shobana Ambrose | June 29, 2011
The Malaysian Insider
JUNE 29 — In some countries, people get put in jail for speaking up against injustices. They then get left there for years and are sometimes forgotten. Good thing this doesn’t happen in Malaysia, especially since we’re a democracy.
In some countries, the media constantly practises self-censorship to avoid being shut down. Still they are regularly cautioned to ‘behave appropriately’ in accordance to government propaganda when unbiased reporting is what the media is trying to provide. Good thing this doesn’t happen in Malaysia, especially since we’re a democracy.
In some countries, citizens are told what to believe. Their religion has to be the religion of the state, if not bad things happen to them. So they hide and practise their faith in secrecy. All they want is their basic human right to religious freedom. Good thing this doesn’t happen in Malaysia, especially since we’re a democracy.
Read the rest of this entry »
The outing of Anas Zubedy
Posted by Kit in nation building on Thursday, 30 June 2011, 12:37 pm
By Commander (Rtd) S. Thayaparan | 29 June 2011
CPIAsia
Introduction by CPI
Although this rebuttal to an open letter has been posed elsewhere, we feel it deserves wider public attention. This is because the subject matter with which the two letters deal, and the opinions expressed are representative of the divergent perspectives among the Malay and non-Malay elite regarding the rights of the various communities and their proper place in the country.
We will leave it to readers to decide on which one is the more persuasive perspective intellectually and morally.
******************
The outing of Anas Zubedy
Commander (Rtd) S. Thayaparan, Royal Malaysian Navy, is a regular kopi-tiam kaki of mine. He graduated from the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in 1965. His tour of duty saw him as Commanding Officer of KD Tombak, KD Gempita, KD Ganyang and Executive Officer on Training Frigate KD Hang Tuah.
Read the rest of this entry »
Clampdown will only swell Bersih numbers, says Pakatan
By Shannon Teoh | June 30, 2011
The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, June 30 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) said today that it now expects a larger turnout for the July 9 Bersih march as public anger grows over the ongoing dragnet against supporters of the group calling for electoral reform.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein had declared Bersih T-shirts illegal yesterday after police arrested hundreds including PR elected representatives wearing Bersih apparel in the past few days before raiding the Bersih secretariat yesterday afternoon.
Read the rest of this entry »
Why no raids on Perkasa and Umno Youth?
Malaysiakini Your Say | Jun 30, 11
‘Umno and Perkasa are showing unruly behaviour with their threats of violence, bloodshed, and arson. Yet the office that got raided is Bersih’s.’
Bersih HQ raided, 7 staff arrested
SMC77: Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein and PM Najib Razak must take note. It is PDRM (Royal Malaysian Police) and BN which are inciting fear and chaos at this upcoming gathering. If there is any crime committed by any party, it can only be PDRM and BN.
Read the rest of this entry »
‘Minority Report’ now playing in Malaysia
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Hishammuddin, Police on Thursday, 30 June 2011, 12:23 pm
Malaysiakini Your Say | Jun 30, 11
‘For an assembly to be illegal, you must have actually held the assembly. Where does it say in the law that expressing support for a future ‘illegal’ act is illegal?’
Hisham declares Bersih T-shirt illegal
Anonymous_4196: Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, why is wearing a T-shirt that represents the rakyat’s struggle for free and fair elections illegal?
How about just wearing a yellow T-shirt without any print? How about yellow trousers? How about wearing the yellow Digi teletubby mascot outfit? What if the polis ‘suka-suka’ (on a whim) arrest me for having something yellow on?
Read the rest of this entry »
