Bersih 3.0: Third Time's A Charm

Some people have asked me during my breakfast and lunch break on that fateful day whether if the Bersih 3.0 rally was the first time I've been there. Many have admitted that it's their first since the second one in 907 gained popularity everywhere. If the first one didn't draw that much, while the second got much attention due to people being accused as villains, then the third one sparked everyone and the numbers swelled. Those who had been into the first two and had foresaw the whole thing were right all along.

Some were surprised when I answered that it's my third time. I got the tendency to believe that third time's a charm. I have also went with some of those "veterans" (those who have participated into this previously). My cousin's group whom many have told me it's the first time being among the swarm of people walking on the streets.

In the previous rally, I've done a live online coverage where a lot of people worldwide were tuning in. But this time I didn't because I thought that there are other channels and media providing the on the ground coverage. Therefore it allowed me to concentrate on doing my walkabout and photography work there.

On the night before I've done some scouting on the possible entry and exit points. Neither seems to be appealing because of the lack of parking space and as I've anticipated, entry into the Royal Selangor Club was off limits to everyone including member even though the court order provides an exception to that. At least with that there's a proper entry plan. There were three ways of entering into the city, but as agreed with other friends, there is need to pick a group and stick with it before the rally began.

Anticipating the possibility of the main LRT stations beginning to close in the later part of the morning, I started off from Masjid Jamek walking along Jalan Tun Perak to see the crowd level. It's still more or less the same as was the night before except that the traffic was cleared off to allow people to gather at that point. Since there's a group of people whom I am to about to meet in Petaling Street, I took the back route heading to Petaling Street, via Central Market.

I could count about one to two policemen barricade through Central Market on the way to Petaling Street. There, there were a lot of people, yellow and green having breakfast while waiting for the time to come down to Jalan Tun Perak. Former PKA chairman Hwa Beng happened to be spotted by the author at Petaling Street as well.
 

Meanwhile, Central Market opened at 10 a.m. At around 11 plus, Ambiga, surrounded by some Unit Amal men had a little conference and meeting with her supporters and fans alike. Central Market was one of the meeting spots and the police doesn't seem to care much until later in the afternoon. Not much for me to move around except to check back with the other group I intended to meet at Coliseum Cafe later on.

The number of people increased a lot during my return walk to Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman / Tun Perak intersection, with more people appearing. At lunch with my cousin's group, I enquired whether most of them are first timers. I knew that my cousin was at the Lawyers' march in 2007 (the march in light of the Lingamtape video) so he can be counted as an exception to this. 

By the time lunchtime was over, cops -  about a few hundred of them - started marching from Sogo all the way to the junction. People cheering at them, thinking that they might helping out the crowd later on. At that point of time, the crowd, especially those who came from KLCC started to fill up the streets all the way up to Menara Maybank with the kick off to protest barely 30 minutes away. People around here have started to chant a lot of common phrases you can hear at any ceramahs, like "Reformasi", "Hidup Rakyat", "Hancur UMNO", "Stop Lynas" and a few more.

I knew that by the time the sit-in starts I would not be able to move in and out easily with people sitting on the road. Fortunately, I managed to bump into another group of friends (one of them is ABU's Sam Haris) and we moved out through the small lane back to Lebuh Pasar and Bar Council.

At the intersection of the Jalan Silang / Tun Tan Siew Sin, people from Central Market / Petaling Street have started to converged to the intersection of Jalan Tun H.S Lee / Tun Perak. At this time. The numbers have started to swell at that spot already. However, we were not aware that the protest kicked off earlier than the planned 2.00 pm start point. Back at the Bar Council building, the FRUs have already formed a line.

There has been some instruction to head down to Menara Maybank in Jalan Tun Perak. Some when down there, while some remained before the barricade of barb wires there. Away, we could hear some shots of tear gas being fired at Tun Perak. There was a FRU truck that was siphoning the river water to fill up their water tanks. Minutes before the police dispersing of protesters, the barricade in front was removed. Many thought that they were allowed to move further in but the FRUs have moved several yards back. People there were cautious. And at 3.26 pm, the FRUs have started their crowd dispersal ways. Tear gas grenades and the water cannon started raining onto the weary public.

The crowd at Lebuh Pasar started running helter-skelter. Some ran back towards Masjid Jamek, some retreated to Central Market / Petaling Street. The effects from the tear gas had my tears a little teary, blurred vision and pretty dizzy that I could not concentrate well on walking except keeping in mind to get out of war zone before the cops swarm in like possessed demons and beasts. At that end, I could not stop and take more pictures.

RapidKL had a share of the blame for not opening exit points for people to leave the city. As what the findings from the observers say, the cops are more or less intending on boxing the participants with no exits up or down. This was the same case as happened at the Tung Shin hospital portion during the the Bersih 2.0 rally.  If the exit stations of Dang Wangi and Pasar Seni were open and had they ignore the cops demand to shut down the station, people could have disperse better. I had to retreat back to Petaling Street, cutting through the lanes to reach back to the old railway station to leave.

I knew the risks before coming. But in those risks, there's the fun. But the point of contention and anger is how those cops act like gangsters and another thing was how our DBKL people are behaving like schoolchildren, unwilling to share a piece of a toy for others. I thought the iconic field was for everybody, but Pak Samad was right on statement: it should been branded as Dataran Tak Merdeka. I knew there were a lot of naysayers who talk trash of the rally including the last one. Were I to bet with them, they would have loss big and ridiculed for lack of substance.

Full photo album here.

Bersih: Raising The Stakes

With slightly less than 24 hours to go before Saturday's Bersih 3.0 rally, Putrajaya has already flip-flopped. Hishamuddin Hussein, who previously said that Bersih is no threat to security has no declared that cops will be acting against Bersih with the first move being the police are trying to get the court injunction order to stop top Bersih people from reaching Merdeka Square.

This has come in addition to DBKL declaring a lockdown on Merdeka Square from 6 am Friday morning and threaten people under Section 65 Local Government Act 1976. If Hishamuddin acts like this, it means he's not acting alone, but instead acting in concert with other UMNO warlords who are unable to swallow or take pride of what is to come. This also subtly hints that Najib is also facing internal opposition from his people within UMNO itself rather than the public image of opposition coalition attacking him.

The real question is who among the UMNO hawks and warlords that are the ones calling the shots?

The argument by the mayor Ahmad Fuad Ismail that Merdeka Square is merely used for national events do not seem to make it quite sound. To make it worse, the Peaceful Assembly Act bill which comes into effect on Monday seems to not include the right to outright reject something by the authorities and is in violation of assembling in one pre-defined location. In other words, the cops and city council have a mockery of the bill already.

Today, both sides have raised their stakes. Imagine this as a poker game between two people where one tries to call bluff while one has clearly have a better hand in play with the help of the 5 cards on the table. Putrajaya and DBKL are upping the ante by getting court-order to restraing people from coming in tomorrow. The Bersih commitee has responded with a "we will go ahead regardless" response. Occupy Dataran movement has responed with crowding the square tonight at

Sometimes, it can be wonderful how reverse psychology can be. The more pressure applied by authoritarians, the more people will start coming in to the square later on. Therefore, it's not possible to see a ideal half million people gathering there. I can see a 60% probability that DBKL will start bleeding money on that day, as they had to bring in their own personnel in addition to calling

It's a strange thing to see that while other cities outside KL are allowed to hold an event for two hours, I can't see the logic behind a no thing. Anyone who talks about #TKLLogic will also have the same opinion like I do.

To cut the story short: how do you stop on 500,000 potential people swarming in the city tomorrow?

Casino UMNO

Most of the people are aware that the next general elections coming around the corner will be the dirtiest ever. To the extent of winning at all costs (as what Najib has been shouting about) the BN-led government would bring in more foreginers for citizenship in exchange for votes (59000 spotted as announced today), making a blitz of electorial amendments last week that makes things more worse and opposite of clean and fair elections.

It is very clear that UMNO in particular is a entity whose fear of power capitulation. I have written this in an earlier article called "Fear of Capitulation". Like its Irish cousin, the Provisional IRA, BN is behaving like them as well.

Barisan Nasional has an election war chest of almost infinite amount. Some say it is within the tune of RM 600 million to RM 1.7 billion mostly from contributions by GLCs. This is of course goes against the basic rules of campaigning that the Election Commission doesn't even bother to care about. Even fraud cases won't do much if you decide to take it to the courts.

From my understanding that the maximum amount of campaign money a coalition can spend on MPs and assemblymen would be around RM 100 million. (44.4 million for 222 MPs, 50.5 million for 505 assemblymen minus Sarawak ADUNs). The war chest is 6 to 17 times more than what is supposed to be. As what someone told me, Najib is like Santa Claus, splashing money here and there, with the intention of buying people for votes. It sheds the light that Najib is more of a mere showman and splashing people's money like if it's "duit bapak".

But even if they splash out RM 500 as in BR1M, are we aware that they can take back the money in forms of taxes and other things that could be imposed after GE13? Not many know about it. There's a simpulan bahasa in related to this "buruk siku". You first give it out for charity but later you decided to take it back from the person whom you give it.

This reminds us of the Moggiville scandal (the 2006 Serie A match-fixing) where referees in the Italian Serie A were implicated in the intercepted phone conversations to give Juventus football club a clear favor in winning the league titles for year 2005 and 2006. The EC are like referees asked to tilt the voting favor for Barisan Nasional - in line with UMNO's "dulu, kini dan selamanya" slogan.

Since attempts to persuade EC to improve the system via roundtable discussions have failed, and the system is getting more from bad to worse, hence, Bersih. I have seen how the previous Bersih 2.0 have faced the negativity and vilification from the press and many naysayers, most from BN in particular. Many, whom I observed simply talk in pervert logic and behave as if they are being brainwashed to say something no outright without thinking straight. Some say that this means a loss of Malay power. This is absolutely rubbish and nonsensical because the numbers in population speak for itself.

Someone wrote to my blogger friend Haris in Facebook about Bersih:

"We M’sians are simply too docile.If only we are as steadfast + hell bent like the Egyptians + the other Arabs,hundreds of thousands of us would remain in Merdeka square for weeks + months until the Govt is brought down,period .The power of the Rakyat is unstoppable if we are courageous and determined as we have the numbers."

This is true as Raja Petra quoted from Howard Zinn - "You Can't Be Neutral on A Moving Train":

"Civil disobedience. . . is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that numbers of people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of the leaders of their government and have gone to war, and millions have been killed because of this obedience. . Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity and war and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves, and all the while the grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem."

It's high time for people to stop being docile. I find the Facebook comment above should be the starting point.

It's not just being hell-bent to stay there. It's being a dare of raising the stakes against them, fighting fire with fire.

If anyone has watched either Casino Royale or Ocean's Thirteen, these two movies share one thing in common.

Casino Royale, the first James Bond book has 007 pitting against the principle antagonist Le Chiffre for the high amount of money staked in the card game. If anyone has seen the last poker hand (poker is more played than baccarat) in the film, then it's about $115 million, the amount Le Chiffre could have recuperated had his hand is bigger than 007's.

On the other hand on Ocean's, the crew rigged Willie Bank's casino to make sure every customer wins on the opening night. The Ocean crew were there not for the cash but to settle the score against him who double-crossed their crew member Rueben.  How much The Bank lost one night at the end?

Half a billion.

So what does that mean? It means there are a few ways to make UMNO eat their own medicine and humble pie.

It's about the challenge and dare game of raising the stakes and taking the money back and out from Casino UMNO - making them lose with a bigger margin call.

Why not you people out there challenge the naysayers on Facebook and Twitter to bet for high amount of money if Bersih ends successfully in Malaysia and worldwide? 

Why not bet against UMNO to pay you the whole lot a total of $300 million if they lose in the election? Why not give the entire vote to the opposition in the spirit of "Anything But UMNO" and make BN losing their campaigning money for each seats they lose? 

You already know what's at stake, so that answers the question of what will you people are staking in particular, yes?

You think they will accept it? Unlikely. But at least it shows that they scream, having foam in their mouths and even making a lot of excuses including "gadai negara", whereas it's proven that their leaders are doing it right now. I have no problem in deciding who to vote. I have also prepared to take the risk of doing it different.

Maybe I might be talking trash here, but come to think of it, you should show the guts to do it, not to be docile! You are really supporting and endorsing evil acts even you choose to do nothing and stay out of it.

When Bumpkins Are More Than Intellectuals

There was a mob of UMNO-affiliated people who assaulted students at the Merdeka Square in the early hours of the morning. Not only I got pissed, but it turns out that Malaysia is churning more bumpkins then intellectuals. The bumpkin syndrome is obviously the opposite of progression and churning of intellectuals. It's not just that mob group but some politicians and grassroot members across parties on both fronts.

These bumpkins have been lately making immature statements. You got Azwanddin Hamzah declaring war on LGBTs at the expense of paying more attention to those that involve greater sins. You got PERKASA saying that APs are exclusively for Bumiputras only at the expense of equal playing field. Ahmad Maslan calls students as opposition tools And of course, the ringleader behind the early morning incident is the same fat asshole that was at the Asalkan Bukan UMNO event in Jalan Kebun in Klang.

Malaysia is in the state of disarray largely because many of its ruling leaders and politicians are bumpkins, despite having education certifications. Those of people who managed to watch the Parliamentary proceedings would at times have noticed that there are MPs who make immature statements. And our education system, emphasizing only on passing exams, teaching children to obey without questioning at all turns out to be creating more bumpkins instead of what the real world careers demand: thinking and creative people. There are some who have managed to get past it, which I am happy to say it. But many still have yet to do so. In school, children are not even taught of proper financial education, save for the "save for the rainy day" thing and the basic money management skills. Any economist would tell you to do the "let the money make money for you", but few know it. That's why UMNO-men keeps harping on "if PR does this then the country would go bankrupt" bogeyman thing.

Anyhow, today in light of the PTPN protest issue, my opinion is that the PTPN is mismanaged. It should have been done properly and the issue of "interest" from money is also another bone of contention to deal with. Since the fund is used by everyone, it is against the Muslim religion to have riba or interest out of it. It's considered as a sin right? If the claim that whatever profit gained from the interest amount to paid back is given to the alleged cronies in private colleges, then I supposed that there is a legit reason for kicking up the bucket to fuss about.

Out of those who don't really agree about protesting PTPN, the big percentage of it are those who blindly follow (aka, bodek) those who simply outright say no. In other words, you follow the fool and like them start to have foam in their mouths. A quick study of their characters too can tell them whether they are bumpkins (narrow minded) or otherwise.


Let me make one thing very clear. All those names (e.g Ibrahim Ali, Azwanddin Hamzah, Zahrain Hashim, etc..) I have mentioned are not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, if you know what I mean. They are the opposite of intellectualism. If you have any opportunity to personally interact with them you will come to the conclusion that they are country bumpkins. They are very narrow-minded and shallow in thinking

- Human Rights and Fundamental Liberties For Idiots, 16 April

Can you count around how many politicians currently part of the running government of the day can fall under that category above. Today, you have seen a few apart from Ibrahim Ali, like Sri Gading's Mohd Aziz, Khaled Nordin, Hishamuddin "Kerisman" Hussein and Ahmad Maslan (all Johoreans) making bumpkin-grade statements. It's a pity that many of the grassroot followers couldn't even establish the line between right and wrong. They just a product of the education system as to study hard and excel in exams, not to think out of the box and be given the creative freedom whenever they can.

Why do you think that there's more than half of people who didn't even reach up to the degree level?

Sometimes, what people from opposition say are by point right that Malaysia's brain drain still goes on and on no matter what programs and initiatives launched including TalentCorp. I can't really think of anything more than seeing the country going in groundhog mode with bumpkins running the show and the many Pak Pandir antics calling a day's work.