Time for change
I was considering joining the march to the King's palace today, organised by the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections (Bersih). The plan is to march to the King's palace to hand over a memorandum from the citizens calling for electoral reform.
But I fell sick yesterday, was in bed all day, and am still feeling like jelly today.
I don't watch TV, but I heard there has been a lot of propaganda being aired, trying to discourage citizens from taking part in the rally. Apparently the government-owned stations (RTM 1 & 2) have been airing video video clips showing riots, ending with the message "Demonstrasi selalu berakhir dengan rusuhan" (demonstrations always end in riots). Newspapers and broadcast media also reported that the gathering is illegal and those caught participating in it will be slapped with an RM20,000 fine and jailed for a year. Talk about scare tactics.
Incidentally, the only reason the gathering is 'illegal' is because the police refused to issue a permit, which Bersih duly applied for.
The funny thing is, the King is well aware of the rally, and has consented to receive representatives of the delegation who will be entering the Palace to present the citizens' memorandum to him. So how ridiculous is it that the authorities are trying to prevent this from happening?
Police have even placed roadblocks to screen motorists going into the city, to screen those who might be planning to attend the event. There were also rumours that the LRT (train) services would be suspended so as to prevent people from taking the LRT in.
People attending the event have been encouraged to wear yellow, which is "not only the royal colour of all the rulers (including the Yang di-Pertuan Agong) but also the sovereign colour representing People’s Power in many ASEAN countries." Apparently there was an announcement on the news last night that members of the public are banned from wearing yellow today!!
Not to mention, there were pamphlets distributed at mosques and suraus exhorting faithful Muslims not to attend the event as it is organised by "Islam-hating, non-Malay, Interfaith Commission supporters".
One question: What is the government so afraid of?
If, you know, your government is as good and clean and fair and transparent as you claim it is, then what have you to fear? Besides, as Bob pointed out, this is merely a call for electoral reform, not an anti-Government rally. Now if our government is so scared of electoral reform... hmm... it does make one wonder, doesn't it??