Most Read
Most Commented
Read more like this
mk-logo
News
Two scenarios in the aftermath of Bersih 4

COMMENT I had wanted to write about the two possible scenarios in the aftermath of Bersih 4, and try to be non-partisan, show some optimism and give Umno the benefit of the doubt, but it is hard to believe that the second scenario will ever happen.

In my previous article , it is not that I have pinned any hopes on the newly-minted Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed at all, but he and others like Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, represent the younger face of Umno.

Whether they do or die will determine Umno’s future, not the old guards who, if they are allowed to continue to use the iron fist on the people, will bring Umno to an earlier demise in the eyes of the people.

In his capacity as parliamentary public accounts committee chairperson, Nur Jazlan ( photo ) had at least earned some respect for being impartial, but like I mentioned in my article yesterday, he was also a disappointment to many people when he decided to abandon ship for a deputy minister's post.

Any more optimism left?

My optimism towards people like Nur Jazlan (since the time of writing the article yesterday) is dissipating gradually as I read the signs of what are now in the pipeline for Bersih 4.

Roads have been intentionally cordoned off to make it impossible for Bersih 4 rally-goers to congregate in one place.

This was bad enough, but understandable since it is Merdeka day on Aug 31, and Bersih’s chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah ( photo ) has been reasonable in saying that the rally-goers will congregate “as near” as possible to Dataran Merdeka instead of occupying the field. This is Bersih’s official position.

However, after Bersih’s website was apparently blocked by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), it appears to me that there can only be one scenario.

It appears that this government agency is doing something that is truly detrimental to the development of parliamentary democracy in this country, which is suppressing the people’s right to assemble.

The legal fraternity has vouched that there are no illegal assemblies in the first place.

Instead of facilitating the Bersih 4 rally, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s administration appears to be using the tactics normally employed during an emergency situation. Unless it is a ‘war’ situation, you do not try to jam the flow of information, which is important for the Bersih organisers to stay connected with the participants.

Whatever is done, whether blocking Bersih’s website or Sarawak Report’ s website, it makes no difference. People will circumvent the block and access the information. This is basic in human nature.

Already FireChat has been downloaded by the thousands in the past one week.

Given such a situation, I, too, have very little optimism left for the younger Umno leaders like Nur Jazlan.

Therefore, with sadness, I have to say that in moments like this, it is time for us to heed the words of Martin Luther King, Jr ( photo ), who said:

“Cowardice asks the question: Is it safe? Expediency asks the question: Is it political? Vanity asks the question: Is it popular? But conscience asks the question: Is it right? There comes a time one must take a position that is neither safe, nor political nor popular - but one must take it simply because it is right.”

I repeat: “One must take it simply because it is right.” If the leaders no longer listen to their voice of conscience, it is time that we ourselves do.

Yes, even if many people are arrested this time around, perhaps in the thousands, let it be, but the rest of the population have to be awakened. The people who go down to the rally already expect they may be arrested.

Those of us who remain do not have to do anything else except to give the cold shoulder treatment, and tell the rest of the world about what ‘happened’ in Malaysia on Aug 29 and 30.

Scenario 1: Cold War

In the past, Bersih rallies have the tendency of building up bigger momentum after they end, with the rakyat on the receiving end of water cannon and tear gas fired by the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU).

From the first rally till this weekend’s Bersih 4 mammoth rally, the number has grown steadily. The biggest ever was in Bersih 3, but it is expected that Bersih 4 will be much bigger.

What does this mean? It simply means that people’s discontentment with the government of the day has grown by the day. It has escalated many times more especially after we learnt about the missing billions in the 1MDB and how money (also in billions) flowed into the personal accounts of one Najib bin Abdul Razak carrying the title ‘Dato’ Sri’.

The same person had signed Transparency International’s integrity pledge and told voters that it was wrong to put political funds into individual accounts, but since The Wall Street Journal , Sarawak Report and the Edge expose, he has not been beating around that bush.

The more the authorities use the rod on this ‘adolescent’ nation, and try to rule this nation again with the iron fist, the more the resistance the people in the corridors of power will experience in the coming years.

If the people choose to give Umno leaders the cold treatment for years to come, do you think they will be able to maintain their political power? Umno leaders have to remember that their power comes from the people.

If the people no longer listen to you, the conundrum Najib ( photo ) finds himself in now is how will any Umno leader lead the nation? Everywhere they go, whenever the name Unmo is mentioned, people will give them the scornful look. It is already happening to Najib when he goes overseas.

All that the people have to remember is what the politicians do to Bersih 4 rally-goers this weekend!

Many of them may not even get invitations to officially open functions as in the past, if they choose to go to war against unarmed rakyat. They can create their own events, and get themselves invited (as the proverbial saying goes, ‘syok sendiri’), but like Najib who turned up in Penang, people came for the Gangnam style concert but ignored him.

Apparently, Najib has not learnt from this cold treatment he received from the people, but continue to think that 3 million Umno members support him.

Judging from a few conversations over the past one week, I am not surprised that this time around even the rich and famous will be joining the ordinary rakyat in Bersih 4.

Even amongst the mothers in my son’s school Whatsapp chat group, there are already a number of women who will be going down to the streets of Kuala Lumpur.

In my article on Wednesday, I mentioned that even Noor Farida Ariffin, who is the Group of 25 (G25) coordinator, will be going down in her own capacity to the streets as well. I believe there will be others in her group who will join her. Will the FRU also fire on them?

I dread to imagine how the international and local media will portray Umno and BN leaders (including BN component party leaders such as Liow Tiong Lai ( photo ), Wee Ka Siong, Adenan Satem, Dr S Subramaniam) when the Bersih 4 rally is thwarted barely 24 hours before the Merdeka celebration! Even if the mainstream media do not report it, this will be instantly uploaded in the social media and it will spread like wildfire across the nation.

If they do fire even one water cannon at the people, Umno and BN better brace themselves to lose big in the coming election. As in the last general election, BN was nearly washed out in peninsular Malaysia. Now, with Bersih 4 also being held in Kota Kinabalu and Kuching, the impact would be even greater.

Whether the Bersih rallies in these two East Malaysian cities are carried out successfully or not, it no longer matters, but it is the way how the authorities handle the scores of people which will eventually decide on whether Umno and BN still have the moral authority to remain in Putrajaya.

It will determine if people like Nur Jazlan will ever see Putrajaya again. They would be better off sitting in the opposition side of Parliament.

Umno leaders should not be arrogant and behave as though they will be in office forever. They should not steal the future of their younger politicians, instead, the old guards like Zahid Hamidi should stand aside and allow the younger leaders to remould Umno to make it relevant to the younger generation of Malaysians.

Scenario 2: Merdeka celebration

On the other hand, allow me to at least paint some optimism, that this time around, due to the huge number of people turning up, Umno leaders will know how to behave themselves.

They will instruct the police to facilitate the rally and ensure that the people’s safety is top priority. Security and safety of the people is not in the hands of a handful of Bersih volunteers or the organisers, but the boys in blue.

It is the police that have the manpower to ensure that the people are safe throughout the entire rally. They should be more worried if any paid agent provocateurs create chaos, instead of trying to blame it on anarchists.

If a paid agent provocateur tries to create trouble, the police along with the Bersih volunteers will have to act fast to arrest the culprit and throw the long arms of the law around him.

Put him behind bars for 50 years or maybe 60 years, if you can! No one will sympathise with such a rotten apple, but do not use this as an excuse to try to disperse the crowd until the rally is over. This will not go down well with the people.

Everyone is waiting for the eve of Merdeka, for the first time for many who will be on the street, to shout “Merdeka!” I will not be surprised that there will be people who will stay over into the next day to celebrate Merdeka.

The next day, if Najib is smart, he can congratulate the Bersih 4 rally and the police for facilitating it, and boast that there is democratic space for the people to stage their protest. But, will he have the courage?

If he does not, will former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad seize the occasion to lash out on Najib and Zahid on Independence Day?

Which would Umno leaders, who are in the right mind, choose? The next 36 hours will be most critical for this nation’s future on how it will progress or move backwards.


STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.

ADS