COMMENT We were all waiting in anticipation of what would happen on Sept 16, being Malaysia Day.

If Malaysia Day was supposed to be a day for all Malaysians, including our brothers and sisters from Sabah and Sarawak, to celebrate the formation of the country, the red shirt rally had indeed spoilt the mood except for a small group who were with Marina Mahathir at the KLCC park.

One reason why we agreed for the red shirt rally to go on is because we wanted to know the faces behind the anti-Chinese protesters and those who were playing up racial sentiments.

Of course, the bigger reason is because all we want Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to acknowledge is that, if his supporters can go to the streets, (strangely) not to protest against the government, but to show their solidarity behind Najib, then, it is every Malaysian’s democratic right to a peaceful assembly.

There were marches on the streets, despite Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor sounding his strong warning not to march.

The ironies

Apparently, you cannot say that Wednesday’s rally was peaceful without acknowledging that the demonstrators had breached the police cordon, and ‘a little force’ had to be used to disperse the protesters.

That was what happened during Bersih 3 but for nearly one week, the mainstream papers continued to demonise the Bersih supporters. Several hundred, and not just two, Bersih supporters were arrested, chased and beaten up.

Bersih 2.0 back then should have taken up a class suit against the government of the day, because citizens of this country were being brutally treated like animals.

Ironically, at the Petaling Street demonstration, two protesters were arrested, while the main actors went back to their bungalow home and their fleet of Lamborghinis and Ferraris to enjoy the luxuries of life.

The other irony is that you cannot encourage people to join the rally without endorsing it. It is irresponsible to even recommend someone to use an electrical appliance without first giving it a Sirim approval, or take medication without the Health Ministry giving it the approval.

Although Umno said it did not officially endorse the street protest, Umno’s fingerprints are all over it.

Even the police knew about it. They were sandwiched in between. Fronting them were members of the ruling political party; behind them were also politicians from the same political party. What do you expect them to do?

To fire or not to fire water cannon and tear gas was probably the biggest dilemma on the mind of the senior cop in command. In fact, if you ask me, Kuala Lumpur police chief Tajuddin Md Isa was on the hot seat. He alone had to bear the brunt, should there be a miscalculation on the part of the police.

In a rally of this nature, inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar would have been a better-equipped person to manage the entire operation, so that his men could be spared.

Tajuddin did a great job in minimising the damage because he presumably understood that firing the water cannon or tear gas, or using force to disperse the crowd would mean Umno vs Umno on the streets. Or, at least this was how it was going to be perceived by the rest of the nation.

This would not look good on the part of the politicians who came out to support the red shirt rally (people like Ahmad Maslan, Mohd Ali Rustam, Jamal Mohd Yunos and Rahman Dahlan, among others) or even those who openly associated themselves with the street protesters immediately after the street rally by congratulating them.

The red shirt demonstrators during the street chaos listened to one leader, Jamal, so how can he blame the chaos on Pakatan Rakyat? The question is, why did Jamal promise the people that he would lead them into Petaling Street again?

Those who bring dignity

When Jamal brought up the issue of ‘Maruah Melayu’ (Malay dignity) as an issue against Bersih 4, I was one person who kept wondering why he used that line of argument.

Since when has the dignity of the Malays been challenged? True enough, when I read another article, where our Malay brothers and sisters took offence over the incident of a Chinese reporter being called “Cina Babi”, I found the answer.

The people who help to raise the Malay dignity are people like the Group of 25 eminent Malays, Anwar Ibrahim, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Nurul Izzah Anwar, Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali , Azimah Rahim, Azmi Bahri, Azmi Sharom, A Samad Said (Pak Samad), and yes, the list is impossible for me to include everyone that my limited mind power can produce.

Therefore, with people like Jamal and Mohd Ali Rustam using Persekutuan Silat Kebangsaan Malaysia (Pesaka) to rally the people to support Najib, what does that say to us about Malay dignity?

If I am not wrong, the organisation is supposed to be an equivalent to the taekwondo or the karate association, which is why even the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) president Tunku Imran Tuanku Jaafar has come out with a strong statement.

Going by Tunku Imran’s statement, would it not be Ali Rustam who is bringing down the dignity of the Malays if Pesaka faces OCM sanctions?

If not careful, Umno will self-implode

Now, the question is who make up the faces of Umno today?

It is Najib who is now facing a number of scandals. With his leadership being in question, where are we going as a nation?

Instead of Muhyiddin Yasin who has been his ardent supporter (presumably), now Najib has Zahid Hamidi, whose letter to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in support of one Paul Phua has raised ire even amongst Malaysians.

Then there is this Tengku Adnan Mansor, who was so uncouth as to use the words “go nude” on Bersih people, but during the red shirt rally, wanted the Chinese and the Indians to turn up for the rally.

Abdul Rahman Dahlan, who is now saying that it is petty to issue a clean-up bill on the red shirt rally, well, do you think he can win the case when Bersih 2.0 takes Kuala Lumpur City Hall to court over the RM65,000 bill?

No wonder former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad calls some of them ‘half past six’ and former finance minister Daim Zainuddin is forced to use the word, ‘deadwood.’

I do not wish to add more names to the list, but enough said, if Umno does not go back to the drawing board, it may self-implode, as pointed out by one of its sacked members, Khairuddin Abu Hassan.

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