Who turned up doesn’t matter, we’re all M’sians
YOURSAY ‘Najib must be happy that Malays did not turn up in big numbers.’
Racial imbalance, predominantly Chinese at rally
Armchair Newspaper:
PM Najib Razak wanted to show Bersih 4 is a Chinese/DAP-led urban-based opposition movement to remove him, with little or no support from the Malays and PAS.
He needed this well-trodden political narrative to divert attention from the issues of his colossal corruption, economic disaster and political division within Umno, and to coalesce the proven formula of "Malay political and Islam" under "existential" threat.
The "professional" response from the police and lack of vitriolic response from Umno ultras thus far was to encourage massive Chinese turnout to validate that perception.
Najib must be personally happy that the Malays did not turn up in big numbers as they did in the previous protests. Based on the numbers on Saturday and since Malaysia’s political fortune has always be defined by numbers and race, I think Najib has succeeded.
Ib: Those with vested interests in Umno and PAS must be hoping to play more racial cards.
But they have to think again because while many Malays have not attended, they are after all honest and religious people who cannot be fooled and know what is right from wrong.
Anonymous_3f4b: What does this tell you? That GHB (Gerakan Harapan Baru) is nothing compared to PAS. They cannot muster the Malay crowd. The Malay masses are still with PAS and Umno. GHB is a party for losers riding on the wave of non-Malay support, a la DAP.
It also shows that the Malays are not with Bersih when push comes to shove. Bersih, as a result of its own doings, has been associated with the opposition DAP and PKR.
The Bersih leaders are always seen with opposition leaders and this lends to the perception that it is a tool of the opposition to topple a democratically-elected and lawful government of the day.
DAP is a Chinese dominant party, which most Bersih attendees can identify with, while PKR only has the freeing of its leader Anwar Ibrahim in mind, which goes against the grain of what Bersih stands for.
Ferdtan: This is expected when PAS is about to break up into two; especially when the party proper is indirectly discouraging/banning its members from attending.
We don’t expect the other soon-to-be-formed splinter party, Gerakan Harapan Baru, which is still at its infancy stage, to have influence on existing grassroots PAS members.
Give them time to build their support, especially among the Malays and then - if there is a necessity to have another Bersih rally - it will be a perfect storm.
This shows that once again PAS is a spoiler for the opposition with its absence. PAS acts more in line with Najib’s ruling Umno instead of an opposition party. Was it a sign of PAS support for Najib?
Having said that, it was a still big success for Bersih 4 as far as the numbers are concerned.
Gaji Buta: Why bite the hand that feeds you? After all, they have it relatively good with Umno rule and all their policies.
Nothing will change until the time comes when the population of non-Malays becomes insignificant and no longer can be spun as a threat.
But that will be a different Malaysia, as there will no longer be the balancing effect of the non-Malays that has so far stopped this place from becoming another Afghanistan.
So, in summary, probably we will see one more generation of racial politics and plundering, followed by Talibanisation.
Just Your Normal Rakyat : This is the first time I am joining Bersih. Thank you for letting me be part of Malaysia history.
It is not true that Chinese dominated Bersih 4. As everyone can see from the videos uploaded, there were also a lot of Malays and Indians as well.
I was really touched because:
1) All Bersih participants were orderly and peaceful.
2) There were a lot of kind Malaysians, some offering free food and drinks, flowers, some offering their space to older participants to sit, etc (this really makes me proud to be a Malaysian).
3) And so many participants staying overnight (even sleeping on the streets).
There is indeed hope for Malaysia. Please, do not turn this into a racial issue. This is Malaysia for Malaysians, and Malaysians for Malaysia.
Cocomomo: Umno should be congratulated for the following:
1. They managed to break up Pakatan by ensuring PAS takes a more conservative Islamic route, which is not acceptable to all non-Muslims as well as most Muslims in Malaysia.
2. Effectively reducing the influence of PAS.
3. Despite having been involved in questionable (corruption?) activities, most Umno leaders seem to continue (whether grudgingly or not, it does not matter) to support their questionable leader.
4. Manage to continually convince the Malays that DAP is anti-Malay.
5. Manage to continually mislead the Malays into believing the opposition is anti-Malay, though the majority of opposition MPs are Malays.
6. Still succeeding despite continuing to use outdated racist tactics.
Tailek: Even if there were not many of our Malay brothers at Bersih 4 rally, it's all right. We know they support us in spirit.
My group dressed in our yellow Bersih attire went for a meal at a fairly upmarket restaurant in Damansara Heights after we were done for the day. On our way out, a fairly youngish couple called out ‘Bersih’ and gave us the thumbs up.
So you see, the Malays may not be physically present at the rally but their spirit is with the crowd.
The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now .
These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.
For more news and views that matter, subscribe and support independent media for only RM0.36 sen a day:
Subscribe now