Monday, July 04, 2011

Of Protest & Misquoting His Highness

This is a apolitical rant. Skip this if you are happier reading about race reports.
I am just an ordinary citizen. I pay my taxes. Abide by laws. Pay up my summons. Put up with bad local governance. I've voted three times since i am of legal age (1999, 2004, 2008). I've voted for the government in 1999 being the naive brainwashed (due to national school policies that i grew up with) and I have voted for the opposition in the last two election.
Yes. "Undi itu Rahsia" or "Vote is Confidential".
But are we really sure they are? I've on all three occasion noted that my ballot paper was marked. I have forgotten on the last two occasion to bring an eraser. I want my vote to be confidential - as it should be.
After 15 years since turning 21 and of legal voting age (and voted), I have slowly seen, or rather saw how things has been practiced in the country. I grew up in the "Mahathir" era. Where everything seems to be "perfect". Then it was the Abdullah years of nothing been done and now, the Najib's era. Nothing much has changed, really, except we now got our self-proclaimed "First Lady Of Malaysia", that was "perceived" to rule the country.
I would had agreed to that title if it was Tun Siti Hasmah. I bet many of you would agree with me.
Anyway, as all of us now know, the key word now is YELLOW. Anything of this color is apparently illegal. many has been mocking the decision by our own Home Minister and the Polis that "anyone wearing yellow - shoe, car, shirt etc" will be arrested as it's illegal.
Yellow is the color chosen for this movement called Bersih. It's a coalition of NGOs. Very much like Perkasa. Look, an NGO can have ONE person representing it. So, having 64 NGOs supporting you could meant there are only...well, 64 person involved.
I am not going to speak at length about Bersih. You can read it here as someone obviously has so much time to actually create a version in Wiki : Bersih in Wiki.
I am not against clean election. But that doesn't mean i support Bersih.
I love my country and what the future holds for my family and kids. But that doesn't mean i support Patriot.
No, i despise Perkasa and any racial bigots. And as a lawyer friend aptly asked me "how about those silent bigots". My opinion is that the silent bigots are not as damaging as those that threaten violence or when they open their mouth, shit actually smell better.
So, The Supreme Commander of the country. The Yang Di-Pertuan Agong, has finally spoke yesterday. he has requested that the Bersih and Government "work together". I must say His Highness has said enough to be fair to all parties.
Some might say that the speech by His Highness was scripted and prepared by the ruling government. If that is the case, that goes to show that the ruling government has acknowledged that Bersih is a force to reckon with; though i would much love that His Highness speak impromptu and warn everyone involved.
With that done, it's pretty obvious that most (if not all) media will carry the speech by His Highness. Bernama was the first to do that, followed by many others.
However, the headlines in all the media was less than desired. The word "illegal" and "haram" are used over and over again!
Now, NO WHERE in His Highness speech has His Highness mentioned ILLEGAL or HARAM!!!
Yeap, the imagine above is a bit too small for normal reading. Here is the excerpt from both the media.
Bernama text in Bahasa Malaysia - click to enlarge
NST Snapshot of the same speech - translated
No where in the text (of the official speech) in Bahasa said it was illegal. But somehow NST managed to interpret it as "illegal". It's clear misquoting. Did they use Google Translate like how the monkeys did when the China premier came to visit?
Some rakyat get caught for "waging war against the Agong". I believe the above runs along the same line. Many people get reprimanded for a lot less and will His Highness now need to call for a PC (press conference) to say he was "misquoted" by NST?
Before i go and mind my Monday business, let me leave you with our country's principles or Rukunegara
  • KEPERCAYAAN KEPADA TUHAN
  • KESETIAAN KEPADA RAJA DAN NEGARA
  • KELUHURAN PERLEMBAGAAN
  • KEDAULATAN UNDANG-UNDANG
  • KESOPANAN DAN KESUSILAAN
or
  • BELIEF IN GOD
  • LOYALTY TO KING AND COUNTRY
  • UPHOLDING THE CONSTITUTION
  • SOVEREIGNTY OF THE LAW, and
  • GOOD BEHAVIOUR AND MORALITY
As a citizen in Malaysia, ask yourself (first), how many have you been following? The way i sees it, the present government has breached the "upholding the constitution" part - being a democratic country, we are allowed our freedom of speech and the freedom to gather. Many of those threatening violence has obviously breached the last Rukunegara. The Principles MUST be read as a whole, not dissected to any one's whim and fancy.
Your future and your children's future is at stake. I say let Bersih, Patriot and the Government (both opposition and ruling) march down the road and demand for a clean AND safe election. This will be the perfect time to weed out those MPs that has underperformed and of suspicious character.
Come General Election #13 - vote wisely and don't be the fool that vote for the clown.

2 comments:

  1. Well said stupe, I can't agree more.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unfortunately, not many would think like some of us that has more interest in living a peaceful life. Some think that wealth through ill-gotten gains are the way to go..because, "if i don't do it, someone else will"

    So, better me to be driving that Fat arse BMW X6 that you driving one.

    ReplyDelete