To Obey or Disobey?

by Yin Ee Kiong

“You are saying our problem is civil disobedience, but that is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. . . . Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves, and all the while the grand thieves are running the country.” Howard Zinn

Do governments expect their citizens to obey them or the laws promulgated by them even if the laws are unjust or immoral?

If the answer to the above is “Yes, Always!” then Hitler’s laws and the actions of the Nazis against the Jews would be in order. The laws passed by the Apartheid regime of the old South Africa would be acceptable. And Martin Luther King Jr and thousands of Americans should not have marched in protest against segregation and racial discrimination. Nearer home, should the Burmese then not have protested against a regime not of the people or by the people?

In other words no one should go against those establishments simply because they were ‘legal’.

But legal is not the same as moral; laws which have no moral basis are untenable and ultimately unsustainable. If a piece of legislation is immoral to begin with or if it is against the interests of the citizens, if they are there merely to ensure the regime stays in power then should not citizens disobey them?

Governments which are propped up by unjust laws have to be challenged.

Malaysians are by nature very patient (some would even say apathetic) it takes a long time before Malaysians will rebel. People are more concerned with making a living and feeding their family than to march on the streets. They must be, to put up with years of abuse of power and corruption; and with certain sectors of the population racial and religious discrimination. But rebel they did on July 9th 2011.

People had different reasons for protesting on July 9th but the common cause was the demand for Free and Fair Elections. That was a cause everybody at Bersih 2 and Malaysians in general, embraced.

Malaysians recognise that the lack of free and fair elections has been the root of our problem all these years. The UMNO-BN Government has through gerrymandering, ballot box stuffing, phantom voters, bribes, threats, use of the ISA and EO, maintained power. It’s not that people have not voiced their discontent through the ballot box. But when the dice is loaded the wishes of citizens are not registered; and when the result is a foregone conclusion why should people voice their discontent through the ballot box anymore without first fixing the rules that allow this electoral abuse to continue?

Democracy demands that everyone’s vote should carry an equal weight and every party have the same exposure in the media, and that there should not be electoral practices which effect a different result than the one a free and fair election would have delivered.

Bersih is fighting for elections that will reflect the true wishes of the people. The demands of Bersih are neither excessive nor unreasonable. In fact they are long overdue. They are the very least we can expect if we want free and fair elections that reflect the true wishes of the people.

Ambiga Sreenevasan’s comment that another demonstration (Bersih 3?) is possible is not a threat and should not be taken as such. It is just an observation of the rakyat’s mood. Neither Bersih nor any political party can get people out to protest if they are not so inclined.

The new law on public assembly just passed by parliament is a piece of legislation that is intended to curb the people’s right to public assembly and peaceful protests. It is just another of the many government tools to help UMNO-BN stay in power. It’s not about maintaining public order; it’s not about traffic jams or the disruption of business. Bersih 2 put paid to that lie – it was by and large peaceful. It was the police which were violent.

Our problem is not that we have been disobedient of the authorities but that we have been too obedient! For 54 years we have obeyed every single law however unjust or immoral; we have accepted election results that were suspect.

To paraphrase Howard Zinn (historian, writer, social activist) our problem is that we have been too obedient. Meanwhile thieves are running the country . . . and ruining it. Our problem is because we are obedient they ride roughshod over us so that the few who dared to lead a protest are threatened with loss of citizenship and worse, while those who make the threats get away with it.

If the laws are unjust or applied unjustly people may obey them out of fear not out of respect for them. However beyond a certain point fear loses its potency and people will disobey. When that point will be reached is anyone’s guess. My guess is Malaysians are fed up to their back teeth and have run out of patience. They are in a disobedient mood.

We have an ex-cabinet minister who has confessed that the ruling party had bribed the people during elections.

We have a current cabinet minister admitting that he was against the use of indelible ink on the flimsiest of excuses. Anything to gain an advantage over the opposition.

Without Bersih 2 even that small advance (to use indelible ink) would not have been possible but that alone does not ensure GE13 will be free and fair. More needs to be done, but whether Malaysians will disobey the law by going for Bersih 3 is left to be seen.

All Malaysians are asking is that we be allowed to freely elect the government we want and if it is the people’s wish to retain this government so be it but if the rakyat want a change of government then UMNO-BN must accept the verdict with good grace and not threaten to ‘defend Putrajaya at whatever cost”

The new government after GE13 must be chosen freely and fairly!