Yesterday, I had harboured the thought and hope that Malaysia was maturing as a democracy and can equal that of developed countries, with Kuala Lumpur comparable to London and New York, where peaceful assemblies and gatherings involving thousands, tens of thousands and even hundreds of thousands of people, could be held with the full understanding and even co-operation of the police authorities.
This thought came to me when on the way from the Masjid Negara meeting point towards Dataran Merdeka, together with other Pakatan Rakyat leaders Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Datin Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Datuk Seri Awang Hadi and Mat Sabu, we saw a veritable celebration not only of Malaysian democracy but Malaysian nationhood – with Malaysians transcending race, religion, politics, age or gender, coming together in a common universal cause for clean, free and fair elections for a clean Malaysia.
But this thought and hope that the Bersih 3.0 “sit-in” will be an international badge of honour of a maturing Malaysian democracy proved ephemeral as it was pulverized very shortly after in the disproportionate and indiscriminate firing of police tear gas at peaceful protestors for free and fair elections massed outside Dataran Merdeka.
Clearly, the breach of the Dataran Merdeka barricade, for which commensurate action could be taken, is no justification for the release of the violent events, like the disproportionate and indiscriminate firing of police tear gas, the police mass arrests and attacks on peaceful protestors including those who had dispersed and were on their way home, the “heavy-handed” attack and targeting of journalists as well as incidents where police personnel were targets of attacks.
For this reason, DAP calls for an immediate and comprehensive Suhakam public inquiry into the indiscriminate firing of police tear gas at Dataran Merdeka leading to a chain of violence marring the successful peaceful holding of a 200,000 people Bersih 3.0 Dataran Merdeka “sit-in” for free and fair elections.
The whole problem could have been solved if the police just removed the barricade and allowed the protesters sit in Dataran Merdeka until they got tired and went home.
Najib’s paranoid government, which is stuck with cold war mentality, still has a long way to go before it can mature as a democracy on par with that of developed countries.
Oops!
“before it can mature as a democracy” should be “before it can make Malaysia a democracy”.
It’s not about democracy or anything else.
It’s about protecting their gravy train.
That’s the crux of the whole matter.
Orang pun dia….hantu pun dia.
Yen yeow hai kei…qui yeow hai kei.
Najib whispered an apology to an injured protester.
Yes, there should be an independent investigation into the Police action during the Bersih 3.0 Duduk dan Bantah
I was part of the Medical team helping to provide medical attention to all attending the Bersih 3.0 rally. At about 3.30pm, I saw and smell teargas being fired into Jln Yap Ah Loy ( which is far from Dataran Merdeka ) and they chased us into Jln Tun Perak. We run. I felt a tap on my shoulder. A young man asked me for help as her wife was bleeding seriously from her scalp. He told me that she was hit by a tear gas cannister. As I lie her down to examine her ( she was bleeding badly ), I could see and smell the tear gas all around me. I told the husband to help carry her to the side road by hind Kota Raya, and there attend to her to try and stop the bleed. With the help of my team, we temporarily stopped the bleed, bandaged her scalp. I called for an ambulance on my walkie talkie. After 10 mins when they did not respond, I asked passer bys to flag down a private car. A kind Samaritan consented to fetch her bleeding, to Tung Shin Hospital ( nearby ) for toilet and suture. I had one of my doctors accompany her.
I am reporting this is detail because from 3.30pm onwards, we had to attend to many cases of bodily injury allegedly from tear gas cannister. If this is indeed true, this is a very serious change in Police strategy. I was made to understand that to disperse crowds, police should fire tear gas into the air, let the cannister fall, and release the tear gas. In that way, there should be little bodily injury. But throughout the afternoon, there were reports to us medics of scalp injuries, neck injuries, trunk injuries, and back injuries.
I do hope that the Police is not shooting tear gas to injure people. That is why I think that there should be an independent investigation, into this Police action. They also seem to have no respect for Medics attending to the injured. We are already down, attending to injured, and they were still firing at us.
Yes, we should have an independent inquiry. The police were really out of order, from what I can see and hear.
We need to change the tenant at Putrajaya. GE 13 is coming. This BN government is getting crazier by the day. Lets us vote them out. It is going to be difficult. Bersih 3.0 is a great start.
Change we must. Change we can, and change we will.