Bersih: It’s not about black or white
By Koh Lay Chin, The Nut Graph
TO go yellow or not to go yellow? This seems to be the question among Malaysians these days. In cyberspace, Malaysians of all backgrounds are writing, forwarding and sharing comments and articles about the planned 9 July Bersih 2.0 march.
But what exactly are people saying about the ideas and principles behind the march itself? And why are people deciding to march or not? Are the issues clearly black or white?
To march…?
The good news is that there are definitely diverse opinions about the march. The bad news is that conversations have degenerated somewhat into an “Us” against “Them” dichotomy. If you don’t march or “go yellow”, it has been implied you may be chicken. If you do march, you are just a plain government-hating oppositionist.
It would be a mistake to assume that people against the Bersih march, or unwilling to support it fully, are all rabid Barisan Nasional supporters. There are writers and commentators in civil society who have already pointed out various reasons why they would rather not march.
Some are unhappy that the march has been influenced, at best, or completely hijacked, at worst, by politicians and parties. Many are convinced that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who reportedly boasted he could call off the march with a call to Bersih chief Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, has his tentacles in the show. Although Ambiga swiftly negated his comments and Anwar later said he was taken out of context, the fact is that many people do indeed see this as a Pakatan Rakyat-influenced show.
With parties like PAS publicly backing and promising to send thousands to the rally, and PR politicians promoting the event, many are wary or uncomfortable with the idea of aligning or marching with politicians. There are also those who are anti-Anwar, anti-Pakatan, anti-BN, or anti-Perkasa who find being lumped under one umbrella unsavoury.
Others question the impact of a usual “pass a memorandum to the Agong” march, or insist that the electoral reform agenda itself has become but a side-show.
…or not to march?
While some who choose not to march have genuine ideological dilemmas, some other reasons cited for not marching are just baffling. The most perplexing is probably the argument that protesting in the city is a nuisance to taxi drivers and businesses or could cause traffic jams.
These groups seem to forget that peaceful protests are a hallmark of democratic, developed nations, and that avoiding some amount of traffic disruption is not more important than citizens’ civil rights.
