Bersih and the Fall of Reason
ART HARUN
“I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death.” : Thomas Paine
The events unfolding before our eyes in the past few weeks say a lot about us as a collection of individuals; as a society and as a people. What is clear however is the sad fact that when we are faced with adversity, we tend to lose our head and retreat into the same old dark and cold cave of emotions, of irrationality and of convenient rhetoric.
Above all, we abandon the very faculty which differentiate us from all other primates, namely, our ability to reason. That is the saddest reflection of us, as a nation.
With all due respect, the government could have handled the Bersih’s requests and demands in better ways than imaginable. As a people living in 2011, we expect better. We expect the government to respond and not react. And react rashly and even stupidly at that.
When the momentum of Bersih’s call for a rally gain traction and weight, the usual suspects jumped into action. Apparently, Dato’ Ambiga, the Bersih chairman, was an enemy of Islam. The obligatory demonstration (which was granted a police permit in two days after an application was made for one) coupled with the inevitable ultra-nationalistic speeches climaxing into the predictable burning of Ambiga’s pictures took place.
It is ironic that Ibrahim Ali named his movement “Gerak Aman” (“Peace Movement”, in English) while at the same time making a not-so-veiled, but vile, threat that the “Chinese should really stock up food in their house”. he then appointed himself the “war general”. And so, a Peace Movement had a war general. Certainly a first for Malaysia.
The police force was not to be left behind. Its intelligent unit jumped into action and within minutes it found evidence that the Communist had infiltrated Bersih and was planning the overthrow the government through Bersih. A number of people from Parti Sosialis Malaysia were promptly arrested and red t-shirts were seized.
Not enough with that, it was also found out that Bersih was being funded by some Christian groups. That seemed to gel with the earlier assertion that Ambiga was anti-Islam.
And so Bersih has managed to achieve what no other organisation in the whole world had managed to even dream, ie, the unison of Christianity with Communism in post World War time. How’s that for international notoriety?
If we had thought that Malaysia and her authorities have gone ape, we were in for a big surprise in later days.
The members of some silat organisation that announced that they would “wage war” against Bersih. 50000 of its members were ready to kill off any challenge by Bersih or by the rally participants. As to what the challenge was, nobody gave any clue. Later the silat organisation seemed to grow in numbers and this time it declared it was ready to “defend the country from Bersih’s action”.
Then the usual intellectual and some persatuan peniaga runcit whatever joined in the fray. The planned rally would create traffic congestion and would cause traders to lose a lot of money. Why don’t they do it in Putrajaya? Pity the taxi drivers.
Of course it was lost too them that the bounden duty of the police is the ensure safety and order during the exercise by the people of their Constitutional right. Why don’t the police meet up with Bersih and hatch out a security plan rather than act to prevent the people from doing so?
There was, and still is, a complete lack of understanding as to the rights of the people and the function of the State when such rights are about to be exercised. Thinking that it is the year 2011 and that Malaysia has gained independence for about 54 years, it is distressful to note such complete belligerent attitude against the people by the government.
Worst was to come, however.
