Why Bersih is important to rakyat today?

This is an excellent video showcasing the promises of our prime ministers since Mahathir. None of their visions have helped this nation grow, it says we may achieve the state of Myanmar where we would be exporting our labour! Do we want to wait till then?

An Amah in the 1970s earned more than a fresh graduate today. Using gold as a standard an Amah in the '70s was paid 0.476oz whereas a fresh graduate today is paid 0.425oz. It says 0.5oz of gold is equivalent to the poverty rate of RM2,000.

Foreign labour is brought in to keep local wages low. Government encourages foreign labour even an illegal work force. Who benefits most from this?

More than 40% of the population lives below the poverty level. How has the National Economic Policy (NEP) elevated poverty? The middle class has dwindled and moved in with the poor. Have our prime ministers kept their promises?

Removal of subsidies have increased food prices by 7%. According to Bank Negara figures the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has increased from 2% to 4% this year. Can we believe this?

The video also shows how gerrymandering has created more votes for the Barisan Nasional (National Front). An eg is comparison between Putrajaya and Kapar - 1Putrajaya vote = 17 Kapar votes. Why is the BN/UMNO government reluctant to change the election procedures?

We can't believe in this government, can we?

It is upto us to show we care for this country and we need to show that this is enough. Isn't it time?

Persatuan Sahabat Wanita: Picture Album of Bersih Rally 9th July, 2011 ... historical day

Persatuan Sahabat Wanita: Picture Album of Bersih Rally 9th July, 2011 ... historical day

Picture Album of Bersih Rally 9th July, 2011 ... historical day

Fun part

Annie with her flower

Women's rights activists at JalanPetaling. They were walking with the crowd towards Stadium Merdeka.

Women activists at Jln Petaling

People, like Annie were holding yellow flowers in Jalan Petaling.

Couple in yellow headband

Some with yellow headbands, Jalan Petaling.

The marchers chanted 'Hidup Rakyat' (The People Live On) ... the chanting was inspiring. Hidup Rakyat said in succession was spellbinding. Sunggoh terkagum lah ... sunggoh siok :p)

Irene Fernandez on wheels

Irene Fernandez looked great with yellow headband and batek hat... ready for the full blast of tear-gas in blue rain coat. Great fashion.

A better view of yellow

Friends helped each other up to get a better view.

Dr Hatta giving a speech at Dataran Maybank

You have to strain a bit to see Dr Hatta (PAS) who has his hand up below the guy wearing yellow. His speech could be heard down the road as people used their hand phones to amplify his voice. There was only one loud hailer.

Using ipad to immediately send pics

Its amazing how technology has helped this movement - lots of young people with ipads, laptops - pictures were taken and uploaded immediately. This was in Jalan Petaling.

Train passengers waved at us, near Puduraya

We waved to the train passengers when they passed above us. This was at the junction near puduraya.

Raja, Senator Rama and MP Mano

Senator Rama said that they were from Brickfields and they walked and joined the Jalan Pudu group. They broke thru the police cordon in Brickfields.




The Stinging Part

First round of tear gas

At Jalan Pudu, the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) moved in. The marchers were prepared with masks, towels, rain-coats. The tear gas was stinging, eyes itching, coughing, stinging ... but boleh tahan (can withstand). In hindsight it was not stinging as the Hindraf rally. In the Hindraf rally the sting stayed on for more than an hour.

Taking cover from rain and tear gas

People passed salt around to overcome the stinging effect of the tear gas. Before the first round of tear gas was fired we all chanted "Allah hu akhbar" (God is great) - it helped us to overcome our fear. We waited ... with God in our hearts and peace within ourselves.

Everyone waiting for the next move

Under the city's skyline, in Jalan Pudu we waited what the FRU was going to do next?

We waited on the pavements

Syed Husin in Jln Pudu

Syed Husin like many of us were relieved the tear gas volley and water cannons stopped ... a breather. Both sides of Jln Pudu were the FRU and police.

The crowd moving in to hear out the negotiation

Sivarasa was trying to negotiate with the police for the marchers to go thru. There was about 20mins of respite ... we knew it didn't work when they shot the volley of tear gas and water cannon.

SUHAKAM observers

SUHAKAM staff in green and rain-coats was there to observe and send their reports to international organisations on the hundreds of human rights violations.

The water cannons were flushed into the Chinese Maternity hospital grounds...

Marchers facing the FRU

Marchers sat after the 2 volleys of water cannons. They faced the FRU who were beating their shields and moving forward. One chap laid on the ground.

People were running up chased by police with batons

After more than 6 rounds of water cannon and tear gas ... a group of policemen with batons ran into the Chinese Maternity Hospital grounds to chase and catch marchers. In this picture people were running up the slope next to the hospital. 

Some resting, having a drink

There were security marshals to advice us on where not to rest. There were some who rested at a enclosed area ... security people told them "when they come its difficult to get out ... get out now". Security marshals were everywhere. It was good to take a sip of water after the heavenly and hellish showers.

After a heavy day's work in justice it was home to tell the stories

At about 3:30pm everyone found their way out of Jalan Pudu into Jalan Petaling ... to have a drink, a pee or to smoke ... it was difficult finding clean toilets. Everyone must have walked more than 5kms.

BERSIH was a success. The rakyat has shown that the lies must stop, the corruption must stop. Many have said they are fed up with this government. 9th July saw all ages, all colours come together to celebrate history ... they came to ask for change.

HIDUP RAKYAT
HIDUP RAKYAT
HIDUP RAKYAT

Bersih Arrests, Intimidation, Harassment ... of rakyat

Activists at Bkt Aman

ARRESTS
Since late June, there were more than 150 Bersih 2.0 related arrests including 6 PSM members including Saras and Dr Kumar. These activists have been involved for the cause of justice since the 1980s.

7 July, '11. NGOs including PSWS and Pakatan party members supported the call for the release of the 6 PSM activists detained under EO. NGOs who work with Orang Asli, women workers, community issues and credit unions were there. 

6July. Saras taken to Jln Duta Court

Saras, community and women's activist
Saras, a former seamstress, has been tirelessly involved in women's and small farmers' rights. In the '80s she was leading Alaigal (Tamil word meaning waves). In one of their awareness programs on oppressive cultural practices they used dramas. She was also involved in assisting small farmers in Ipoh.

Intimidation
* EMPOWER office raided. Staff detained by police.
* Rakyat warned not to wear yelloh, Bersih T-shirts. Today in a school in Kajang, the headmaster warned teachers and students they are not to wear anything yellow including Bersih T-shirts. Teachers have been given notices in red not to take part in any rallies.
* Chow Kit market vendors told not to open their stalls on 9.7
* 11 roads are closed including the Federal Highway, the live vein of Kuala Lumpur - this is unprecendented. The govt. themselves will incur losses for this country on choosing this draconian option.

Police's Ops Bersih. Source FMT

*  Police road blocks almost on every road entering KL

Human rights violations
Malaysia like Burma remains one of the last countries in Asia that refuse to sign the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Malaysia has numerous human rights violations. 

Harassment
* Several activists involved in the Bersih Secretariat have been called for questioning, their families being intimidated.
*  Editors of newspapers have the "hangman's noose" hanging over their heads - their printing licences being revoked if they don't follow instructions from authorities.
* Overseas Malaysian scholarship students are threatened - their scholarships being revoked if they take part in rallies like Bersih.

Massive Budget for Clampdown
Closing roads, sending letters to all government schools, police on red alert just because the government refuses to allow a peaceful rally. How much would this cost the tax payer?

Repititon of Events From the Past

1960s Rally
Thousands of people were involved in the early 1960s demonstration where the rakyat asked for Democracy and Fair Elections. In this demonstration the police had 4-5 blocks of major trunk roads leading into Kuala Lumpur. Parti Rakyat and Parti Buruh were part of the coalition called the Socialist Front. Two nights before the event the government arrested leaders. Special Branch personnel arrested rakyat during the rally on that day. One socialist activist was beaten to death in Kampar. Tang Pow Kwan who died after the beatings had organised drama events to create awarness on the rakyat's rights. Every year the Front remembers his contributions on his death anniversary. Another activist was shot to death in Kuala Lumpur, during the demonstration. These are activists who fought for democracy but were cruelly crushed.

May 13, 1969 elections
Lim Soon Seng who was putting up posters were shot dead by the police. At that time the Socialist Front boycotted the elections as it was not fair.

1987 Operasi Lallang (Operation Lallang - lallang is unwanted grass)
During this Tun Mahathir as Prime Minister arrested more than 100 people, shut down the media, had various laws enacted to shackle the judiciary, press, university students and other civil rights movements. He created racial disharmony, threats - to instill fear in the rakyat - tactics used since British times.

BERSIH what does it mean to the rakyat?

To many Malaysian citizens, it is apparent that the principles of and practices surrounding our electoral system have been misused, manipulated and abused for years. In many cases, they are well documented. While appeals to the Elections Commission (EC) have been made time and again to correct these gaps, little action has been taken, with many excuses being made for said inaction. The Bersih 2.0 rally aims not just to push for reform of the Elections Commission, but also to correct and prevent these abuses from happening again. 

Elections are not fair because:

* Controlled, Government-Slanted Mainstream Media Coverage
Because of this the rakyat does not hear BERSIH's point of view as the government has been relentless (tak putus-putus) to paint BERSIH as illegal, nuisance. Wearing yelloh clothing or even carrying anything yelloh is deemed illegal. The authorities have threatened these papers if they don't tow the line their printing licences would be revoked. This is how the BN government works through threats and intimidation.


* Controlled, Government-Influenced Judiciary
The judiciary acts like civil servants as seen in the recent arrests in Penang of PSM members where the judge gave a 7day remand without looking into the evidence furnished by the lawyers. 6 Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) members including Dr Jeyakumar (Member of Parliament), have been rearrested earlier today under the Emergency Ordinance (EO), which allows for 60 day detention without trial, renewable for up to 2 years at the discretion of the Home Minister. The 6 were part of a group of 30 PSM activists who were remanded on 25 June for “waging war against the King”.

* Vote Buying

There has been numerous cases where members of rakyat have told stories of well paved roads in the estates, huge bags of money found in temples ...

* Barring of Oversight from Neutral International Observers

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The Creative Wind of Bersih

Poet laureate A Samad Said's Poem on BERSIH - Unggun Bersih (Slow burning Fire of Bersih)

A creative Song on Bersih in Mandarin

 

Women's groups rally behind Empower

Representatives of women’s NGOs hold a press conference ,
July 1, 2011. Picture by Melissa Chi

Nine women's groups rallied behind Empower when it was raided by the police. The women's groups are:
PSWS, WAO, AWAM, Tenaganita, WCC, AWL, Sisters in Islam, SAWO, Perak Women for Women Society.

Struggle for Women's agenda
The women activists in these groups go back to the 1980s and have been instrumental in putting women's issues in the public view. Issues such as:
* violence against women
* women workers - domestic, informal workers  and migrant workers
* women and religion

Women activists' sacrifices
Many of these women have sacrificed their times with their families to better the cause for women. For eg it took 10 years for the government to recognise domestic violence as a crime. The women struggled through these years, facing rebuke from their own family members and the public but still struggled to push for the women's agenda to be heard.

Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can't ride you unless your back is bent.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Bersih a struggle for the unheard voices to be heard
The Bersih cause is a struggle for the unheard voices which are muffled and unheard in the main stream media. Why can't these voices be heard? Why must we always hear the voices of the government in the mainstream media. Bersih is a cause for the unorganised workers' voices to be heard. Its also the voice for the rakyat who want change, for dignity and recognition. There's no dignity for the unorganised workers who are paid below the poverty line of RM720/month (which is meant for 4.4 members of the family). This is an official figure. This is ridiculous!!!

Women's groups are proud to say that women are leading the Bersih march for free and fair elections. Women like Dato Ambiga Sreenivasan and Maria Chin

This is TMI's report on the press conference held on 1 July, 2011.
PETALING JAYA, July 1 — Despite repeated warnings and claims of communist links from the authorities, the Bersih secretariat today insisted they will continue organising a rally for free and fair elections as they are “not challenging anyone”.
Police have said they will ensure the July 9 rally does not take place while leaders from the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) government have warned people to stay away from the Bersih movement, which they claim has been hijacked by political interests.
“I appeal to the government to be rational. Deal with the issue brought to the table and give us an explanation... don’t attack the civil societies.

“They think they are killing the nerve of this campaign. But in fact, it has gone beyond this the secretariat. The rakyat is the nerve,” Empower executive director Maria Chin Abdullah told reporters here today.

“They think they are killing the nerve of this campaign. But in fact, it has gone beyond this the secretariat. The rakyat is the nerve,” Maria Chin

Empower’s premises acts as the Bersih secretariat, which was raided by police two days ago. Seven activists were called in for questioning while police seized goods related to the planned rally.

Pictures of Samsiah Fakeh and Abdullah CD, former leaders of the now-defunct Communist Party of Malaya, were also confiscated, and were used to link the NGO with communism. Maria said the communist claim was to discredit the organisation.

All Bersih-related materials are now deemed illegal as they are said to be promoting the illegal July 9 rally.
Maria said Bersih, which represents 62 non-governmental organisations, has gathered 5,000 people to act as security personnel, with 100 doctors volunteering to be part of the medical team along with lawyers to deal with the immediate arrests.

“If there is any violence, certainly it will not come from Bersih,” she said, adding that the police should co-operate with them to ensure the rally will be peaceful.

Police have shut off all forms of negotiations with all organisers of rallies on July 9, with the Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar warning earlier today that the police will make sure the rallies do not take place.

He said there would be no more room for discussions, and warned the organisers — Bersih, Perkasa and Umno Youth — to be prepared to be arrested if they did not abort their respective rallies.

Despite Khalid’s announcement, Maria said they will still arrange for a meeting with him again in the coming week.

Bersih yesterday asked the police to suggest different routes and directions for the three groups on July 9 to ensure that its rally goes off without a hitch.

WAO executive director Ivy Josiah said it is not Bersih’s intention to challenge the government and that the rally should not be seen as a threat.

“We are not challenging anyone. We just want a free and fair election. It is not a competition,” she said.
Her remarks was in response to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s announcement that he could have three million members from Umno to take part in the rally, but that it would be irresponsible to do so while adding that the BN government would not resort to force.
“We think every political party should be behind this. We’re not looking for a fight,” she said.
Maria pointed out that Bersih is a civil society movement, not a political one.

She also said that the eight demands by Bersih have been presented to the Election Commission (EC) “many years ago” but no action has been taken.

Election watchdog Bersih along with Pakatan Rakyat (PR) component parties are gearing up for a rally this July 9, the second such gathering calling for electoral reform.

Among others, the group is demanding that the government ensure a clean and fair general election, reforms in the postal voting system and an extended campaign period of at least 21 days.

The first rally, also organised by Bersih, was held in 2007 and saw some 50,000 people take to the capital’s streets. The gathering eventually descended into chaos when the police deployed tear gas and water cannons on demonstrators.