The DiGi Men Upheaval


collageBERSIH
Swiped from williamnyk.
Arrived at work on Saturday finding that I was way too early. On entering the office, no familiar faces greeted me, just the cleaners.

"Sorang je ke?"

"A, ah."

"Ada rusuhan nanti."

"Har?! Patutlah polis di merata-rata..."


I should have known. The police presence was way too strong. From the 25th floor of the Tower of Solitude, I could see that Dataran Merdeka was locked down, helicopters were flying around and the red FRU crowd-dispersal vehicles were parked along several main roads. By the time I went out for lunch at noon, there was still no "action" that I could detect. But perhaps because the heavy rain had dampened the spirits of any illegal assemblers (participants of an illegal assembly, not to be confused with unlicensed production line factory hands).

But boy, was I wrong. At around 14:41, the shouting started. Being the busy-body Malaysians, we rushed to the windows to witness the commotion. From our vantage point, we could see a small crowd of
people in yellow (not the DiGi Men la...) at Masjid Jamek. We could see smoke, tear gas most probably. Nothing much to see
actually, until another group assembled in front of Leboh Pasar Besar-- right at my doorstep. The police with their shields, batons and masks formed a line in front of the Straits Building.

"LAILAHAILLALLAH....LAILAHAILLALLAH..........."

"Daulat Tuanku! Daulat Tuanku!"

"We want, we want BERSIH! We want, we want BERSIH" (sung to the tune of "We will rock you")


The crowd surged. The police were half-hearted in keeping ranks. Another squad of crowd control formed behind the group. Classic hammer and anvil tactics. I could see that some of the police started to fight back, but they kept moving. I wasn't aware that it was actually
"planned" illegal assembly by The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH). 4,000 cops were mobilized. Roads were blocked (David would love to tell you his tale). People were arrested. Luckily the Star LRT was still in operation, just that Masjid Jamek Putra LRT station was closed. The public was advised no to wear yellow and there I was proudly displaying my yellow umbrella to ground zero. Well, no M16-toting police arrested me... Thank God for that.

Election fever is here. Indelible ink. Transparent ballot boxes. It'll be my first election as I've finally registered as a voter. SEPUTEH.

Weeeeeee....

Comments

Anonymous said…
So I guess you couldn't get anything done at work ? :-) How is the voting system done in your country? I am now curious.
Unknown said…
i hate trouble... >.<

sheesh...
Pike-chan said…
haiz... we only jz need to wait till election day result.
KopiSoh said…
Must be "exciting" to see all this. I wonder if we'll see changes....
Anonymous said…
*after savante

double sigh
Anonymous said…
Just as they say that Pakistan is a presure cooker waititng to explode, Malaysia has been under presure for 50 years...Sooner or later..Kaa Boom. Glad you survive the day. Power to the People and Bloggers.
Mr RM said…
i witnessed that too.... 10 years ago.... I guess, i must be really old then....
David The Man said…
The "DiGi Men" are on riot! Now seriously, what on earth is happening to our country? What are all these riot nonsense?
Pluboy2 said…
apparently, there was this email blast to most financial institutions and giant corporations (my company included in the "A-list" too) that say something like this:

"come join the rally for peace bla bla bla.. gather everyone, all your friends and witness one of the most spectacular and largest gathering, endorsed by the malaysia book of records bla bla bla"


you get the idea.. and it was sent to all the MarComms Depts of the banks and companies..
Pluboy2 said…
shigeki: voting system? it's dirty and blooded sometimes..

it is the one day that most people will take leave or excused from work so that they can go vote. since malaysia is just on 1 time zone, all the voting begins simultaneously in the morning and ends at the same time throughout the country in the evening.

like you go to the voting centre, usually a school because it has got classrooms and halls, queue up, identify yourself and they make sure you are alone and you are who you claimed you are, then one by one, you go in to the voting booths, and you select one candidate for the dewan parliament (the senate) and one candidate for the dewan rakyat (the house of representatives).

then volunteers will start counting them, and it usually takes 4-5 hours to count like 12 million votes and the country will usually know the results around midnight.. then the party, or fights, begins..


to win the election (and mandate to form the next government), a coaliation (National Front or Opposition Front) must have a majority in the senate.

within 2 weeks before the voting day, the political parties will go out full force to put up banners and hold gatherings and give speeches (to win votes, aka empty promises).

the winning coaliation president will then seek the king's permission to set up the next governement and after the king gives the consent, the fellow will announce his cabinet and the ministers..

and usually its money laundering and dirty tactics used to buy votes.. those promises made during the campaigns almost always never come to reality.. and the citizens will have to wait for 4-5 years for another general election to fall for the same promises again and again..

and as usual, there are people who are for the National Front and there are also for the Opposition Front.. Malaysians must have a opposition voice in the Parliment, or else, certain quarters will become arrogant and do as they like..

the Constitution of Malaysia states that there must be a general election every 4-5 years and the prime minister will call for the elections.. the last was on 2004.. so the next one is impending already..

and we all seen the start of rallying.. the polls can be as early as January given that the prime minister is overseas in december..

ta-daa.. though i am not into politics, i feel we as Malaysians must know our rights and where we stand.. i just wish that we know who we vote for.. be smart.. look at the government and see what they are doing... especially certain ministry who seems to be in the limelight more often then the others.. in matters that hurt us most..

fuel, road, toll, transport, health, education, and of course.. money matters...
William said…
@JJ: @Magus:
Not as chih kek as when I was dodging drag queens trying to kiss people on the street during songkhran in bangkok. :P

@Shigeki:
We were safe at our lofty vantage point. Standard British Commonwealth system, I guess.

@Shaz:
Don't we all. :P
William said…
@JL:
Le Sigh.

@Pikey:
Already know the result lor. :P

@Anon:
Simmering...

@Seacher:
Tak semestinya... :P

@Famil:
They were scattered, so not sure.

@DavidTM:
Entahlah... some drama...

@PluB:
Seriously?! I wonder if anyone fell for it. Thanks for the lengthy explanation! Haha.
thompsonboy said…
helloo...it's not yellow man or digi man....it's YELLOW COVERAGE FELLA or known as YCF
Pluboy2 said…
we know le YCF, but thats kinda lengthy :)

so.. simple as digi man or yellow man.. every malaysian knows what is it.. the ad agency for digi is really good and they are laughing all the way to the bank,...

Popular posts from this blog

Kensei

Osamu or Naoya?

Coat West Star II: Sho