Tag: bersih 2.0

Yellow yellow Bersih 3.0 fellow

Tomorrow’s going to be a day to follow on Twitter and Facebook. It’s the 3rd instalment of the Bersih rally by Malaysians who are, I wouldn’t say protesting, but creating the awareness that they wish to have an improved electoral system. One that’s cleaner and fairer.

The previous Bersih 2.0 rally, where more than 10,000 people walked the streets in Kuala Lumpur was about these 8 points:

  1. Clean the electoral roll
  2. Reform postal ballot
  3. Use of indelible ink
  4. Minimum 21 days campaign period
  5. Free and fair access to media
  6. Strengthen public institutions
  7. Stop corruption
  8. Stop dirty politics

Following the updates of friends who participated in the rally and those who updated their Twitter, some people got hurt, someone died and never did anything about it, tear gas filled the air and water cannons were fired.

The Bersih 3.0 sit-in rally happening tomorrow at Dataran Merdeka is calling for:

  1. The Election Commission must resign, as it has failed in its responsibility and has lost the confidence of the public.
  2. The electoral process must be cleaned before the 13th General Elections.
  3. Invite international observers to observe the 13th General Elections.

The authorities (municipal and police) have taken action to blockade the area of Dataran Merdeka to prevent a scene. However, reading the updates online, it looks like the rally will definitely still be happening.

Call me a coward or un-Malaysian, I may not be sitting down with you, though I still carry concerns close to my heart that everyone participating be safe.

And to the other side, do not overcomplicate a matter which was meant to be peaceful. You can do something better than what happened at Bersih 2.0 about it.

Everyone needs to look into the mirror sometimes.

The 2011 historical Malaysia event

Without doubt, I’m putting this recent Malaysia rally; Bersih 2.0, as the historical event of our country for 2011.

bersih 2.0 rally
It was a peaceful rally - honest

Apparently this is the 2nd rendition of a campaign run, hence the two-point-zero since 2007. Its purpose still remains the same – raise the awareness and demand for a fair electoral system independent of third parties.

I’m not a person likely to discuss politics and I prefer avoiding any of conflicts whatsoever. I love living a fruitful and un-stressful life with loved ones while doing what I love doing. Thus, I’m only going to write about the noticeable affects to this event.

Unnecessary traffic congestion due to roadblocks

Days leading up to this day, some of my friends have complained roadblocks on highways causing congestion. And a day before today, another friend on Facebook shared that some roadblocks made congestion last until 2:15AM into the morning.

Malaysia traffic congestion at night
Hope there were rest stops

I seriously wouldn’t want to be caught in that situation. Imagine if you had to pee! OMG!!!

Nationwide curfew rumor caused concern

It did make me worry. Not because whether I’d bump into rally members. More so because of police roadblocks and being unnecessarily questioned. Plus, the whole idea of curfew was plain dumb – Malaysians mamak and clubbing hours is part of our culture. But yeah, I don’t like being in cumbersome situations.

Escalating news coverage

In the morning, news of the rally had begun coming in. By the late afternoon, its flooded my Twitter timeline. But it was good to know what was happening, despite my neutrality.

malaysia police barricade
1st time I've seen them use this

Especially by being an outsider, you’ve the benefit to observe both sides.

Acts affecting businesses

Hear say some people got hurt in the rally by authorities. But I’ll leave that to be clarified by the news publishers unswayed by third parties. Instead, after watching a video of the authorities having to use tear gas, I thought to myself, “wouldn’t business traders nearby be affected too?”

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=616ODL1z6dQ]

Plus, they fired more than 1 tear gas canister into the area. -_-|||

We (Malaysians) are really intuitive people

Friend of mine actually took this opportunity and came up with a pet project of his own to aggregate information of the event. Let me highlight one of the geeky things about the project.

malaysians around the world
Malaysians sharing the burden

That’s a map showing the Twitter conversations happening in areas co-relating to this event. If you zoom out, you’ll even notice the event affecting Malaysia across the world from the US to down under Australia.

The wonders of technology. And Malaysia’s historical event of 2011.