Pakatan Rakyat Buzz & Blog

Abuse of democracy and freedom — Lim Mun Fah

MAY 23 — Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Khalid Abu Bakar said that under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2011, everyone has the right to hold a gathering and therefore, the burger seller who opened his stall in front of Bersih co-chair Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan's house in Bukit Damansara did not break any laws.

The Deputy IGP might have just wanted to show off his sense of humour, but the remark seems to have turned out as an encouragement.

Therefore, after the burger seller, another group of former army veterans went for "butt exercise" in front of Ambiga's house.

It was then followed by WargaAMAN, a group of 20 Indian non-governmental organisations, planning to set up thosai stalls in front of Khalid's house in Ampang.

The plan was cancelled, but another group wants to go to Ambiga's house.

The group, claiming to be traders of the Kuala Lumpur Petty Traders Action Council, plan to stage the "Bersih 4.0" protest by opening up stalls in front Ambiga's house tomorrow and Friday.

They also threatened that if no one is willing to compensate the losses they suffered during the Bersih 3.0 rally on April 28 after May 25, they would upgrade the protest into an occupy campaign, namely to camp outside Ambiga's house.

These remarks and actions seem to be legitimate and sound sensible, but are in fact irrational. They have also become more and more ridiculous, absurd and repugnant.

Only fools would believe that all these antics are completely unrelated to politics.

If these are political acts, then who is the manipulator behind the acts?

I believe that no political party would be stupid enough to claim these pranksters, as it will not earn points for the party, but transform the party into the best campaigning staff of the confronting party instead.

In fact, opening a burger stall would not only bring a great loss in terms of money, but also in terms of votes.

Similarly, having a butt exercise in front of Ambiga's house did not seem to have helped improve health, but it might cause injuries instead, as well as the loss of votes.

The reason is very simple. For voters, all these behaviour patterns are just little tricks causing harm to others, as well as themselves.

Such unscrupulous antics have reached a limit too ghastly to look at.

Such a malicious confrontation has gone beyond the people's bottom line of toleration.

Democracy should not be like this. This is an abuse and an attrition of democracy instead!

If the antics go on, our society will continue to sink until justice disappears and rogues come to power.

Members of the public should no longer keep quiet and let one after another scene of incomprehensible absurdity stage before our eyes.

Please tell the performers that we have been very sick of it and please, stop all these silly games! If they really want to play, please play it gentlemanly and graciously! — mysinchew.com

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

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Which one threatens the state, Lady Gaga or hardliners? — Yoes C. Kenawas

MAY 23 — The National Police (Polri) stated that they would not issue a permit for Lady Gaga's concert scheduled for Jakarta on June 3, 2012, for, among other reasons, fears that the Grammy Award winner would exploit her sensuality in a manner which could harm the moral of Indonesian youths.

This statement is more or less in line with the same tune as that of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), which previously said that Lady Gaga would "bring the faith of Satan to the country and thus would destroy the nation's morals" (The Jakarta Post, May 16, 2012).

Whether the police's decision is right or wrong does not matter. The most serious problem, however, lies in the fact that a small group of people can influence the process of interpreting threats within a state institution like the police by using their "religious" agenda. It is interesting to notice that in post-Soeharto Indonesia, state institutions are submissive, if not controlled, by some hard-line groups in this republic.

In a democratic country, the power of the state comes from the people's votes through elections. In this context, the state should never discriminate against its citizens when a conflict erupts between such groups. Instead, the state remains neutral and adherent to the Constitution and law when managing the differences among conflicting parties. The state, through law enforcement institutions, has the power to maintain public order and security, enforce the law, provide protection and serve the public interests. State institutions have the mandate to take action to keep the public interests from all forms of threat.

There are several types of threats, namely direct and indirect as well as actual and potential threats. However, threats are also about perception, particularly if we talk about threats on the level of concepts or ideas.

Because the public is not a single entity, threats directed at a particular group are not necessarily a threat against another group. In this case, the law enforcement agencies, e.g., the police, should carefully assess each type of threat, whether actual or potential, direct or indirect; which party or group that will be harmed by the threat; and how it will affect society as a whole. Therefore, they can take necessary actions based on the threat assessment. Nevertheless, the police must handle each assessment in a careful manner. Miscalculating the threat could send the wrong signal to the general public.

In the case of Lady Gaga's concert and Irshad Manji's book launching, as well as in other cases such as GKI Yasmin Christian congregation or Ahmadiyah Islamic minority sect, state institutions seemed to fall under the influence or are unable to deal with threats that come from religious hardliner groups.

In those cases, the hardliner groups clearly stated that they would launch physical attacks on other parties. Through their actions, the hardliners were actually presenting more potential, and in some cases, actual threats to other groups.

The irony, however, is that state institutions, which ideally must stay neutral to protect the well-being of all people, are aligning with the hardliner groups. Instead of overcoming potential threats, the state apparatus chooses to cooperate with the side that has launched the threat.

The state in post-Soeharto Indonesia has been co-opted by some groups that are capable of influencing state policy through various means, including threats.

It is indeed the irony of democracy that they freely increase their power and consequently influence and determine the state's policy. The most concerning issue is not necessarily their threat to attack others, but their attack on the freedom of expression and pluralism, which characterises the nation.

Worse, they can promote their agenda by intimidating the state. If the state does not comply with their demands, for example, the ban against Lady Gaga's performance, they will not hesitate to intimidate others, including state institutions.

For whatever reason, including maintenance of public order, the police's option to accommodate the threat rather than to overcome it is a stark display of a thug-controlled state. It constitutes the tyranny of a minority over the majority. In the end, it will jeopardise Indonesia's reputation as a democracy. Indonesia's billing as the third largest democracy in the world will be just a myth, or actually, democracy is already new myth of Indonesia.

Indonesia today is watching the radical groups win another battle-of-discourse over those who are supporting democracy, freedom of speech and plurality. The country needs someone like Gus Dur who dared to challenge the hardliner's agenda.

As long as the state complies with particular groups' agenda, then it is hard to deny that Indonesia is transforming into a homogenous society. It depends on Indonesian society whether or not they are determined to advance plurality. — The Jakarta Post

* The writer is a post-graduate student at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

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John Terry: Dedicated follower of fashion — Mark Meadows

MAY 23 — Despite all the bling, the big watches and fast cars, the brand management and media training, there is still one thing that, without fail, can expose the true nature of soccer players.

Winning.

As Didier Drogba stroked home the winning penalty against Bayern Munich in Saturday's Champions league final and the blue-clad parts of the stadium exploded, the studied cool of the young Chelsea millionaires went out the window.

Shirts came off. Spain's Fernando Torres wrapped a scarf around his head, looking for all the world like a British tourist trying to avoid the worst effects of the sun on the Costa Del Sol.

David Luiz donned a T-shirt and a blue-and-white stovepipe hat; curls flowing from under it, the effect was that of a soccer-playing Slash, the former Guns 'n Roses guitarist.

Others wrapped themselves in the flags of their nations thrown to them by the crowd.

For men whose images are usually so tightly controlled and exploited, it was a remarkable display of youthful exuberance, reminiscent of Cafu raising the World Cup with joyous messages scribbled on his Brazil shirt by his team-mates.

But perhaps most remarkable of all was the costume change of one John Terry.

Suspended for the final after a red card against Barcelona in the semis, Terry watched anxiously from the stands, stylishly clad in his club suit together with the rest of his banned team-mates.

But by the time the celebrations began, he was down on the pitch in full Chelsea kit.

Was this dedicated follower of fashion trying to fool us into thinking he had played?

Or was he trying to help the photographers he sometimes tries to avoid by not ruining the aesthetics of their pictures?

Either way, it was a bizarre change for a man not involved in the game.

By the time the press conferences came around, the air of cool was restored again and the players were back to giving stock answers to reporters questions.

But the photographers still have the evidence of the night that Chelsea won the Champions League, David Luiz's wild curls were tamed by a fluffy hat, and John Terry celebrated victory in a match kit that shone almost as brightly as the trophy itself. — Reuters

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

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Anyone lost a Granny?

When was the last time you check on your elders?
Everyone will travel the same road unless one dies before that.
So be considerate and take care of your elders and bear with nags, disagreement and sickness.

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Batal Bersih 4.0 jika boleh tuntut kerugian

KUALA LUMPUR: Para peniaga Kuala Lumpur sedia mempertimbang membatalkan cadangan untuk mengadakan protes Bersih 4.0 di hadapan rumah Datuk S Ambiga jika mereka dapat menuntut ganti rugi.

Pengerusi Majlis Bertindak Peniaga-Peniaga Kuala Lumpur Datuk Jamal Md Yunos berkata mereka sedia membatalkannya sekiranya tahu kepada siapa mereka boleh menuntut kerugian yang didakwa dialami ketika perhimpunan Bersih 3.0 di Dataran Merdeka 28 April lalu.

"Sekiranya kami dimaklumkan mengenai pihak yang boleh kami tuntut kerugian tersebut sebelum pukul 4 petang esok, kami akan membatalkan hasrat berniaga di Jalan Setiakasih 1, Bukit Damansara," kata Jamal dalam satu sidang akhbar yang diadakan di Restoran Ikan Bakar Sekinchan miliknya itu.

Majlis tersebut bercadang untuk menganjur protes berniaga yang dinamakan Bersih 4.0 di sepanjang Jalan Setiakasih sebagai bantahan mereka terhadap pengerusi bersama Gabungan Pilihanraya Bersih dan Adil (Bersih).

Seramai 60 peniaga akan memprotes dari pukul 4.00 petang hingga 8.00 malam esok dan lusa.

Ketika ditanya samada mereka akan turut menyaman jawatankuasa bertindak seperti yang dibuat kerajaan hari ini, Jamal menolaknya kerana belum pasti mengenai pihak yang bertanggungjawab.

Buang masa

"Kemungkinan kami akan buat tuntutan pada pihak bertanggungjawab. Fail saman sekarang buang masa saja," kata Jamal yang mempunyai 18 cawangan kedai ikan bakar dan sebuah syarikat jualan kereta.

Jamal turut mengumumkan rancangan menghadiahkan kereta mewah untuk meningkatkan sokongan kepada mereka melalui laman sosial Facebook.

"Pengunjung restoran yang menjadi rakan Facebook ke 150,000 akan menerima sebuah kereta BMW 530 keluaran tahun 2005 yang bernilai RM220,000.

"Pengunjung yang ke 1 juta pula akan menerima Lamborghini Gallardo keluaran tahun 2009 bernilai RM1.2 juta," kata Jamal.

Menurutnya lagi, mereka yang berminat juga harus makan di kedai ikan bakarnya dan akan menerima diskaun sebanyak 30%.

Ketika ditanya samada pihaknya akan bertanggungjawab sekiranya berlaku kekecohan ketika protes, Jamal bersikap lepas tangan.

"Kami buka gerai untuk berniaga. Kalau orang ramai datang buat kecoh itu bukan masalah kami," kata Jamal.