Say No to Bersih 2.0 Rally

Good afternoon people. It’s only a few days left till July the 9th – the big day. But I (and I think the majority of fellow Malaysians) dread the day. We don’t want to see a Saturday that’s different than any other Saturdays.

This morning I was going through the daily and there’s good news brewing in the headlines. Now the groups involved in the planning of the rally are rethinking on marching on after the advices of the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong and the Sultan of Pahang came through with their wise interference.

Thank goodness. This is great news.

UMNO and Malay rights group PERKASA vowed to do the same if Bersih 2.0 doesn’t go on with the rally.

Yes, we all have the freedom of expression and speech, assemble in peace and without arms as well as form associations. According to article 10(1) in the Malaysian Constitution, all those above are our rights.

That may be true, but other citizens have their rights to have a peaceful environment too. That’s where article 10(2) comes in because most people only read the first few lines of the article, but if one continues to read article 10(2), then everything would be clear.

Okay so yeah go ahead if you want to have an assembly of people. The question to ask is: does it disrupt public order? If so, then it should be held. As easy as that.

Who can guarantee that the thousand-man rally would not disrupt peace? Having the rally itself is already challenging the peace in the country by having a Saturday turned into a rally day.

If people really want to assemble and express themselves, they should gather in a stadium, as suggested by our PM in today’s newspaper. But then again, what’s the point of having a bunch of people in a stadium demonstrating without any onlookers right? However, that’s the correct means of doing it if people are really adamant on doing it.

UMNO and PERKASA would still oppose Bersih 2.0 if Bersih pursued on with the rally. That’s fighting fire with fire or like adding oil to fire. If the rally really goes on, the last thing the public wants are multiple rallies opposing one another. But it could just be a mind game of the opposing parties.

They really want to make their point through big numbers, the Bersih Organization. They were legitimately formed but now deemed illegal. Political motivation plays a vital role. Just look at the top people in Bersih and you can see a politician in there. Hmm….

If you’re thinking of joining the rally, don’t. It’s illegal, that’s all you have to know. Don’t do illegal stuff or you’ll just end up in trouble. We don’t want trouble; we just want a normal life.

It just causes more harm than good. Let’s compare shall we…

The cons:

• Disrupts the peace that is the very fabric of our multifaceted society.
• Inflicts major losses in tourism income worth like 1 billion a week (money which can be used instead for reducing the tax of imported cars?)
• Threatens lives of the people in the rally as well as people not involved in the rally. (Who can really tell what’s going to happen?)
• Forces local business premises to close shop so that they cannot make money.
• Gives a bad impression to tourists from other countries. (Imagine them going back to their countries and telling people “hey, I got unlucky to be caught in a rally in Malaysia, it was really scary and the kids were crying etc.)
• Waste of resources – the police force, ambulance, water-canon vehicles (imagine the amount of water), crowd control measures.
• Troubles the lives of pedestrians. People cannot go shopping, cannot go hospitals in an emergency, cannot get help in time etc. This is an endless list.

The pros:

• Shows that Malaysians can practice their rights to express themselves and gather peacefully.
• Enables certain parties to get the message across to the public efficiently.
• Gets people more interested in matters pertaining the government, politics and the country.
• Encourages younger people to get in the know of politics and sign up as a voter for the coming election.

So there are definitely more cons than pros…

I should also remind everyone that demonstration is becoming a trend in South East Asia and now Malaysia. The rather good thing to know from my friends from East Malaysia is that things like this don’t happen there. So it’s good if we can be a bit like our friends from the East.

Just say no to Bersih 2.0 rally.