ADOXOGRAPHY: Cleaning up the "Clean" Rally

Now that the "Dust" has settled from the "Clean" (Bersih) rally.....one must ask what have we learnt? What has been achieved?

While I do not take sides to or against the coalition, I do believe that an unbiased review should be done and the outcome both good and bad of the rally should be considered from various point of views.

To first quote 2 paragraphs from the coalition's own website at www.bersih.org

"Bersih 2.0 is proud that in spite of all the obstacles and hindrances that we were forced to face, Malaysians of all walks of life overcame the oppressive acts of the police to come out peacefully and in incredibly large numbers to show their love for their country and for the principles of justice."

"Today’s gathering is not the end, it is but one more step in the long walk for clean and fair elections in Malaysia. The campaign continues, to work for electoral reform, the release of all detainees, and an end to harassment by the authorities. The struggle continues in the courts of law, the corridors of power, and the hearts of all the rakyat."

I do wonder how does support for the principle of justice be justified through an illegal gathering? Fighting for a just cause (no matter how divine) through an illegal method does not speak volume of any principle. Law is tricky. It would be like Robin Hood, whom all knows he robs the rich to give and help the poor but the fact of the matter is that he has robbed in a time where there are laws and constitutions and hence he is still a criminal.

A good thing in this country is that the King and Sultans have puppet roles for the people.... While Bersih wants to submit a memorandum to the King to protest against the electoral process and call for a reform via the King.....but when the King tells people to not gather in public but to divert the gathering to a more appropriate place like the stadium.....the very same people defy and still gather on the streets. What good is serving a memorandum to an authority that you don't obey? Good thing the monarch has limited power otherwise I would have tried these people who defied the King for treason because they still gathered despite being advised against it by the King himself.

Numbers may defer, but the self estimate by the coalition puts the total protesters at about 50,000 people. It could have been 100,000 for all I care....When the rally was planned to be held in the heart of Kuala Lumpur itself....were the citizens consulted and consented? Businesses were affected. Many had to close in anticipation of a city lock-down while others closed early to avoid problems of a spill over from the crowd. And one can only ask, was the rally worth it since the objective of passing the memorandum to the King was not achieved. How many more protests this cosmopolitan city must endure to put its life on hold while people carry out marches and protests that do not achieve its target?

But all is not lost....I'm sure more people are aware of the objectives of the coalition and hopefully in future should the need for Bersih 3.0 arise, they could continue the struggle in the court of law and hearts of the rakyat. But should the need for a stadium be considered then to apply much earlier and not a week before the rally (try book a wedding from a hotel a week from the intended date... one would know it is almost impossible)And hopefully to use Bukit Jalil where it is further from the city center. Stadium Merdeka would make no difference from a street rally....

On a lighter note.....I enjoyed very very very clear streets for two days, which I believe can only be achieve during the Chinese New Year period...

So cheers to cleaner streets