Regardless of whether you are for or against BERSIH 3.0, laughing
at one or another requires a great amount of cruelty and I hope my two cents
will tell you why.
I personally stayed home, not because I don't support it, but
simply because I hate getting down and dirty. It's a poor excuse, but to each
his/her own way of battle right?
In light of this event, I've read varying comments of what
people think of Bersih 3.0 but I believe before we get down to business, let's
first go back to understanding the fundamental reason behind BERSIH. The
Rally of Bersih was designated to be peaceful in the pursuit of conveying the
coalition's humble request for a reformation of the electoral system to ensure
free and fair elections.
Sounds absolutely sensible? I sure think so. After all, that is our power as rakyat(citizens)? Without free and fair
elections we are just dictated by a bunch of scumbags who have tricked us into
believing we have chosen them as our caretakers. Right?
This rally isn't a repeat of the 26th January episode in Egypt.
The crowd in Tahrir Sq, amounted to millions, persevered through weeks of pain
and torture just to overthrow Mubarak and his abominable regime. This isn't an
attempt to topple anyone. While some people think it is a waste of time and
an embarrassing display of ungratefulness, I would beg to
differ. You have to understand that some attendees might have gone there
out of curiosity or fad, rather than having real understanding of the principles, but there are just as many people if not more, who were there with
conviction. They believe that their presence will not only send a message but
also bring about a real change this time. So why should we belittle the
courageous people whose sole purpose to be on the streets was not even to
fight, loot or cause havoc but simply to show they've had enough.
I thought we would have waken up by now and get out of our comfort zone, if not
completely, more often at least. Most people still react in ways that show
their disapproval of criticisms against the ruling class. Due to the stigma associated with the subject, talking about it somehow leads to misunderstanding. Just
because we start getting on the case of our very own government, the people who
have provided us food, healthcare, employment etc, and just because almost all
government in the world are corrupt (and I say this with utmost confidence), we should
neither stop ourselves from being critical of them nor should our criticality
indicate that we’re ungrateful. Constructive criticism does exist, and is
especially important to ensure good governance. Does someone who is in power and has provided
us facilities, which are rightfully ours to begin with, deserve to be above
the law/immunized? Wow if like that, when will we ever grow?
Perhaps that is why we were easily oppressed, suppressed and
colonialized for extensive periods. I
suppose I’m one of those cowards who refuse to go on the streets but I am so
glad to know that if I were to fight for a noble cause, there are many people
who would willingly take the streets with me. I am proud that finally some
Malaysians know what they want and are not afraid to show it anymore.
But again, I’m not for or against Bersih. I just don’t understand
what is so wrong with wanting free and clean elections and showing it on the
streets. To think that our elections are clean is to be absolutely naïve. I’ve
gone through 3 elections where I’ve witnessed fraud in broad daylight to learn
that. The request is sensible, responsible and non violent. In fact, thinking
such public display of dissatisfaction is a waste of time shows your complete
lack of knowledge in the history of great civilizations(and the modern arab
spring). The gist of it is just that and maybe you can’t get yourself to change
your mind about Bersih(which is not my intention even) but I do hope you can
stop insulting it.
If you laugh at people who genuinely believe in clean and fair
election, then laugh at yourself for wanting less or for thinking you don’t
have to fight for it.
