By Farida Jivamala Ibrahim
Najib, you had hoped, you and your minions, that the atrocities
committed against ordinary, decent and innocent people would bring them
to their nadir – their worst moment, their moment of least hope. But
it’s backfired on you.
It is your nadir, Najib. Not ours. The more abuse you allow hurled at
the rakyat who want a good government, the more those divisive slurs,
the stronger the rakyat become. The more you allow freedom of speech and
action to be stifled, the more they will speak out and do what is
necessary for oppression to end.
Ethnic groups are coming together like never before. People are
closing their eyes to status, race and religion and opening their hearts
to one another. They have learnt to trust again, realizing the real
party that has been shredding the fabric of unity and respect all this
time. The walls you allowed to be erected are fast coming down.
The internet blossoms now with new and fervent writers, many of them
so young, whose openness, passion, steadfastness and writing gifts this
nation should be proud to acknowledge and applaud.
Freedom has finally found its voice. Courage has finally found its people.
Everywhere, people are awakening – teenagers, adolescents, young and
old. I keep hearing of 18-,17-,15-year-olds wanting to step forward.
They have found new dreams. They see in the distance the fruition of a
better country and are willing to give their all for reforms to be
birthed.
It will come – a free and fair country – where we can stand tall among the nations and know there is a future for all.
And that glorious future can include you, Najib – if you can get out
of your time warp and Hitlerian mentality, and get Perkida, Wataniah,
Mat Rempit army, Perkasa, silat groups etc to see reason.
You know, I went to court the other day about 8.30am, to give support
to Murugan – the ‘last man’ standing. I was surprised at the number of
Malay youths present at the complex, almost a hundred, I would say.
They were giving support to the Datuk T trio, holding placards which
proclaimed they loved them. Love porno-video makers?
I could not stay for Murugan’s session which was rescheduled to take
place at 11.30 am. I walked out of the court complex at about 11am and
saw those youths still there, a few possibly even as young as 13 or 14.
They were standing around, sitting on the steps, doing nothing. I also
saw ‘a sea’ of gleaming motorbikes in the parking lot.
I wanted to ask some of them why they weren’t in school or college or
working at that hour. I looked at one youngster, wondering whether it
was he I should speak to. He looked back at me, and there was something
in his eyes that made me keep my silence.
That day I had many troubled thoughts. All I could think of was the
waste – the waste of young potential, the brainwashing of gullible
minds, perhaps even the poison of money doled out?
Why have these youths been brought down to this state of idleness?
Who in the end will rescue our young Malays from their wayward ways
and dependency syndrome and give them something fresh and real and true
to hold on to, something that will help them gain self-respect and
esteem and worth?
Truly, no one has done a greater disservice to the Malay community,
damaged the young, fed them insecurities, robbed them of self-esteem and
self-respect than those who want an eternal perpetuation of their own
position and power.
Please let our young grow before it is too late and they lead permanently damaging lives.
I am sure there are some people in the police force, on the bench,
in the MACC, in SB,etc. whose conscience bothers them – because they
see the atrocities and think they cannot do anything. They are decent,
they understand and want a better nation but they live in straitjackets,
needing their jobs.
The time is now, if they should ever want things to get better. There
is a choice, albeit a hard one. To say, ‘No more’…or continue to be
dominated and be devalued as people, having the humanity in them slowly
stripped away.
Najib, you bungled big-time. All you should have done was agreed to
the Bersih rally, the Perkasa rally, the Khairy rally – because that is
democracy, never mind the purposes of each.
Instruct that each march occur at different times, and don’t forget
Bersih set their date and time and venues before the others. Have the
police on hand to protect the marchers and apprehend any agent
provocateur bent on disturbing and disrupting the peace, and when July 9
comes to an end, positive things would have been said about you. And
you would have taken that first small step towards redemption.
Instead, you get the police to carry out your unreasonable orders
and they get the bad name. I feel sorry for the police, so many good
people there having to do bad things for you.
I’ve ceased being angry with you, Najib. I’ve ceased feeling disdain
for Khairy, Hishamuddin, Rais, Muhyddin, Mahathir, Ibrahim Ali, Nazri
and others recruited to spread hate and cause fear.
Why? We often hear this saying, “If you do the same thing over and over again, and expect different results, that’s insanity.”
Look at where our nation has been heading down the years? See what
you have been allowing – directly or through your minions! The rakyat
are bullied, threatened while you just rail and rant. The rakyat are
constantly intimidated while you twist innocent words and actions,
having the media print falsehood to raise the racist and religious
temperature to new obnoxious highs. You allow the police to arrest
Bersih individuals for merely wearing those t-shirts but Umno and
Perkasa with their threats of violence, bloodshed, arson and unlawful
behaviour get off scot-free.
And now, what is most incomprehensible is that in your total fear of
the rakyat whom you are required to defend and protect, you make Yellow,
the colour of royalty, a kotor concept.
You do these over and over again and yet expect different results?
You do these over and over again and think somewhere along the way
people will grow to respect and love you, obey and applaud you? If that
isn’t insanity, what is?
You have a choice. Call off your police and FRU and the army and SB.
If they have orders to shoot, the bloodshed that flows is not that of
an enemy of the state but of innocent people who want a future for our
country, the citizenry of this country! That is betrayal of the highest
order!
Why is it so difficult for you to comprehend that Bersih 2.0 is not
about taking over government but about free and clean elections? That
is so clear. The more you resist, the more we suspect so much of
unethical moves are being done in preparation for GE13 and so now
because you are being stalemated you have to resort to bestial and
barbaric ways. Thus the fury.
In days of yore, many kings walked out of their palaces to sit in the
public square to meet their subjects, hear cases and deliver judgment.
That has drastically changed today. Walls and guards keep people away
from their King and walls and guards keep their King inside.
Subjects want to meet their Ruler. Subjects want to hand over
important matters for the Ruler to consider. Kings are not just
figureheads. They have a crucial role to play in nation-building. And no
one has the right to stop subjects who want to appeal to their King.
Najib, you may go on in this incomprehensible, reprehensible way.
That’s your choice. But in the end there is always the day of reckoning
for each of us – each of us have to be finally accountable to our
Creator.
For now, as July 9 looms, know that people are not afraid.
Here is a likely scenario I hope you will read and think through with compassion:
In his little village, 75-year-old Pak Mat rises from his prayer
mat and steps out onto the veranda. He looks out to a dawn that is
breaking and reflects on the significance of the day. In a few hours
he will be there to march for free and fair elections. .
Mak Su joins him and he sees the tears before she hastily wipes
them away. “Don’t go,” she says imploringly. “What if they beat you up,
break your legs, detain you…?”
“I have to,” he replies sombrely. “It’s gone too far. If I don’t
do something now, there’ll be no hope for our country and our
children’s future. It is my duty to stand up against all the wrongs.”
Pak Mat slips into the bedroom where his five-year-old
grandchild sleeps. He brushes the little one’s cheek gently with a
feathery kiss and hurries out to the veranda again.
He puts on his sandals , picks up his walking stick and looks at Mak Su. She is weeping.
“What if they shoot you … what if you are killed?” she says brokenly, her weeping giving way to heart-wrenching cries.
Pak Mat takes his wife’s hands in his, and with hope and faith in his heart says, “I will be back. God is on our side.”
JULY
9 — Despite Putrajaya’s best efforts, the authorities failed today to
prevent a repeat of the first Bersih street rally four years ago that
was credited for shrinking Barisan Nasional’s (BN) voter support in
Election 2008.
Speaking outside of the IPK KL, Ambiga congratulated Malaysians for turning out in force.
KUALA
LUMPUR, July 8 — Bersih has insisted that the government has no right
to stop its rally at Stadium Merdeka tomorrow despite last-minute
attempts to secure the venue coming to nought.
