I’ve not yet read other reports of this incident, but if the following is true, then the cops clearly:
a) are spending a lot of time on Facebook
b) haven’t learnt their priorities, despite the numerous, numerous, exhortations that they clamp down on real crime instead.
I saw a bunch of pictures, will try to update this post with links to them if I can.
Statement by the 1BLACKMalaysia Facebook Group
The 1BLACKMalaysia Facebook Group organized an event called ‘1BLACKCommute’ (http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=122875992194) today. The idea was to have people wearing black and boarding an LRT train together for at least two times.
The event attracted a total of 7 dedicated participants, and also attracted about a hundred even more ‘dedicated’ policemen.
We were shocked to learn from the media that about a hundred policemen were stationed at Dataran Merdeka and Masjid Jamek this morning, waiting for ‘the 1BLACKMalaysia group’.
Coincidentally, Puteri UMNO was having a crime awareness campaign at the same area and had at least a thousand Puteris marching down the street.
And the police were here for 7 people wearing black in solidarity with Perakians and families of custodial casualties such as Teoh Beng Hock, and not for the thousands of pink-clad Puteris.
Although such double standards were very common and very much expected, it was still shocking to know that hundreds of men in blue were deployed to possibly arrest 7 people, while over 1800 people were left to die in custody since 2003.
The 1BLACKCommuters departed from KL Sentral to Masjid Jamek via LRT, then walked to Bukit Nanas Monorial station to board a monorial train to Bukit Bintang. The 1BLACKCommuters then walked around the Bukit Bintang area before taking another monorail train back to KL Sentral.
Some resourceful participants also brought some printed messages which everyone could easily slip into their handheld files and folders. Therefore, the 1BLACKCommuters were holding their files with messages such as “Who Killed Him?”, “Justice for Teoh BH”, “1BLACKMalaysia”, and “1803 Custodial Deaths in Malaysia from 2003-2008″ for the whole duration of the event. The messages managed to get a lot of attention from other commuters and pedestrians. A commuter even gave the 1BLACKCommuters the thumbs up and thanked them for their effort.
This shows that it is that simple for ordinary Malaysians to express themselves and to apply pressure to unjust, undemocratic and irresponsible institutions. For example, a person who is outraged by the manner in which Teoh Beng Hock died in custody can carry a paper printed with the words ‘Justice for Beng Hock’ around in a file when going to work, or to school, or to a meeting. Anyone can do it.
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‘1BLACKCommute’ is just one of the series of events such as 1BLACKKopi’O’ and 1BLACKMovie which the group has been organising to heed the original call for action by Bersih on May 5th to “paint every state and territory, every town and village black with our clothes, headbands, hats, turbans, veils, armbands, ribbons and stickers and let everyone see a sea of black walking into an office, a market, a mosque, a temple, a church, a college, a park, a bus, a commuter or LRT car, a ferry or an aeroplane”.
1BLACK events are a series of subtle, ’smart’ protests, which every citizen can carry out everyday. Commuting, drinking coffee, watching movies are all very much part of our daily lives, thus one just has to insert messages into such activities to make his/her point or express his/her feelings on an issue. The 1BLACKMalaysia group is telling the public that there’s no need to be involved in slogan-crying, marching, or mass gathering to send out a strong message.
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