Don organises assembly to protest Bill

Wong Chin Huat of Monash University says that the Bill has tested his 'tolerance for idiocy'.

PETALING JAYA: An academic has decided to thumb his nose at the recently tabled Peaceful Assembly Bill by doing exactly what the Bill aims to prohibit.

Wong Chin Huat of Monash University has organised a peaceful assembly called “Malaysians Can Walk Freely In KLCC Without Police Permit” to take place this Saturday afternoon at the mall.

As of last night, 300 people have indicated their attendance via the event’s Facebook page. But Wong isn’t out to recreate Bersih 2.0.

For him even 50 people would be enough to drive home the absurdity of the Bill and show the government that the people will not accept the Bill in its current form.

Touted by the opposition and NGOs as being even more repressive than the Police Act 1967, the Bill seeks to ban street protests and empowers the police to impose restrictions on public assemblies.

“My tolerance for idiocy has reached its limit with that Bill,” an exasperated Wong told FMT.

“Would you need a police permit to hold a wedding dinner or to go to the pasar malam with friends?”

“So why do you need one for an assembly with a cause attached to it? The government isn’t banning personal and professional assemblies, so why ban political ones?”

Wong explained that he also wanted the public to rethink their notion of a demonstration in that it needn’t involve banners, placards and shouting.

“That just gives the police a legit excuse to stop the demonstration,” he pointed out. “So we will show them that we can still demonstrate without any of that.”

“If the people feel strongly enough they can bring a flag because we are there for our country. Or they can bring balloons or flowes because rallies are meant to be fun.”

Personal capacity

While Wong has urged people to wear yellow, he clarified that the Saturday rally is not linked to Bersih 2.0 in any way.

The Bersih 2.0 steering committee member emphasised that he is organising the assembly in his personal capacity as a Malaysian citizen although he is expecting friends from Bersih to turn up.

When asked if he has been contacted by the authorities over the planned assembly, Wong replied, “No I haven’t and frankly, I’m disappointed!”

“I’ve intentionally made the event high-profile so that the police can tell me that it is banned and I can ask them to cite the law that states as much.”

“In fact, I invite the police and KLCC to stop us on that day. I will tell them that I have invited a big group of friends for a shopping spree and they will have to enlighten me as to why that is wrong.”

Wong asserted that the only party which would have a problem with such an assembly would be a colonial occupying army that would view citizens exercising their rights as citizens as a threat.

“But the most offensive part of this Bill is its Orwellian name,” he added. “Peaceful Assembly… it sounds like it was drafted by the Ministry of Peace. It is an insult to common sense.”