Please Stop Harassing Ambiga

Jamal says that he wants to make a point; when the law is broken, chaos ensues. He establishes that he does not agree with Bersih 3.0 as it went against the law but is intent on breaking the law to make his point. There is a word for this and it is called hypocrisy. Since when do people go around committing the crime they are against to prove a point?

Mohd Ikhram Merican

What’s the difference between organizing a peaceful sit-down in a public space and intimidating a lady in her personal space?

We were recently witness to some burger hawkers and army veterans creating a fiasco in front of Datuk Ambiga’s house. If that was not enough, now we have a group of 60 petty traders, under the helm of a Datuk Jamal Md. Yunus, who wish to set up stalls in front of Ambiga’s house, apparently to recoup losses made on the day of Bersih 3.0.

Seriously, these petty traders should permanently close shop and seek employment as they seem to lack the business acumen necessary for success in trade. Firstly, the residential part of Damansara Heights does not have the kind of human traffic that one will find in the city center. Commerce thrives in teeming streets. If the petty traders are genuinely concerned about recouping lost business, they should set up stalls in more strategic locations.

Secondly, simple mathematics eludes Jamal and his band of petty traders. According to Jamal (in Bernama), the petty traders can expect to make between RM300 and RM500 per day. That is an average of RM 24,000 per day in total collections. Assuming that each transaction is RM20 (a generous estimate), they are expecting about 1,200 visitors per day … in an exclusive residential street … between 3.30pm – 8.00pm … on a Thursday and Friday. That is assuming all 1,200 visitors buy something and are not just looking around. I am betting the petty traders will make more money if they stay in the vicinity of Dataran Merdeka (I am assuming that is where they ply their goods).

But then again, this is not about money is it? Based on the video interview Jamal gave to reporters, it seems that he and his coalition of petty traders are out to teach Ambiga a lesson. As if she needs one.

If the government is trying to make a martyr out of Ambiga, they are doing a fine job but enough is enough. We are sick of the intimidation of a decent lady in broad daylight under the guise of retarded excuses. Butt exercises? Serving beef burgers to a vegetarian Hindu?

Dear Prime Minister Najib, surely your expensive international education has taught you better. Our Deputy IGP finds nothing wrong with this but don’t you?

Some people say that there is no difference between Bersih 3.0 and the antics of these stooges. There is actually a big difference between what is being inflicted on Ambiga and what happened in Dataran Merdeka.

Firstly, Dataran Merdeka is a public space. Its maintenance is paid for by the public and large gatherings regularly take place here including concerts, sporting events, and national day parades. The road between Dataran Merdeka and Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad is regularly closed to motorists. Most dwellers in the Klang Valley have become accustomed to this fact.

If a peaceful sit-down in Dataran Merdeka offended anyone, by all means, have a peaceful sit-down in this public space, or any other, in a show of protest over Bersih 3.0. Bersih 3.0 was not held in front of Jamal's house. It would do well for him and anyone planning more invasions of Ambiga’s private space to ponder upon what the holy Quran says about this in 24:27; “O ye who believe! Enter not houses other than your own, until ye have asked permission and saluted those in them: that is best for you, in order that ye may heed (what is seemly).” On this basis, I humbly ask the Federal Territory Mufti to condemn acts that violate the sanctity of a citizen’s personal space with the same zeal and speed in which he condemned protests against the government.

Secondly, the fact that many roads in Kuala Lumpur were closed as a result of Bersih 3.0 is not Ambiga's fault. Take this up with the police or the government. The argument that Bersih 3.0 was dangerous and therefore required excessive security does not hold water. On a regular work week, I estimate (very conservatively) that over a million people commute to Kuala Lumpur's city center. Any one of these million people could be a terrorist, a dangerous criminal, or a threat to national security. I do not see FRU trucks and thousands of police personnel lining the streets of Kuala Lumpur on a daily basis to keep an eye over this massive crowd converging in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.

If you argue that Bersih 3.0 required a large police force to establish security, then we need the same number of police officers manning the streets of Kuala Lumpur on a daily basis as more than 1 million people entering Kuala Lumpur everyday can only mean trouble. On this reasoning, we need the same FRU trucks, water cannons, and tear gas on standby at every concert, football match, marathon, and parade. Why trust anyone's intention? It would be better to preempt a security violation by having the full force of the law present all around Kuala Lumpur EVERYDAY.

Thirdly, why stop at Ambiga in the blame game? Why not go all the way to the root cause - the government? Jamal et.al. should blame the government for their loss of revenue. The fact that the government has refused to provide any guarantee that Bersih's 8 demands will be met before the next election has been conveniently forgotten. This was why Bersih 3.0 was held. Bersih's 8 demands are not unreasonable. The government has been playing coy on this. Ambiga and the Bersih movement have been very clear - give the people a guarantee that come the next election, Malaysians will have free and fair elections. Is that unfair? Why does the government appear unwilling to guarantee free and fair elections? 

The Election Commission (EC) is accused of being bipartisan, the EC’s chairman and his deputy are alleged to be UMNO members, there are compelling arguments that the government is giving citizenship for votes, and there is evidence that the electoral roll is dubious. Surely this is reason enough for civil society to demand that the government guarantee free and fair elections. The burger hawkers, army veterans, and petty traders should blame Prime Minister Najib for failing to provide us citizens with satisfactory sureties, and thereby facilitating Bersih 3.0.

Fourthly, in his video interview, Jamal says that he wants to make a point; when the law is broken, chaos ensues. He establishes that he does not agree with Bersih 3.0 as it went against the law but is intent on breaking the law to make his point. There is a word for this and it is called hypocrisy. Since when do people go around committing the crime they are against to prove a point? Jamal lost the moral high ground when he went to Bukit Damansara with his group of merry-men to illegally paint the road with demarcation lines for stalls.

Lastly, when Bersih 3.0 broke the law, it did so in the spirit of civil disobedience. Globally, there is precedence for this; Gandhi’s non-violent resistance, the American Civil rights movement, the South African fight against apartheid, and the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia are but a few examples. Bersih 3.0 may have broken the law, but it was done to institute reforms to an electoral system that is in bad need of it.

The holy Quran says in 9:12, “But if they violate their oaths after their covenant, and taunt you for your Faith,- fight ye the chiefs of Unfaith: for their oaths are nothing to them: that thus they may be restrained,” and in 4:148, “Allah loveth not that evil should be noised abroad in public speech, except where injustice hath been done; for Allah is He who heareth and knoweth all things”, and in 26:151, “Do not obey the order of the transgressors.” 

Saidina Abu Bakr is quoted to have said, "Cooperate with me when I am right but correct me when I commit error; obey me so long as I follow the commandments of Allah and His Prophet; but turn away from me when I deviate."

My humble suggestion to Ambiga, whom I hold in high regard, is to take a 1-week holiday from Thursday (the day of the planned protest outside her house). Go with your family and enjoy in a resort of your choosing by the sea. Sip on Pina Coladas and relax while the petty traders try hard to recoup their “losses”. When you come back, refreshed and rejuvenated, sue all these groups to the full extent of the law. I am sure all Malaysians who believe in justice will be more than willing to donate money and assistance for this cause.