Running scared of the rakyat

The BN government went overboard in trying to sabotage the Bersih 3.0 sit-in protest.

COMMENT

It is now exceedingly clear that the Barisan Nasional government is very much afraid of the voice of the people. For how else could you explain its overboard attempts to sabotage the Bersih 3.0 sit-in on April 28?

First of all, this columnist and her four friends plus nearly 1,000 people at the Kepong railway station platform were denied the services of the KTM commuter train when it was announced that the train service was “rosak” (out of order) at around 9.45am that Saturday.

That the commuter train service could break down at a time like this is a clear indication that the BN federal government wants to prevent people from participating in the Bersih 3.0 rally. The crowd on the platform became angry and shouted “tipu” (lie) in unison.

This columnist and friends then decided to drive to KL Sentral.

The crowd at Jalan Sultan was massive. It was a sea of people and the atmosphere was jovial. There was also a group of people chanting “Kuning, kuning, Najib pening” (Yellow, yellow, Najib gets a headache) and many joined in the chants as well.

At around 1.45pm, the crowd near the Bar Council building asked equested the police to let us through to Dataran Merdeka, shouting “buka pintu” (open the door) but it was an exercise in futility.

At about 3.30pm, people who were dining alfresco in Petaling Street were stung by tear gas which was an added ingredient on their food. This columnist and friends who were passing by also suffered the same fate.

Instant panic

At around 4.15pm, we arrived at KL Sentral bus terminal and took the only escalator going upwards when, without any warning, the escalator started going down causing an instant panic. Luckily no one was injured. It was done on purpose as many Bersih participants were on the escalator then. Thank God, there were no elderly folks, pregnant mothers or anyone carrying a baby or else serious injuries could have resulted. One youth shouted “BN pergi mampus” (BN go and die) and everyone responded with cries of “betul” (right).

Broadband was exceedingly slow on April 28 although the powers-that-be were able to quickly upload scenes of the incidents manipulated to favour them on the police website. Is this a new form of media control whereby scenes of the truth are suppressed whereas scenes which tarnish the opposition Pakatan Rakyat and Bersih can be uploaded quickly? Has the BN government hired many “Youtube specialists” to take pictures for them so that these can be uploaded quickly on the Internet in order to sway public perception to favour BN?

Are there rogue agents (a few of those wearing black) working for BN among the Bersih crowd? Were they the ones who taunt and throw stones at the police so that this can give the police an excuse to fire tear gas and water cannon at the genuine Bersih participants? A group of people wearing black were identified as behaving “strangely” by not listening to Bersih leaders’ instructions. Too many unanswered questions overall.

For the first time, the media people have been assaulted by police. This is absolutely deplorable and it is a very clear indication that the Najib administration is trying to suppress information. Is Malaysia going to fall behind Myanmar in terms of democratic reforms?

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is certainly a man living in fear of losing power. And it is this particular fear that has prompted the BN government to give tacit approval to an insidious plot of planting 3.1 million dubious voters into the electoral roll without any regard to the safety and future of all Malaysians. As the dubious voters have MyKads and are listed in the roll, no one can stop them from voting and this is the way the BN government overcomes the indelible ink.

This shows that the BN government has totally gone insane as it has virtually sold out the nation and its citizens to low-skilled migrant labour. Many of the people who are informed are getting very angry with BN’s traitorous and Machiavellian deed.

Still arrogant

Even after Bersih 3.0, the Najib administration is still arrogant and acting in denial in regard to the root cause of the anger of the rakyat. The government keeps harping on the riotous behaviour of a few people in the Bersih crowd who may be rogue agent provocateurs planted among the Bersih participants to cause trouble so that blame can be pinned on Bersih. No one can really tell.

If there are no arrests on the troublemakers, then we know which side they belong to. This is the same case as in the Anti-Lynas rally in Penang on Feb 26 wherein there were no arrests although the faces of the perpetrators were caught on camera.

All these incidents only serve to show that the BN government is planning to hoodwink and derail the rakyat. It is no longer running an administration because it is now plundering the nation’s wealth and suppressing the voice of the citizens. This is a sign that Malaysia is now under a crooked regime and also a sign that the Malaysian typhoon is coming.

Truth be told, no one expected the large number of people to turn up for Bersih 3.0. Shah Alam PAS MP Khalid Samad told this columnist that he had hoped for only 150,000 people and the crowd of at least 250,000 was way beyond his expectations. The people are angry because the Election Commission (EC) and the National Registration Department (NRD) are acting in BN’s interests. Najib must read the signs of the times. He cannot hide anymore and must face the wrath of the people.

The prime minister’s refusal to answer any questions pertaining to the dodgy arms deal in regard to the Scorpene submarine will sink him even if he wins the coming 13th general election due to massive electoral fraud. As of now, he still refuses to wake up to harsh realities. Perhaps he is even in deeper slumber than his predecessor.

Selena Tay is a FMT columnist.