Elections 101: Bersih 2.0, Brilliant Quotes of the Day

(This is how Najib should have reacted to Bersih 2.0 in the first place. If he had done that, he would have been hailed as a hero and someone who is willing to listen to calls for real change. Image source: http://amenoworld.blogspot.com)

Well done to the police who rescued 30 children from a hostage-taker in Muar. Now, this is what we call real police work (not wasting time manning roadblocks).

Bersih 2.0 will come to a closure tomorrow, hopefully – until now, despite the earlier concession by the Government to allow the rally to take place in a stadium, the police are bent on disallowing any kind of rally from taking place at all cost. They even shut down Puduraya bus station, disallow stage buses from entering the city and putting up roadblocks, literally making the city under siege.

And in course of time, we have been hearing rather unbelievable statements such as this…

From Free Malaysia Today:-

Seri Kembangan district police chief ACP Abd Razak Elias denied that roadblocks in his area, covering Seri Kembangan, Puchong and Bukit Jalil, were linked to Bersih.

“We had three roadblocks this morning for normal crime prevention operation. Everyone is mistaken that it is related to Bersih,” he said.

Asked why the roadblocks were held today, Razak said that police had received information relating to break-ins.

“Based on our crime pattern study, house break-ins in my area normally happen between 4am and 12pm,” he said.

I don’t recall seeing roadblocks up when there were real break-ins and interestingly these roadblocks were set up at highly congested places where it is well known to be highly congested with traffic (an unlike escape route for break-in criminals).

The other classics were:-

1. Go on, assemble in the stadium and yell and shout till you are drained. Deal nicely and we are willing to prepare a stadium for them to assemble (Najib before back tracking on his words and claims that Bersih is still illegal and they need to obtain police permit)

2. Ours is a peaceful assembly for the people to voice their opposition towards Bersih, an illegal organisation that is being illegally funded to tarnish the country’s image and threaten national security (Ibrahim Ali not realising that he done more damage to country’s image by his calls for violence than of Bersih 2.0 )

3. They were carrying items inciting the people to hate the government. This is serious and can threaten national security. They include flyers and t-shirts with Chin Peng, Rashid Maidin and Suriani Abdullah — all connected to MCP (Malayan Communist Party) — written on them (Penang deputy police chief Datuk Abdul Rahim Jaafar)

4. Action will be taken against anyone found wearing the yellow attire, or driving cars, and buses with the Bersih 2.0 logo to incite people to attend the rallies (Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein)

5. What do they (police) think motorists are up to? Going to some street rally? Imagine from five lanes to a single lane in front of Summit Subang. Are the police out to show that they can make lives miserable? At the roadblock itself, the police officers were not even looking at the cars… they were busy chatting (Irritated motorists stuck in traffic jams)

6. We hope that we will also be received in the same manner that the King received the organiser of an illegal rally. If the people can extend favourable treatment to an illegal organisation that is already causing chaos in the country, then they should also extend the same treatment to us (Ibrahim Ali before knowing that the King had refused to meet him and his organisation)

7. Imagine, ladies and gentlemen, if the Bersih rally is not called off and they go ahead with it – if they don’t cancel it on July 8 or 9 – I believe the Chinese community, many of them, will have to stock up on food at home. Anything can happen on that day (Ibrahim Ali who later said that he was “misunderstood”)

More to come, I am pretty sure! In the meantime, I am looking forward to a good rest at home on Saturday (no point wasting fuel, stuck in a traffic jam)