Tag: Federation Square

BERSIH and Carbon Tax


9 July has come and gone. Tress and I were with close to a thousand others at the Federation Square on Saturday afternoon, for a rally to demand some electoral reforms in Malaysia. We went with Brian, a good mate of mine who in turn introduced us to another bloke, who was also a lot of fun. The BERSIH rally in Melbourne was no where near as eventful as the KL version, but the KL folks showed the BN government it needs to take a serious look at itself or it is going to be sitting at the opposition side of the house come the next election. At the very least, BERSIH 2.0 has stripped BN off whatever claim to legitimacy it has left. Najib Razak can barely stand with any credibility and he has his mob has come out of this looking really rubbish. Well done BERSIH, well done, Ambiga.

On the domestic front, Bob Brown, Christine Milne and their mob have flexed their muscles and Julia Gillard continues to look worse by the day. All the compensatory aspects of the scheme may sit well for now for a group of voters but how will employment and foreign investment be affected over time? I don’t think Julia Gillard will be able to make the sale to the people in that regard. I think for most Australians, compensation is only a small part of it. What we want is assurance that jobs and investments and growths of these will not be adversely impacted, especially given the minimal impact the carbon tax will have on climate change.

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Thank you Bersih Thank You Ambiga


For a while, due probably to the end of semester exams and essay submission due date, I wasn’t following events in Malaysia all too closely. I then discovered, about 2-3 weeks ago, the planned activities of Bersih 2.0 and thought “wow, this should be great”.

I haven’t been disappointed.

For over 2 weeks I have jumped on the usual websites (Malaysiakini, Malaysia Today etc) and have picked up reports concerning 9 July 2011. More importantly, I have picked up vibes about the how people feel, leading up to the event.

I haven’t been disappointed.

The responses of the authorities have been expectedly empty gong loud noises. There haven’t been any substantive responses to the cause of Bersih. The cause is very clear, and it is made up of the following:

       1.      Clean the electoral roll

       2.      Reform postal ballot

  1. Use of indelible ink
  2. Minimum 21 days campaign period
  3. Free and fair access to media
  4. Strengthen public institutions
  5. Stop corruption
  6. Stop dirty politics

 Instead of addressing the matter in substance, it has branded the movement in a number of ways, none of which demonstrate that Bersih is anything other than what it claims it is fighting for. Like I said, Ambiga Sreenevasan is fair dinkum. You cant fault her. She may be nice – after all she was a dutiful rakyat who heeded her Agong’s call – but she is also clean and has nothing to fear or lose, except her personal liberty maybe. I expected Ambiga Sreenevasan and her team to hold steadfast to the cause and I haven’t been disappointed.

It is such an exciting time to be in Malaysia, particularly in KL. It wouldn’t be pretty. It would be tense. But it is exciting, because you could sense change coming. Maybe Najib Razak did too. Maybe that is why he has run away for now. Maybe intelligence tells him (not his, Najib doesn’t have a lot of intelligence I don’t think – I meant that of the Special Branch) it isn’t safe to be in the country as this could lead to anything. Maybe the actions of the authorities, especially the police, leading up to 9 July has been such that the people would at long last, say enough is enough and they would rise and take no more of this rubbish the hopelessly finished BN government continues to dish out.

I will participate by remote presence. I will be in the Melbourne chapter. Tomorrow is expected to be a little cold, and even wet. But it is an opportunity to be part of something special. Federation Square will be Merdeka Square for me tomorrow. Thank you Bersih. Thank you Ambiga Sreenevasan. 

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