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| Bersih4, don't do this to our cops, please |
"Perhaps the most marked finding was that the rally was supported by 81% of the ethnic Chinese respondents and 51% of the ethnic Indian respondents but only favoured by 23% of the ethnic Malay voters interviewed," Merdeka Center survey - Malaysians split over Bersih rally
We will provoke you. Some 5,000 police officers have been deployed for today's Bersih4 in Kuala Lumpur, touted to be far bigger than the three previous Bersih protests. If 50,000 DAP members and their sympathisers come out and paint the town yellow today (and tomorrow), we are looking at 1 cop to every 10 protester. If 100,000 turns up? Do your math. The odds are heavily against these cops if the crowd were to get violent. I hope that does not happen but the fact is not everyone who will be wearing the yellow t-shirt today will be happy if nothing untoward happens. And Bersih4 is, like it or not, an illegal rally. Why it's deemed illegal has been explained h e r e. Not everyone who attends today's rally wants to clash with the police, I'm sure, but they all know that by attending the rally today know they are breaking the law.
Outnumbered and closely watched, the cops - most of them on the frontline are in their youths - have also to exercise restrain at all times throughout Bersih4. That's the order that has been given to them and they have to follow orders. Unlike riot police in western countries, ours are not seasoned or used to handling protesters. Ours aren't brutal.
During Bersih2 in April 2012, some protesters initiated trouble by provoking the cops on duty. We remember what happened, don't we?
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| Or this ... |
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| Or this ... |
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| And this. |
But cops are only human, and some of them reacted when provoked. And when that happened, the entire police department was accused of police violence, police brutality, and so on (although in 2012 even the WSJ had to be a little fair to our police because of the obvious: Malaysians split over violence at Bersih rally)
This time around, three Catholic churches in KL have offered "sanctuary" for the protesters. Is that supposed to be good? Or are they doing it to spite the government that denied them their "right" to use Allah in their publications? I'm sorry I had to ask, but some things are beyond good manners.
To the cops, no sanctuary and no salvation for you. But this is what you signed up for. Keep safe, all the same.
Restrain, restrain, restrain: Sabar itu separuh dari iman.
For as Freddie said, they will rock you.
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| Peace not war: Do this instead - Bersih 3, the "legal" Bersih rally |
Interesting links:
Support for Bersih 4 split along racial lines - Malaysiakini