can’t even have a picket now

dec 15 star reads:

KUALA LUMPUR: The National Union of Bank Employees has called off its nationwide picket on the advice of the police. 

NUBE general secretary J. Solomon said the police had asked NUBE to review its picket in view of the current situation in the country and in the interest of national security. 

gee,  is the police getting paranoid or what. a picket  is done by office workers and  will be peaceful for sure, so why the fear?
on that same date paper, we also read about the police stopping the bersih group in sabah from handing over a memo to istana negara.

then we also heard of hindraf supporters trying to gather at the kamunting detention camp to show support to the 5 hindraf leaders who were detained under ISA, and again police were there to make sure they did not gather there in big group.

everybody knows about the human rights walk on 9 dec, when a peaceful walk by about 100 people were stopped by the police. it was said that the police outnumber the walkers! 500 policemen and 100 walkers! imagine!

well, do you know, the same thing happened (more policemen than protestors) in penang on 13 dec when suaram organised a candle light vigil?

coming back to NUBE, i can still remember many years back when i was working in beach street, the busiest commercial area, where many banks are located, 2 or 3 times i did came across NUBE’s protest. about 20 or so bank employers were standing outside the bank holding placards, and some will be blowing horns or whistles. some placards said ‘horn for support’ – where they were meant for motorists, asking them to sound their horns as they passed by. it was very interesting and amusing to watch them.

see, a picket, demo, protest are usually peaceful and can even be an attraction for people, contrary to what our gomen said, it will draw tourists away. i read in a blog, a commenter who is living abroad mention, in the country he stayed, street protests are a normal things and some tourists seems to enjoy seeing the protests!!

alas… for our country… it has become a police state (and UMNO controlled gomen), we can’t exercise our rights to peaceful assembly in public.  malaysiakini said:

The right to assemble peacefully and make representations when injustice is seen should have been upheld even if it means possible incarceration.

with this in mind, i’m glad to note that bersih activist has decided to go on with street protests to uphold their cause.

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Malaysiakini
18 Dec 2007

Bersih activists warn of further protests

Polls reform group Bersih activists today threatened to take to the streets again to call for electoral  reform following the government’s crackdown on several mass protests in Kuala Lumpur.

Police have recently detained dozens of people, mostly on illegal assembly charges, but five leaders of  an ethnic Indian rights group Hindraf are being held under a tougher security act that authorises indefinite  detention without trial.

They were protesting against alleged discrimination by the government.

Today, Bersih, an organisation calling for electoral reform which led a rally on Nov 10 that drew over 30,
000 protesters, said the same could happen again.

"People will make their protests known in whatever way they deem fit, " Sivarasa Rasiah, a Bersih  committee member, told reporters.

"It can take the form of street demonstrations, it can take the form of different protests but basically what  you saw on Nov 10 is that sort of voice of the people and you could see that again, " he said.

He was among several activists presenting a memorandum to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s  office, repeating earlier calls not to extend election commission chairman Abdul Rashid Abdul  Rahman’s tenure beyond this year.

International criticism

"If the PM is insistent on extending the services of someone we consider primarily responsible for the  corrupt and unfree and unclean practice of elections in Malaysia, then he is inviting a response from the
(people), " Sivarasa said.

Several recent street protests have enraged the government ahead of general election which Abdullah  is expected to call next year.

Opposition parties and human rights groups condemned the arrests of the five Hindraf leaders last week  which Abdullah, who is also internal security minister, said were made to preserve national security.

New York-based rights group Human Rights Watch, meanwhile, urged the government today to release  the five ISA detainees, three of whom had already facing Sedition charges.

"If laws were broken, then the offenders should be charged and properly tried, not detained indefinitely, "  said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.