Kash’s World

The number of dengue cases in Malaysia are ‘rising but under control’ according to Health Minister Dato Seri Chua Soi Lek.

Every locality appears to be a frontline.

The rains are just beginning in some places. Let’s hope the dengue situation does not get out of control because when it is under control, seventy over people have died this year.

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 Dengua Fever Hits South East Asia Bad

Over the weekend, while we were experiencing people power Hindraf style (Malaysiakini has a nice analysis btw), the ruling party in Australia was shown the exit and the opposition took control of the government.

There have been no riots; the ruling party’s supporters have calmly handed over the baton and to the best of my knowledge, there have also been no runs on supermarkets for rice, sugar, bread or whatever else the Australians eat.

That’s how it’s done in a first world democracy.

On the other hand, the way things are going in Pakistan, most assuredly a third world nation despite its nuclear arsenal, there’s no telling what will happen there if the ruling party loses in their coming general elections.

How would it be in Malaysia if by any chance the ruling coalition is voted out in the coming general elections?

I’m not sure. Sometimes we seem to be making some progress towards a first world society but then signs of any progress are quickly smashed with actions a country like Burma would be proud of.

Of course, this speculation is strictly academic and theoretical. We have not had a chance to be in such a situation ever since we gained independence fifty years ago.

Some of my friends assume that I will be joining the Hindraf rally on Sunday; probably having read that I walked in the Bersih rally three weeks ago.

Well, I won’t be joining this rally because I am interested in seeing a different approach to solving our many problems. I want to see Malaysians rise above race and religion because, for one, our problems affect everyone irrespective of race and religion.

Of course, some sectors of our society are affected more seriously and I fully understand and symphatise with the many concerns that Hindraff has raised. But taking a narrow race based approach and in this case coupled with a religious slant is not going to solve anything.

As a matter of fact, when you think about it, aren’t the roots of our problems caused by similar racial and religious centric approaches?

Anyway, I am in total agreement with the points made by Haris Ibrahim in his posting on why he won’t be marching tomorrow too.

On Facebook, I created a group last month called Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia!. It was inspired by the following words of His Royal Highness the Regent of Perak, Raja Nazrin.

“Malaysians of all races and religions need to believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that they have a place under the Malaysian sun.”

Let’s all work in unity towards that aim.

According to Malaysiakini via Bernama, the King had just issued a rare statement directly to media regretting the claim that he and the palace had supported Saturday’s illegal gathering.

Among other things the King has asked Malaysians to act in accordance with the law and not be involved in any illegal action or activity.

“Every Malaysian citizen is responsible for maintaining public order for continued peace and stability in the country,” Tuanku Mizan said.

I can see the headlines in the mainstream media tomorrow.

It’s yet another door closed in the face of Malaysians interested in building a full democracy in this country.

Personally, I take this as an achievement of the Bersih rally. There have been memorandums handed before to the Palace, notably during the Reformasi days. To get a response, even if it is negative, speaks volumes of the loudness of voice that the rally let loose.

Should we all still wear yellow on Saturday?

Update 1

There may still be hope. Sagaladoola has spotted a different take on the press statement by Malaysia-Today.

Update 2

For balance, here’s a glimpse into the work of the Comptroller of the Royal Household (Datuk Pengelola Bijaya Diraja),

After the massively successful march organized on 10 November, Bersih leaders are calling for people who support their push for free and fair elections to wear something yellow every Saturday.

Actually, I don’t look good in yellow. Blue’s more my style. But I’m still going shopping for a yellow T-shirt this week. Maybe I’ll get lucky and find something in blue and yellow.

Tell young people especially to keep an eye out for a robber who cleverly intimidates people into giving up their mobile phones.

Three Form Four boys were having pizza in an outlet in Jalan Ipoh two weeks ago when a man came and sat at their table. He told them in a stern voice that his boss had lost his mobile phone and that he suspected the students of taking it.

Even though the students had never seen the man before, they were so scared that they took out their phones when ordered to. The man picked up all three phones and said that these were the ones and coolly walked out of the shop.

Remember, only the police carry out investigations. Anybody else approaches you, ask him to go lodge a report and bring the police to investigate. Don’t even show him your phone. Just walk away if you are in a public place or better still, start shouting.

Let’s get some facts right. There were at least forty thousand people at the Bersih rally on Saturday, not 4,000 as reported in the Star on Sunday and 10,000 today. Maybe the mainstream media is a bit slow at maths and will get the figures right in a week or so.

Secondly, it wasn’t a riot. A friend called me excitedly, not knowing that I was there, to tell me that he received news that a riot had taken place. No, it wasn’t a riot. Check out this link to see what happens when a riot takes place. Online dictionary, dictionary.com has these definitions of the word ‘riot’.

1. “ noisy, violent2 public disorder caused by a group or crowd of persons, as by a crowd protesting against another group, a government policy, etc., in the streets.”
2. “violent or wild disorder or confusion.”

The operative word is violence and there was none of that from the marchers. If you really want to know what a riot is, read this. It was a peaceful march and the only violence that took place did not come from the rally participants. Here’s a picture I took of one of the ‘rioters’.

And another one. No one told this poor guy that one should wear durable shoes when marching.

Sure, it did cause some traffic disruptions around the Istana and City Centre areas but that was unavoidable. I’ve faced the same jams before when government functions take place. Also, for the record, the roadblocks placed around the city and as far away as Kedah and JB appeared to have no purpose but to further rile motorists up.

Anyway, most motorists were patient and the marchers took special care to show their appreciation. This nice gentleman went from car to car and personally apologised to the people inside. I overhead him telling the driver of one car which had children on board, “I apologise for the inconvenience but this is being done so that our children has a future.”

Anyway almost everyone there had either a camera or cameraphone and they were snapping away like our friend here.

Personally, I arrived only after three because I had to come back from Ipoh. I made my way towards Central Market and by the time I arrived I saw a line of people marching towards the Klang Bus Station and someone told me they were heading to the Istana Negara.

It was a motley line of people and I was beginning to think that the rain and the police warnings had kept people away. I was wrong. The line kept growing thicker as groups coming from other directions merged and by the time we neared the Istana I was in a solid mass of people all walking determinedly in the drizzle.

The Mahameru highway in front of the Istana was a sea of yellow. Apparently, tens of thousands had reached there before us.

It didn’t matter that I was dripping wet, or that I must have walked three km by then and that I had to walk the same distance back. It was pure joy to see so many people of all races make a peaceful stand for free and fair elections.

Since the mainstream media has not carried any proper reports of the event, your best bet is to get news online. Jeff Ooi has good reports and pictures of the event. So has Elizabeth Wong. The Malaysiakini site was overwhelmed by readers on Saturday night but is up again now. Malaysia-Today was up on Saturday and Sunday but is down now. I’m not sure if that’s caused by heavy traffic or hacking. The official Bersih site could not cope with the traffic too and is now diverted too . There are videos on YouTube too but again, the site is crawling. Among international news organisations, Al Jazeera provided the best coverage because they had people on the ground.

I went for this rally because I am interested in seeing justice and fairness practiced and Bersih has some very legitimate concerns and requests. I just wanted to be counted as one of the Malaysians who wantto see transparency and equality when elections are held. I believe everyone should have free and equal access to media, one of Bersih’s requests, but that has not been the case when Malaysian elections are held. I would also like to see more equitable delineation of election boundaries too.

Anyway, the peaceful march was a success. It was the biggest I have ever seen and the organisers proved that they can keep things peaceful. The memorandum is with the palace and the Rakyat awaits a response.

Although the official tone is that most ordinary Malaysians don’t read online political postings and that Malaysians mostly prefer other stuff on the Net, some people are getting worried enough to launch cyber attacks on political websites.

The reason for the rise in online heat appears to be the Bersih rally that is scheduled for the 10th of November at Dataran Merdeka and which is being organised by various NGOs and parties to highlight the need for free and fair elections.

Over the past few days, the Malaysia-Today site appears to have been attacked/hacked. Then Bersih’s own website was hacked with a message posted saying that the gathering has been postponed indefinitely.

The Bersih site is still down as I write this. Very possibly the site creators will have to rebuild the site from scratch.

If it really is true that no one reads online political posts then why the need to attack? Hmmm…

Of course, the attacks are not just confined to cyberspace. This letter on Malaysiakini sums up the issue well

The Ampang Point Shopping Centre is a third class shopping centre in a first class area. It’s located in an upmarket area where expatriates and the rich and famous live. However, the way it is managed leaves much to be desired.

Take for instance, the lack of enforcement of no smoking laws. Smoking is prohibited in all shopping centres by law and if you so much as light up a cigarette in first class shopping centres like KLCC and MidValley, the guards won’t hesitate to show you the way out. In the Ampang Point Shopping centre, not only will the guards not do anything, it’s not uncommon to see them smoking in the building.

I went to eat at my favourite Taiwan Noodles restaurant at Ampang Point this afternoon and there were people eating and puffing away. I asked the restaurant staff why they allowed them to smoke and I was told that the shopping centre management did not enforce the law and thus they found it difficult to ask people not to smoke at the table when they could walk around the shops and smoke.

I managed to take a very blurred photo of a young mother smoking with her toddler beside her. Jeez, what kind of example is she setting for that child?

If the management finds it so difficult to stop people, why isn’t the MPAJ doing anything about it? It’s their job to enforce these kinds of laws.

Recently, an encounter I had with the newly opened Isetan at the MidValley Gardens threatened to become unpleasant.

They had not made details of one of their offers clear and I had gone there with my wife only to discover that we were about to get disappointed real big time. Naturally I asked to speak to someone in charge because it was no fault of ours and we had just taken time out of a busy working morning to take advantage of the offer. On top of that, we had also arranged to buy the same item for my sister and another close friend.

The two people who spoke to me that day, a local lady and a Japanese gentleman, were polite but indicated that nothng could be done. I thought this was going to be another ‘Malaysia, First Class Infrastructure, Third Class mentality’ story but I was wrong.

I left my name card with the gentlemen as I was already late for a meeting and told him that I intended to pursue the matter. This was on a Thursday. I told my wife to wait till next week and if they did not respond by then, we would take up the matter.

On Monday, the experience turned delightful. Nani, an executie with Isetan called and said that they acknowledged that they had goofed up and that they were going to ensure we would be able to take up the offer. She asked for a few days to make logistical arrangement and promptly called us back the week after.

When we went back, not only did we meet the charming Nani, the Store Manager, Toshitaka Akabane came down and spoke to us personally. Not only did they make good their offer but they also made sure we got to buy three units of the item so that my sister and my friend were not left out too.

He waited until everything was sorted out, even gave us a nice cloth shopping bag as a ‘buah tangan’ and basically made sure that we left happy and satisfied.

Now that’s what I call great service. You can be sure I am going to shop at Isetan again.