Bersih 3.0 dihadiri oleh hanya segelintir sahaja orang India.
Beberapa hari lepas, Calvin Sankaran (seorang pembaca yang sering memberikan komen bernas di blog ini), berkongsi berita bahawa liputan akhbar-akhbar Tamil telah menyatakan kaum India kurang melibatkan diri dalam protes tersebut.
Ekoran itu, saya pun bertanyakan perkara ini lebih lanjut kepada rakan-rakan aktivis India. Mereka mengesahkan apa yang diberitahu oleh Calvin.
Bukan sahaja masyarakat India (kecuali sekelompok golongan kelas pertengahan Firsters) tidak turun padang malah minat terhadap acara April 28 itu pun begitu hambar sekali. Sampailah ia tidak menjadi topik perbincangan di kalangan kaum India.
Laman sesawang Human Rights Party baru sahaja memuat-turun satu rencana berjudul ‘Bersih 3.0 draws mere 0.1% Indian participation’.
Disalintampal versi pendek yang saya sunting di bawah. Untuk membaca rencana penuh, sila klik pada tajuk asal dalam perenggan atas.
Bad news for Pakatan
<QUOTE>
By HRP (the political wing of Hindraf)
A cursory view of the YouTube videos, photographs via e-mail, Facebook, etc and the feedback we have been getting reveal the very thin – to the estimated tune of a mere 0.1% – Indian participation at the Bersih 3.0 Rally on April 28.
Reporters on the ground also communicated the same thing to us [P. Uthayakumar and the HRP-Hindraf leadership].
Only an estimated 0.1% of the Bersih 3.0 attendees were Indians. Danger shockwaves for Pakatan segregating Hindraf! The Indian poor will henceforth no longer be used by Pakatan or BN.
Unlike in the 2008 general elections, the Indian poor masses will no longer carry the PAS flags.
Pray tell us of one Malay or Chinese or their politicians, NGOs’ pseudo ‘Civil Society’ who has seriously championed one critical Indian issue?
The Hindraf political position since its inception in December 2005 has always been not to support, and in fact up to this very date, never to vote Umno/BN.
Knowing fully well that out of the 798 Parliament and DUN seats nationwide, Umno/BN had gerrymandered the same to the tune that there is not even one Indian majority seat despite there being 715,099 registered Indian voters as at March 2008 in the electoral roll.
But Sabah with only a slightly more at 802,683 voters has 25 Parliament and 60 DUN seats but to Bersih 3.0 this does not come under their purview of (pseudo) free and fair elections.
For Pakatan and Umno/BN, it is pure political opportunism in wanting to further victimize and segregate the Indian poor.
Pakatan takes full advantage of this crossroad and predicament the Indian poor are in now knowing that they are not going to vote Umno/BN. And left with no alternative the Indians would be forced to vote for Pakatan.
Pakatan takes full advantage of the Indian poor knowing that the Indian poor are at the absolute tender mercies of Pakatan and choose not to deliver to the Indian poor in Selangor, Penang and Kedah that they have ruled for five years now.
The latest and tip of the iceberg examples of this non delivery to the Indian poor are as analyzed by Hindraf in ‘Apa Pakatan tidak buat untuk India miskin: 5 tahun perintah Selangor, Penang & Kedah’.
To the direct contrary, Pakatan delivered to the Malay and Chinese as a matter of course with no or very little problems.
Pakatan racism *
The latest Pakatan racism a la Umno/BN is the Selangor Pakatan state government which had announced legal aid for all the 512 Bersih activists who had been arrested (see FMT, May 1).
Because they are almost 99.9% Malays and Chinese!
But never similar legal aid for the 241 Hindraf Rally activists who were maliciously prosecuted. Not even bearing in mind the fact that Pakatan came to power also by the very same Hindraf wave.
The Indians were all forced to plead guilty, many after losing their jobs, with zero help from Pakatan especially these very same Pakatan Selangor leaders who rode the Hindraf wave.
And today these Indians carry criminal records [on the illegal assembly charge and conviction] right up to their dying days while Pakatan leaders enjoy the perks and positions in Kedah, Penang and Selangor.
In 2008 the Selangor Menteri Besar announced that the Pakatan Selangor state government would engage the services of a Queen’s Counsel from London for Teresa Kok of DAP who was arrested under the ISA for a mere two weeks.
But never for poor fellow DAP state representative M. Manoharan, a Selangor Adun.
What more, the other three Hindraf lawyers together with Manoharan rotting in the ISA jails for one-and-a-half years.
Swift legal aid for Teoh Beng Hock with counsel Malik Imtiaz appearing at TBH’s Royal Commission of Inquiry.
But the Hindraf Anti Interlok 54 activists prosecuted in March 2011 were never given legal aid by Pakatan.
Numerous walkouts from Parliament and emergency motions again by [Pakatan politicians] concerning only the Malays and Chinese. The record shows never [such actions for] Indian poor problem.
The records show that none of the Pakatan or Bersih activists were at the Hindraf Anti Interlok Rally in February 2011. We were all alone! We had to fight our own battle.
So in Bersih 3.0, obviously we reciprocated with an identical non-participation.
Pakatan does not care. So why should any Indian poor attend Bersih 3.0, or vote PR?
Not voting has now become an option.
<UNQUOTE>
*** *** *** ***
“… it came as a complete shock when I read that Pakatan Rakyat politicians had sent out text messages discouraging people from attending the Hindraf-organised protest.
“‘Don’t fall for selfish people who are using you for their selfish aims. Go to Merlimau not KLCC,’ the text message by DAP Senator S. Ramakrishnan read.”
— read also ‘Shut up already, you bloody opportunists!‘
by blogger Crankshaft
who took part in the anti-Interlok rally
UPDATED (May 3):
My apology for not properly inserting the url link yesterday for ‘Shut up already, you bloody opportunists!‘ It’s been rectified now.
As to why Crankshaft called the Pakatan politicians “bloody opportunists”, it stems from their typical behaviour in capitalizing on nasty episodes / tragedies to urge the public to vote opposition.
They opportunistically react to any headline-grabbing event by chanting the mantra, “Jom Ubah, Vote Pakatan, Vote Pakatan” (i.e. pushing the idea that if voters put Pakatan in charge, bad things would no longer happen, and that these bad things happened because everything is BN’s fault)
The sms by the DAP Senator dissuading Indians from taking part in the anti-Interlok rally was an attempt to sabotage Uthaya’s influence.
* Hence Crankshaft had blogged:
“It seems to me that the issue of racism and propagation of tools to Brainwash The Nation [vis-a-vis the Interlok controversy] is of secondary importance – the utmost priority is that they, Pakatan Rakyat, get voted into power.
“Make no mistake, Uthayakumar, the maverick leader of Hindraf has not played by any party rules, nor has he compromised on his stance. A lot of people regard him as eccentric, some see him as recalcitrant, but on the issue of racism, he appears to be spot-on in his judgement.
“This makes him a threat to Pakatan Rakyat.”
Helen Ang 
Helen,
The irony is that the chief of bersih is an Indian but Indian participation is 0.1%. Bersih from the beginning is a failure as it failed to catch the imagination of the rakyat. It is a ploy to drum up unhappiness among the rakyat.
Well, you will definitely catch the 20% of the ultras, similarly for Marine Le Pen for France or Pauline Hanson for Australia. That is not sufficient for anything. Any society will definitely have this group of rakyat. Don’t have to be upset as they are the citizen too.
Bersih’s verdict is very clear Najib 8 : Anwar 2. BN 2/3 is a forgone conclusion. Anwar will be punished as he insulted and underestimates the intelligent of the rakyat!!!
should have come down to kl. lots of indians here that day.
Terima kasih saudari Helen. Bersama sama kita doakan agar DAP, PR dan juga nik aziz dan anwar al juburi dijahanamkan secepat mungkin.
So Helen, you are now officially known as Letchumi?
Ke hadapan saudari Helen yang dihormati. Sudah lama saya tidak meninggalkan komen di ruang blog saudari, harapnya saudari sihat sejahtera dan bahagia di samping orang tersayang.
Saya agak tertarik dengan tajuk rencana saudari, iaitu, “Bersih 3.0: Berita baik untuk Umno!”
Pada pendapat saya, memang baik sekali bahawa kaum India secara amnya tidak menyokong perhimpunan Bersih 3.0. Namun, saya rasa agak awal untuk kita membuat kesimpulan adakah UMNO untung atau tidak dengan tunjuk perasaan 28April2012. Jika kita hendak melihat kesan sebenar perhimpunan tersebut, kita perlu melihat persepsi pengundi-pengundi atas pagar di Malaysia ini terhadap Bersih 3.0. Adakah mereka menyokong? Atau adakah mereka menentang?
Andaikata saudari Helen mampu menjawab soalan-soalan ini, saya akan cukup berbesar hati jika saudari dapat berkongsi maklumat dan ilmu dengan saya dan pembaca-pembaca lain.
Terima kasih dan sekian.
Dear Servant of God,
Terima kasih kerana sudi mengomen.
Boleh kita cuba membuat kiraan untung-rugi pasca 428 seperti berikut:
1. Adakah DAP akan mendapat jumlah undi lebih selepas Bersih 3.0?
Sebelum berlangsungnya Bersih 2.0 pada tahun lepas, jarang Cina mengambil bahagian dalam demo.
Malah dalam protes anti-PPSMI (memandangkan Dong Jiao Zong anti BI & mahukan Sains-Matematik diajar dalam B.Cina, namun) orang Cina yang keluar hari itu masih hanya sejemput sahaja.
Waima saya membuat kesimpulan bahawa Cina yang “memberanikan diri” menyertai 428 kebanyakannya yang berjaya dipujuk oleh golongan pro-pembangkang & memang mereka ini pada asalnya penyokong pembangkang juga.
Situasi berbeza kali ini (428) apabila kehadiran orang Cina di jalanan tampak terserlah.
Namun adakah gejala ini menandakan tambahan undi bagi Pakatan?
Sama ada 428 diadakan atau tidak, sama ada mereka ini (Cina, orang muda) mengambil bahagian dalam perhimpunan atau tidak, undi mereka pun sudah berciri ‘simpanan tetap’ DAP. Andaikata PDRM melayan mereka dengan berapa lembut sekali pun undi mereka tidak akan beranjak atau mengalih dari pembangkang.
Saya rasa perihal pemilih Cina, Umno sudah pasrah dan cukup pragmatik untuk ‘write-off’ golongan ini dari perhitungan kalah-menang BN.
(2) Adakah PAS akan mendapat lebih undi?
Boleh jadi ya kalau ‘constituency’ (kumpulan yang mungkin mengundi PAS walaupun bukan ahli parti) mereka terkilan melihat remaja Melayu dikasari polis serta mendengar cerita pengalaman Unit Amal.
(3) Adakah PKR akan mendapat lebih undi?
Pada telaah saya, jawapannya tidak. Anwar dan Azmin terkantoi dah.
(4) Adakah Umno akan mendapat lebih undi?
Mungkin ya sekiranya orangramai melihat 428 sebagai memberi ruang kepada anasir-anasir yang sengaja mahu menghura-harakan negara serta membawa budaya merusuh. Serta digambarkan Umno boleh bersabar manakala pembangkang bertekad memprovokasi.
(5) Adakah MCA akan mendapat lebih undi?
Barangkali mereka akan ditolak dengan lebih keras oleh orang Cina yang mendabik dada kononnya ‘hero’ kerana sekarang berani ke jalanan serta berdepan dengan polis [“Gestapo” mengikut kata Kim Guan Eng].
Sila baca posting awal saya bagaimana Cina pro-establishment diperli oleh Hannah Yeoh.
(6) Undi orang India bagaimana?
No news is good news.
Kalau mereka memilih untuk duduk atas pagar, yang rugi Pakatan. Padan muka DAP & PKR.
PAS mungkin hilang kerusi Parlimen Kota Raja – satu kawasan yang ramai India – di mana ada ura-ura HRP akan menampilkan calon dan dengan itu mewujudkan persaingan tiga penjuru serta memecah undi.
Salam
Dear Helen in light of this quote “Pakatan does not care. So why should any Indian poor attend Bersih 3.0, or vote PR?
Not voting has now become an option.”
The ‘not voting ( The non-off the above faction) group ‘as onother small but growing option for malaysian who are disgusted with BOTH SIDES ,BN and PR.
Like i said is over and over again it is the real third choice / third force?.
Currently this group is leaderless , and the best part is, it has no political aspiration , but only as a keeper of the rakyat’s political/ moral compass.
I call this vote as a vote of political disgust.
Pada pendapat saya, UMNO/BN sudah lama melepaskan harapan untuk mendapatkan undi masyarakat Cina. Akan tetapi, saya percaya Najib adalah seorang pragmatist. Walaupun undi masyarakat Cina sudah boleh dikatakan “beyond conclusion”, namun saya pasti, “deep down”, Najib percaya, jika BN boleh mendapat, even 10% undi masyarakat Cina, in a tight race, even 10% could decide the outcome.
As for Malay votes, from what we can see, UMNO/BN can still hold the ground, and depending on the situation, masih lagi selesa. So in this case, all UMNO/BN has to do with regards to the Malay votes is to steady the ship, consolidate the position.
Bagi undi kaum India pula, I mostly concur with what Helen said. If the Indians don’t come out to vote, the DAP and PKR are toast. But if the Indians do indeed come out to vote, the DAP and PKR could also be toast. I mean look, what have PR done for the Indian community over the last 4 years?
I mentioned in an earlier posting that, despite all the talk about who is going to vote for whom, the thing that most people are not paying attention to is : those not planning to vote on election day could well determine the outcome of the next general election.
Saya lagi bertambah menyampah dengan PR selepas Bersih 3.0
-Pseudo democrats, opportunist, big liar, hypocrites.
Eventhough I Hate most of UmNO menteris’, nothing can bring PR better than BN. It is not BN is good and stronger, but because PR is the king of hypocrites, full of retoric, liar etc.
Helen,
Thanks for highlighting this important development for I believe this is one of the key message from BERSIH 3.0 rally rather than the how many people turned out and the presence of young people,etc.
A lot of commenators have missed the missed forest for the trees and ended up reading the situation wrong.
OK, let’s start with Indians. I do not have the numbers but I am reasonably sure that in BERSIH 2.0 the % of Indians turned up a lot more than 7% (the % of Indians in terms of national population). The key reasons were Ambiga and also the prevailing mood among the Indians.
I remember even the generally pro-BN Tamil papers were louding her courage and principled stance in fighting for a just cause. Everywhere I went, almost every of my Indian friends were sympathetic to BERSIH and Ambiga.
Ambiga was never involved in Indian issues being an English-educated elite and from a well-to-do family. As such her adoration by the Indian press and masses was a surprise.
So it was no surprise that BERSIH saw a huge Indian participation despite the police’s efforts to clamp down the demo.
However, in contrast the response to BERSIH 3.0 is mute and lukewarm. Ambiga seemed to have gone from hero to zero. Her fall from grace is spectacular. The Tamil newspapers seemed to sense the mood and gave only cursory coverage to the event. I hardly hear Indians, whether in personal coversations or in the blogs, talk about this, except among the Bangsar Brigade and the Subang Jaya Squad.
The reasons, at least from my point of view, are Ambiga herself, Pakatan’s leaders’ abjact failure, MIC’s resurgence and most importantly Najib.
Ambiga despite her huge popularity showed no interests whatsoever on Indian issues or even acknowledge her Indian roots, associating with the Firsters. Her preceived arrogance and elitist (or high caste) behaviour did not endear to the Indian masses.
Secondly, the Pakatan’s leaders failed miserably in cashing on BERSIH to gather support for PR as they have no credibiity among the community. They are seen as mere mandores for the Chinese and Malay masters, sort of how MIC was seen during Samy Vellu’s days. There is not a single PR leader is respected among the Indians these days,. Karpal is held high but he too cannot connect with the Indian masses, other than the middle and upper classes.
On the other hand,MIC has produced a number of leaders who can easily move around the working class and able to articulate well in Tamil as well as in BM and English. Dr Subra, Devamany and Kamalanathan are seen as the new breed of leaders who are clean and unafraid to voice out the Indian issues. Palanivel surprised many with his strategic moves and courage to disagree with UMNO if needed.
And lastly, Najib has moved fast and captured the heart of many Indians. I don’t think any PM in Malaysia history has the same support as Najib among Indians today.
He knows exactly what needed by the community and more importantly he does it with a sense of sincerity that often lacks in the PR leaders like Anwar of the Dear Leader when they help the Indians. You see when Anwar and especially LGE do something for the community, you can sense their lack of sincerity in their faces and followed by much chest thumping.
I give you an example of Najib’s behaviour. You see he and Rosmah often attend Indian cultural shows and they both stay until the end. For those who are unfamiiar, these shows last hours (2 or 3 hours) and even I cannot bear to watch it for more than 30 min. But both will stay right till the end. In LGE and Anwar’s case, the audience will have to wait for these guys to make grand entrance. They will come in late and then make loud and empty speeches (and full of self praise and venom for BN) and then leave within minutes of getting garlanded.
The Indian masses notices these and all these efforts. Today BN and MIC will win votes from the Indians for the Najib factor alone.
So to conclude and summarise,as BERSIH 3.0 has shown the writing is on the wall for Pakatan as far as Indian support is concerned.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What you say about Dear Leader making a grand entrance after coming in late and then commencing on loud and empty speeches full of self praise and venom for BN … I’ve noticed the same & glad to hear that the Indian masses realise this. — Helen
”even I cannot bear to watch it for more than 30 min.” you goner get whack for that bro.:)……………………good luck
Hahahha….kpanjang…it is true. It really beats me how Najib and Rosmah can put up with these shows….They must have the patience of Gandhi…
I agree with Calvin. Unbearable. Seriously, that’s some mega sacrifice our PM is making. Poor guy.
Hi Helen,
semalam saya ada menonton Soal Jawap TV3. Saya tak pasti kalau masih ada yg masih tonton TV3 or RTM atas sebab2 yang kita semua tahu.
Panel semalam adalah YB Khairy Jamaludin dan YB Kama. Dalam pergelutan pembangkang, penganjur Bersih dan kerajaan BN, saya bersetuju dengan bukti dan fakta yg dikeluarkan oleh kedua-dua YB tersebut. Sebelum ini saya pernah membaca transkrip debat antara YB KJ dengan Dato Ambiga, dan saya boleh katakan, secara terang-terangan YB Ambiga sudah tidak percaya pada EC sebelum EC mampu memberi laporan terperinci terhadap tuntutan Bersih.
Kita semua tahu bahawa semua 8 tuntutan dibincangkan dalam jawatankuasa yg ditubuhkan (di mana Dato Ambiga sehingga kini tidak bersemuka dgn EC secara formal sejak 2010 untuk bincangkan dengan EC. Malah menuntut semua EC meletak jawatan. Siapa Ambiga untuk kita mendengar tuntutan mereka 100%? Dah tolak ansur tu cukup baik dah.
Selain itu, ramai yg kecewa kerana Bersih dijadikan platform pembangkang untuk menggambarkan Malaysia adalah negara kuku besi, diktator seperti Hitler (saya tak pasti jika Hitler memberi kebenaran mereka BERARAK BANTAH apa2). ‘
Seperti kata YB KJ dan YB Kama, Bersih dan pembangkang tidak ikhlas untuk membersihkan pilihanraya. Sebaliknya mereka mahukan pembangkang menang, by hook or by crook. Bagi mereka, itu makna bersih sebenar bagi mereka. Bersihkan pilihanraya adalah retorik semata-mata.
Siapa mangsa sebenar? Mereka yang ikhlas mahu demo untuk pilihanraya yang bersih. E.g, Benji Lim. mungkin juga A. Samad Said yg mahu mereka hanya duduk bantah. Bukan merusuh merosak harta benda utk pihak pembangkang itu. Alih2 polis yg disalahkan, dipanggil anjing, pemakan rasuah, lembu UMNO dsb. Ye saya pasti, ada yg ambil rasuah. Mereka lupa kalau mereka tak hulur rasuah, polis pun tak makan rasuah.
Tapi adakah 100%? Polis juga manusia, ada baik ada jahat. Kita boleh lihat bagaimana mereka berasa puas dapat provokasi polis, memukul2 polis, menendang2 polis dsb. Saya boleh nampak tanduk mereka keluar dari kepala.
Mana tujuan BERSIH? Pernah ke kita lihat Aung Sang Suu Kyi guna kekerasan? Jelik bila mengingatkan Anwar yang menggambarkan diri beliau seperti pejuang demokrasi Myammar itu. Padan la kalau polis dan tentera menyokong BN jika mengundi. Padanla kalau pakatan sendiri mengatakan 100% polis undi BN.
At least hati tak sakit nak berkhidmat kepada orang yg menjadi kerajaan dan bukan kepada pakatan yng menggunakan nama ‘rakyat’ semata-mata. Mereka lupa ke polis dan tentera juga rakyat?
Helen,
Betul kata anda, berbaloi ke mati syahid hanya menuntut tempoh berkempen 21 hari/menggunakan dakwat kekal? Tapi hairan Muhd Sabu dan TG Nik Aziz boleh keluar fatwa mcm tu. Agama sekali lagi digunakan. Tak padan la nak mati syahid kerana mereka berdemo hanya kepada jalan Anwar. Bukan ke jalan Allah.
Yang pasti, pembangkang dah ada alasan tertulis dalam skrip dah mcm mana mereka nak jawab bila mereka kalah PRU13 nanti. Ayat2 basi berbau hapak seperti mulut mereka memfitnah dan menabur janji palsu kepada rakyat.
MP kamal had a valid arguments about postal votes. If DAP have nothing but venomous feeling against Policemen/women, do they think that these guys will vote for them?
Policemen plus wife(s) plus family member, easily 300,000 voters.
Take army plus policemen plus Prison Dept or Home Ministry employee and related parties (wife, brother/sister/parents) that will be easily 500,000 voters GONE.
Police also voters
-kawekoambo-
Helen,
Dear Leader Kim and Tony Pua have just handed UMNO another gift – they have accused PDRM behaving as Gestapo.
I have friends and relatives in the force and they say their experience with BERSIH has been an eye-opener and changed their perception of PR. But now the Dear Leader and Tony have placed the cherry on top of the cake by their comments.
I can tell you that even within PDRM, there was some sympathy for Pakatan and BERSIH. In fact I remember some of my PDRM friends felt the reaction to BERSIH 2.0 was wrong. My Indian PDRM friends were even more sympathetic due to the Ambiga factor.
But what a change BERSIH 3 was! My PDRM friends are fuming and seething with anger with Ambiga and her rowdy buddies.
The kind of abuse and violence that was faced by PDRM was shocking according to them. We are not likely to read these horror stories in MKini or MI for sure. I was told that the PR politicians abused the policemen with words and some leaders actually encouraged attacks on the police.
It is true that the stories of policemen being killed by protestors sparked the heavy-handed response from the police. As for the newsmen being attacked, it is true but what was not reported is that many of these reporters actually wore “yellow” /”green” t-shirt and openly supported BERSIH.
In fact some of these reporters were actually demonstrating while using journalistic shield. This reminds me of the anti-Lynas rally in Penang where the reporter actually wore green and protected the Dear Leader.
Among PDRM today, BERSIH is the hottest topic and I bet Tony and the Dear Leader would be figure very prominently (though not spoken with much love) in these conversations.
As for Ambiga, the Indian cops consider her as a traitor.
Calvin, the correct analogy is “scoring an own goal and cheering wildly as if scoring at the opposite half”.
That’s a good analogy….hahaha
Dear Helen,
Whether we like it or not HINDRAF seems to still wield some sought of an invisible force amongst the poorer segment of the Indians even with all the labelling that had been thrown against them. The status quo of the poorer Indians have not really changed as they continue to fight for their survival amongst us in Malaysia. Naturally they tried to engage PR, but to no avail as clearly depicted on the modus operandi as you had stated above.
Don’t you think that UMNO should cut the red tape of the self serving Indian parties within their coalition and deal with HINDRAF directly and try to resolve the major issues that concerns the poor & marginalized M’sian Indians. Imagine, if you were to do a piece on this, the DAPsters, PASters & PKRsters will be running helter skelter.The balance of weighting the right thing to do is not a vote count process or what appeases us but rather addressing real time issues and grievances like those of the M’sian Indians that gets lost in translation for all the politicking.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It looks like Najib is going to the ground direct, bypassing MIC & Hindraf both. Yang hidup kais pagi makan pagi, kais petang makan petang are a deep concern. DAP-PKR has little compassion for them. — Helen
”Addressing real time issues and grievances like those of the M’sian Indians that gets lost in translation for all the politicking.”
Right to the heart bro, right to heart of the beast.
If you can feel and be touched by it as a Malaysian, what more can I say. I am sure we don’t need One Malaysia or Malaysia First to dictate what is humane amongst us when we acknowledge the fact and the reality for our fellow Malaysians.
My Dear Helen, faith and doubt is a wisdom within the heart beyond the reach of proof. Faith and doubt both are needed not as antagonists, but working side by side to take us around the unknown curve. The unknown curve that you decide to take on is the faith and wisdom that has nothing to grasp but a state that we all need to grow into to accept realism and understand the need for the fellow marginalized common folks. I think faith and wisdom should not be a moment affair but a habitual one unlike the vice that we practice when it fits the agenda.
MiNY,
Helen’s correct, Najib is reaching out direct to the Indians bypassing MIC/PPP and others.
I don’t think Najib is unwillng to work with HINDRAF in fact he made his overtures even when he was the DPM. I am quite sure he will sit down with HINDRAF or anyone else interested in helping the Indians.
The problem is HINDRAF (or rather Uthaya) has made UMNO as the Public Enemy No 1 and the cornerstone of his struggle. As such he would not want to sit down and talk with BN/Najib.
Also Uthaya’s stance and the usage of words such as “ethnic cleansing”,”Malay/Muslim terrorists”, “genocide”, etc are very unhelpful in reaching to BN/UMNO. While most of their 18 points demands are just, but there are some which are just irrational. These should be dropped.
As I see it, if HINDRAF is serious about helping the Indian poor there is only one option that is Najib. They should talk to him directly and work out some solutions.
At the same time, I would like to see HINDRAF serve as a pressure group and apolitical and fearless in voicing out issues affecting Indians.
Thank you for your observation and only when consensus works without a compulsion.
Helen,
Your writing are ALL RUBBISH and you don’t have the eyes to see thing in a real way. You are Blind and blind forever. Sorry to tell you that.
Dear Anti BN/UMNO, your writing is all glitter, show me the money and I am your best friend. Show me compassion and reality, I am the back burner. I know this is difficult to digest but what can I say when your truth only serves you.
Anti BN/UMNO’s writing typifies what I told Helen in one of my postings. The Dapsters believe what they want to believe, a form of thinking I call Dapthink. This form of thinking, you see, leads the Dapsters into a psychological state known as Dapsterism. Just my take on the matter.
Please, is that all you can say dear Anti BN/UMNO?
Dear anti BN/UMNO,if u think Helen’s writing are rubbish please do not read this blog and ‘corrupt’ your mind ok….enough said!
Hi Helen,
Saya baru berpeluang membaca artikel saudari ‘Bersih 3.0: DAP, Christians, Churches”. Dan pertama kali saya disajikan dengan komen-komen yang melibatkan beberapa orang “Chinese Christians” yang kelihatan seperti tidak berpuas hati dengan pemerintahan BN sedia ada.
Saya tidak mempunyai rakan dari kalangan “Chinese Christians” ini tetapi sering mendengar tentang mereka melalui cerita-cerita isteri saya tentang pekerja-pekerja “Chinese Christians” yang ada di pejabatnya. Tingkahlaku mereka juga agak “berlainan” dan sering juga hal-hal tentang Kristian menjadi bahan bualan ketika berkumpul dan menjadi isu forum email mereka.
Sebagai seorang Melayu, ini seolah-olah menjadi satu fenonema baru di Malaysia. Mungkin kita tidak menyedari, Muda-mudi Cina kini lebih terdedah dan dekat dengan agama Kristian dan lebih bersifat kebaratan. Terfikir juga mungkin ini berlaku disebabkan pengaruh “Korean Wave” barangkali.
Tetapi yang menjadi kekhuatiran saya adalah tentang sikap “jumud” mereka terhadap agama Kristian ini. Seperti mana yang berlaku di dalam PAS, golongan ini menjadi satu kuasa baru yang dipergunakan oleh DAP untuk memperluaskan pengaruh mereka. DAP sudah kelihatan seperti menggunakan agama Kristian untuk meraih pengaruh mereka di kalangan muda-mudi “Chinese Christians” ini. Sepertimana PAS yang telah dan masih mencuba menguasai masjid (atau membina “masjid persedirian”) bagi memperluaskan agenda mereka melalui agama Islam, Kini, saya melihat DAP juga menggunakan pendekatan yang sama dengan mungkin bermatlamat untuk mempergunakan agama untuk kepentingan politik mereka.
Isu menggunakan nama “Allah” di dalam Bible seolah-olah menjadi isu besar bagi golongan Chinese Christians ini dan juga beberapa isu-isu agama Islam yang dipertahankan oleh orang Melayu dijadikan sesuatu topik besar. Ini menjadikan golongan ini sebagai sesuatu “senjata baru” DAP untuk bukan sahaja memperluaskan pengaruh mereka ini tetapi juga memanaskan suasana politik tanahair. Seolah-olah DAP sedang membina satu angkatan muda-mudi Kristian yang bakal menjadi satu “Unit Amal PAS” yang sering dibakar semangat melawan bagai di medan perang.
Helen,dari pemerhatian saya, hal ini sudah secara perlahan-lahan mula menular ke dalam masyarakat. Penentangan bukan lagi sekadar berbalah tentang isu politik sahaja malah perlahan-lahan membakar isu agama Islam dan Kristian. Dan sebagai seorang wanita Cina, bolehkah saudari membuat penjelasan lebih mendalam tentang perkara yang saya bangkitkan ini? Apakah pendapat umum masyarakat Cina Malaysia tentang “kebangkitan” aliran muda-mudi Cina yang condong menjadi “Chinese Christians” dan menggunakan isu-isu agama bagi meraih pengaruh mereka?
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Hi Azeel,
Saya merasakan golongan ini bukan sahaja berkonfrontasi dengan Muslim – ruj. seminar guru Johor ‘Ancaman Kristianisasi terhadap umat Islam’, isu kebas ‘Allah’, al-Kitab, jamuan teh X’mas untuk PM, tweet Chan Li Lian (petugas LGE) dsb – tetapi mereka juga memandang hina orang Cina (kaum mereka sendiri) yang beragama Buddha atau yang berpegangan Tao-Confucianisme.
Terbaru, http://mymassa.blogspot.com/2012/05/gempar-bukti-gerakan-kristianisasi-di.html
Helen
Helen, on the May Day the Penang branch of Malaysian Indian Chamber of Commerce (MICC) organised a Tamil New Year dinner. This is a powerful group and some of its members openly finance Penang DAP. The interesting thing was that the guest of honor was Chow Kon Yeow (the exco for local govt) rather than the Deputy Chief Mandore Prof Rama.
Talking about the tosai vs capati war in Penang (ie Rama vs Karpal), the main problem is the post of DCM2 in the next state govt that DAP expects to form again. Many Indians DAP members are unhappy with Prof Rama the parachute candidate from Selangor. His attitude as well did not help the situation, During his tenure he has cultivated a small group of cronies who are not senior DAP leaders or even DAP members. In fact he even planned to replace people like RSN Rayer and Thana (who are from Penang and long time DAP loyalists) with his cronies as the ADUNs.
This has created a covert war with Karpal being recruited to support the other group. While Rama has no power base, he is supported by the Dear Leader and Great Leader because of the fact that he is weak and wont be in a position to make any demands for Indians or himself.
What is happening here, behind the scene, is that the other camp is trying to undermine Rama at his own area of Batu Kawan. At it is, Rama having problems coping with BN’s onslaught. Now DAP leaders have joined the effort to slander and undermine him. My guess is Rama will be defeated at Batu Kawan, this ending his political career prematurely.
I got a feeling that DAP might lose some seats due to their own sabotage too. This should come as a good news to BN.
Calvin,
One of the reasons MIC fares badly on last election is due to Malays being upset of being accused as conducting ethnic cleansing.
“Kita ni zalim sangat ke sampai orang melayu dituduh perangai macam orang Serbia bunuh orang bosnia” one Malay politician lamented several years ago when HINDRAF made the baseless accusation.
Malay reacted by not voting for Samy Vellu among other. Hence plces like Lunas, Teluk kemang, Hulu selangor, Kota Raja , pasir panjang were won by opposition( malay opposition).
I still believe it is wise for indians to ally with UMNO. The other alternative( PR) is not that promising. It is clear that DAP looks down on “less fairer races”. meaning they look down on non Chinese although they want non Chinese votes.
Why on earth Kula lost Perak DAP Chairman post if not because of the color of his skin.
Indians like other races have valid grouses. But be moderate. There is no need to wage war against the Malays just to get attention. Meaning there is no need to accuse Malays as conducting ethnic cleansing. It is nonsense.
In terms of skin color, indians and malays, i think can relate with one another.
Some chinese I know, on the other hand, now think their skin is better than that of white people (ie fair without freckles and better tone)!
Hi Shamsul…I agree with you. That’s why I disagreed with HINDRAF and their leader Uthaya from Day 1. Not only that such confrontational stance create animosity with the Malays but it is also counterproductive as Indians being minority not just in terms of demographics but also political and economic power.
Of course during the heydays of HINDRAF I wasn’t particularly popular and in fact I had lost many friends due to my beliefs. In fact I had cases when some even wanted to beat me up for disagreeing with them.
But things have changed and HINDRAF is a pale shadow of itself as I had predicted when it was at its peak.
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“Hindraf is a pale shadow of itself”, quite true Calvin.
How do you weigh the ISA action? On the one hand it made folk heroes out of them & elevated the status of the movement but on the other hand, it cut off the head.
Helen
Dear Helen, there are some answers that is presumed all obvious, until maturity & humility pays us a visit because naturally we think we know more than what we think we know, just as how we know less than what we want to know to fit an agenda.
Calvin, you may hate me for this but who cares, have a backbone rather than being a spineless bloke if you decide to embark on humanity rather indulging on what you think that had made no difference.If you had all the solutions, where were you all these years? If that was the case, we would not be discussing about how so right you are about HINDRAF and their antics.Nothing personal Calvin, just that we have enough bollocks with the “houlier than thou attitude”Pick your arguments when you actually matter not to serve your frustration/escapism and an evolved mechanicism that you can’t do anything about it .Please forgive me if I am rude and crude as I see no other alternative to despise a hypocrital stance that fits one’s own agenda in your agreeing with Shamsul without any substance.
Helen, the story is a bit more complicated.
The fact that most people do not know is that Uthaya was never the founder or even the leader of HINDRAF. He was not even with HINDRAF when it was founded by some religious (Hindu) leaders angry over the spate of temple demolishment. Uthaya was merely one of their legal advisors who came in much later when HINDRAF was already highly popular among Indians.
The formation of HINDRAF was due to destructions of temples and never over social problems. The notion that HINDRAF is being the voice of Indian underclass is Uthaya’s fairytale. In fact when HINDRAF started, Uthaya was living in the UK on a self imposed exile, supposedly to escape from threats on his life. When he returned, the HINDRAF was already a popular name among Indians.
What Uthaya contributed was to provide leadership and articulate their voice in English. Being a natural agitator and a lawyer, he did a very good PR job.
HINDRAF was a loose grouping of NGOs. Many of these leaders were from grassroot with little or no leadership or organizational or PR skills. They had no funding or leaders who could articulate their ideas to the mass media.
Uthaya provided much of what HINDRAF lacked and came up with plans such as suing the UK govt for trillions and the 25/11 rally.
The timing was perfect as the 12GE was just around the corner so the whole PR and the alternative media backed him and gave him all the publicity.
So once he was arrested under ISA and the GE was over, PR and the alternative media completely abandoned him and HINDRAF.
To put it more simply, HINDRAF has many parallels to to BERSIH of today. There are many Malaysians who support fairer electoral laws and process and genuinely believe in the cause of BERSIH. But BERSIH is not driven by people genuinely believe in its cause but by PR’s supporters who want to use this platform to undermine BN. That’s why BERSIH has seen such a large support. Ambiga is a fool to think that so many Malaysians support her and her cause.
The same thing happened to HINDRAF.They thought the support they received from PR and the alternative media was genuine. But once the election was over, all these support just evaporated.
Among Indians too, once the temple demolishments stopped and Samy Vellu retired, the anger abated.
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“Being a natural agitator and a lawyer”, haha, the agitator-lawyer connection is apt. Mama DAPster has law qualifications but don’t think she ever practised. A Tasmanian degree would require CLP. — Helen
Response to MiNY Post # 35,
Well, it is up to you if you want get personal and throw around insults.
I had mentioned to you that in my small ways I had been doing social service to help poor Indians. I might not be as famous as Uthaya but I am doing this not for fame or to get something in return. There are many people out there who have done more for the Indian poor than Uthaya.
My disagreement with Uthaya’s style is that it is very confrontational and counter productive. It is also not a smart strategy.
Also you only know Uthaya for a few years, I have known him since the 90s. His style always been about publicity and confrontation instead of actually helping people.
Well, it is your right to have an opinion on Uthaya and HINDRAF but just remember I do have the same right and you need to respect that too.
You sound like someone who supports freespeech and justice, so why is that you tend to get agitated and abusive when someone disagrees with you ?
Shamsul, you said “Kita ni zalim sangat ke sampai orang melayu dituduh perangai macam orang Serbia bunuh orang bosnia” one Malay politician lamented several years ago when HINDRAF made the baseless accusation”.
Don’t stretch your imagination. HINDRAF events were against UMNO elites and their mandores including those toothless Indian parties not the general Malay populace who are very compassionate in nature.
I guess in your perception, like how after a UMNO Minister visited UKRAINE in 2005 meeting the students there comes back and decides to to derecognize the medical university solely on the basis because 99% of the students are Indians is acceptable.
Funny isn’t it when the policies in Malaysia with their affirmative action for the majority deprives regular common folks although capable irrespective of the origin, yet when they venture abroad without any assistance, then you have the UMNO policies to strangle them further. If this is baseless, then I must be really stupid to think otherwise.
Shamsul, I understand your zealousness, but be logical friend. Have you ever been to a BTN course? It is such an appalling racist indoctrination program initiated not by the general Melayu but the UMNO elite. Don’t you get it? The elite whether it is a Malay or a non Malay needs to keep the general Malay & the Non Malay populace in the dark with fear of religion, threat and whatever they can come up with so that they can continue to rule and reign which of course we see now with PR.
Shamsul, you can only be moderate if you understand humanity and her needs not the typical politicking that most of us are profound about in the cyber blog.
I don’t think the Indians in Malaysia nor anyone else have any grouses against the Malay as I am sure we are all level headed Malaysian bearing our rich multicultural beginning to ensure as Malaysian we will prosper when policies become more transparent and serves the community as oppose to to maintain a certain hegemony.
Calvin, do apologize if you felt that I am insinuating. I am sure you are a good Samaritan in your own ways, but don’t assume what I know and what I don’t know by putting words into my mouth. I don’t get agitated and abusive unless when and until you run a personal character assassination agenda without any fact on the truth and reality that faces the community.
Sitting behind the screen does not muster any credit although it is your privilege. This privilege has don’t nothing but to serve oneself so let those who do their bit, do their bit for the betterment of the community.
Let’s not get personal as I am as much as you are who had contributed to the decaying state of the Malaysian Indians in Malaysia until HINDRAF arose. Give credit when credit is due rather than being the pied piper which of cause includes me, if it makes it any better for you.
Malaysian in new york,
Perhaps you overlook the fact that UMNO members are malays. So, when HINDRAF slandered UMNO as engineering ethnic cleansing, naturally Malays are upset.
Contrary to what you may want to believe, I strongly believe UMNO, despite its weaknesses tolerates and accomodates non Malays. In fact, its record in treating non Malays I believe is a rare phenomenon in this planet.
No. I am not glorifying UMNO. Just saying the truth. Look around you. In some Asian countries, you have to change names. and forget about fully funded vernacular schools.
Or the peculiar situation where in a Muslim ruled country where the number of temples exceeds that of mosques.
AS for BTN, I attended the course. Contrary to Kit siang infamous slander, it does not promote racism. Rather, it tells the story of this country. The only reason why it centers much on Malays is actually very simple. This land was previously known as Tanah Melayu. as such much of what taught there are about Malays.
I believe I am moderate. and UMNO too. and the malays too. We do not create scene when A Malay who happen to be Menteri Besar was insulted as being black metallic and worse still called “bastard” by a racist DAP.
Imagine if the situation is reversed. Malays still think about others .
We do not create scene on rampant discrimination against Malays in private sector. As Malays generally know how Chinese behave( no offence).
Contrary to your claim, racism is actually encourages by DAP that claims to be multiracial. But in reality it centers on Lim Dynasty, Chinese and Chinese only.It is DAP that giving false hope to Chinese by instigating that they are 2nd class simply because of specific provisions in Constitution. And for this precise reason, Kit siang slanders BTN. why? He does not want Chinese to realize that the specific provision for Malays are given after they give citizenship to Chinese en bloc. A display of generosity that Kit Siang and DAP who do not want Chinese to remember or appreciate.
The one that threatening social fabric is DAP. DAP sense that since Malay political power is challenged. as such it believes now is the time to up ante in slandering UMNO as racist .
But in reality , DAP overlooks the equation. Because of relentless assault by DAP and tolerated tacitly by Chinese, I notice the goodwill is declining. Malays are no longer keen to support Chinese or Indian candidates in Malay majority areas.
THE WAY YOU DISMISSED what I heard on a Malay politician lamented how upset Malays being compared to Serbia on ethnic cleansing is a manifestation of snobbish tendency. Of course you will react differently if your race is accused of doing that.
About stretching imagination, the one that should be advised is HINDRAF, not me.
As I said again, if Chinese tolerates DAP by tacit approval to it, then Chinese and Malay I believe are on collision course.
That does not mean that i absolve some useless politicians among Malays. Especially anwar Ibrahim. I believe he will be punished dearly by Malay electorates together with PAS .
Shamsul. you spoke about everything else but what about the the 99% Indian medical students from Malaysians Indian origin that had been sidelined because they are Indians through a Muslim dominated UMNO in Malaysia. Hello friend, I can understand double standard, but don’t you think this is pretty obvious for how marginalized these students are even if they can contribute? 3/4 time you talk about politics, I am talking about facts and how inhumane the system is run that seems okay for most when it fits them. Pleaselah brother,I am also Malaysian with a belief that I am above race, religion and creed, and if you think this is fair how do you expect me to accept an argument that defies what is humane. Our being does not need politics, but the ability to be humane as Malaysians irrespective of the origin. Can you figure this out or rather deflate the core of the argument for how it serves you and only you as oppose to what is right & conscious for fellow Malaysians