In my previous post, I asked the following question – Is Bersih 4.0 safe?
The Circle – a group 30 retired chiefs of armed forces – yesterday expressed their disquiet and grave concern about the security situation in our country.
Perkasa has also got retired high-ranking military men in the leadership of the organization. Thus, will these Perkasa leaders and members who had served in the army before please publicly state their stand on Bersih 4.0?
Some two-and-a-half weeks before Bersih 2.0 (9 July 2011), Hannah Yeoh in her June 20th tweet took a dig at Perkasa. She had highlighted, vis-a-vis MCA, Perkasa’s insinuations of a race riot – see below.
If Perkasa had insinuated that there were going to be racial clashes during Bersih 2.0, what might their opinion be of the upcoming Bersih 4.0?
Do note that the attendance of Bersih 4.0 is going to consist largely of Chinese and Christians now that PAS president Hadi Awang has signaled his party to give the rally a miss. Furthermore, it is the DAP and their evangelistas who have been heavily and actively promoting the demo.
Perkasa seen as paid, subcontracted voice for Umno
Interestingly, Marina Mahathir – who is the daughter of the erstwhile Perkasa patron – believes that taxpayer money is being used to fund Perkasa and Isma – see her 29 March 2014 tweet above.
Marina’s views are similar to Hannah’s, whose 19 Jan 2014 tweet said that federal funding for Perkasa “is how BN subcontracts out their voice”.
What the two women have described is the popular perception among the Jerusubang crowd. This makes it more incumbent upon Perkasa to state their position on Bersih 4.0 since some sections of the opposition public are under the impression that Perkasa is the street voice of Umno.
What is Perkasa’s agenda?
In his post yesterday titled ‘A Malay NGO rethink its direction’, blogger otai Voicey wrote @ http://anotherbrickinwall.blogspot.com that most NGOs are basically platform for has-been or wannabe politicians.
Tackling the topic of a has-been leader’s “self-interest”, Voicey said [one unnamed] NGO “is skewed to serve the interest of certain partisanship or political faction or even individual agenda”.
The senior blogger added,
“During an internal Umno fight like the current one, such NGO will rear their ugly head as merely a platform for the pursuit of power. When they get burnt and lose a political fight, the implication is on the organisation and at the expense of members’ aspirations. They will feel being used for self interest.”
Ada sokong protes jalanan atau tidak?
Ibrahim Ali is the only voice (cough, cough, perhaps plus one other) that we hear from Perkasa.
Tun Mahathir is not averse to Malaysians taking to the streets to remove the head of government (PM) as a last resort if other democratic means fail.
So what is the stand of Perkasa – the movement that Tun advises – on the subject of Bersih 4.0?
Can anyone tell me the name of the Perkasa deputy president? Is there even the post of deputy president in Perkasa? Do we know?
Apart from Ibrahim Ali, others in the organization are seen but not heard.
BELOW: At a Perkasa press conference, Ibrahim Ali is the only one facing the microphone; the rest of Perkasa members are table props
Perkasa members are table props and, err, dewan decoration too
Blogger Voicey observes that NGO members are tasked to fill up the hall during an event or function – comprising the audience when the president or chairman gives his speech. However when it comes to speaking to reporters, The Prez is only one doing the talking.
Voicey notes that Malay NGO resolutions are mostly about “mendesak”, “menuntut” dan “mencadang” kepada “kerajaan” untuk buat itu dan ini.
Voicey said these resolutions will highlight problems but ultimately the Malay NGOs will nonetheless still ask the political leadership and government machinery to solve the problems. He added the NGOs then blame the leadership and political establishment and call for their removal when the problems remain unresolved.
(Voicey is referring to Malay economic advancement and social mobility problems, etc.)
On a separate note with regard to “problem”, my view is that Bersih 4.0 is a problematic pressure campaign. And the evangelistas leading it are a problem, period.
Does Perkasa now support street demos, since they’ve become sweethearts with the evangelistas already?
BELOW: The Heat news portal recently contacted Ibrahim Ali for his views on breaking away from race-based politics, looking beyond race and religion, and removing the race barrier
Helen Ang 