Judge Wenger Khairy
All around people are still talking about Bersih. In the UK,Queen Elizabeth II, made it a point to show support to the Bersih cause by dressing up in yellow to meet the Najib & Co.In the State department, Clinton discussed it with her staffers and decided to issue a guarded statement expressing concern. In the media, Utusan keeps the issue alive,claiming a Jewish conspiracy behind it. Dato Mukrhiz says that he has his hands full trying to reassure foreign investors who are repulsed by the Government's crackdown. Tan Sri Muhiyiddin Yassin even once again alluded to it, warning people not to try Bersih 3.0.
In fact Bersih 2.0 really shook Barisan Nasional Government to its core and the Government is still struggling to contain its fallout.
The Government seems to be unable to deal with the repercussions because the impact of Bersih is multi-dimensional. Is it electoral reform? Is it the people standing in unity and saying "I've had enough and I won't take it anymore"? Is it a rebellion from the young people? Is it the people showing they are not afraid to defy the Government? Is it the anger felt by pakciks and makciks around the country who saw images of the police beat their children to a pulp? Is it proof that for all the APCO manufactured spin, the Malaysian Government is now known all over the world as being "gormless" to the extent that they will arrest those people wearing a yellow T-shirt and fire tear gas into a hospital?
That is the why Bersih is so damaging to the Government. There are so many touch points - dissatisfaction of the youth, end of racial polarization, domestic fallout, international condemnation. Its a mutli headed hydra and you can't possibly deal with all at once.
Let me help the Government by giving an analogy - the Bersih rally is like a nuclear bomb. The initial blast is bad, but even worse is the radioactive fallout.
Where do you start? Lets review a bit of how the Government attempted to deal with this and offer our comments at the end.
Its already a week plus since the demonstration and the response has been very poorly managed. In the immediate fallout, the Government was caught totally flat footed when a group of doctors from Tung Shin Hospital decried the police's action in gassing the premises of the hospital in their pursuit against the Bersih protesters. The Health Minister initially tried to deny this ever took place but in the end was forced to back down when images showing the police strafing the compounds of the hospital with water cannons were prominently displayed in various blogs and social media. The Health Minister then was forced to back down, issuing his most famous line of defense :" Someone out there is trying to get me."
In fact Bersih 2.0 really shook Barisan Nasional Government to its core and the Government is still struggling to contain its fallout.
The Government seems to be unable to deal with the repercussions because the impact of Bersih is multi-dimensional. Is it electoral reform? Is it the people standing in unity and saying "I've had enough and I won't take it anymore"? Is it a rebellion from the young people? Is it the people showing they are not afraid to defy the Government? Is it the anger felt by pakciks and makciks around the country who saw images of the police beat their children to a pulp? Is it proof that for all the APCO manufactured spin, the Malaysian Government is now known all over the world as being "gormless" to the extent that they will arrest those people wearing a yellow T-shirt and fire tear gas into a hospital?
That is the why Bersih is so damaging to the Government. There are so many touch points - dissatisfaction of the youth, end of racial polarization, domestic fallout, international condemnation. Its a mutli headed hydra and you can't possibly deal with all at once.
Let me help the Government by giving an analogy - the Bersih rally is like a nuclear bomb. The initial blast is bad, but even worse is the radioactive fallout.
Where do you start? Lets review a bit of how the Government attempted to deal with this and offer our comments at the end.
Its already a week plus since the demonstration and the response has been very poorly managed. In the immediate fallout, the Government was caught totally flat footed when a group of doctors from Tung Shin Hospital decried the police's action in gassing the premises of the hospital in their pursuit against the Bersih protesters. The Health Minister initially tried to deny this ever took place but in the end was forced to back down when images showing the police strafing the compounds of the hospital with water cannons were prominently displayed in various blogs and social media. The Health Minister then was forced to back down, issuing his most famous line of defense :" Someone out there is trying to get me."
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Cops caught on candid camera strafing the hospital Get one for the Gipper! |
Already on the back foot with this new revelation, public opinion against the police seemed to get worse as the week progressed. The opposition had a very clear targeting and positioning strategy. They used still images, videos, first hand witness accounts even music videos to drill the message of police brutality into the minds of the people. Let's put this in perspective - The Truth That Cannot Be Covered, a 5 minute, professionally edited English docu drama on YouTube video has 750,000 views in 1 week. Bersih 2.0 an video glorifying the protestors overlaid with the song Wecome to the Black Parade- 404,000 views. Bersih 2.0 9 Julai by TV Pas has 250,000 views. Altogether there are more than 10 You Tube videos with a view count of greater than 100,000 views.
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