God's Chosen Fast

Isaiah 58:6 - Is this not the fast that I chose;
to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,

and to break every yoke?

It's now lunch time. I'm skipping lunch in order to be in solidarity with those who were arrested this morning and are now undergoing a hunger strike in Perak. Earlier Pakatan Rakyat in Perak has planned for a 3 day fast/hunger strike to from today onwards to protest against the illegal power grab in Perak and to plead for the Sultan to dissolve the State Assembly. Earlier this morning 5 workers from an event management company who were supposed to organize the launch of the hunger strike were arrested. Subsequently more were arrested including 8 elected representatives when they tried to walk from the DAP office to the High Court to file a suit.

The events of the past 2 weeks where hundreds were arrested from wearing black to lighting candles confirms beyond the shadow of doubt that the police has become a tool of political intimidation and oppression. It has ceased function as an unbiased law enforcement agency. It has ceased to respect the supreme law of the land i.e. the Constitution. Whilst we live in fear of criminals, the police utilizing their resources to quell political dissent.

We are not very far off from becoming a totalitarian country. What can we do? We can fast physically and during our fast to pray to God for our country. But as the above biblical text shows, we need to move beyond the normal fast. We must think of how to "loose the bonds of wickedness" and to "undo the straps of the yoke". How do we set the oppressed free? How do we break every yoke? How do we follow God's chosen fast?

It's time to think creatively. Time to be as shrewd as serpents and harmless as doves.

NH Chan, a judge from a bygone era

I was at the 13th May Forum organized by the DAP last week. As one speaker commented, it was not really a forum, but more like a political rally. It was not the first and I'm sure it will not be the last that DAP are going to organized these s0-called 'public forums' turned political rallies. Maybe to them both are the same. Well, they are not. It's also not fair to the invited speakers.

I'm not sure what was told to NH Chan, when they invited him to speak? Did they tell him that he is going to be given 10 minutes only? I'm sure they didn't. He came with a speech nicely typed out and read it word for word, like pronouncing a judgment. He only knew he was given 10 minutes when the moderator started the forum and he was the first speaker. He knew there was no way he could finished the speech in 10 minutes but he soldiered on. Alas, he was literally clapped off the stage by an impatient audience who were more used to political rhetorics than a judge's reasoned judgment. I felt very sorry for him.

It was a well written piece as with all his past writings. It was the way he wrote his judgments. Peppering it with legal stories and anecdotes from the past and quoting from great judges like Lord Denning. But it's not something that an audience who are hungry for fireworks will tolerate for more than 10 minutes.

A written judgment can be a literary work of art, a masterpiece. But alas, now our appellate judges who are tasked with the formation of our law and jurisprudence are now shying away from writing judgments. Maybe it's not surprising, because I think they themselves find it difficult to give reasons to justify some of their blatantly flawed decisions.

Thank you Justice Chan for pronouncing judgments on all who made a mockery of our justice system. If only we have more judges like you. Sigh...

How much is our Federal and State Constitutions worth?

Not much going by what is happening lately. They are probably worth less than the paper that they are printed on. I'm not sure how much you can sell them to the guy who shouts "Old newspaper"?

Provisions in the State Constitution can be ignored to appoint an illegal MB. Clear provision in the same Constitution can also be ignored by our highest court resulting in the mockery of the concept of separation of powers. This fiction of separation of powers has now become a fact. The fact that there is no separation of powers.

Now provisions in the Federal Constitution which seek to protect civil liberties were blatantly violated by the police and tacitly approved and condoned by the Government. The latest response from Minister in the PM's Dept, Nazri is to put the blame on the victims. If lawyers can be arrested for trying to act for their clients, what other fundamental liberties still remain sacred in the eyes of the police and Government?

Mr. IGP, you want to maintain public security? Can I tell you public security is as much as a fiction as the concept of separation of powers? We are afraid for our family members and ourselves falling victims to snatch thieves who often not only snatched away our possessions but our lives as well. We are afraid of Mat Rempits. We are afraid of break-ins by armed robbers. We are afraid of serial rapists. So don't give me this crap about maintaining public security as a pretext for violating our rights.

I wonder why I'm still paying income tax? I guess rendering to Caesar what belongs to Caesar still stands. But we will need to change Caesar.

My Birthday Wish

The Dissolution of Dewan Undangan Negeri Perak.

I ain't celebrating yet

Yes. Nizar has been declared as the legitimate MB of Perak. I know many were surprised with the decision. This only goes to show how low our Judiciary has sunk. Any decision for the BN is expected. Any decision against the Government or BN is a surprise. It shouldn't be a surprise as the judge is merely following the law and precedents which were laid down.

Anyway, I will not celebrate until Nizar manages to get the Sultan to dissolve the DUN. Otherwise, things will get murkier, even now with talks of BN trying to convene an emergency sitting of the state assembly to pass a vote of no confidence.

If the Sultan were to agree to the dissolution of the state assembly, I will erase from my mind all those thoughts I have for him and his son since Feb 5. We are all humans and make mistakes. However, we should be humble enough to rectify our mistakes. If the Sultan agrees, then he will still remain in my heart and mind as a wise ruler that all Perakians are fortunate to have.

But I don't think it will happen. He will probably ask the parties to convene an emergency sitting of the state assembly to decide who has the majority. Well, I hope I'm wrong.

Anyway, today's decision is a moral victory and another slap on the face for all those involved in this coup d'etat.

KEMBALIKAN HAK KEPADA RAKYAT!

Storming the Bastille?

When I first read RPK's article urging people to gather in Ipoh yesterday and to "storm the Bastille", I knew it was a futile attempt. Malaysia is not France few centuries ago. Although I'm a Perakian and I'm totally disgusted over the illegal power grab in Perak, I was not ready to "storm the Bastille". The most I did was to wear black and to urge those whom I know to do the same.

RPK for all the following that he has, will not be able to muster one thousand of his readers to his side. This was shown during his detention under the ISA. How many actually attended those candlelight vigils? I'm proud to say I attended but gave up after a few rounds because they were just not creating enough impact with a handful of us and exposed us to the brutality of the police. Most of Malaysia Today's readers are educated middle class people who are "kiasi" and will not risk it to participate in this kind of activities. They may rant and scream at the Government, but storming the Bastille? You must be joking.

RPK was disappointed with the turnout of PR's supporters yesterday but this morning he wrote another article espousing another perspective. And I think he is right. PR just cannot afford to go head on with the government right now. Anwar should now better than that. Remember how he mobilized the masses during the height of the Reformasi movement? All they need to do was to go after him and the movement just fizzled out. Look at what they did to Mat Sabu when he tried to call PAS suuporters to congregate in Manjoi for morning prayers.

The images of how the Sivakumar was dragged out from the State Assembly must surely have won over a number of fence sitters and made those who were disgusted more disgusted that they will do everything possible to see the demise of the BN led government in the next GE.

Isn't it better to wait for Bastille to crumble than to storm it? Yes, go ahead and arrest more people for wearing black or lighting candles. Please do us the favour.

Day of Infamy (Updated with Photos)

(You are not going to see these in the MSM tomorrow)
It's another not so productive day. I was glued to my PC witnessing the events in Perak as they unfolded. Tribute must certainly be paid to Anil Netto with his live reporting from ground zero. What I and many have witnessed today was an attempt to dismantle the democratic institutions in this country and turn this country into a pariah regime where there is no rule of law but only rule by brute power and force.

We may be the only country in the Commonwealth that has the distinction of seeing a Speaker from a state legislature being forcibly removed from his chair in a literal sense and dragged out from the assembly. We are the only country that hold elections and yet bar its citizens from the place where the people representatives who were duly elected by the citizens meet to conduct their business.

In the midst of all these distressing events, I read of a restaurant owner who refused to close his shop when instructed to by the police unless he is being compensated. The police gave up and even buy drinks from him. Yes, reading this story of courage gives me hope to see a better Malaysia. We shall not be cowed.

As suggested by P. Ramakrishnan, let "Remember Perak - Remember the injustice" be our rallying cry. Henceforth, it will be Black Thursday for me every week until the BN government is no more.

1Malaysia? Ptui!

BLACK IT IS! - 7 May

I just went and bought a black shirt as I was not satisfied with my only other black shirt which has some white stripes over it. My new one is completely black. Yes, 1Black Malaysia.

Just read the news that Wong Chin Huat, the spokeperson for Bersih who launched the 1Black Malaysia campaign this morning was arrested for sedition tonight. That is the latest indication that Malaysia is getting blacker by the day.

I think this should not be an one off event, but designate a working day in a week for wearing black until the Perak State Assembly is dissolved and the people's rights are restored through an election to choose a new state government.

Let's all be seditious on 7th of May. Since asking people to wear black is considered seditious, responding to the call by wearing black must also be seditious.