A GREAT POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT AFTER BERSIH RALLY IN MALAYSIA

Dear all,


Greetings from Malaysia. This is one positive development after "Bersih" rally in Malaysia that has taken place, which we, at this blog, are so pleased to announce here.


First, one significant interesting point need to be praised is in regards to the manner the rally was held, so peaceful except some unnecessary physical force was used in some instances. This is an eye opener to lots of Malaysian that the myth of the racial riots, which happened in the past is unfounded. Thanks to God and the maturity of the Malaysian public who were involved in the rally and the politeness of the majority of the police force on duty. This indicate well that most Malaysia want to preserve peace for the nation.


The day after the rally, Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, who led a counter rally to Bersih 2.0's, had called for both groups to hold joint talks over how the country's electoral system could be reformed. Hope this initiative echoes the ruling party's intention to sit down to resolve this long overdue urgent issue to begin a new chapter for Malaysia, which I believe this initiative will be well received by Bersih.


Yesterday, Bersih 2.0 organising chairperson Datuk S. Ambiga revealed that rallies cannot be held at the drop of a hat. If it is held, there must be a good reason behind it. On the other hand, the PM urged the people not to treat the streets demonstration as part of our Malaysian's culture.


In this connection, Ambiga also welcomed Umno Youth's invitation to engage in a televised debate to publicly talk about its demands for electoral reform. In her recent interview with the Star, she in fact welcome all parties to participate in this avenue including Election Commission. She also prescribed that a televised debate was a "very healthy" way to carry forward electoral reform in the country, as one avenue to address this issue. Great idea.


With this latest development, I strongly believe many people especially Malaysia will view it as a positive development to this electoral reform. Let us welcome it with open minds and hearts. Nothing cannot be resolved if all parties come with sincerity.

Before I pen off here, I like you to note another interesting point in regard to the permission given, by the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar, to the Bar Council's monitoring teams to observe the recent rally. In this regard, we should express our heartfelt thanks to him for acknowledging the council's impartiality in conducting the observation exercise and the professional behavior of the police team.


With this new development, we urge all parties to put the past behind us and move forward to embark a higher level of democracy for Malaysia, which we all love and are proud of.


Thanks and look forward for a better Malaysia,




James Oh

To read other related articles on "Bersih", please click at the title of the post.