It happened yesterday, causing total chaos in the city of Kuala Lumpur. Walaupun dah diberi amaran, tetapi kerana rasa besar kepala dan kurang ajar, mereka meneruskan juga niat mereka sehingga menganggu ketenteraman awam.
Because of a bunch (or two bunches) of self-centred, ignorant, stupid and ill-informed bastards, the federal capital was paralysed from as early as 11 am yesterday until almost 8 pm due to illegal street demos by two opposing groups, namely Gerakan Mansuhkan ISA (GMI) which is calling for the abolition of the Internal Security Act (ISA); and Majlis Gabungan Badan Bukan Kerajaan Pembela Negara (Magaran) which wants ISA to be maintained.
Both groups had the same intention - to march from Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman all the way to Istana Negara (the national palace) to hand over memorandums to the King. Of course the march would pass by key and favourite landmarks such as Dataran Merdeka, Masjid Jamek, Central Market and Masjid Negara. These are typical assembly areas for these illegal street demos since the days of Reformasi back in the late 90s.
The organisers of the demo have made known their intentions for quite some time, at least two weeks in advance. The police have warned them not to do it. No permits have been issued by the police, meaning it was deemed illegal. But they think they are above the law. And because of that, close to 600 protesters were arrested. I personally think that the police should have arrested more, wipe them all out. Perhaps Prime Minister Dato' Sri Najib Tun Razak should have even deployed the army to handle this, using tanks and armoured vehicles. Crush 'em all.
The bastards knew pretty well the chances for them to reach the gates of Istana Negara were slimmer than an anorexic. Don't they know by now that our police are one of the best in the world? Our Federal Reserve Unit (FRU), the riot control division of the Royal Malaysian Police has an awesome reputation among its counterparts in other parts of the world. A friend of mine who is an Assistant Superintendent of Police attached to the FRU told me that when he attended a regional police conference in Bangkok, his counterparts from other countries only had praises for our FRU.
Dah tau FRU kita memang terror, lagi mau buat sreet demo. Memang kena tear gas and chemical-blended powerful water sprays le jawabnya.
Police were forced to close down a number of major roads in the city, causing a horrible traffic jam which is beyond describing. Businesses along Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, including Sogo departmental store were forced to shut down. Street traders suffered huge amount of losses due to damages inflicted by the protesters and also by stray tear gas canisters fired by the FRU. A lot of business goods were soaked with water sprayed by the FRU's powerful hydro cannons. They cursed the protesters for their losses. Cab drivers also cursed. Bus drivers cursed. Motorists cursed. By-standers cursed. People who were late for wedding receptions cursed. People who missed funerals cursed. People who missed visiting hours at government hospitals cursed. We all cursed.
I chose not to go out in the morning and afternoon. But I had no choice in the evening because I had to head to Muzium Kesenian Islam Malaysia (opposite Masjid Negara) at around 6 pm for the rehearsal of a friend's wedding reception as I was the emcee. I was lucky because I wasn't stuck in a jam. I took the Duta-Ulu Kelang Expressway (DUKE) which rocketed my car straight to Jalan Duta (near the Indian High Comm) and connected me to the Lake Gardens road that took me to the museum in no time. I was lucky because the traffic police just removed the barrier cones to enable traffic, including me, to enter the Lake Gardens road. On the way there, I got a first hand look at the horrible traffic jam on the opposite side of the Mahameru Highway. I can bet if it was a scene from a comic book, all the dialogue balloons would say all sorts of profanities.
Mereka yang membabitkan diri di dalam demo haram semalam memang tidak memikirkan perihal orang lain. It's always about you and what you think you are entitled to. No one else matters. Those whom are not with you are deemed as cowards. Deemed as not cool.
Hello, it is not cool when you cause the city an estimated RM200 million of losses. It is not cool when your 10-year old daughter accidently gets hit in the forehead by a stray rock. It is not cool when your wife and teenage son is also dragged into the police lock-up because they happened to be with you while you are protesting.
It is not cool when an innocent asthmatic child of a by-stander or shopper suffers an attack after inhaling tear gas fired by the FRU. What do you expect, that the FRU will aim carefully before firing during a riot?
Pernah terfikir tak semua consequences ni? Of course le tak kan? Yang penting, hati puas sebab dah protes. Orang lain boleh pergi mampus. Elok sangat le perangai macam tu.
The foreign media loves reporting incidents such as these. Visuals of riot police firing tear gas and hydro cannons depicts a nation in distress lah konon-kononnya. And that's what the protesters want pun. They want drama. Bila kena tangkap, kena pukul dengan belantan FRU, hah tuduh le police brutality lah, draconian law lah, democracy is dead lah.
What about those who suffered losses on Saturday because of these protestors? Where is justice for them? And don't even think of pinning this on the police. Kuala Lumpur's finest were just doing their job to ensure public order.
It is the protesters' fault. Hook, line and sinker...
Sunday, August 2, 2009
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