I believe researchers will eventually show the following are six legitimate claims about the 34-hour Bersih 4 rally which began in Kuala Lumpur, Kuching, Kota Kinabalu and over 70 global cities on August 29, 2015.
First, participation in Bersih 4 in Kuala Lumpur was in the hundreds of thousands, not the “25,000” reported by regime-controlled media. People exercised their right to dissent despite the government’s attempts to intimidate them.
Second, Bersih 4 shows that hundreds of thousands of people are unhappy with the Najib administration. They also expressed their unhappiness by donating about two and a half million Ringgit to Bersih.
Third, Bersih 4 shows the violence in prior Bersih rallies was due to poor or misguided actions by the police.
Fourth, compared to previous rallies, Bersih 4 included more young participants.
Fifth, compared to previous rallies, Bersih 4 included more members of the Chinese community.
Sixth, relative to urban folk, rural folk were under-represented in Bersih 4.
In the interest of brevity, I’ve not stated why I choose the above as “undisputed observations.” I’m more interested in the impact of Bersih 4.
The most visible impact of Bersih 4 is the red shirt rally in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
The sheer volume of people who turned up at Bersih 4, and their staying for 34 hours, shows the extent of revulsion in our nation against denials of corruption and against repeated failures of public institutions over several decades. The denials and the failures are as obvious as 2+2=4.
Even the International Anti-Corruption Conference, which took place in Kuala Lumpur just days after Bersih 4, commented on the RM2.6 billion transferred into the Prime Minister’s account.
Jose Ugaz, the chairman of Transparency International essentially said that until the source and destination of the RM2.6 billion are revealed, Malaysia must be considered a nation in which corruption is not only tolerated but encouraged.
Umno has tried to claim the issue is about the funding of elections. Umno has said it will reveal the source and destination of the RM2.6 billion if the opposition will reveal the source of its funds. Yet, Umno leaders have repeatedly said that they didn’t know about the funds. If they didn’t know, how can they reveal anything?
We may note in passing that the governments of Switzerland and Hong Kong have begun investigations into other large sums of money transferred into and out of accounts alleged to be controlled by our Prime Minister.
What Bersih 4 brought up are demands which have nothing to do with the opposition and everything to do with accountability.
What Bersih 4 calls for is the admission that we do not have clean elections, clean government, parliamentary democracy and the right to dissent. Bersih 4 points out that establishing clean elections, clean government, parliamentary democracy and the right to dissent will result in improvement in the economy and thus the well-being of all. Who has denied this? Who will deny this?
The fact is, the racial composition of the hundreds of thousands who supported Bersih 4 has nothing to do with the demands of Bersih 4. And that is the nub, the central point of the matter.
Yesterday the “red-shirt” rally which was launched on the twin platforms of “anti-Bersih” and “defending the honour of the Malays” shows only one thing. That one thing may well be the most lasting legacy of Bersih 4. That one thing is the high-point, the climax of idiocy.
The climax of idiocy reinforces the idiotic belief that wilful blindness is the defining characteristic of one community.
The climax of idiocy is the claim that corruption and failures by Malay leaders should neither hamper their continuing in office nor hinder loyalty to them.
The climax of idiocy announces to domestic and international organizations that Malay leaders are not subject to the same ethical rules as leaders belonging to non-Malay ethnic groups.
The climax of idiocy may be the lasting legacy of Bersih 4. The 16 September 2015 rally organized or funded by Umno-allied civil society and business organizations, with Umno speakers, is most appropriately titled the “climax of idiocy.”
Ironically, the climax of idiocy was enabled by the right to dissent claimed by Bersih 4. – September 17, 2015.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.
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