Friday, November 9, 2007

CIVIL DISORDER

HANTU LAUT

IF YOU WANT TO CHANGE THE GOVERNMENT, USE THE BALLOT BOX. DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN THE PROPOSED MARCH ON 10TH NOVEMBER. YOU MAY REGRET IT.

YOU MAY BECOME A CASUALTY. WORST, YOU MAY BE DEAD.

From Wikipedia

Civil disorder, also known as civil unrest, is a broad term that is typically used by law enforcement to describe one or more forms of disturbance caused by a group of people. Civil disturbance is typically a symptom of, and a form of protest against, major socio-political problems. Typically, the severity of the action coincides with public outrage. Examples of civil disorder include, but are not necessarily limited to: illegal parades; sit-ins and other forms of obstructions; riots; sabotage; and other forms of crime. It is intended to be a demonstration to the public and the government, but can escalate into general chaos.

Frequently, participants in a civil disorder are not in agreement about appropriate behavior. As was the case in the WTO Meeting of 1999, most protesters were peaceful, and a small, highly visible minority of government provocateurs, much like the ones present at the 2007 Security and Prosperity Partnership summit in Quebec, were responsible for most of the damage.

Any civil disorder is a delicate balance of power, and indeed, a political power struggle of some sort is typically the root cause of any such conflict. Often, public demonstrations are viewed as the last resort of political organizations. If the power equation in a civil disorder becomes unbalanced, the result is either oppression or riot. Police brutality is a frequent result of civil disorder, while at other times, civil disorder may develop as a result of police brutality.

Citizens not directly involved in a civil disorder may have their lives significantly disrupted. Their ability to work, enjoy recreation and in some cases, obtain necessities may be jeopardized. Disruption of infrastructure may occur during very severe events. Public utilities such as water, fuel and electricity may be temporarily unavailable, as well as public infrastructure for communication.

The above are definition of civil unrest.This article is a follow up to my earlier article 'The March To Naught'.

Be sensible, do not participate in this unlawful march. Do not be an idealist and think you can achieve something out of the unlawful procession.You may not be the troublemaker but don't forget there are others who want to make trouble and you may be caught in the midst of something unpleasant. We have the means to change the government and no one can stop us from exercising our rights and the right platform is the democratic process.

A warning has been sent, take heeds, this may not be Pakistan or Burma, but don't push your luck. Many peaceful demonstrations had turned ugly and bloody, don't be a victim of your own undoing.

Love your country and make sure Malaysia stays peaceful.

SAY 'NO' TO ' 10th OF NOVEMBER'

4 comments:

Pak Zawi said...

Please heed his call not to participate in the coming walk. It is not that we don't love the nation or do not want to see reform but we dont want civil disorder to occur in oue country.
Hantu laut, nw post on my site.

gram.kong said...

Zawi,
Many thanks,Much appreciated.

I have no great love for the present government but a greater love for my country.

Ours is a peaceful country, we should not make hasty decision that we will regret for the rest of our life.Look at what happenning in Pakistan, Burma,Iraq and many other African and Middle Eastern countries.

Like many Malaysians, I do not like how our country are being run but I do not believe confrontations and demonstrations will help change for the better, in fact it could worked the other way, a state of emergency can be declared if there were bloodshed and civil unrest.That's the last thing we want and that's probably what the government love to have.

Pak Zawi said...

hantu laut,
Alhamdulillah nothing untoward happen. To the eyes of the world, Malaysia's democracy is equivalent to Burma. The use of force is unwarranted since it would have been a peaceful march if the police gave them the prmit and allowed them to march. By not giving the permit made it illegal. To me that is suppression.

gram.kong said...

Zawi,
I am glad there weren't any nasty incidents.

Many government has skeleton in the closet and ours seem to have one too many.

The accusation of phantom voters is very serious if it is true.In Sabah, I understand illegal immigrants were used by the ruling party.It is very sad indeed, if all were true as our votes will carry no weight and made a mockery of the democratic process.

It makes one wonder if the allegation of massive rigging was true.In the last election in 2004 in the parlimentary constituencies, DAP had managed to increase its seats to 12,PAS got only 7 from 27 seats previously and PKR got 1 from 5 previously.One independent won in Sabah.However, PAS managed to retain Kelantan and lost Trengganu in the state constituencies.The biggest increase was UMNO,gained 32 more seats in Parliment.MIC and MCA gained 2 more each respectively.

Those who stood on the platform of Islamic issues lost heavily and multi-racial party like PKR was trashed.I can only assume that the Malays are not yet ready to accept Islamic state and multi-racial political party.

The Malay support for PKR is feeble in may areas as many Malays think it is not a Malay party and the irony is the Chinese and Indian look at it as a Malay dominated party.

It goes to show that multi-racial party has little following in Malaysian politics.Communalism is still well and very much alive.