How Dare They Insult Us!!

via rantingsbymm

I'm sorry, who are Damai Malaysia and who are the supposed 395 NGOs represented by them? Where is the list of those NGOs? So far the ones mentioned are all related to political parties which, in my book, don't count as NGOs.

Secondly, where do they get off saying that they represent the silent majority? Were YOU asked? I'm sorry, I haven't said much but I am NOT represented by this Damai lot. Who the hell is Mohd Saiful Adil Mohd Daud anyway?

Thirdly, what is in the memo? If they are claiming to represent the silent majority, then don't the silent majority have a right to read that memo? I haven't seen any report that actually tells us what is contained in that memo. And I love how thick it is! They seriously expect the PM to read the entire thing? (Or maybe it just says nothing except 'we love you' throughout?)

Fourthly, what is the difference between presenting this memo and those other memos? Just because this one says 'We Think You're Wonderful' and 'People Who Demonstrate Are All Thugs', they get to hand it directly to the PM? While the ones that say 'Please Can You Listen and Deal with Real Issues?' have to go through police barricades, water cannons and tear gas? Is the inability to go shopping the most important issue of the day?

I can tolerate most things but I can't abide being insulted and treated as if I'm stupid. Since when does peace mean maintaining hotel room bookings and retail sales? You mean, as long as tourists come and we're shopping we're OK? How dumb is that?

Peace is not possible without justice and equality. Look at places like Palestine; without justice and equality for all the people who live there, there can be no peace. Do we condemn their need to protest, even while we may not support some of their violent forms of expression?

Just because we don't have violence doesn't mean we have true and meaningful peace. Peace doesn't mean just being able to go round without worrying if someone is going to shoot you ( though going by some of the stories in the papers, we should worry about this too). It also means living with a clear conscience, that your friend and neighbour is not suffering from injustice. It means everyone has the opportunity to better themselves, not just some.

I resent the implication that those who support the right to dissent and protest do not want peace and want violence. Hey, I have kids too and I want them to grow up in a peaceful country. But I don't want them to grow up in place where they cannot say what they think, where they are treated as if they are retarded if they want to express what they feel, where if they do not agree with the Government they are immediately labelled traitors. Excuse me!!! Do you know of any country where whole swathes of people are called thugs and traitors yet still remain peaceful? It is the name-calling, accompanied by thuglike behaviour on the part of Government institutions, that leads to violence, not the other way round.

All it takes is some empathy. I am so appalled that all the discussion is about what a nuisance demos and protests are when the real issues are swept under the carpet. Demos are just symptoms, not the real issue. What is so difficult about saying, "OK, enough already. Let's all be civilised and sit down and talk?"

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