MayHebetheLast….. A Memorial of Beng Hock
“A Tribute and Time of Humane Reflection”
Date : 29 Jul 2009 (Wednesday)
Time : 9pm till 1030pm
Venue : 1st floor hall, KLSCAH, 1, Jalan Maharajalela, Kuala Lumpur
Organized by
Civil Rights Committee, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall
Supported by
“Justice for Beng Hock” and “1BLACKMalaysia” facebook groups
No Political Speeches. Just tribute and reflection.
Please wear black and light a candle for Beng Hock and 1,804 others who died in custody since 2003.
Semoga Beliau Mangsa Yang Terakhir….. Upacara Pengenangan Beng Hock
“Penghormatan dan Saat Keinsafan Insani”
Tarikh : 29 Jul 2009 (Rabu)
Masa : 9pm sampai 1030pm
Tempat : Dewan Tingkat 1, Dewan Perhimpunan Cina Kuala Lumpur dan Selangor (KLSCAH), 1, Jalan Maharajalela, Kuala Lumpur
Anjuran
Civil Rights Committee, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall
Dengan sokongan
Kumpulan-kumpulan Facebook “Justice for Beng Hock” and “1BLACKMalaysia”
Tiada ucapan politik. Cuma penghormatan dan keinsafan.
Sila pakai baju hitam dan nyalakan lilin untuk Beng Hock dan 1,804 orang lain yang mati dalam tahanan pihak berkuasa sejak 2003.
I questioned whether Malaysians truly oppose ISA, whether how many would defend Ahmad Ismail and condemn ISA if he alone was arrested under ISA.
Two of such responses are particularly illuminating:
***”written by Jan, December 10, 2008 16:15:57
If Ahmad Ismail alone was arrested I am sure most Malaysians would not protest against the ISA. Unfortunately between Ahmad and Tan Hoon Cheng they arrested Tan instead of the perpetrator. This goes to show the authorities are abusing their powers by using the ISA to clamp down on dissent.
This is further confirmed when they arrested Teresa Kok instead of that botox guy who’s spreading all the lies. What more proof do you need that this govt is abusing the ISA?
disagree 0; agree 4
***written by Jan, December 10, 2008 16:26:56
Just look at Tan Hoon Cheng the reporter. If she stood beside Ahmad guess who’s more likely to cause racial tension? Yet they arrested Tan and went on record to tell the rakyat they wanted to protect Tan. The Home Minister must think the Malayisan people are all dungus.
disagree 0; agree 3
They provide a very straightforward reason to oppose ISA: A BAD government is using a BAD law against GOOD people.
Now, what do you do if instead a GOOD government has used the BAD law against BAD people? Should we still oppose ISA?
[Correction: the invasion happened on Dec 11, so the anniversary was mistakenly thought to be one day earlier. Forgive my poor memory.]
Time flies. It’s one year now from the day when the Parliamentary House was invaded by police, when seven persons including were arrested in the compound of the august house after appearing in a press conference in the Parliament lobby condemning the constitutional amendment to extend the service of Tan Sri Rashid and his fellow commissioners at the Election Commision to one year. Sixteen others of BERSIH leaders and supporters were arrested at the gate of the Parliament House. And another citizen arrested later at the police station.
A year is now gone. The country has changed. Even Rashid is gone now. Malaysians have become bolder. Many are coming out condemning ISA. Peaceful assembly is now held every Sunday at least in PJ.
But have we changed fundamentally? I have been a party spoiler since March 8.
When a speaker in the PJ gathering last Sunday passionately lashed out at Malaysians who did not turn up because of their alleged fear for ISA, I felt compelled to pour some cold water – ISA exists because Malaysia needs it. Read my piece at thenutgraph.com at 9am later.
As if his instruction of assaulting citizens singing the national anthem and then blatantly denying it are not offensive enough, the Selangor Chief Police Officer now compares anthem-singing citizens to criminals. The Freudian slip shows that he may see himself as the colonial governor in a police state.
The Star
Police chief: Why sing the national anthem?
By LOURDES CHARLES
SHAH ALAM: The state police chief has questioned the rationale behind
Internal Security Act (ISA) protesters singing the national anthem at
their illegal gathering near the Amcorp Mall on Sunday.
“Are they expecting policemen to stand at attention each time they
sing the anthem? If so, what would happen if every criminal that we
confront starts singing the national anthem?” asked Deputy Comm Datuk
Khalid Abu Bakar. Continue reading →
If some senior police officers have so much contempt for our national anthem, we must be patient to educate them like a patient kindergarten teacher would do with the mischievous kid.
Let us sing national anthem every time we feel like declare our constitutional right to gather with more than three persons without asking for police permit.
Let us carry our camera everywhere and see how many times the police can beat citizens up for singing the national anthem and then lie to the public.
Let us sing it aloud:
Negaraku
Tanah tumpah-Nya darahku*
Rakyat hidup, bersatu dan maju
Rahmat bahagia, Tuhan kurniakan
Raja kita selamat bertakhta
Rahmat bahagia, Tuhan kurniakan
Raja kita selamat bertakhta
*No, Khalid Abu Bakar, that’s not the cue for your men to beat us up!
(Dian Abdullah. Photo: Merdekareview.com)
(Peaceful Malaysians withstanding police violence. Remember November 25!)
“When a dog bites a man, that is not news, because it happens so often. But if a man bites a dog, that is news”, as it is attributed to an American editor John B. Bogart.
Do you wonder why the media – at least Utusan, NST, The Star, The Sun, Sin Chew and Oriental Daily that I have checked through – choose to downplay the Selangor Police’s attack on citizens singing national anthem?
You expect people get punished only for showing contempt, not respect, to the national anthem.
In Thailand, you will get fined for standing up when the national anthem is played in the cinema.
Where on earth would you find police attacking people for singing their own national anthem?
Police Attack on Citizens singing National Anthem: Contempt of Nation and King
We, the undersigned civil society groups, express our strongest condemnation of the brutal attack by policemen on a 100-strong crowd of Malaysians who were singing the national anthem Negaraku. The event took place last night (Sunday, 9 Nov 2008) at the BERSIH peaceful gathering outside MBPJ’s Civic Hall, Petaling Jaya.
Members of the public had gathered to commemorate the first anniversary of the BERSIH rally on 10 November 2007 as well as demand for the abolition of the ISA. The attack was not only an outright human rights violation, but it also demonstrated outrageous contempt of the Nation and Hia Majesty The King.
The police used brute and excessive force on the peaceful crowd. As the crowd sang the following lines of the national anthem – “Raja kita selamat bertakhta” [May the King reign in peace], FRU personnel and plainclothes officers charged at the crowd and started chasing and grabbing people at random. Continue reading →
It’s now crystal clear that we have one whose character is low enough to order attack of civilian singing national anthem and to lie to the public afterward occupying the top office in Selangor Police Force.
In most countries, citizens are taught to respect their national anthem by standing still when it is sung.
Malaysian riot police last night taught a 100-strong crowd calling for free and fair elections a very different lesson: singing national anthem without the police approval may get you beaten up and arrested.
The police accused the crowd was gathering illegally even though Malaysia’s constitution guarantees the citizens’ freedom of peaceful assembly.
Normally, the police would issue warning for participants of illegal gathering – a group of minimum three or five persons (according to different laws) qualifies to be one – to disperse within three to five minutes. Most organizers can even count on to negotiate for a longer period.
The crowd was therefore completely caught off-guard by the attacks as they were singing “Negaraku” to end their programme. The police seemed to be annoyed by their singing and could not wait to stop them by charging into them violently.
Dian Abdullah, 53, found the back of her head bleeding after several policemen attacked her from the back and caused her to fall. She was however left unattended by the police who went on to arrest her son, Mohd Khairuz, 24 who was also singing the national anthem.
Dian Abdullah was later sent to hospital by a passer-by. Her injury required four stitches.
Also arrested are 23 other participants, including one parliamentarian, one state assemblymen and a local councilor. Both the federal and the state lawmaker complained being manhandled or punched.
The Selangor State Chief Police Officer Khalid Abu Bakar called a press conference later in the midnight. He offered neither apology nor explanation for the attacks of citizen who were singing national anthem.
He instead put the blame on the gathering organizers for organizing illegal assembly. For four consecutive weeks, a small-scale gathering had been organized by activist-bloggers to press for the abolition of the notorious Internal Security Act which allows for detention without trial.
The gathering last night was special as the crowd also celebrated the 1st anniversary of a 50,000-person rally organized by the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH).
The police had earlier blocked many roads connecting to the Amcorp Mall, a field opposite which was used for the previous gathering. This however did not stop many supporters of the causes to turn up. Warned to leave the tentative field, the crowd were forced to cancel its vigil temporary and leave the mall at about 9.30 pm.
Later at about 10 pm, another group of citizens gathered at the Civic Centre to also celebrate the 1st anniversary of BERSIH rally. This group was attacked at about 10.30 pm without being given any warning to disperse.
People are the boss 
This is further confirmed when they arrested Teresa Kok instead of that botox guy who’s spreading all the lies. What more proof do you need that this govt is abusing the ISA?