On Credibility and the BERSIH Rally

After achieving a readership boost of 329 unique visitors and 405 page loads on the day of publication of Malaysian Politicians on Bloggers and Indians, thanks to a link from Malaysiakini.com, I realize my responsibility as a blogger, that I owe it to myself and my readers to adhere to, and maintain, an appreciable level of credibility.

My definition of credibility is that only statistics and facts from credible sources are to be quoted, and in voicing personal opinions, to ensure that they are adequately supported by facts from credible sources. A credible source is, however, trickier to define and as such I would welcome any reader to raise their doubts, if any, concerning the credibility of any quoted source in order for me to rejudge the source. If found to be insufficiently objective, the quote will be taken off with a personal apology and/or the post rewritten to increase its accuracy, as had been performed several times in the case of Pelancaran Angkasawan Malaysia ke ISS on Malaysia's first space adventure.

This manic obsession for credibility, coupled with my ongoing examinations, have no doubt contributed to the delay of this post.

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On the BERSIH Rally

6. Untuk jangka terdekat, BERSIH telah menyeru kepada Pengerusi dan Setiausaha Suruhanjaya Pilihanraya (SPR), Tan Sri Abd. Rashid bin Abd. Rahman dan Datuk Kamaruzaman bin Mohd Noor untuk melaksanakan empat pembaharuan yang diperlukan dan boleh dilaksanakan serta-merta:
(a) penyemakan semula daftar pemilih yang lengkap demi memastikan segala kesalahan dan ketimpangan yang sedia ada dapat dihapuskan;
(b) penggunaan dakwat kekal untuk menghalang pengundian berganda;
(c) pemansuhan sistem pengundian pos kecuali untuk para diplomat dan pengundi lain di luar negara; dan
(d) akses media yang adil kepada semua pihak dalam pilihanraya.

Malangnya, setakat ini, pihak SPR cuma bersetuju dengan satu permintaan iaitu penggunaan dakwat kekal.

(6. For the near future, BERSIH has urged the Chairman and Secretary of the Election Commission (EC), Tan Sri Abd. Rashid bin Abd. Rahman and Datuk Kamaruzaman bin Mohd Noor to perform four changes which are vital and can be done immediately:
(a) to recheck the complete electoral roll to ensure all current errors and weaknesses are abolished;
(b) use of indelible ink to prevent multiple voting;
(c) abolishment of postal votes except for diplomats and other voters outside the country; and
(d) fair media access for all parties in the election.

Unfortunately, as of now, the EC has only agreed with one request that is the use of indelible ink.)

- Extract from Memorandum submitted to HRH the King by BERSIH, Malaysians Unplugged Uncensored: Text of the Memorandum Submitted to His Majesty, the Agung, by the BERSIH Delegation on 10th November 2007

Saturday’s street protest in Kuala Lumpur was an attempt to drag the royalty into opposition politics.

- Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Prime Minister of Malaysia, as quoted in The Star: Opposition trying to drag King into politics, says Pak Lah, 12 November 2007.

The three of us huddled in a small corner; tears, mucus and saliva smeared all over our faces like a child’s hand painting, resisting the temptation to throw up. We sat there recuperating for much of the time, before continuing down the street, away from the uncivil servants. We lingered on the corner, based on utter foolishness, that the police wouldn’t shoot again with so many ordinary civilians. Around us were myriad characters, women and children, to armchair politicians raised to a fury.

And then they fired again.

- First hand account from a BERSIH rally participant, published in Kakiblog.com: My Report from the Bersih Rally

Your man -- your journalist [is] trying to exaggerate on what actually happened. ... In Malaysia, people are [laughing] at you, you know. We know our police had allowed the procession to go to Istana Negara [the Royal Palace]. They handled them with tear gas. Police [did not open] fire [at] anybody. ... You think that we are Pakistan, we are Burma, we are Myanmar. ... We are totally different! ... This is a democratic country! We [allow] protests, there [are] demonstrators. We tried to disperse them, they didn't disperse, [so] later our police compromised and allowed them to go to Istana Negara. Our police had succeeded in handling them gently. ... It is an illegal protest because we have elections ... every five years [without] fail. We are not like Myanmar, not like other countries. You, Al Jazeera, [are] helping these forces ... who don't believe in democracy! This is Al Jazeera's attitude, right?

- Datuk Seri Zainuddin Maidin, Malaysia's Information Minister, live phone interview with television station Al Jazeera. Reported, among others, in Bernama: Zam Refutes Al Jazeera's Claim Police Used Force On Protesters, 10 November 2007.


In ending, check whether your name is on the electoral roll here!