Varsity's Voice: To rally, or not to rally?
J-on
|
Saturday, July 2, 2011
|
Share this post on Facebook
By CHESTER CHIN and LIM GEE HERN
Photos by KEE CHIAN SEONG
Photos by KEE CHIAN SEONG
An alleged 100,000 protesters are taking to the streets of Kuala Lumpur on July 9 to march the planned 2011 Bersih 2.0 rally. Organised by the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections, the demonstration is demanding for better electoral practices in our country.
To date, the movement has also attracted two counter-rallies led by Perkasa and UMNO Youth that denounced Bersih 2.0's objective, arguing that their demands for a fair electoral system has already been met by Election Commissions of Malaysia (EC).
In light of this issue and to kick off J-on’s brand new segment*, we went around campus to get some pure unadulterated views from UTAR Kampar campus community regarding the rally.
 |
| Ong Qun Yuan, Communications and Networking Y2S1 student |
“I think it’s a good movement but the (Bersih 2.0) organisers are going about it in the wrong way. They should only protest in a way deemed “legal” by the government. Now not only is the demonstration illegal, it is also very dangerous and puts national security at stake. We wouldn’t want to follow in the footsteps of Syria where it eventually culminates to a chaotic society.”
 |
| Geeshan Nair, Foundation in Science student |
“Honestly, I don’t know much about this demonstration. But from what I’ve heard from my friends who read up on the issue, the government has stated that it’s illegal, what with 100,000 people joining in. So I don’t think they should carry forward with the plan if it does not abide by the law.”
 |
| Dante Ting, English Language Y3S2 student |
“The rally has my full fledged support. The Bersih 2.0 organisers have the right objective there. All those talks of it causing inconveniences to the rakyat is just a lame excuse. I think the real troublemakers here are Perkasa and UMNO Youth. To me, both the parties’ act is just a blatant show of double standard!”
 |
| John Chew, Foundation in Science student |
“Before we root for this cause, it’s important to ask our self, “Is there strong evidence that our current electoral systems is not fair enough?”. I don’t think we should just blindly follow the crowd and support the rally without concrete proof of wrongdoing from the EC.”
 |
| Brian Tay, English Language Y1S2 student |
“I support the motive of the demonstration but I don’t agree with the implementation. While the objective is noble, the organisers shouldn’t protest at the expense of the public’s safety. Instead of marching through the streets of the city, they should just hold the demonstration at one particular place, preferably a prominent one, such as the Dataran Merdeka. Apart from that, police should be deployed to maintain civility.”
 |
| Prasath Pillai, Marketing Y1S2 student |
“The rally should take place and the issue ought to be raised up. This is a good show of democracy. That said, both sides should consider the welfare of the general public. In the heat of the moment, they must not forget about the citizens, people like you and I. They must not and shouldn’t champion their own personal interest at the expense of the common people’s safety.”
 |
| Victoria Akiew, English Education Y1S2 student |
“We should voice out our opinion and dissatisfaction. Then and only then will this lead to a better environment. The present climate here though is that we do voice out but the government don’t listen. Thus, I think this event is a good avenue for the citizens to push forward their demands. As for the two counter-rallies, I’d say it’s a good thing. Let people be exposed to different opposing views so that they can make better assessment of the issue. However, if physical clashes take place during the event, this simply means our country is just not democratic enough.”
* Varsity’s Voice is a new segment on J-on where we publish thoughts from UTAR Kampar campus community regarding issues that truly matter to young people. Be sure to equip yourself with knowledge on current affairs because you’ll never know when our journalists will probe you with hard-hitting questions the next time you’re in campus!
