BERSIH

I suppose tomorrow a lot of people are going to be shouting in a stadium somewhere, and a few people are going to have a tea party with the Sultan. Doesn't sound way out of the ordinary right? Yea it shouldn't be. To be honest, the goal of "fair and honest elections" seem to be so natural that they hardly seem a goal at all. It's like saying "eat three meals a day" is a goal.

The fact that we have to state this as a goal doesn't reflect wonderfully on our society, does it?

Actually I think the government is not handling this as well as they could have. The way to stop a movement is not to suppress it forcefully, but to gently smother it to death.

By shouting up and down about the wrongness of this rally, the government is clearly saying that "yes we have done fishy stuff in the election". It's like you want to check my bag for your lost Ipod and I keep saying "this is improper!"

What the govt should do is to throw their arms open and say that they are in complete agreement with these aims and will do their best to support it and check on elections. They should also provide an area for the Bersih rally with free drinks, etc. Then a high-profile "anti-election fraud committee" should be named and give talks in the newspapers and television channels etc. The Bersih rally leaders should also be given a (televised) banquet by the Sultan and commended publicly. Of course all this will cost a bit of tax money, but you can't have an omelet without breaking a couple of eggs, right?

If anyone from BN is reading this and wants to hire me as a strategic consultant, please email me. Remuneration is negotiable.