Integrity, as defined by BN
Two protests happened on Sunday in the Klang Valley over the issue of bullies and unfair treatment of citizens.
One was aimed at the US government and its occupation of Iraq. A side dish was the Malaysia-US FTA. Quit the bullying, the 300 or so assembled conveyed this message at the American Embassy under the hot morning sun. The Embassy, if you're familiar with the KL neighborhoods, is in the heart of high-end, expat-loaded part of the city. Tourists also pass this area if they're in the KLCC vicinity. The demonstration lasted about 2 hours. Nobody was arrested.
The same evening, another protest was planned at the Summit in USJ, this time over alleged bullying by the Barisan govt in the toll price hikes. Some of the speakers in the morning's event were also present at the Summit. Ditto demonstrators. The Summit is in a middle/upper middle class of the town; mostly locals shop at its mall. You may say it's one of the heartland suburban focal points. The demonstration never really got off the ground. The police got in quick and forced the organizers to stand down. There was a little cat-and-mouse inside the mall disrupting a poor taekwondo tournament. And they arrested five. (See Malaysiakini for accounts of both events. Subscription required.)
Here's the gist of BN-style integrity.
If somebody else gets called bully, that's okay. If someone points out that you yourself are guilty of the same thing, omigod, shut them up.
Insecure little snakes aren't they?
2 comments:
Integrity is a fickle concept. Everyone in the world is somehow selfish and looks out for him/herself. Therefore the concept of integrity is not absolute. I don't see what's so surprising about BN's behaviour. It's EXPECTED of humans.
chewxy:
No, it's not surprising. That's why institutions are there to moderate societal and individual excesses. In other words, systems should prevail, not the whims of lords. When the latter happens, there has to be available mechanisms to address the deficiencies. i'm assuming here, but i think Pres Bush would love to shut the people up, just send in his troops over to Iraq. But basic laws in the US ensure freedom of speech et al, and that law is upheld at the end of the day. Ugly as the Iraq scenario is, the world would really quiver if he had a freer hand.
Systems over the whims of lords... such things begin to define integrity
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