AUGUST 5 — It’s a myth that we Malaysians can’t do much to fight for change.
Yes, the dreaded National Security Council (NSC) Act 2016, which grants the authorities sweeping powers of arrest and seizure without warrant in territories declared as “security areas”, has finally come into force.
There are rumours and fears that it will be used to declare an Emergency and suspend elections.
Despite such ominous speculation, Bersih 2.0 has declared that it will organise the Bersih 5 rally because “not protesting is not an option.” Whether or not it is proper for Bersih 2.0 to take such a partisan stand against the government, when its raison d’être is to champion for free and fair elections, is another matter.
For better or worse, the Bersih rallies in the 2000s have also been synonymous with fighting corruption because what is behind gerrymandering, the abuse of state institutions in campaigning, and the opposition parties’ lack of access to mainstream media is ultimately the graft of an Administration that will play dirty to remain in power.
Perhaps it might be better for other groups or individuals to organise mass protests themselves, but unfortunately, Malaysians in general are an apathetic bunch who would rather let someone else do the organising while they complain on Facebook.
Our political consciousness has grown with the Bersih demonstrations and other street protests, but we still haven’t quite let go of the government’s indoctrination all these years that democracy is only about casting a vote in elections every five years.
That is not democracy. Democracy is so much more than marking an (mathematically insignificant) X on a ballot.
It’s also more than asking our lawmakers to make sure that the drains are clean and the street lamps are working. These duties belong to local councils who should be elected so that we can hold them to account if they do a poor job managing our constituencies.
And it’s more than protesting on the streets for a day or two.
If we really want to oust an oppressive government, marching on the streets for several hours won’t cut it. An overnight protest, like in Bersih 4 last year, did not manage to push the government out either. We must be willing to occupy the city for weeks or months until those in power agree to at least listen to our demands, instead of brushing them off as voices of a “minority.”
There are also plenty of other forms of non-violent resistance that Malaysians should use in combination with street demonstrations, since the establishment still refuses to address our concerns about corruption.
Gene Sharp has 198 methods of non-violent protest, non-cooperation and non-violent intervention, such as prayer in a public place (PAS could try this), singing, reluctant and slow compliance, strikes or boycotts
Bilqis Hijjas’ dropping of yellow balloons at a government event in a mall is a brilliant example of non-violent resistance. Now that the court has acquitted the dancer of a criminal offence, we shouldn’t be afraid to try it at official events across the country.
Women around the world have also used sex strikes to push for social change, such as the 2002 one in Liberia that helped end a year later a civil war that had lasted for 14 years. Malaysian women can similarly refuse their partners sex if those men continue supporting a corrupt political party.
According to Foreign Policy, during Augusto Pinochet’s regime in Chile, citizens expressed their dissatisfaction with the government in 1983 by banging pots and pans, since a mass protest would have been very risky as torture and disappearances were often used against the political opposition.
Chileans even sang songs in the streets about the dictator’s impending demise, which irritated him so much that he banned singing. He later held a referendum in 1988 on whether he should continue as president for eight more years and finally stepped aside after he lost.
During the Iranian Revolution, oil workers went on strike. Security forces had to drag them to the refineries, but they worked at half-pace and then staged another walkout.
The point of non-violent resistance is to disrupt “business as usual.” It’s to make clear to the government that our usual political, economic and social activities will be interrupted until they take our demands seriously.
We can even do things like stay at home, without going out at all, for a day or two. Businesses can shutter during that period too. Zimbabweans had a ”stay-away day“ last month to protest against the Mugabe government over corruption, injustice and poverty.
So it’s not true that Malaysians are unable to do anything due to the many repressive laws in the country. We have so much power in our hands collectively as citizens.
All we need to do is to think creatively and make life so difficult for the establishment that they will have no choice but to listen to us.
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
