Hidup Rakyat

I’m going to straight up admit the fact that I’m not as energetic as the other participants attending the Bersih 4.0 rally, i.e. I wasn’t going around blowing the vuvuzelas or holding up witty banners or joining in the chants. Sorry lah, I’m quite a reserved person haha.

But I’m glad for the people who did do all that. And I'm glad for the crowds and crowds of people who turned up, whether they were making their support known quietly or vocally. I was beginning to worry that cynicism and disillusionment were wearing away at the rakyat, and that only a small group would attend the rally. But boy was I proven wrong. The city was practically crawling with yellow-shirted Bersih supporters. And not counting the portion of rally-goers who weren’t decked out in yellow.

But before we pat ourselves on the back with the 200,000+ people who turned up, there were certain instances during the rally that niggled at me uncomfortably. I was making my way along the street to the gathering point when I hear a field commander giving orders in Mandarin. I thought to myself, how would our non-Chinese-speaking friends understand? And sure enough, there were certain rally-goers who were looking lost, not understanding the instructions being given. Why can’t the field commanders speak in BM, our national language instead? And if the FC really does want to speak in Mandarin, can’t he supplement it with BM too?

The stigma that Bersih is another Chinese-dominated, pro-Opposition rally is still there, and to be honest, we’re not doing a great job at eradicating it. So many people are unhappy with the way things are run, but because of this perception that Bersih is just a means of pushing the political agenda of the Opposition, people have chosen instead to disengage from it.

Bersih is supposed to be organised by an independent organisation, i.e. the gathering is not supposed to be skewed towards any political party. But yet we have speakers criticising Barisan Nasional, Opposition leaders making speeches to the crowd, and a PKR flag carried around in the march.

So I'm left wondering - what is the purpose of Bersih? Is it just supposed to be another Opposition-engineered propaganda-filled event, or is it genuinely an avenue in which Malaysians can express their displeasure and dissatisfaction at the current state of the country? (or more specifically, at a certain someone responsible for the current state of the country).

And as this article  points out, we’re not garnering enough support from our Malay brothers and sisters. I will be wrong if I said I didn’t see any; for instance, I saw a Malay man who, out of courtesy, tucked himself away in a corner to pray. On the whole, however, the event is still largely Chinese-dominated.

I’m not saying this to put the Bersih organizers down or to say that the rally won’t make a difference. But I believe that we need to address the wrongs and be brutally frank about them, if we genuinely want change. Because despite the flaws and cracks, I still see hope for a better, stronger, more united Malaysia. And I want us, Malaysians, to see that too.

I will say this. It was a peaceful rally. No one (at least not anyone I can see) was provoking others or trying to stir up trouble, some even brought flowers to help defuse some of the potential tension the situation might cause. The traffic police helped direct the rally-goers on their march, and generally left them alone. And a mega shout-out to the eco warriors who were picking up rubbish from the street and distributing garbage bags, and also the volunteers giving out water bottles to the participants.

And like I said before. The city was crawling with Bersih supports. There was such energy, such spirit, such camaraderie as the people gathered to call for justice. And it is hard – in fact, impossible - to ignore such an uplifting atmosphere. Really at that moment, you can feel Malaysia being Malaysia, and you cannot feel prouder of being her rakyat.

I'm not expecting a sudden great change, I'm not expecting Malaysia to be made better overnight. I went there with the purpose of standing in solidarity with my fellow countrymen who love their tanah air and are fighting for it. And I’m glad I did. #HidupRakyat

Bersih 4.0

I'm going to say it straight up.

I'm scared.

I'm scared of what may happen. I'm scared of possible violence. I'm scared of getting pushed into a corner. I'm scared most of all, at the possibility that this is all for naught.

Will the rally change anything? I don't know. There's only a very slim chance that it would. But I feel I need to be there. I need to be there, not to support the Opposition, not to add the experience to my collection of "fun things to do", not even to topple the government (whatever that means).

I'm doing it because I believe I'm standing in solidarity with those who are advocating for a better Malaysia, for a better tomorrow, for justice and peace in my tanah airku.


Lord, I'm scared. But I know that Your justice and righteousness and sovereignty reign over Malaysia.

In His hands

Note: I've written for my personal diary, but I've decided to share it here. Written this late at night, so sorry if the writing is a bit clumsy at places. Might come back and polish it up. 

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Felt so so so convicted that i have not been praying for the nation. Here i am wanting change, advocating change, calling for change - but I have not spent time in repentance and prayer, going on my knees in supplication for God to establish His rule and kingdom over this nation.

Lord Jesus. I pray for Your will and sovereignty to be established in this land. I trust that Your justice will be fulfilled - even if it does not come during my lifetime, or even in this earth's lifetime.

I was praying to God about Malaysia. And I don't know. I do not think that I have the gift of prophecy, so I don't know what is God's plan for Malaysia, I don't know what is Malaysia's fate. Will we free ourselves from the bondage of corruption and racial chaos? Will we free ourselves from the fetters of gospel hindrance?

I don't know.

But I'm praying. I'm praying first of all, that all Malaysians will be humbled. That all Malaysian Christians will humble themselves, get on their knees and pray to God. (2 Chro 7:14). And that all Malaysians will turn from wanting to abuse and exploit the system, will turn away from inciting hatred and disharmony, will turn away from indifference and apathy. Will turn away from not only corruption, but also silent participation and compliance to the very same corruption.

I pray for repentance.

But I don't know what will happen to Malaysia. Times are uncertain - but that is life. I was reading Jeremiah 51, and I kept trying to extrapolate a meaning from it - are we like Babylon? Will judgment be visited upon us? Or are we Israel? Upon whom God's favour rests?

But the thing is. That is not how the text is to be applied in these current circumstances. What Jeremiah 51 tells us is not regarding ourselves, but regarding God. It's not a "prophecy" or a statement about what God's plan for our country is, but rather it points us to the character of God. God is a just and holy God, a sovereign God. And whether or not, change will truly come to Malaysia this time round, we can rest assured that God's plan will prevail. We shall fight for justice, for social cohesion, for harmony, for an efficient and people-serving government. But ultimately, this is all in God's hand. And in His hand I trust.

TEDxKL 2015

   

    Last Saturday I went for my first ever TED talk. I LOVE the concept of there being a platform for people to present different ideas to the world, and I do enjoy the content and talks they've put together. Surfing through their websites and YouTube for videos, one of the talks I was most struck by was the one by Sangu Delle who was a strong proponent of macrofinance (as opposed to microfinance) in Africa. It left such an impression on me, and since then I told myself that I would attend a TED event the next chance I get. Moreover, seeing so many of my friends attending TED events and even being part of the organizing team, I was curious and excited to see what it's like for myself.

    So arriving at Bukit Jalil stadium, I was prepared to be mindblown by the talks prepared for us. Registration starts at 11am, and being totally green to this TED thing, I arrived at 10.30am thinking that we had to be there on the dot. Turns out though, that the actual event starts at 1pm, so haha I had two hours to burn. But it didn't feel like such a long wait though. There were definitely cool exhibitions to look at, and the stadium had a sort of festival vibe to it. Music was blaring through the speakers, food trucks were lined up right outside, and people were just chilling and chatting around the premises. I was to learn later on that our tickets included our lunch as well, which was provided by the multitude of food trucks hovering around the area. This I really appreciated haha!

    The decor was really cool too: 2 large slabs of blackboard were placed outside the entrance for people to write messages on, and there were paint-filled red balloons tacked onto a wooden board for people to pop with darts.WhatI liked the most were the boards that had "TEDxKL" and "Infinity and Beyond" spelled out using string. (Yes, string! It was crazy awesome).

     I used those two hours people-watching and reading a book, and then I met up with a friend of mine. DiGi had a photo booth there too, so we made full use of it. 

     Finally the event started at 1pm, and I was psyched for it!

     Before the actual speakers presented their ideas though, the organizers played some videos of TED talks from other countries, so that was pretty interesting. (At least it added to my knowledge of 3D printing).

     The talks were really interesting (of course!), and we were spoiled by a wide range of great presenters like James Lee (Malaysian film director), Tommy Tan (breastfeeding advocate), Datuk Ramli Ibrahim (dancer), Afroz Ahmad Shah (earthquake specialist - really important in light of the Sabah earthquake!), etc. etc. And we had performances by local artists too like Sam Triggy and Juwita Suwito. 

     The talks that really drew me in though were the ones by Irshad Mobarak and Dr Kenneth Fong. Irshad is a naturalist but while he spoke a fair bit on the environment, he gleaned his ideas from the ecosystem of Malaysian rainforests and projected these onto a philosophical framework. For example, by explaining to us how the native lagestroma has adapted to the Malaysian climate, he is also encouraging us to be adaptable to changing circumstances in life. It felt like he was giving us a 360-degree sweep across fields of environmental science, history, sociology, and philosophy.

     Dr Ken Fong was a bit more straightforward in delivering his information. Basically, he's telling us about how to prevent myopia and telling us that we need to go outdoors and have a walk to counteract the effects of facing the phone/TV/computer screens all the time. No deep philosophy there, but much-appreciated advice and information.

    Anyway, despite the awesomeness of these speakers, I was really disappointed because the event was running over pretty late. The speakers were supposed to be presented with a gift of appreciation at 5.30pm, but the second session just concluded at that time. So I didn't get to listen to the speakers in the third session!But alas, leave I must.

    Sitting in the LRT on my way home, I was reflecting if there is a need for TED talks any longer. With the internet, information is pretty much accessible to anyone at anytime. With so many websites such as Reddit or Elitedaily or even news hubs curating content and ideas for readers, is it really necessary for an on-the-ground event? Though I would suppose that some may argue that TED talks are different because a wide array of topics have been selected to expose people to subjects they would not normally seek out. 

    But that's an article for another day. All in all, I really enjoyed my first TED talk, and while I was disappointed that I didn't get to see the third batch of speakers, I felt that no talk felt ted-ious (haha) and that every minute was time well spent. I've certainly learnt so much and I personally felt it was definitely an experience not to be forgotten!