Soup Kitchen

'Tidak Apa' Attitude

Angry Birds And Road Blocks

From The Malaysian Insider (July 8, 2011):

Several offices sent their staff home early today as police began locking down the federal capital ahead of the Bersih rally calling for free and fair elections tomorrow.

National oil company Petronas sent their staff home at 4pm today while other offices in the 88-storey Petronas Twin Towers closed for the day after lunch. It is understood the management of the Suria mall beneath the iconic twin towers will also put up blockades around the shopping complex as a security precaution although it remains open to the public.

City police have already closed off Dataran Merdeka in the middle of the city today but most roads will be closed from midnight.

The roadblocks and diversions will affect entry points along the entire stretch of Jalan Syed Putra, Jalan Istana, Jalan Bukit Petaling, Jalan Bellamy and the area surrounding Istana Negara, police said in a posting at the www.rmp.gov.my website.

Also affected would be the area surrounding the National Mosque in the Lake Gardens area, covering the entire stretch of Jalan Sultan Hishammuddin, Jalan Lembah Perdana and Jalan Chenderasari.

Read more HERE.

From 'Bersih' To 'Kotor'

From FreeMalaysiakini.com (July 6 2011):

Two Perak lawmakers switch to 'Kotor' T-shirts to poke fun at the police crackdown on those wearing Bersih 2.0 T-shirts.

"They don't want to be Bersih (clean), so we give them Kotor (dirty)."

That was one reaction to Gopeng MP Dr Lee Boon Chye this morning, when he return to the Gunung Rapat wet market in Ipoh where he had been arrested for wearing a yellow Bersih 2.0 T-shirt last week.

Along with Simpang Pilai assemblyperson Chan Ming Kai - who had also been arrested last week for the same reason - Lee and PKR Perak members found amusement on their walkabout, wearing shirts with the word Kotor emblazoned on it this time.

A spoof on the Bersih 2.0 T-shirt, it has 'X' instead of a tick, while the words bersikan pilihanraya (clean up the elections) is replaced with 'BN' and '53 tahun' (53 years in power).

The link to FreeMalaysiakini is HERE.

Samad Said: Stop cari makan!

According to Malaysiakini (Jul 3, 2011), "A Samad Said urged intellectuals to stop being 'carma' but dare to make a stand against cruelty and injustice.

"He coined the word 'carma' which is the acronym of 'cari makan' (seeking to profit), during political satirist and cartoonist Zunar's book launch last night at Kuala Lumpur.

"Writers seldom take a stand. Most of them are 'carma' and are always prepared to not take a stand. This has caused all the evil to grow and spread tremendously.

"The septuagenarian then directed his criticism against editors of mainstream media which has been demonising the July 9 rally called by Bersih 2.0 in favour of free and fair elections.

"Fortunately there is still a small number of writers who dare to take a stand, who know that Bersih is pure," he said.

Note for Non-Malaysian reader: A Samad Said is a Malaysian poet and novelist.