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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m96FCTKHNA8&rel=1]
Two huge protest gatherings - or attempted gatherings - in the space of 15 days in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. Amazing! But what does this tell us? A few things, actually:
More and more Malaysians are casting off their fear of the repressive powers of the state. That was abundantly clear in the [...]

In a parting shot, Thierry Rommel, the European ambassador who left his post on Tuesday, castigated the Malaysian government for its deplorable human rights record and the “discriminatory” New Economic Policy (NEP).
News reports quoted Rommel as saying the executive in Malaysia is “all-powerful and not accountable” while the judiciary remains beholden to the executive because [...]

Those words uttered by Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi could well apply to Malaysia.
Was it a stalemate on 10 Nov? After all, the demonstrators had been thwarted from gathering at Dataran Merdeka in the city centre. They were unable to accompany their chosen representatives to the gates of the palace to hand over their memorandum. [...]

The Glasgow-based political scientist and activist, John Hilley, who writes on global justice issues for Aliran Monthly, was among over 170 peaceful protesters arrested in Faslane, 25 miles from Glasgow, on 1 Oct 2007, at the culmination of a year-long protest against the siting of Trident missiles at a naval base there. He tells me [...]

So thousands of heavily armed soldiers are patrolling the streets of the Burmese capital, Rangoon, forcing the peaceful protesters off the streets.
Have the hopes and prayers for democracy in Burma been totally crushed? Have the pro-democracy protesters been defeated?
Not by a long shot.
When a government resorts to bullets and clubs to suppress peaceful demonstrators, you [...]