Selangor state assembly member Lau Weng San was assaulted on Sunday Photos by Sunny Lim
Ever wondered what the view from inside a police truck would be like as you are hauled off to the police station? This is what Sunny saw…
Waiting… and waiting: Inside the PJ police station after being arrested
More than 100 people attended the Mass for ISA detainees at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Pulau Tikus last night. Parish priest Fr Marshall Fernandez and Fr Fabian Dicom concelebrated the Mass. Police presence was low-key, with just a couple of plainclothes officers outside.
There will be another Mass next Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Lau Weng San, the Selangor state assembly member representative who was assaulted during the vigil in Petaling Jaya on Sunday, has found a picture of the man in plainclothes who he identifies as the one who assaulted him. Click here. Gotcha!
Weng San was among 23 arrested on Sunday. Also among those arrested was Sunny Lim, who provides an inspiring account of his participation in the vigil, capturing the spirit of the occasion. He was outraged by what he witnessed.
The weather was kind and the night air was filled with patriotism. The national anthem was heard loud and clearly sung by all present in unison. Before it was over, my arm was grabbed by a plainclothes officer. I suffered shock for a moment and wondered what had gone wrong. I remained composed and walked along with him. Full article on the Aliran website here.
What do all these vigils mean and why are the authorities now getting a bit edgy? I tried to answer these questions in the article for IPS below:
The ‘Kings of Tennis’ tournament in Penang this weekend has been cancelled.
How much will it cost to clear the mess in the Esplanade, including all that concrete? A couple of million ringgit? Did the state government collect a deposit from the organisers? If yes, great. If not, why not?
Another company is proposing a solution for Penang’s transportation problems.
This time it’s the Aerobus, which glides on overhead tracks. Apparently the system is being proposed for areas outside the heritage zone in George Town.
The company behind it is Aerobus International Inc, through its local rep, Aerobus Malaysia.
Its executive director (or is it executive chairman?) is Aripin Mokthar, who is also described in news reports as Aerobus Malaysia Marketing and Development director.
Before you jump and exclaim “Penang leads!”, Malacca announced in February a simliar RM1.8 billion Aerobus mass transit system. Apparently, it will take six years to complete. In Malacca, Pyramid Express will build, operate and manage the Aerorail system. Technical and project management support will come from Pinggiran Pelangi Sdn Bhd.
I hear there is going to be another Mass for ISA detainees at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Pulau Tikus, Penang, tonight (Wednesday) at 8.00pm.
5 September 2007 – Lawyer Zaki Azmi, a former Umno legal adviser and disciplinary committee chairperson, becomes Federal Court judge. He is the first lawyer to be appointed straight to the highest court.
Three months later:
5 December 2007 – Zaki becomes Court of Appeal President, the No. 2 post in the judiciary.
Rakyat@work who was on his way to Ipoh to cover the Sunday vigil there reflects:
As we go into regression over (Sunday) night’s pandemonium, many would have formed new impressions and new experiences and witnessed the new rakyat thinking as we move forward into a new Malaysia.
Change is inevitable; it’s happening right here, right now! Whatever course the rakyat choose to take next will determine if we remain stagnant or progress as one human race.
While my travelling mates and I were covering the Ipoh vigil, our hearts were beating for the PJ vigil as early as 7.30pm. Our handphones were literary filled with breaking news every 5 to 10 mins. SMSes were exchanged at a furious pace, back and forth. (All the 4 Ws were put to use: Who? Where? When? Why? and now trying to anwwer the What? What’s all this about? What is going to come out of it? What was it the police were trying to prove? What is the rakyat all about? We can only answer within ourselves. Something was brewing all right but never in my wildest imagination could I have comprehended what was to follow (which is history now):
This was the first rendition of Negaraku at Amcorp Mall last night. Video courtesy of Sivin Kit’s blog. It was the second rendition at the Civic Centre that was disrupted by the FRU. (see videos below)
Just a parting thought for tonight, having thought about it further this evening: I guess the title of this post “Did the FRU move in during the Negaraku?” is irrelevant. It does not matter when the FRU moved in – whether it was before, during or after the Negaraku (though of course moving around when the song is being sung is disrespectful). That merely diverts attention from the real question, which is why were the police charging at peace-loving, justice-loving rakyat in the first place?
In contrast, the Ipoh vigil last night passed without incident as police kept a low profile.
No FRU presence was visible in Ipoh; instead some police arrived in what appeared to be a Kancil! Photos by Rakyat@work
1722:The Star (at least its northern region edition) carried the news of the arrests last night at the bottom of page 31 in today’s paper! Obviously, the editors of the “People’s Paper” have got a different set of editorial priorities and criteria for news-worthiness. The report of the arrests appeared below a picture of police displaying drugs seized during a raid. “I was wondering what the arrested MP and Aduns had to do with drugs seized,” a confused reader of the paper told me.
1531:Malaysiakini reports that Home Minister Syed Hamid insists he was in the dark about the police action against the candelight vigil until this morning, adding that he had not received any reports:
“Let me check (first) because police work is police work. Their responsibility is to maintain law and order, (but so far) I have not got any report,” he said.
“If you have done something against law and order, the police will take action. But if you are not happy with it, bring specific details to me and let me check.”
And here’s another video from the folks at Malaysiakini.
1442:Antares points us to a video which indicates that the police moved in before the end of the Negara Ku:
I just viewed an incriminating video on YouTube … as the video UNDENIABLY shows, the FRU moved in BEFORE the conclusion of ‘Negara Ku’ thereby showing utter disrespect for the national anthem. I trust the Selangor CPO will take a look for himself and issue a sincere apology to all those who were rudely interrupted in the midst of singing the national anthem. His men clobbered a few for singing offkey and arrested others for wearing bright yellow & red T-shirts (the colours on the Selangor flag) without a police permit.
1249: MP Tony Pua confirms that he is now out of the station on a personal bond and due to report back to the station on 24 Nov. He is now in Parliament. Recalling his nightmare, he writes in his blog:
I was arrested while seeking out Ronnie Liu and the senior police officers in charge to make sure that everyone was ok.
The CPO Selangor issued the call to arrest me, and two guys came over to grab one arm each and pushed me towards the Black Maria.
I stated that I will walk, don’t be rough but they tore my shirt instead. I repeated my call and three other police officers came at me, one with the knees into my belly while another attempted to kick my shin.
They then chucked me against the back of the Black Maria truck and shoved me up despite me stating that I can climb myself.
Apparently after waiting some two hours plus, it appears that they are going to keep us for the night here, and charge us tomorrow.
Weng San was also assaulted and had major bruises and some bleeding on the face. He saw the police who assaulted him here at the station, and Ronnie confronted him for his name. He appeared shaken by the demand and he refused to give his name and gave instead some very rude retorts.
1244:Malaysiakini reports that Selangor police chief Khalid Abu Bakar has denied that the police moved in on participants at a candle-light vigil last night while they were singing the national anthem.
That is what they (participants) are claiming,” Khalid told reporters at the Petaling Jaya police district headquarters about midnight.
When told that there was a video recording of the police action, Khalid replied: “I am denying it.”
Blogger Antares recalls a dramatic night near Amcorp Mall:
Had a brand new pack of six candles ready and an improvised windproof holder, but arriving at Amcorp Mall around 9:15pm, I saw no activity on the padang. People were gathered in front of the Mall and it was great to be greeted immediately by a few fellow bloggers who recognised me. That’s the nicest feature of physically attending these community events – every face you see, even if you haven’t been introduced, is already a friend.
Then Haris Ibrahim suddenly appeared and, this being our very first physical meeting, I just had to give him a big hug for inspiring so many with his gigantic spirit and outstanding mind. I got a call from a friend who said the cops forced her to turn back, so she decided to go home.
But she had been informed that a few other buddies were with RPK at a club further down the street – so I decided it would make my 3-hour commute to PJ worthwhile if I at least got to say hello to the national superhero in person. There he was, being interviewed by a couple of people with videocams and when he finished I gave him a very heartfelt hug. (I’ve only met RPK once before, briefly, in 1999 when he was coordinating the Keadilan website, but after I dropped a hint he did remember our meeting.)
