Suhakam's inquiry into Bersih 3.0 rally is still ongoing. After more than two months of fact-finding, most evidence are pointing to the police 'mistreatment' of the protesters and the loosening grip of the Home Ministry in engaging a solid tactical preparation to the face-off.
And of course, the 'video' which Home Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein promised to be made public a few days after the rally on April 29, is still nowhere to be seen, still 'lying' with a special committee appointed to view it.
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Again, our integrity is at stake but some people at the ministry and Bukit Aman seem not to be bothered at all, let alone weighing its impact on the ruling party in the upcoming general elections.
About two weeks from now, we will be confronted with a similar rally. 'Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat' (HKR) or People's Uprising Rally on January 12 is expected to draw massive crowd and once again will make Malaysia a center of foreign media.
With or without permit, they will proceed with the rally inside or around the Stadium Merdeka. The city centre will see another massive jam when some roads leading to the venue are closed.
Among the leaders of the rally are activist Hishammuddin Rais and Mat Sabu of PAS. They are among those who support Bersih and took part in the rally.
Should the event proceed without permission, the streets of the capital will again become the focus of international attention as major civil society movements nationwide, along with PR parties and other anti-government proponents, gather to demand a string of key issues ahead of national polls.
Regardless of the political nature of the rally, the involvement of civil society movements meant that the groups want their demands delivered - from the scrapping of the Lynas plant in Kuantan, to the promime of fair royalty payments to oil-producing states, free education and a fair polls process, all this make them incline towards the opposition.
Opposition or not, we should chart a better strategy this time, especially in monitoring the rally and in avoiding any untoward incident.
What will Hisham KDN do to match Hisham HKR? Leave it to the police?
Bersih 3.0 was promised to be a peaceful one but it turned out to be the ugliest thus far. HKR too is a peacefully-planned demo but anything could happen when the protesters and the crowd, plus the police are ovecomed by their emotion.
All human factors must be taken into consideration here. If not, another ugly episode will erupt in our democracy.
And of course, the 'video' which Home Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein promised to be made public a few days after the rally on April 29, is still nowhere to be seen, still 'lying' with a special committee appointed to view it.
About two weeks from now, we will be confronted with a similar rally. 'Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat' (HKR) or People's Uprising Rally on January 12 is expected to draw massive crowd and once again will make Malaysia a center of foreign media.
With or without permit, they will proceed with the rally inside or around the Stadium Merdeka. The city centre will see another massive jam when some roads leading to the venue are closed.
Among the leaders of the rally are activist Hishammuddin Rais and Mat Sabu of PAS. They are among those who support Bersih and took part in the rally.
Should the event proceed without permission, the streets of the capital will again become the focus of international attention as major civil society movements nationwide, along with PR parties and other anti-government proponents, gather to demand a string of key issues ahead of national polls.
Regardless of the political nature of the rally, the involvement of civil society movements meant that the groups want their demands delivered - from the scrapping of the Lynas plant in Kuantan, to the promime of fair royalty payments to oil-producing states, free education and a fair polls process, all this make them incline towards the opposition.
Opposition or not, we should chart a better strategy this time, especially in monitoring the rally and in avoiding any untoward incident.
What will Hisham KDN do to match Hisham HKR? Leave it to the police?
Bersih 3.0 was promised to be a peaceful one but it turned out to be the ugliest thus far. HKR too is a peacefully-planned demo but anything could happen when the protesters and the crowd, plus the police are ovecomed by their emotion.
All human factors must be taken into consideration here. If not, another ugly episode will erupt in our democracy.