Tricia Yeoh

(pic from Malaysiakini.com)

Today was an historic day. Voices echoed round Putrajaya. Ground shook. Hearts moved. Something has started.

I participated in the Malaysian Bar-organised “Walk to Justice” march in Putrajaya. About 2000 people (mainly lawyers) were gathered at the steps of the Palace of Justice, to march to the Prime Minister’s office to submit a memorandum to Cabinet on the independence of the Judiciary.

Two memorandums were submitted, one to demand a Royal Commission be set up to inquire after the appointment of the current Chief Justice, Tun Fairuz, after the recent controversial video clip was released. The second was to urge the setting up of an independent Judicial Selection Committee. (yes, the current appointment of judges is not done in an open, transparent manner…)

We gathered at 10am (I was there early, and thought that there may be more FRU police members than participants in the gathering, thank goodness I was wrong). The crowds starting trickling in at 11am, mainly dressed in penguin suits, black and white, the lawyer colours. I followed suit.

By 11.30am, we realised that the 7 buses carrying the lawyers from Bar Council were missing – the police had stopped them from entering Putrajaya from the main road itself. They eventually had to walk 5km just to reach us at the Palace of Justice itself. Kudos to them!

The walk was wonderful. There was an energy pulsating throughout the crowd, seeing the blacks and whites walking in cohesion together in throngs, under the cool morning sky. Weather was perfect, not harsh at all, as we walked calmly amidst honking cars (and a bus too!) that gave us support and thumbs up. Only visual intimidation was apparent through FRU trucks and policemen on alert, plus a hovering helicopter above us. (Some imagined that they were the ones doing cloud-seeding to make the rain come!)

Reaching the premises and lawn of the PM’s office, I remarked that we were treading upon the Prime Minister’s garden – the response to which was, “This is being paid for by us, the people.” – in true activist spirit.

Waiting for the Bar Council’s office bearers to return from their sojourn within the royal rooms of the PM, the crowd (in dignity) shouted various responses like, We want justice… and I indignantly said “Malaysians” to the “Who are we?” calls. Because, it is all Malaysians who want justice – not just lawyers. Plus, I am representing the public, the citizen, the people.

Thunder rolled and the rain came tumbling down in large, cool drops. And the people stood firm, many getting soaked in the process. Protest banners were inverted as umbrellas, and many other mini umbrellas popped up that were originally to prevent the sun’s harsh rays from tanning our already brown skin. (Little crowds of black and whites gathered in “kelompok” at the foot of the humongous flag poles on the lawn, which had tiny covering – reminding me of antibodies rushing to attack a virus – hopefully symbolic of justice attacking the corrupt in the nation.)

The rain, we joked, was the washing away of the dirt, the old, the corrupt, of the system. A cleansing ritual necessary for the nation to wake up and wash out. It was refreshing. I lifted my face to the clouds and wondered whether God was testing us, or being humorous. Or whether the bomohs were doing their job to instead wash away the lawyers. Whichever the case, this was a momentous day. People travelled all the way from Penang, Melaka, for this.

The tide has turned. Paradigm shifts I hope. Little steps that will lead the walk to justice.

In Ambiga’s words, I hope our walk to justice will not be like Mandela’s “long walk to freedom”.

We must, we must, carry on the journey. Take the torch and pass it on. This is the message.

Other blogs’ stories, pictures and videos:

http://harismibrahim.wordpress.com/

http://www.malikimtiaz.blogspot.com/

http://rockybru.blogspot.com/

www.malaysiakini.com (of course)

I’m just copying Bob Kee’s statement on his blog, but this is an interesting project. 🙂

Saya telah ditagkan oleh sahabat saya Bob Kee untuk mengambil bahagian didalam rantaian Tag Integrasi Kaum.

Rantaian tag ini bertujuan untuk memperkukuhkan integrasi kaum di Malaysia.

Setiap orang yang kena Tag dikehendaki hanya mengetag 2 orang, satu orang dari kaum sendiri, satu orang dari kaum lain.

Sebagai contoh, jika orang Cina dikenakan tag, dia hendaklah mengetag 1 orang Cina, dan lagi satu orang bukan Cina, iaitu India atau Melayu

Tugasanya amat mudah, hanya buat pautan ke URL 2 pemblog itu , nyatakan huraian sedikit.

Oleh itu saya ingin mengetag:-

• Navel Gazing (Fahri Azzat)
• Twentyfivecents (Kevin Thomas)
• Sivin Kit’s Garden (Sivin Kit)

(Oops, that’s three)

Di harap tag ini kekal dalam BM.

Saya juga ingin memberikan sedikit pendapat mengenai integrasi kaum.

Salah satu prasyarat yang saya yakin perlu untuk mewujudkan integrasi kaum yang tulin dan bermakna adalah kesaksamaan diantara kaum; samada dari segi hak ataupun sosio-ekonomi, dan kesedaran sejagat bahawa kita berkongsi satu takdir sebagai sebahagian daripada gagasan yang dikenali sebagai Malaysia ini.

I just returned from a Young Writers’ Camp, where I gave a workshop on blogging. This bunch of youths are highly intellectual and ask good questions. It makes me inspired and encouraged that there are so many young people out there who really do want to write to make a difference (or at least I hope).

I said the following, during my session…

I said that when we blog, we must remember the fact that we have a public audience out there. That is the basic premise. I encouraged them to think of a particular theme for their blog, asking them Why they blog in the first place. There are millions of blogs out there, so why would theirs be any different?

I challenged them to do three things: 3I’s. In blogging, remember that the blog is merely a communication tool like any other writing tool. So the first is to have an Idea – like any piece of writing, you need to have a passion, a message, something urgent that you want to say to the world out there.

Secondly, blogs Interact with the other, interact with individuals around them and is a useful mechanism to receive feedback, criticisms and comments to the stuff they write. Use this to their advantage. Thirdly, blogs must Impact society in some way. Think of the people’s hearts you want to change. Writing for the public and the mass, how will it impact the reader as they go along?

The theme of the camp was writing to know self, God and others. I can account for the fact that writing changes who we are. We discover ourselves in the process. And for what purpose God made us. And how we can help others to do the same.

The best thing you can do in life is to inspire. -Bob Dylan.