Malaysia: Another day, another demo

THOSE of a more sanguine bent might regard such spectacles as the ISA rally (or rallies) in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday as signalling the "evolution" of politics in Malaysia. In one sense, certainly -- we've come a long way since events like this could send panicked folk scurrying to stock up on rice, flour and bottled water. It's been more than 20 years since the last such response to a public state of tension and danger -- some may remember the Prebet Adam Jaafar incident in October 1987; a wild shooting spree in Chow Kit that sent the city into lockdown. Even last weekend, though, elderly relatives in hometown retirement were calling their family members in the city to ask if they were making such preparations. For many of those with personal experience of May 1969, the memories have endured.


But nothing of the sort happened, despite an estimated 20,000 protesters rallying in the heart of Kuala Lumpur to denounce the existence of the Internal Security Act. (Although there had been initially the even more alarming prospect of a clash of groups for and against the ISA, the much smaller "pro-ISA" group apparently dissolved quickly at the police lines -- as would seem only befitting for demonstrators carrying placards saying, "We Want Security".) Instead, tourists shot video, mobile vendors did a roaring trade and pickpockets and snatch thieves worked the crowds, while the usual thousands were trapped in traffic jams and merchants shuttered their stores, resigned to another weekend of feeble business.

In the nearly two years between the Hindraf and Bersih rallies of late 2007 and this latest edition of oppositionist defiance on the streets, their capacity to shock and awe has diminished. True, it is passingly impressive that such a cause can be engineered to inspire these tens of thousands of people to march to the barricades and demand change. Facing the equally uncompromising argument of tear gas and water cannon, there's no questioning their resolve. But what is obviously questionable is their effectuality. What has this stunt achieved, beyond what had already been pledged by the national administration? The ISA must be reviewed, but not necessarily with a view to repeal. It must be administered strictly in respect of national security, not political agendas. Calling for its abolition by such means as witnessed among the thousands of protesters massing in KL last Saturday, however, serves only to deepen the convictions of those who think we can't live without it.
Editorial, New Straits Times