MALAYSIANS must choose better leaders following Putrajaya’s appalling response to the pandemic, said lawyer-cum-activist Ambiga Sreenevasan.

Ambiga, who was Bersih 2.0 co-chair, said the country’s leaders were busy politicking when they should be managing the public health crisis.

“What we want are leaders during the good times and better leaders during a crisis. We have neither,” she said on an online forum commemorating the 10th anniversary of the historic Bersih 2.0 rally on July 9, 2011.

More than 50,000 Malaysians had turned up to demand free and fair elections on that day exactly a decade ago. They were subjected to water cannon and tear gas fired by security forces.

Bersih started in November 2006 and it consisted of opposition political parties and non-governmental organisations calling for a corruption-free democracy.

Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah, former Bersih steering committee member Zaid Kamaruddin, political scientist Wong Chin Huat and Bersih chairman Thomas Fann also appeared in last night’s discussion on Zoom. The event was streamed live to Facebook.

Ambiga said the country’s hopes now lie in the youth.

“My hope lies in our youth. Bad leaders will want you to give up, but we shouldn’t. Evil doesn’t stop. We have a role to play; Bersih will always have a role to play.

“Maybe after the pandemic, we can get together and see how we can get better leaders,” she said.

Maria Chin, meanwhile, said the government owes it to the people to have a system that works as people are dying.

“We owe it to the people. We have to have policies that work and get our leaders to focus and work together. There’s no two ways about that. At least our lives will have some sanity and normalcy.

“On a daily basis they (the people) are knocking on my door to ask for food. We have not managed the pandemic properly and that puts a lot more burden on the people,” she said.

Malaysians, especially the B40,have been severely affected by the rolling lockdowns to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Many who have lost their jobs have sought aid from various channels – through their elected representatives and most recently, through the white flag movement.

The movement came to birth on social media this month to enable Malaysians to be able to recognise and lend assistance to hungry and cash-strapped Malaysians who fly a white flag outside their homes.

Back to Bersih 2.0?

On the possibility of another Bersih rally, Fann said the timing must be right.

“Covid-19 is a major consideration but it is not the only consideration. There are many other factors to determine whether this is the right time. The situation in Malaysian right now is complicated,” he said.

He said Bersih had given birth to many more movements with similar aspirations, many of which were youth-led. 

“Continue to fight. The forces that will try to push and deny you will always be there in one form or another. We will stand shoulder to shoulder with all the other movements out there.”

On April 30, hundreds of Malaysian young people gathered for a sit-in protest, calling for Parliament to convene and an end to the state of emergency that began January 11 and will end August 1.

More recently, a black flag movement was started by Sekretariat Solidariti Rakyat urging Malaysians to fly the black flag to protest the Perikatan National (PN) government.

Fann said it was important to keep up the fight.

“This is still our country. The struggle for a democratic Malaysia started a long time ago, it took new life when Bersih came along and the struggle for a better Malaysia continues.”

Wong added that this is no time to despair over the state of the country as the Malaysia 2.0 that was conceived at the Bersih 2.0 rally was yet to be born.

“We are now full of darkness because Malaysia 2.0 is not born yet, it’s still in the mother’s womb, so do not despair.”

Pakatan Harapan defeated Barisan Nasional in the 2018 general election. It was a historic turning point for Malaysia, which had been ruled by a single coalition for 60 years.

It was to prove a short-lived victory for the former opposition, however. Less than two years after the polls, the defection of Bersatu to the other side caused the fledgling government to topple, forcing the resignation of prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and paving the way for Muhyiddin Yassin to take over the helm. – July 10, 2021.