MALAYSIANS in Melbourne last weekend rallied to express their outrage over the loss of a government “they elected”.

Keeping with health concerns stemming from the Covid-19 epidemic, organisers Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia (Sabmoz) and Malaysian Progressives in Australia (MPOZ) split the rallies between the central business district and one each in the eastern and western suburbs.

Sabmoz president Praveen Naggapan said the protests were in line with Global Bersih’s call for “micro rallies” in the face of the outbreak.

Numbers are not everything, he said of the turnout.

“We facilitated people taking photos with their personal messages, and posting on Facebook, etc.

“That’s only a part of the bigger picture. The actual ask is that people do it from anywhere at any time in their personal capacity.

“It allows everyone to participate in voicing their opinion about what’s happened, and people are doing it.”

For example, parents could get together after dropping off their children at school, take a photo and post it with a personal message, he said.

On the steps of the State Library – the site of choice in Melbourne for rallies – Sabmoz and MPOZ jointly led the protest, also held in conjunction with International Women’s Day.

MPOZ organiser Jason Wong said the outrage this time moved youth beyond anything that the movement for political reform had experienced.

Of the seven speakers, five had previously not spoken in public.

“(I) can’t believe we have to do this all over again,” Praveen told The Malaysian Insight.

“Everyone seemed to have gone into a deep sleep since (the 2018 general election),” including those who had gone to extraordinary lengths to get postal votes back to Malaysia.

“Truth is, I think everyone felt the job was done and we could focus on our everyday lives. Not quite… as we’ve seen over the past week.

“Nothing lasting has been achieved in the past two years. I’m not blaming the Pakatan Harapan government… I can only imagine the resistance to change they must have experienced internally with the likes of deep-state elements, people who have either only seen the Malaysian government through a singular lens, or refused to see that a bright future beyond that one lens is even possible.”

On March 19, the Southeast Asia Centre at University of Sydney will hold a forum, where former deputy defence minister Liew Chin Tong will speak on the debacle of “regime change” via teleconference. – March 9, 2020.