A Democratic Sacrament

Any form of civil disobedience is often preceded by a process of deterioration in the part of the state. As such, civil disobedience serves as a restitutive symbol in the initiation of a reparation process. Thus, the manner and intensity in which we interact with this symbol is a constituent part of the reparation process and crucial in the determination of its outcome.

The BERSIH rally is one such symbol disclosing a certain deterioration in Malaysia's democratic system. Elpizo broke the news to me that 40000 odd Malaysians chose to, literally, walk their talk in calling for a fair and just elections in this rally. The reparation process has been initiated and now, the onus falls on the manner and intensity in which various groups choose to interact with this symbol.

It is unfortunate to note that the mainstream media has already chosen to distort this symbol by playing down the figures and obliterating other facts about the rally. Of course there are also legal prohibitions in Malaysia that can be invoked to black-out this symbol from ever reaching the masses (my mom thought that it had got to do with the judiciary). There are different reports on the disputed number of people that has already been arrested in this peaceful protest as a threat to further interaction with this symbol.

So what now? How should civil society (you and me) continue to take part in this reparation process? I think this part of the letter, submitted to The Economist gives us an important clue:

"But freedom is a funny thing. The freer the speech, the cheaper it becomes. Put differently, the less free it is the more courage and cunning is required to speak out, so there is less blabber.

When speech is restricted, every single word from a poet, writer or philosopher counts. On occasion it has the force of thunder. Many from behind the iron curtain of communism will thus remember the good old times, when free speech was but a dream. Back then, speaking was an art. And so was listening." (Ranko Bon, Motovun, Croatia)

The diminishing marginal utility of freedom teaches mankind a valuable lesson. It is when we do not shy away from reflecting critically in the most dire of circumstances that we, to our own gain, produce the most sublime of art in the expression of that reflection. Technology has further empowered us to democratize information. Even now, blog posts are mushrooming across cyberspace to invert whatever distortions brought about by the mainstream media. My friend 'Jack' took up the role of a citizen journalist to blog about the event from his Dopod 818PRO using Maxis GPRS. His poem captured the mood and aspiration of this symbol:

Derasnya arus Sungai Kelang

Deras lagi Gelombang Kuning

Suara Rakyat kini berkumandang

Basah dahi basah kening.

Dari Perlis hingga ke Sabah

Suara Rakyat takkan padam

Biarpun jatuh, biarpun rebah

Menuntut Demokrasi dan Keadilan.

Awas Kerajaan gilakuasa,

Awas Menteri Makan-Rasuah

Hari ini engkau berleluasa

Esok engkau porak peranda

I am proud of him and all Malaysians who took part in the BERSIH rally. May we never forsake our courage and creativity to voice out when it matters most. The BERSIH rally is a democratic sacrament, restitutive in nature, that is meant to elicit the most sacred response from all of us.