The new Malaysian outrage: Protests and police reports as forms of expression

Are Malaysians a dissatisfied lot or are they becoming more confrontational? Protesting is arduous work, which few would undertake unless they feel they have been grievously wronged. One has to endure the hot sun, and the driving rain, plus there is always the chance that outsiders may provoke the group to incite trouble and there is the possibility of arrest.

Protesting is not something most people would want to do, on any day. So do people protest because this is their way of crying for help?

Few will have failed to notice the apparent rise in public protests on our streets and an increase in police reports lodged by aggrieved parties. Despite the ban on street protests, there has been no let-up in the shows of disapproval by various sections of society.

Last November, the Internal Security Act (ISA) was repealed and the Peaceful Assembly Bill (PAB) replaced it. This was promptly followed by howls of protest, including one from the Bar Council. The PAB does not deter the rakyat from protesting.

Many of us who need a problem solved, quickly and easily, find that the distinct lack of information about sources of professional aid and support is troubling. Many of us are unaware of our rights and responsibilities and very few people who have a problem on their hands, know what they can do about it, know where they stand, and who can help them.

Problems with services or goods can be solved by a company's customer service department. Problems with bullying in school or the curriculum might mean a chat with the Parent Teacher Association or a teacher.

Bigger issues, like rising commodity prices, corruption, the economy, crime, drug abuse or failure of a public service may prove more difficult for people to voice their grievances.

In most cases, the first thing is to complain to the people who are responsible for providing the service. For rubbish it would be the council. The local police force should address complaints about the lack of police action. The clinic of the local Member of Parliament and the village or community head are possibilities.

For some time now, civil society groups in Malaysia have warned that tensions amongst the public are rising to dangerous levels because of human rights violations by the authorities, claims of corruption and alleged injustices.

In some advanced countries, there are clear processes and a defined platform for the public to voice their troubles. Citizens in these places tend to be more civic minded and publicly oriented. They are not afraid to pick up causes which affect others.

For them, there is always access to the media. A call to the local or national paper would find journalists crawling around to investigate further.

Perhaps, in countries with restricted media access, people have no recourse but to protest to make their voices heard.

Policy debates between politicians are not a common phenomenon in Malaysia. However, one high profile one did take place last Sunday albeit in London, between PKR's strategic director Rafizi Ramli and Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar.

The debate had been organised by the United Kingdom and Eire Council for Malaysian Students (UKEC) and the topic was "Public Policy: Vision 2020: Is Malaysia Moving Towards the Right Direction?"

Debates are useful, provided there are at least two people willing to participate. If the topic is of no interest to those who are not affected by them, the cause will not have any visual impact, unlike a good-natured protest.

A protest increases visibility, attracts the media, bystanders, other politicians, civil society groups and perhaps other newcomers. With protests, the onus for change is inevitable.

When the Bersih 2.0 March for Democracy occurred on 9 July, and was coordinated with similar worldwide protests, the most distinct message was people power. Their demands were for clean, free and fair elections and they wanted the government to take note.

Malaysians who fail to understand why protests need to occur, cannot know the feeling of solidarity, the feeling or oneness, the good feeling that comes from fighting for a common cause, with people who are strangers but who share the same concerns.

Like one protestor said, "I feel better venting my frustrations this way, because no one has bothered to listen when I tried the normal channels of complaints."

Being in a protest is a team effort and an experience that can only be felt by participation. But being part of a protest means having responsibilities, like keeping the peace and not damaging public property.

The feeling of solidarity felt during protests has helped build ties between different communities, and aids networking. During Bersih 2.0, Malaysians from different backgrounds met up for a common cause.

Likewise, the protests in support of the suspended student Adam Adli or Professor Aziz Bari are indicative of the fact that when they are denied debates and activism, people have little choice but to resort to other forms of expression, such as protests.

On the other hand, the recent spate of police reports lodged by people or organisations like Perkasa, are indicative of a repressed and repressive society.

Lodging police reports are an insult to freedom of expression. These are a form of intimidation because of the harassment that comes when the police are obliged to investigate the report. These malicious police reports just waste time, money and resources.

Organisations which depend heavily on making police reports know that if they were to plan a protest, few people would align themselves with the cause and rally behind them.

More importantly, the people who revel in making police reports are aware that if there was a policy debate on their particular bone of contention, they would lose out because they are inarticulate, and being persuasive with words, is not their forté.