Characters: 2 religious persons in my train ride back from Masjid Jamek LRT.

Did both of you join the march?

No way. It is illegal! Demonstrations and protesting is not our way! Malaysian way is to discuss and talk. The PM already said it is illegal to assemble without a permit. Why do you want to join something illegal. We must respect the law.

(In the land of double standards, I suppose Khairy J wasn’t protesting and assembling the Umno Youth illegally when United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was here. In fact he told her to get out of Malaysia. And he didn’t even apply for a permit. I suppose that is what the RPs meant by the Malaysian way, right)

JC: “Yes, I think we must respect the law. In fact we must respect the highest law of the land, which is the Constitution of Malaysia which in Article 10 gives all citizens the right of a peaceful assembly. The secondary laws like the Police Act which requires a licence for assembly must be read in the light of the higher law. If the higher law allows for it, we must not apply a secondary law to negate that right given. The denial of that right by the use of a secondary law is ultra vires.”

RP: But the PM has said it is unlawful.

JC: Yes, he can call it whatever he likes actually. And many people bought it. But, the truth is the highest law must always prevail. The assembly was not to over-turn the government, was not to protest against anything but only a rally to send a message to the King.

RP: If it is just a petition to the King, why can’t they just send a few people to give the Agung a letter. That is much more like the Malaysian way. No need for so much huru harah.

JC: I suppose the gathering is to show how much the people of Malaysia are in support of this petition to change the Election Commission. The show of numbers is a way of us telling the King that we mean business. This is not a violent demonstration, not a confrontational protest. This is not just an appeal of a few individuals but many thousands. So a gathering of thousands despite the obstacles, rain and treat of imprisonment - is a message to the King and to all Malaysians.

RP: (Speechless)

The Yellow Revolution has begun. Do you understand why?

Or are you just saying everything should be done in the ‘Malaysian way’ of discussions, appeals, and sitting around while the corruption, vote rigging, gerry-mandering and outright abuse of power continues?

You know whats the definition of a lunatic: Someone who expect his life to change without changing his choices.

I think many Malaysians have sit around and patiently waited for change long enough to realize that if one continues to expect that change will eventually happen without any change in the government, they will soon be crazy.

Good reads:

- By the way, the rally wasn’t the cause of the traffic jams. The road blocks set up by the police to turn hundreds of thousands away was. Read here.

- AFP: Malaysian opposition slams government clampdown

- How our Zam turned yellow in Al-Jazeera.

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