An opinion piece in The Sun today commented on the ISA-related marches that happened over the weekend. It asked, why do we march? Its an expression of our will to change the status quo; when all other avenues have failed, its time to take to the streets (peacefully, of course). The writer invoked the ghost of the Gandhis, the Martin Luther Kings, the Nelson Mandelas, the Tunku Abdul Rahmans to lend strength to his argument. They had a cause, they marched and they changed the world. We can do the same. We must do the same.
Its an emotional appeal, and for a moment, i nearly believed it. Then i realized that Malaysia is not the India of the 1920s, nor the US of the 1960s and certainly not the South Africa of the 1980s. If you draw comparisons between the state of these societies against our own and claim their similarity, you would be guilty of grossly exaggerated hyperbole.
There are many good reasons to hold a public demonstration. Let's focus on those reasons and cut down on the rhetoric.
Its an emotional appeal, and for a moment, i nearly believed it. Then i realized that Malaysia is not the India of the 1920s, nor the US of the 1960s and certainly not the South Africa of the 1980s. If you draw comparisons between the state of these societies against our own and claim their similarity, you would be guilty of grossly exaggerated hyperbole.
There are many good reasons to hold a public demonstration. Let's focus on those reasons and cut down on the rhetoric.
