In Malaysia, post-Bersih rally protests turn bizarre | Asia News – Politics, Media, Education | Asian Correspondent

In Malaysia, post-Bersih rally protests turn bizarre | Asia News – Politics, Media, Education | Asian Correspondent
Yong Yen Nie May 19, 2012

In Malaysia, smallish protests against the organizers of the BERSIH 3.0 rally have intensified in strange fashion, in the weeks after downtown Kuala Lumpur saw a massive turnout of supporters for free and fair elections in the country.

Instead of using pickets and chants to voice their dissatisfaction against the rally, these protestors, who claimed they were entrepeneurs whose businesses were affected by the rally, decided to open their stalls in front of the BERSIH 3.0 chairperson’s home instead.

A week earlier, some members of the Malaysia Small and Medium Entrepreneurs Alliance (Ikhlas) held a “burger” protest by flipping burger patties in front of Ambiga’s home. The protestors claimed they had lost RM200,000 (US$66,600) for being unable to operate their businesses and wanted compensation from the rally organizers.

“Our members have financial obligations to settle, such as bank and car loans. We want compensation from rally organizers for the losses our members suffered,” Ikhlas president Mohd Ridzuan Abdullah was quoted as saying to the local media.

Ambiga had told the traders to file their claims of losses in court instead of holding protests in front of her house, only to have an even more bizarre protest at her home a few days later.

A group of army veterans performed a “butt exercise” in front of Ambiga’s house, in protest of the BERSIH 3.0 rally, as they claimed it had given the country a bad name.

Reports said 15 ex-armymen from the Malay Armed Forces Veterans Associations, led by president Mohd Ali Baharom, stretched and shook their butts. Later, Ambiga came out of her house and told them: “I’m happy you had a good exercise” and offered them isotonic drinks.
The president of the veteran armymen association challenged Ambiga to take him to court, and threatened to bring a bigger crowd in front of her house if she failed to do so.

When approached by reporters, Ambiga said she viewed this as “invasion of privacy”. “To me, that is is highly irresponsible bcause it will open the doors to allow people to gather outside anybody’s house, including a minister’s,” she was quoted as saying, adding that the butt exercise was “crude”.

While a police report was lodged concerning the incidents, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar was quoted as saying that the burger protest in front of Ambiga’s home was not an offence.

In response to Deputy IGP’s responses, a coalition of non-governmental organizarions wanted set up food stalls in front of his house, since “anyone can set up stalls outside the house of others as long as they do not disrupt traffic or cause inconvenience to neighbors”.
Khalid in turn, retorted in jest that he would “invite his friends” over if that were the case.