International headlines: Day of departure; Egyptian protests continues
The protests in Egypt continue to dominate the international headlines this week. Tahrir Square became center stage as the thousand strong anti-Mubarak protesters grew into millions. Dubbed as the "March Of The Millions", it was a move initiated by Egyptian opposition leaders on the 1st of February, calling on the Egyptian people to march from Tahrir Square to the presidential palace in Heliopolis demanding Mubarak's resignation.
However, the demonstrators this week were met with violent opposition from pro-Mubarak supporters as well as police and military personnel sympathetic to Mubarak. Anti-Mubarak protesters were attacked with various weapons, not excluding Molotov cocktails and rocks, leaving at least 13 killed and 1200 injured. Various analysts have speculated that the pro-Mubarak forces are hired by the government regime itself as a means to stop the demonstrations from gathering more momentum. Besides the demonstrators, journalists too were made as targets of the attacks by security officials and pro-Mubarak supporters, leaving 1 of them dead. The UN, various world leaders and the global media community have condemned the violence inflicted on the demonstrators and journalists covering the events.
On Friday the 4th, another march to Heliopolis were to take place right after Friday prayers. Dubbed as the "Day Of Departure", it was supposed to be a deadline for Mubarak to give in to the people's demands and surrender his powers. In a show of unity, Christian and non-Muslim Egyptians formed a human chain around the Muslims who were performing Friday prayers, to protect the congregation from any potential disruptions.
The effects of the Egyptian protests were particularly felt through out the middle east as well as in Malaysia. For many governments in the middle east, it was a wake up call of sorts, demanding them to change their game plan to incorporate more people friendly policies lest they want their citizens to revolt against them. For the Malaysian government, the concern was more for the safety of Malaysian students studying there and the efforts needed to make sure they return home safely.
There were also anti-Mubarak rallies here in Malaysia organized by various NGO's as a sign of support for the people of Egypt. These rallies ended with the police forcefully dispersing the crowd and arrests being made. One would suggest that the events in Egypt resonated well with any citizen of any country seeking true democracy and transparency in the government. It holds true for Malaysians too, in the sense that for too long we are bound and restricted by the shadow of the ISA, various unreported human rights violations and police brutality inflicted upon many Malaysian citizens. Similar too the situation in Egypt, many citizens in the middle eastern countries as well as in Malaysia had to cope with decades of ongoing corruption by the ruling governments, and any efforts to rectify the situation so far have been stifled by the ones in power.
As we have witnessed in Tunisia and Egypt, the common folk are starting to realize their rights and the power they actually have in their hands to topple their government when they need to. It would be wise for any ruling party, anywhere in the world to be more sensitive to the people's demands to avoid such a thing from happening to them.
Sources from Al-Jazeera and BBC News
Local headlines: Floods down south
Locally, it was the massive floods in the states of Johor, Pahang, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan and Sabah that made the headlines through out the week. Johor being the worst hit, had 2 casualties as a result of the floods, while 2 other deaths were reported in Melaka and Negeri Sembilan respectively.
In response to the event, 356 relief centres were opened throughout the country to house the 60 389 victims affected by the flood, from 13 826 families. Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yasin had announced that helicopters would be used to send supplies to the affected areas which were not accessible by trucks or boats. 20 army platoons were also deployed to assist the flood victims. Later that week, prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, his wife Datin Rosmah, as well as the Menteri Besar of Johor, Abdul Ghani Othman personally visited the affected areas to hand out supplies.
According to the prime minister via consultation from the meteorology department, the flood was caused by irregular weather; "the amount of rainfall the state received in a day was equivalent to that received in two months". Experts have chalked it up to global warming as the main cause for the sudden occurrence. Later that week as the rain began to ease up, many families were allowed to return home.
The recent floods were comparable to the 2006 floods, "which saw more than 60,000 people relocated, 17 reported deaths and over RM1.5 billion in economic damage across the months of December 2006 and January 2007". It was reported that the costs for repairs to federal roads as a result of the recent flood was RM40 million. According to the deputy prime minister, priority will be given to the state of Johor to carry out projects such as the deepening and straightening of rivers to avoid similar flash floods from happening in the future.
The actions of the federal government during the crisis were definitely commendable. They responded instantly and managed the crisis well. Supplies reached the victims without any interruptions and further deaths were prevented. I believe that if they were more consistent with their service to the people, and applied a similar approach to other aspects of their governance, they might be able to solve many of the social and economical problems plaguing the country.
Sources from NST and The Malaysian Insider
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