BERSIH 3.

Today is the Bersih 3.0 rally. I had been following the news since morning till afternoon. Anyone of you go there? It really surprised me how this rally turned into fanfare where peoples wear masks, colorful cloths and in good mood. Well at least from the photo captured from the Star online, peoples who gathered are in a joyful mood.

It is not that violent and dangerous as it is portrayed in the mass media for the pass few days. It only turned violent a little when the crowd tried to break the barricades put up by the police and water canon and tear gas are fired to the crowd.

Sometimes in a democratic country, protest and demonstration are inevitable and only when it is provoked that violence will result. In this case the crowd provoked the police and they reacted. This rule apply when we live in a neighborhood. When we are nice to our neighbors, they will be nice to us and if we are hostile to them, then nobody wanted to talk to us.

It can be simple and easy living together harmoniously if everyone of us respect each other and compromising among ourselves. It is not always easy to find peoples who share the same thought, be the same opinion with us, but if we can respect each other opinion and not rubbish peoples when they are not in the same wavelength, then there will be peace.

Just like the Bersih 3.0, if the crowd respected the police and not entered the Dataran compound, I believe no untoward incident will happen or vice-versa, if the police allowed them to sit at Dataran and leave after 2 hours, what harm will it do to the country? Peoples might argue that violence might happen if the police allowed the crowd to move in. Well it is like clapping with both hands, if one side is not provoking the other, do you think you will hear clapping sound?

Back to the story of living together, respecting each other, compromising, tolerance and give and take is what we need to have harmonious neighborhood. Force, aggression and intimidation will only bring temporary submission but in the long run, the relationship definitely will not last.