So You're Planning to Paint the Town Yellow...or Red?

Preface: So how many times am going to repeat this aborted restart of my dear dusty old blog? Doesn't matter, here's some current affair I would like to comment on like an sedentary armchair keyboard warrior wet liberal curmudgeon I am! And won't you believe, first post in 2015...in the end of August!

This is why we can't have nice things and alien won't find us.

Note: this picture was taken on 21/8/2015. Since then, the since mural has been restored by Thomas Powell to its pristine twee-ness. Thank you very much.

Now, with less than two hours to go before yet another Bersih rally dubbed Bersih 4.0 kicks off in Kuala Lumpur, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu, the gulf of sentiments and perception on the ground between the two cities on Bornean side of the pond and ground zero Kuala Lumpur in Malaya couldn't be anymore vast. While Bersih 4.0 in Kuching and Kota Kinabalu is poised to have a jovial, civic, almost picnic like atmosphere (particularly Kuching, the only Bersih 4.0 rally that actually managed to obtained police and city council's approval and tacit apathy on the Sarawak Government side. Great job, Kuching, Sarawak!), everything in ground zero KL seems to be gearing up for all out riot, panic, chaos, disruption, saboteurs (such as this blasphemy towards this well-loved street art cash cow one week ahead of the scheduled rally) tear gas, mass arrest and brawl anticipated.

I can't help but be baffled on what is it about Malayans' propensity of being deliberately petty and combative regardless of the reactionary anti-Bersih, the police and the city hall on one side and Bersih 2,0 themselves on the other. Both sides, needlessly engaging in tit for tat one-upsmanship on who can push the fold of brinkmanship furthest, the embattled establishment deploying fear-mongering, boots on the ground and outright slanders, Bersih 4.0 mob baying for blood and harping up the tension with incendiary rhetoric with one particularly paradigm euphemistically dubbed "殺雞". Those who came down based on that sentiment alone is what I call missing the point entirely.

I dare say that I doubt most people who came down for this Bersih rally actually have very little knowledge of what Bersih 2.0 (the organisation) actually demands and any knowledge about electoral reform are rudimentary at best, anchoring mostly on parading "gerrymandering" as some sort of new buzzword to be angry about as well has harping on about "OMG 53%/47%, victory stolen" without any understanding the oddity and inherent systemic flaw of representative system based on first-past-the-post polling system in a federation (well, hardly federation in spirit, more like de facto unitary state...but that's another story to nitpick). For that, I will pinned the responsibility of the widespread idiocy to all the leading figures in Bersih 2.0 (the organisation) as well as all the politicos of all folds, all of whom preferred grand spectacle of themselves in fleeting moment of spotlight rather than educating the public in-depth about the nature of electoral system. One particular fold (the Blues *haaktui*) has little reason to educate the public but then the other fold (that crumbling stool that is currently on the floor missing one leg) decides to sink as well.

...and when things went exactly as anticipated, everything that is WRONG about Malaya surface in its putrid glory, sulling every good men and women in the rest of the country particularly Kuching and Kota Kinabalu. That's why am still typing this in the comfort of my room while anticipating inb4 "Spineless wet liberal", "Where are you when we are on the ground? You support <insert any angry-worthy buzzword>? You monster!" and all sorts of ego-stroking, faux-motivational InstaTwitFace posts and rolling live updates of own smartphone camera points of view from ground zero. I would very well join the one back in my hometown Kuching but I definitely not foolhardy enough to go ground zero now. So, be fun and civil, Kuching & KK and...don't DIE, KL.

...and now, here's the theme song to set the mood. (Thanks, Charlie Brooker,)



Tangent: So I went to watch movie for only the second time in this year and its Inside Out, yet another family friendly heart-string tugging story by the animation behemoth Pixar. All twee and touching and all but that's not am going to touch about in this tangent. What perks me immensely was one particular pre-movie trailer (not a thing you hear every day, being excited about trailer)...

*HEAVY BREATHING* キタ━━━(゜∀゜)━━━!!!!! *GET HYPED*