My classmates from the Citizen Journalism 101 class did some awesome work on Sunday. They caught footage of the police dispersing the crowds at the Bersih Rally on 9th Nov 2008 during the singing of the National Anthem (see below), notwithstanding Selangor police chief Khalid Abu Bakar assertion that this was not the case.
When I was a young boy, we were told we needed to stand still and not move while the National Anthem was sung or played. If you go to Thailand, they do this everywhere and everyone, Thai or not, are meant to stand at attention as a sign of respect.
Schoolgoers have assembly in the morning when they raise the flag and the ‘Negaraku’ is sung or played. And everyone stands at attention as a sign of respect.
Now, I am not sure about you, but if posting an upside-down flag is “seditious”, surely marching through a crowd singing the national anthem is, if anything, much more than seditious? Or even more, that the allegations of violence during the dispersal is possibly even… what’s inbetween ‘seditious‘ and ‘treasonous‘?
What do you think?
You might also want to read this and this.
Posted on 11/11/2008
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