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Showing posts with label Ambiga. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ambiga. Show all posts

“For a Society, Civil and Decent” – Interview with S. Ambiga by Penang Monthly

(Photo by Puah Sze Ning)
By Ooi Kee Beng

Courtesy of Penang Monthly , August 2012

Penang Monthly editor Ooi Kee Beng talks to Bersih icon Ambiga Sreenevasan between sessions at the inaugural Asean Coalition for Clean Governance conference on civil society and why she thinks “Malaysians are a great people”.
Ooi Kee Beng: Let’s discuss the recent rise of civil society activism in Malaysia. We had a half-year of rallies in mid-2007, starting with 600 people from the Malaysian Trades Union Congress demonstrating outside the Prime Minister’s office against government refusal to initiate minimum wage legislation.

Several union demonstrations were held in the following weeks. Soon after the country became 50 years old on August 31 that year, the big rallies really began. It started with the Malaysian Bar Council, of which you were the president then, organising the so-called Walk for Justice on September 26. About 2,000 people took part.

Treason? No! T’reason why she has stepped forward to lead BERSIH is to selflessly serve the people

I had a chat over coffee with Ambiga last week.

In the course of our conversation, I asked her if, during the Walk for Justice in September 2007 where about 3,000 others and I joined her in Putrajaya to walk from the Palace of Justice to the PM’s department to demand a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the VK Lingam video scandal, she had for even a moment thought she would, 5 years on, lead a quarter of a million citizens on the streets of Kuala Lumpur to demand for free and fair elections?


No Putrajaya for PR without total Indian support

By Joe Fernandez
The consensus at the grassroots level is that the 13th GE won't see a repeat of the 2008 political tsunami in Peninsular Malaysia despite the alternative media because the vital Hindraf Makkal Sakthi factor, representing the Indian underclass in particular, will be missing this time.

The reasons are aplenty.

Bersih under super duper rich lawyer Ambiga Sreenivasan won't be able to help Pakatan Rakyat (PR), especially Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), compensate for the absence of Hindraf.
Amibiga is no match whatsoever for Hindraf. She doesn't represent the Indian underclass. She continues to get the support of the Chinese and Malays, the converted, for PR but the Indians, the crucial factor, is missing. Attacking Ambiga in racist terms is not going to make the Indians come rushing to her defence.


Ambiga a victim of race and religion, says Pak Samad

Today, as Bersih co-chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan’s Bukit Damansara residence is turned into a bizarre combination of a mini market, crime scene and conflict zone with pro- and anti-Ambiga groups taking their positions under the watchful eyes of the authorities outside her house, it is business as usual at the Bangsar Utama flat of her fellow co-chairperson A Samad Said.
Since the Bersih 3.0 protest on April 28 which organisers claimed saw some 250,000 participants taking to the streets of Kuala Lumpur, anti-Bersih groups have taken their counter-protest to the doorstep of Ambiga’s residence with burger stalls, butt exercises and now, a mini-market.

Pak Samad: Stop All Personal Harassment And Intimidation Against Dato’ Ambiga Sreenevasan, Co-Chair Of Bersih 2.0

On behalf of BERSIH 2.0 and its steering committee members, I condemn the on-going harassment and intimidation meted solely against Dato’ Ambiga Sreenevasan.

It pains me to witness the despicable harassment committed against her, my fellow Bersih co-chairperson and fellow Malaysian. She is someone who has dedicated years of her life to the advancement of human rights and the betterment of our society. While abhorrent and sometimes aggressive attacks have been carried out at Dato’ Ambiga’s private home, Dato’ Ambiga has been handling the situation with dignity and grace.


Nazri Balas Dendam Terhadap Ambiga

“Dia itu bukan sesiapa pun. Tidak ada ‘locus standi’...",
ujar Nazri Aziz.
BARU sahaja selepas menegaskan bahawa MENTERI KABINET dan keluarga mereka mengisytiharkan harta seperti yang dicadangkan oleh SPRM, Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Nazri Aziz telah melakukan tindakan bodoh dengan memberi amaran kepada Bersih supaya tidak mengulangi demonstrasi jalanan.

Perlakuan kurang ajar beliau yang menyerang Pengerusi Bersih, Ambiga Sreenevasan, sehari selepas Najib menegaskan ancaman terhadap keselamatan beliau juga menunjukkan bahawa Nazri sedang merencanakan balas dendam untuk bossnya.

Ambiga thanks PSM 6 for taking the heat for Bersih


Bersih 2.0 may have had its fair share of persecution from the authorities, but it was guilt over the detention of six PSM detainees under the Emergency Ordinance which haunted the steering committee days prior to the July 9 rally.

psm thanksgiving dinner 060811 s ambiga

Rule of law, rule by law

By Ambiga Sreenevasan
I urge you to use this arsenal of knowledge and your passion for justice to fight for those who are downtrodden.

You have already heard of the events of July 9th in Malaysia. Whilst it brought out the worst in some, it brought out the best in others and this is where our hope lies.


JULY 23 — Good Morning! Chancellor, vice chancellor and graduating students.

It is so good to be back!

I am deeply moved by the conferment of this honour upon me. That it comes from my alma mater is especially significant for me. That it comes at this time is almost providential, for it allows me and all lawyers to reflect on our roles in the societies we live in.

Q&A: Malaysia’s Ambiga Sreenevasan

The question now is whether Malaysia’s opposition groups
can capitalize on the momentum from Saturday’s rally and
force further changes in one of Southeast Asia’s linchpin
economies– or if voters will continue to stick with
Mr. Najib and the ruling coalition that has dominated
Malaysia since it gained independence from Britain
several decades ago.
By Celine Fernandez, The Wall Street Journal

An estimated 20,000 protesters gathered in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday to call for reforms to Malaysia’s electoral system. The surprisingly large turnout—and the government’s tough response, with water cannons and tear gas—appears to have galvanized the country’s opposition, which until recently had struggled to gain traction against a government led by Prime Minister Najib Razak.

The protesters believe Malaysia’s government must reform to reduce electoral fraud and create a level playing field for all parties, including the opposition. Government officials say rally organizers were trying to embarrass the government, garner sympathy for opposition politicians and threaten social order.

Perkasa bakar gambar Ambiga, amaran kepada kaum Cina, pembunuhan beramai ramai

Penyokong Perkasa membakar poster Pengerusi Bersih 2.0 Datuk Ambiga di pekarangan Kelab Sultan Sulaiman,
Kuala Lumpur petang tadi. — Foto oleh Jack Ooi
(The Malaysian Insider) — Perkasa bersama 164 badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) hari ini melancarkan “perang” terhadap Himpunan Bersih 2.0 dengan membakar gambar Pengerusi Gabungan Pilihan Raya Bersih dan Adil (Bersih) Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan dan memberi amaran kepada kaum Cina agar jangan keluar pada 9 Julai ini kerana “apa sahaja boleh berlaku.”

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