Rain or Shine, the Seremabn Vigil Goes On ...

Because Serembanknights are caring -- daring2? -- souls.

Although it rained cats and dogs and wolves last Friday an hour before the scheduled start of the THIRD SEREMBAN ANTI-ISA CANDLELIGHT VIGIL at Dataran Seremban Park, the pom-pom gals led by angelA and the tom-tom boys led by Des, or ws it zorro aweDAway fromKuala Lumpur, were in full swing.

It was a small and intimate gathering of 50 Furongknights -- many came armed with umbrellas as a heavy downfall at 7.00pm prevented a punctual start planned for 8.00PM -- the message from a special Vigil envoy from Kuala Lumpur Sdr Bernrad Khoo aka zorro was that it is not the numbers -- but the spirit of solidarity for fellow Malaysian brothers number 60-plus still victims of ISA langishing at Kamunting camp that lifted the morale and spirits of all those present. At least half of those who braved the rain have now become familiar faces to Desi. "Syabas and keep the candle flame burning, mateys!" and it was a unanimous decision that vvvvvvve shall meet again, same time, same place next Friday, November 21.

Just a quick wrapup of the evening's pretty informal fellowship -- three wakil rakyat (SA from DAP for Nilai, Kepayang and Senawag) were present to give short messages of endorsement for the freedom and human rights crusade the vigils represent. The good thing was "deliveries" were made in all the major languages ofmuhibbah in NegaraKU -- Bahasa Malaysia, English and Mandarin!

A special appearance was made by a PSM spokesman< I'll call him Daudara socialist like Desi:)(minta maaf, I did not get your nama! -- See you againnext week and i'll record:) -- he promoted among the participants a sepcial event his party is progressing, nation-wide Cyclothon IN Suppoer of Six Appeals, including one on the Abolishment of the Internal Security Act. The press members present wer kindly invited to attend a Press Conference on this Cyclothon the following day (November 15, 2008) at the Dataran. (Well, for the record, as I post this, the PC is now over by a few hours ~~ Desi)

Desi usedthis vigil occasion to do some soft PR for the Centre for Policy Initiatives, distributing extarcts from the organisation's website -- cpiasia.net -- an article by leading blogger Haris Ibrahim (who was present all the way from Kuantan the previous Friday when surprise Raja Petra Kamarudin and his lovely wife, Marina, graced the occasion after gaining his freedom just several hours before!)

Dear ER here, please surf to the following ***link to read the article about the minor victory in a court of lwat that rendered RPK back into the arena where he rightly belongs -- WIT' THE RAKYAT!

***http://english.cpiasia.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1237:haris-i-and-art-harun-on-rpks-freedom-case&catid=130:Bloggers%20Buzz&Itemid=160


Haris I and Art Harun on RPK's freedom case
Bloggers Buzz
Written by various
Sunday, 09 November 2008 11:43
Two gazes at the hard work by the legal team, the sgnificance and emotions arising from the court case which raised cheers and caused many Malaysians to jump in jubilation last Friday (November , 2008) -- an important crossroads for the Malaysian nation fighting for human rights and justice. It is cause for hope and celebration, but the challenges ahead remain -- THE ANTI-ISA CAMPAIGN MUST GO ON, THE CANDLELIGHT VIGILS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL NEGARAKU SEES THE END OF THE INTERNAL SECURITY ACT. Here the gazing starts with two Bloggers who are in the forefront in the anti-ISA crusade. ~~ YL Chong, Editor, CPI


*****************EXCERPTS~~~~~~~

Gaze 1:

The People’s Parliament
We are here, not because we are law-breakers; we are here in our efforts to become law-makers - Emmeline Pankhurst

An ounce of courage, a few good men, and the prayers of the good people of this nation

By Haris Ibrahim

November 7, 2008

A few days ago, in answer to the question, ‘How should a judge endear him / herself to the Bar’ that was posed in cyberspace, I offered this, in response :

‘Treat lawyers with the same courtesy that the judges themselves expect be shown to them, hear impartially and devoid of any bias, and decide according to the law, without fear or favour.

No more, no less’

:
:
:


Gaze 2:

RPK's Release: A Tapestry of Thoughts and Emotions

By Art Harun @gazerofnavels.blogpsot.com


Saturday, November 8, 2008


After having a "super kow" Nescafe tarik at the Pelita restaurant near the Shah Alam Court, I drove back to my office in Kuala Lumpur for a lunch appointment. RPK was ordered to be released about an hour before. I was elated. I was emotionally drained. I was satisfied.

The scale of what Imtiaz, myself and the battery of lawyers involved in the RPK's habeas corpus application had managed to achieve had however yet to fully sink in. On the Federal Highway, I received calls after calls and text message after text message. News traveled fast in these days and age. Barely 45 minutes after the order was made, for example, an old schoolmate of mine called from Kedah to congratulate me. He said he saw the news on TV.

I was pumped up with adrenalin. I was oblivious to whatever things which were happening around me. The slow Friday crawl on the Federal Highway gave me time to really ponder and reflect at what had just happened in Court that morning. But the main feeling was one of disbelief.

It was when the coffee lady was serving me coffee in my office that the full magnitude of it all began to sink in. The whole office had known of the RPK case was won earlier. In-house e-mails were sent to everyone in the firm as soon as my secretary received the news from me. I took a sip of the hot coffee. The coffee lady stood there, not leaving my office as she would usually do after putting my obligatory mug of coffee on my desk. I looked at her. She smiled.

"Boss, you menang itu Botak punya kes ah?", she asked.

Before I could answer, she followed up, "saya tadak tau Boss buat itu kes. Itu Botak sekarang sudah keluar ah? Itu macam bagus ah..."

The "Botak" was of course RPK. There she was, a coffee lady, who could barely speak Malay or English, whose function in my office was to serve all of us coffee, twice a day, expressing her happiness that the "Botak's" case had been won!

I said, "ya, itu Botak nanti petang mau keluar".

She smiled and walked towards the door. Almost thankful to me. Almost grateful to me for making her day.

At that moment, it all sank in.


________________________________________________

The ladies ably led by angelA, to whom Des is co-pilot in coordinating the Seremban Vigils for three sessions now -- were scheduled to perform some LINE-DANCING. In view of the soothing weathing, they decided to leave the danzing to next Friday. Thanks to song-themer Ms SIEW FA, vvvvvvve chorus the night away with our special furongknightly renditions of

* Where have all the flowers gone?

** And I HAVE A DREAM -- Yes, we all have our Malaysian Dream:) I believe I heard somene whisper, Furongknights' rendition on November 14, 2008 ****taped at 9.30PM surpassed the AbbA's, Mama Mia!

I have a dream, a song to sing
To help me cope with anything
If you see the wonder of a fairy tale
You can take the future even if you fail
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
I'll cross the stream - I have a dream

I have a dream, a fantasy
To help me through reality
And my destination makes it worth the while
Pushing through the darkness still another mile
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
Ill cross the stream - I have a dream
Ill cross the stream - I have a dream

I have a dream, a song to sing
To help me cope with anything
If you see the wonder of a fairy tale
You can take the future even if you fail
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
Ill cross the stream - I have a dream
Ill cross the stream - I have a dream

**** ANECDOTE by YL Chong:(

The newshound in me made me detour to two gentlemen under an umbrella at about 9.15PM and this converse followed:

"Salam brudder, selamat datang. You dari PAS atau PKR ke?"
"Tak, mari engok saja..." (rounghly-lah,my recall as the reply was prettyNsoft!)
"I jemput saudara jika nak berucap, ke depan untuk share-lah pandangan anda ..."
"Tak payah-lah, ..." (I believe they were both quite SHY! ala wan anakmerdeka, a fellow furongknight blogger for whom I've reserved a signed kopi of MN V:)I left her my number, she still prefers to remain Cik ANON:) A state of affair which I respect!:)

++++OR mayhaps, I later realised, they came for mistakenly assuming angelA and Des were offering SpecialBrunch!:):)++++ Food4Thought

CHOW! It's adieu for now, not goodbuy:)
Till we meet again next Fridae, 8pm same place.