Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Walk For Justice

I have never seen so many lawyers gathered at one location.

There were hundreds of them -- male, female, old and young in their white and black "uniform", in front of the Palace of Justice.
Some media reports put the number at 1,000 and more.

Earlier, as I was tearing down the KL-Seremban highway, I overtook four buses which I somehow figured were ferrying lawyers to Putrajaya for the march. I wasn't wrong.

As I approached the first entrance to Putrajaya, I found it "closed" with several police officers and men directing vehicles away.
At the second entrance, I saw policemen stopping vehicles before letting them through.
"Oh-oh," I thought. "The buses will have trouble entering."
I drove on and went into the third entrance which was free of police presence.

Along the way to the Palace of Justice where the gathering was to take place before the march to the Prime Minister's Department, I saw so many policemen stationed at several locations.

The police presence was very noticeable because you don't see that on any other day in this federal administrative capital.

I made my way to the Palace of Justice where the crowd of lawyers had gathered. Several members of the opposition parties -- DAP, Pas and Keadilan - joined the gathering for the march.
Also there were local and foreign Press covering the event. Met some former colleagues.

In front of the building, the anti-riot police stood in line. Very intimidating. No, sir, I won't mess with these guys.

As we were chatting, a helicopter flew past. The crowd broke into applause. We waved and gave a "V" sign -- victory or peace. Whichever.
Actually, it whizzed past a couple more times.

The march was to have begun at 11am but we got word that the buses ferrying the lawyers were stopped at the entrance to the federal administrative capital.
They were denied entry. It meant that they had to walk some 5 kilometeres to reach the Palace of Justice.

Among the crowd were uniformed policemen, some of whom were taking pictures of the people there.
I smiled for one of them.

We waited for the lawyers who were making their way by foot to the Palace of Justice because their buses were refused entry.

Led by Edmund Bon, they arrived slowly but steadily to join the rest of their brothers and sisters for the peaceful protest march.
Bar Council president Ambiga Sreenevasan then said a few words.
Following that, a couple of lawyers spoke. There was some chanting, some applause. You know, working up the "semangat", and we were ready to walk. It was just before noon.

I could see that the crowd was really huge. It was incredible.
Thank God for the boulevard which was just perfect for the march.

I was with NST writer Aniza Damis (who was on assignment) and Ahirudin Attan (Rocky), making our way towards the PM's Department which was straight ahead.

Obviously, the peaceful "march for justice" caught everyone's attention.
It must have been quite a sight.
Hey, this was not the floral or national day parade. It was a protest march by Malaysian lawyers. By some very fine and brave men and women.

We reached the circular in front of the gates of the PM's Department.
As expected, there were already policemen and members of the Federal Reserve Unit standing guard along the road.

And as fate would have it, the heavens opened and it began to pour. It rained and it rained.

But the lawyers kept their faith and stood their ground, their spirit unrelenting and indomitable.
Their representatives proceeded to meet an officer of the PM to hand over their memorandum.

And the rain kept on beating down on Putrajaya.

Everyone was drenched to their skin.
But who cares. They walked the talk, didn't they?
And what a walk it was.
Syabbas!

You can read the AFP story here.

And from the blogs: Rocky's Bru, X-Eyed Jules, Shanghai Stephen and Tony Yew.

32 comments:

Knights Templar said...

You started of with ,I have never seen so many lawyers gathered at one location.Belive me ,i really wanna whack a Lawyer Joke with that line , but , was there .. and .. Well done guys ,,, and Gals .Raindrops keep fallin on my head....

Zakhir's Zoo said...

I seriously doubt the pilot on the Police Eccuriel chopper heard the applause, especially with the 1200 hp twin turbine engine five feet behind him.

Anyway, how did some of you did the walk, in the state of puasa?

I doubt I could do it, even if I wasn't puasa-ing. Then again, I am never known to do any 'walk' whatsoever nowadays (The last 'walk' I did was from Pekan Nenas, Pontian to Bakri, Muo in four gruesome days and it was pure adventure & fun!)

Oh yes, we were fifteen then!

Anonymous said...

they are lucky that V is for victory or peace.. not vendetta.. hehe..

The Ancient Mariner said...

Sorry I couldnt join you guys yesterday. I had to be in Melaka to see a very sick aunt at the GH. I'm off again this morning after sahur for the funeral.

IES Agencies said...

This walk the talk is a peculiarly Malaysian expression isn't it

As far as I know the original expression is if you talk the talk, you have to walk the walk.... as in if you talk like a tough guy you getter be willing to act like one as well

if it makes it into general usage, Malaysia should take credit for it

WIELMAJA said...

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
Malaysia owed you guys, the bloggers and the Lawyers a big THANK YOU!

Rockybru said...

alfatihah and condolences, capt.

ena, i have never seen so many people gathered for a walk except for the Malay Mail Big Walk those days. and like zorro, i am proud of our malaysian lawyers. it was good to see malik imtiaz, haris ibrahim and edmund bon - the dudes defending me in the case against nstp and 4 - were right there taking the lead with anbiga, dipendra, and the rest.

and that was prof azmi shahrom we saw, wasn't that? i thought mavericks had become extinct.

Unknown said...

I got goose-bumps towards the end, reading this piece.
Syabas indeed !!

Anonymous said...

Actually 2 of the saddest news.

1. Nurin
2. 1/3 of Langkawi fishes dead and poisoned by a Malaysian.

How can there be murderers like that???!!!

1/3 of fishes of the 4000 number - can you imagine? And these are the main display of Langkawi Aquarium. I am so sad. I went to that Aquarium and the fishes swam there for 12 years. The Shark was 12 years old killed by a Malaysian.

We are losing our values.

1. When we get angry, we threaten others and frame one another of wrong doings. The news we read of corruptions are those framed for revealing discrepancies in the govt.

2. When we get threatened, we use C4 bombs from the government storage.

3. When we get angry, we poison fishes that have been brought all over the world.

What has become of us?

Money is our god.
Politics is our god.
We are power crazy.
We think that the short cut way is the way for Malaysians.
We think that we can get what we want, however we want it.

To solve problems, we murder.
To get what we want, we steal even if the baby is a sweetheart of another.
We resort to bribing and covering up.

But Allah S.W.T. knows and sees our heart. Hakim Yang Adil menghakimi semua.

Every action has a consequence.
What we sow, we will reap.
But, it will also cause others pain and misery.

Why? Why do it?

Just live an upright life and be patient.

Rezeki setimpal dengan usaha. Allah S.W.T. akan memberkati segala ketakwaan dan kesabaran kita. Lebih baik menanti nikmat Allah S.W.T. dari merebut dengan gelojoh tanpa memikirkan akibatnya atau hukuman yang menanti.

Marilah kita memilih makanan rohani dari makanan ego.

Kita boleh menggunakan segala peluang untuk menjadi hamba Allah S.W.T. Bersyukurlah nikmat Allah S.W.T. dan menjauhilah dari ego yang tak tentu hala.

Berikut kisah Rasulullah ketika Isra’

Rasulullah S.A.W. mengalami pembedahn dada/perut dilakukan oleh Malaikat Jibril. Hati Baginda S.A.W. dicuci dengan air zamzam, dibuang ketul hitam (’alaqah) iaitu tempat syaitan membisikkan waswasnya. Kemudian dituangkan hikmat, ilmu, dan iman ke dalam dada Rasulullah S.A.W. Selepas pembedahan, didatangkan binatang Buraq untuk ditunggangi oleh Rasulullah dalam perjalanan luar biasa yang dinamakan Isra’

Tiba di masjid al-Aqsha, Rasulullah turun dari buraq. Kemudian masuk ke dalam masjid dan mengimamkan sembahyang dua rakaat dengan segala anbia dan mursalin menjadi ma’mun.

Rasulullah SAW terasa dahaga, lalu dibawa Jibil dua jenis minuman - khamr (bahasa Arab yang bermaksud sesuatu yang memabukkan) dan susu. Lantas, Rasulullah memilih susu.

Jibril berkata,
"Benar, engkau telah memilih air susu adalah lambang kesucian dan seandainya engkau mengambil minuman keras nescaya akan tersesatlah engkau dan umat engkau."

Jika mengikut nafsu dan kebiasaan minuman jahiliah yang menonjolkan sifat kelelakian, mesti dipilih minuman keras. Tetapi, dipilih susu walaupun tidak mencerminkan tindakan agresif dan kelelakian. Memang tidak masuk akal, tapi ini juga pilihan yang akan diberkati Allah S.W.T.

Semoga kita memilih yang betul. Yang sudah memikirkan untuk memberi jawapan kesat atau jalan pintas, biarlah dipenuhi fikiran yang sempurna. Yang sudah mempunyai niat membabi buta, biarlah mengurung diri dan bersembahyang. Sembahyanglah sebelum disembahyangkan - sekarang lepas baca posting pun tidak terlambat. Masa akan menentukan apa yang bakal dianugerahkan kepada mereka yang sabar melaksanakan yang betul.

NURAINA A SAMAD said...

Ancient mariner (Capt): Takziah and Al Fatihah!

NURAINA A SAMAD said...

ahirudin attan (Rocky):
i am glad that the lawyers came in force. does it matter if they did not coem in FULL force? naturally, not everyone could make it. and naturally not all lawyers are what lawyers ought to be.

remember, rocky..i said i'd like to see what our lawyers were made of.
i am so proud of these mighty fine people.
they ROCK!, to borrow a multipurpose word from our young colleagues and friends.

yes, that was azmi sharom, the law professor.

NURAINA A SAMAD said...

jediraj: haha...i am already laughing ... i have a general idea of what the joke would be.

zakhir: yes, i was fasting. so was rocky. don't know about the other Muslims. I assume they were.
it was a nice walk....

anon@2:29: for some people, it could well be V for vendetta!

siti ramona: yeah.... i think malaysians "padatkan" the phrases and, Viola -- we have walk the talk.

wielmaja: oh... nothing to it...we'd do it again, i reckon. for the love of our country.

kerinchi guy: i got goose bumps just thinking o what we were doing along the boulevard.

Anonymous said...

ahirudin attan: and that was prof azmi shahrom we saw, wasn't that?

Oooo! Is there a picture of him on any of the blogs reporting abt the walk, Rocky? Ena?

I have a Gibraltar-size crush on this erudite dude. :D

If he's also cute, my hub is going to have serious competition, I tell you...

[In case anyone's raising an eyebrow, it's not imsak yet where I am. Hehehe!]

Anonymous said...

hawaiichee,

Awesome post!

Thank you.

NURAINA A SAMAD said...

hawaichee: so terrible isn't it. Nurin's murder was so horrific, so senseless, so tragic.
a different kind of dahsyat was the killng of the fishes in Langkawi's underwater world.

I heard about it over the radio in my car.

And I so ditto Mekyam's comment with regards to your comment.

NURAINA A SAMAD said...

Mekyam: if you go to jeff Ooi's and Haris Ibrahim's blog and look for their postings on the Bangsa Malaysia event at Blog House, you may be able to find Azmi Sharom's pix.

Here's how he looks like: medium height, slim, has his hair tied in a pony tail (but neater than Rocky's). yeah, he's cute.
Doesnt look like a university professor. Can pass off as a singer (rock/folk/) A lawyer, yeah maybe...the "rugged" kind.

And Mekyam....eesh eesh eesh...

Hi&Lo said...

Tyrany can only be defeated by the power of ideas.

Knights Templar said...

Dead fishes and NURIN ... I aint bringin myself down to a ningkampoop's level and TAROK whoever said that in the same breath k. Goin for dinner ... sushi anyone ?

Anonymous said...

Wish I was that policeman ... The one you gave your smile to!

Or was it the kind of smile Arnie Swazzy's Terminator smiles before he pushes the button that kills the cyborg?

Mekyam, I saw Kak Nuraina during the march. Me got a crush bigger than Gibraltar, wherever that is!

By the way, I too smiled at the police and tried my best to look friendly and harmless. They did not smile back. Maybe they had orders to look unfriendly to the marchers.

Anonymous said...

Sorry, to be sceptical, but i think lawyers tried to defend the interference of the executive in the judiciary in the 1980's. If they wanted to do it they should have done it then when the Lord President was sacked. True, the sacking could be justified and argued but the tribunal set up was chaired by the Deputy Lord President Tun Hamid was surely not a credible one as he stand to gain in the absence of Tun Salleh Abbas. Surely on this point alone the tribunal set up lost its credibility. True enough, the man became Lord President afterwards. Thats the turning point in the history of judiciary in this country. I also remember at the time there was a suggestion that the tribunal should consist of judges from the Commonwealth countries because the Lord President was the highest ranking man within the judiciary and secondly Malaysia's legal system was a carbon copy of the British legal system. For nearly 20 years there was injustice within the judiciary. Now, suddenly everyone has a conscience. The young lawyers (and the younger generations) dont even know how and when the system became rotten. The 80's was the turning point for a lot of things in this country; starting with illegalisation of UMNO.

Penanak Nasik

Pak Zawi said...

Nuraina,
I cant fathom why they need to intimidate the marching lawyers with the police presence like that. They could have stationed the police personnel at an obscure distance. Should only a need for them that they should show themselves. Afterall most of the marchers are lawyers and definitely lawyers will not behave like the common street demonstrators.
Such is the fear among the government that they are no more rational in their thinking.

NURAINA A SAMAD said...

Jediraj: that was hawaichee who said the dead fish and Nurin in the same breath. but i don;t think he is a nimcompoop.

hope your sushi was good, though.


Crush: Oh dear...what can I say? you sure you got the right person and not mistook some hot babe for me? heheheh.

Hi&LO: Hear! hear!

Penanak Nasi: I'd like to think that they were sincere. and I would not underestimate their understanding and knowledge of the sacking of tun salleh abbas.

i think this whole thing is about going forward.

Zawi: i do believe that it is a standard practice for FRU men to be deployed at such events.

zaitgha said...

Nuraina,

of course i wont have crush on you like crush did, but when i looked at your pic, i think would be very happy if i looked half as good as u do when i reach your age...honest to goodness he he

btw, when i saw the march pictures, i got goose bump too and agree with you that this is about going forward...

Anonymous said...

crush,

I don't blame you. She's a babe! :D

NURAINA A SAMAD said...

mekyam: oh no..i aint no babe. but i sure was hot for a while yesterday, before I got wet!

zai: alamak, zai... pakai cermin mata hitam..OK-lah nampak tu.

Mekyam & Zai : thank you. so sweet.

Crush : er, er.... one question. would you be male or female?

Mat Salo said...

Oh, wished I was there, Kak Ena.

Yes, kak Ena you still are a babe. Ever watched Thelma & Louise? I just loved Susan Sarandon and she reminds me of you. The ultimate thinking man's chick! That movie also elevated Brad Pitt into superstardom.

Syabas to all who marched. Bravo folks! One of times that I wished I was back home...

malaysianminx said...

kak ena, hats off to all those who participated in the walk for justice! am so proud to be a malaysian rite now and haven't felt this way in a long long time. thank god we have people like you guys, who actually walk the talk! wish i was there so i could be part of it too..

Anonymous said...

Hi Gorgeous Nuraina,

True its going forward and its a good thing but my point is it should have been done in the 80's when the rot was starting to well err rot.

I'm not underestimating their knowledge its only that if you check; the syllabus to become a legal practitioner in our local university conveniently omitted the Tun Salleh saga. Check UiTMs' syllabus. The day where the line between judiciary and the executive was blurred was not even taught or discussed. If they were to know about it it would be on their own effort (whisch is a good thing). But how many of them are really conscious that they make an effort to familiarise themselves with the facts of the sacking or even the events that led to the sacking? It should be mantra where every single lawyer in this country recite everytime then go into a courtroom so that we know that we are actually operating under a perceived justice not real justice.

NURAINA A SAMAD said...

malaysianminx: hey....how's london.
Never not be proud of your country. It's those a-holes that are ruining the country....
remember you and I and a lot of other Malaysians make up the country.

oh yes... you'd have loved to join the walk....
i felt a sensation as i walked with the lawyers.


Penanak Nasik: agreed. point taken.
why, I wonder, why didnt we all go to the streets then?

You know, most of the lawyers walking the walk and talking the talk, -=- walk the talk - that day - were very very young.
In 1988, some of them were still in school.
But now that they have come of age, as it were, they did what their seniors had not done.

(er...lain kali panggil nuraina saja, pun ok.)

Anonymous said...

Sesaje je panggil gorgeous; Kasik Glamour sikit. LOL. Bunyi macam marah je ;p

Penanak Nasik

NURAINA A SAMAD said...

hi penanak nasi,

oh...tak marah langsung. Biasa je :P

Anonymous said...

Hi back Nuraina A. Samad *wink*

Penanak Nasik