On Saturday April 28, Malaysians living in Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York, and elsewhere gathered at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden for a peaceful demonstration to support the Bersih 3.0 movement. In spite of the cold, rainy day, over 60 people showed up to support free, clean elections in Malaysia.
Why is this significant? In most American papers, Malaysian affairs do not get top billing. Perhaps they should. For quite some time, Malaysia has been the Southeast Asian country with the most stable democracy in the region. Due to a widening class divide rising from corruption and laws favoring Muslim Malays, and institutionalized racism against Malaysians of Chinese and Indian descent, this former model of democracy and tolerance is disintegrating. Many of the nation's intellectuals leave Malaysia for opportunities elsewhere.
Amnesty International has published a report about the Malaysian government's increasing repression of the Malaysian people here.
It was not so long ago that some people in the United States questioned Dubya's presidential election victories, and wondered if his brother Jeb in Florida had something to do with rigging things. It was also not long ago that the state of Minnesota decided to put a Voter ID bill up for public vote in November. American patriots should follow what is happening in Malaysia to make sure that we are not fooled into following the same path.
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