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Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Al Jazeera On The BERSIH Rally

Yesterday, I found myself sitting in a studio at Al Jazeera with Dato’ Seri Nazri and Khairy Jamaluddin discussing the BERSIH 10-11 rally. Teymoor Nabili, the host of 101 East was kind enough to moderate. Needless to say, the discussion was lively and interesting.

I am informed that the interview will air over Astro, Al Jazeera English, 10.30 pm, Thurday (‘101 East’). It will then be aired throughout the week (the schedule can be found on line at the Al Jazeera web-site) and will also be available on line.

MIS

Note: Been informed that it is Channel 513

125 comments:

Anonymous said...

I notice your restraint from saying anything further. Dramatic silence? I look forward to watching it.

Anonymous said...

Al Jazeera is on Astro's Ch.513

multidimid said...

Zam avoided all questions posed on the illegality of the protest and the use of Chemical water and used the lame excuse that there is Election, so Protest is not necessary. His quotable quote is “We are allowing Protest” – perhaps a slip of his tongue. More details & a clearer Video Clip of the Radio interview and other inserted Video Clips at
http://powerpresent.blogspot.com/2007/11/transcript-zam-al-jazeera-radio.html

Anonymous said...

I hope you whooped their illogical, infantile arguments to the ground.

Anonymous said...

Two against One? Is that fair, I wonder. Anyway, hope to see u in action and the other 2 "very vocal" persons. I hope they did not embarrass themselves and Malaysia in front of Millions.

Asrul Hisyam said...

Channel 20 (Astro) 10.30 pm, Thurday (‘101 East’). >>> astro mana ada cenel 20, blh xbagtau no cenel yang btl??

Malik Imtiaz Sarwar said...

Sorry, all. For some reason my decoder is still plugged on to channel 20. I take it that bobsam is correct - channel 513.

Laksarian said...

What the hell? 2 against 1? What kind of unfair nonsense is this? They should've brought 4!

Shanmuga K said...

Josh. Two against one is certainly unfair. Imtiaz has them outnumbered!

Anonymous said...

There are 2 groups of people in this world.

1) Who build a civilization
2) Who ruin/destroy a civilization.

My strongest opinion is that, the so called 'BERSIH' group is in the later category.

dino_yp@yahoo.com

Malik Imtiaz Sarwar said...

Dear Shan and Laksarian,

thanks for the vote of confidence. Expectations should however be left at 'earth' level. There was not that much time and the difficulty with 3 persons trying to speak at the same time is that not much gets to be said in the end. Having said that, there were some choice comments and concessions.

MIS

Malik Imtiaz Sarwar said...

dino_yp@yahoo.com,

your viewpoint is interesting. Could you expand on it for us? Why do you think that the BERSIH initiative would ruin civilization?

MIS

SalamMedia said...

fully support what you're doing.

Cant wait for it to be on AJE channel, youtube.

Laksarian said...

dino_yp you are absolutely correct. BERSIH will destroy the UMNO civilization and rebuild the Malaysian civilization that was promised to us by our forefathers.

keat aun said...

Malik,

since i saw you at the bangsa malaysia night in penang, i couldn't see a better person to come up against those two in a neutral venue. your clear and logical thinking will certainly put them in the shade. can't wait to catch it online (don't subscribe to astro or the mainstream newspapers).

thquah said...

Will be watching to see the 2 jokers have to spin. my support is for BERSIH, yellow is my colour.

Anonymous said...

anon 545pm

on what basis are you levelling this accusation against BERSIH?

Anonymous said...

BERSIH & Civilizations
======================
Numeric should be fading
if fairness do the talking!
Silence surely breaks!!
Parties not emphasized - Great!!

Raising Rights is building
Bully of the Police is decreasing
but still ruining
a proper civilization to be growing.

Civilization of PM and MP
will be drowning
if continue not performing.

PM and MP noises should be dimming
as People are voicing.
Hope all will be listening
so a fair civilization will be reaching!

Some civilization need to be ruined
and some civilization need to be built!
More illustrations will make it appeal.
Pros and Cons should be reviewed.

Anonymous said...

Can't wait to watch it.

Anonymous said...

Hello Malik,

My sincere gratitude and utmost respect to you and your work in building a just and fairer Malaysia.

May God bless you and your family.

I look forward to your insight on the finer points of our law and constitution, justice and fairness, and the broader human right issues.

Best regards.

Mr. Smith said...

It does not matter if it is 2 versus 1 or even four versus 1.
If that one person represents truth, number don't count.
How could the ministers deny that police resorted to violence?
How could they deny that this is a democracy when peaceful demonstration is treated with contempt?
If this is a democracy why was the demonstration not reported in the local dailies and national TV?
How could a responsible government brush aside the voice of 50,000 people as zero?
Syed Albar and Zam had already made themselves look stupid on cable TV. Let see how these two clowns perform tonight.

Anonymous said...

argh! i don't have astro so i hope this interview will be posted up at youtube.

having heard malik (at the malam bangasa malaysia in penang - i'm the penang organiser co-opted by the KL organiser), i'm sure malik will be able to handle 2, 3 or 4. :)

Unknown said...

All the best to you. And, please please remind Khairy about his "illegal" act of demonstration when Condoleeza Rice was here.

Cheers...

Malik Imtiaz Sarwar said...

Ben

the discussion was taped yesterday. Also, the Rice event had a permit, which is hardly surprising.

Teymoor pressed the point about UMNO events having no problems with police restrictions. Watch for it. I think he deserves a lot of credit, I was watching the fun.

MIS

Anonymous said...

It appears that many have taken to poetry since MIS started dabbling in it with his postings. It's very amusing and enlightening to see entire stanza's now devoted to politics all across the blogosphere, all with almost perfect rhyme and meter. :)

Anonymous said...

I Look forward for this to be on YouTube.


Having been abroad for a good part of a decade, it pains me to see the sorry state the country has become. However, it warms my heart seeing individuals such as your goodself taking a hard stance to fight alongside the rakyat, giving the voiceless a voice. I truly commend you Sir!

I say this not because I am affiliated with BIRSIH, nor any political party. I say this because I am Malaysian.

I will be watching these spaces closely.

Unknown said...

Ah so... good for you then!

Give him a 'broom'

Anonymous said...

make mincemeat out of em monkeys.

Anonymous said...

Will these two monkey beat zam for the unprestige biannual, bisexual "village idiot" award?

Anonymous said...

Malik should able to handle a school, flock, herd of them, unless they resort to unparliament behaviour like uniformly shouting "bodoh, bodoh, bodoh" and making a market scene out of this debate, shaming Malaysians further after the unINFORMATION minister's interview.

Anonymous said...

Hey malik great job mate. Anyways have you heard of the police brutality case that occurred during the march? Its on Nat tan's website. Take a look. Its pretty scary stuff.

Anonymous said...

Imtiaz will do fine....even against twenty monkeys.

Anonymous said...

Please, please someone, I'm begging, please post the WHOLE segment on Youtube. I don't have Astro.
I'm sure MIS can put the 2 buffoons (maybe the whole cabinet) in his pocket and walk off.
NoTelly

Anonymous said...

i am changing my schedule today to ensure I will be able to watch the AL JAZEERA....

The two names you mentioned are of higly strung individuals who have introduced gangstersim into Malaysian politics - would be fun to watch.

Pengguna Persil.

LIFE4Oman said...

Imtiaz, I am Rosman working in Doha. I just watched you in the air Doha time 5.30pm! I'd like to salute + congratulate you for being vocal, precise with "lawyer" words.. You killed the minister and that person, son in law. The UMNO rep were talking non-sense most of the time.. I thought you made a clear statement about the authority of EC !! I congratulated you with MALAYSIAN LOUD voice against the two " " what. I look forward for this great QA !! Well Done !

Anonymous said...

Dear Mr Malik,

I have just watched the discussion on Astro, and I would like to thank you for defending democracy and civil society with grace, professionalism, and dignity.

Yours,
Khairie

Jagjit Singh said...

just watched the interview!! 2 against 1 and the 1 won!! Nazri cant speak english to save his life but i was very impressed with KJ

Anonymous said...

I just caught the discussion on 513...(not May 13 OK). I'd have to say it was a no contest as far as I'm concerned. Our law minister was lost for words, or, was he trying to let KJ into a trap and mess thing up. Anyway, what was KJ doing there... representing the government?

Anonymous said...

Just caught the program. The part when Nazri was stunned and speechless when he was cornered about the lack of press coverage of the event - was priceless! At that point I caught a little smile on your face!
Great work Malik!

Anonymous said...

Congrats! You have cornered the two monkeys who resorted to lying to get out of the situation. "The press were free to report and there were no curbs"...according to Nazri. "phui!!"

Anonymous said...

have watched channel 513 with my family. great stuff. now the world can see for themselves the arrogance of the minister of kerusi & meja, nazri, and by the way; does umno youth second man outrank the minister? hmmm...i think the 2 couple is going to have hard time having a decent conversation with each other in the future...hahaha....
Nazri : no, no need changes. carry no weight at all.
Monkey king, KJ: i agree BUT the process...bla bla bla....
MIS, i dont think it is necessary for you to entertain them on 101east. both of them are capable enough to humiliate themselves, the government & UMNO!

Anonymous said...

Just watched the show. Well done Malek. You were cool and composed throughout and handled yourself very well. Nazri should be thankful the session ended when it did as he was starting to freak out and show his true colours. Khairy was his usual cocky know-it-all self. You were spot on with regards to the heartland voters, they are the true victims of UMNO and BN's fraud and crimes yet have no idea what hit them.
Stay cool brother!

Anonymous said...

I've just watched it which ended about 30 mins ago, what a lively debate indeed! If that was a football match, I think it was easily 70% possesion on your side, considering they spoke out of context a lot. After just two or three punches, nazri was left smiling despite some short grunts, and khairy had too much to say that he left quite a few important points he should've said. I would say, too bad, we needed real ministers to at least make us worry even a little bit!

Anonymous said...

Josh said...

Two against One? Is that fair, I wonder.

Yuh, very unfair. Malik Imtiaz have the upper hand.

Two of those bozos are not even a quarter of the man Malik Imtiaz is.

Anonymous said...

Just finnished watching the program. Must agree with you that you had a lot of fun for just being there. Nasri had shown the world what kind of gov minister he is by putting words into your mouth in the international news channel.

Anonymous said...

Al Jazeera's 101East forum on Bersih 15/11/07.

In 4 parts.

Parts 1 and 2 are ready.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ud3tNvQqdRU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1B3sYyzYr8

Parts 3 and 4 later.

:-)

Malik Imtiaz Sarwar said...

Thank you everyone for the kind comments and the encouragement. The interview was slightly longer and there were some choice exchanges that were left on the editing floor, about Nazri saying that the EC was not independent, there being no judicial crisis and the pleas of civil society falling on deafened ears.

MIS

Anonymous said...

Al Jazeera's 101East forum on Bersih 15/11/07. In 4 parts.

1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ud3tNvQqdRU

2)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1B3sYyzYr8

3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxLoBGlgavY

4)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6q7VxURy8gY

Pleasant viewing! :-)

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

malik sir! you were cool with all the answers. could have been better but thankful enough it wasnt RTM. either they listen or not, you've got the message across and thats what matters.

oh, and you werent sandwiched after all.

Anonymous said...

When I grow up, I want to be Malik Imtiaz :P

Sagaladoola said...

Hi everyone,

I have incorporated the Youtube videos in this blog page of mine:

BERSIH: Malik, Khairy, Nazri in Aljazeera Forum

Quoted matsputnik in my page.

If you think it is not appropriate for me to do that, please mail or inform me, yeah.

Regards,
Mail: lemmonate@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

Good job Malik! We are currently in London and therefore we have to wait for youtube. Anyway, we just finished watching the show. Woww.. you are really articulate, cool and at the same time, expressive. Well done brother and thank you for doing a great job for us!

A Chinaman/A malay kampung lady

Anonymous said...

MIS
You're 2 damn cheeky ... you had fun, didn't you like most of us who watched it last nite? Shoulder to shoulder with the award winning reporter, rather than being sandwiched between The Duo. By the way, this is my first comment here.
aMiR

Roy said...

Well done Malik. Two vs one or otherwise, you have demonstrated that indeed we are all fighting a real just and fair cause, while the govt is merely one of self-preservation.

We're all proud of you!

piqued said...

Great job Imtiaz. But how about that son-in-law; scary isn't it. It's a pity when the intelligent-articulate younger generation is seduced by the dark side. As for the smug petty minister, even the s-i-l seemed embarrassed by his presence.

Anonymous said...

KJ was busier correcting the damages done by Nazri than trying to attack MIS.

It is really a pity the dialogue shown is so short! Really loved it when the cameras capture Nazri with his goofy face on.

Such is the quality of our ministers, so I must admit, we are all 'stupid' to place them there.

Malik Imtiaz Sarwar said...

Malaysian In Riyadh,

can you blame me? But seriously, their position was, in my view, indefensible simply because it is. Nazri has admitted that the EC is not independent and is suborned to parliament and therefore the Government (UMNO). There was no need to use force - if the intention was merely to disperse, the Police could have made arrangements even before the day to allow for the march. They did not do this, instead demanding compliance on threat of reprisal. There was no question of constructive engagement. This was what Nazri and Khairy were having difficulty addressing, award winning journalist aside.

Thanks for swinging by. The same goes for everyone else.


MIS

Mr. Smith said...

Malik, you did fine 'against' Mr Stupid and Mr Arrogant.
Teymoor did a good job too in 'cornering' the duo with some question for which they had no plausible answers.
Mt Stupid lies when he said he read all about the rally in the newspapers, when in fact there were no such reports.
You were composed and very lucid with your arguments.
The preceding video clip of the demo defeated the duo even before the debate started.
Oh, yes, I understand all the newspapers were told not to carry any pictures of the rally from the 4th floor boys, presumably Mr Arrogant.

Anonymous said...

watched the show yesterday, interesting indeed. i'm impressed with your composure throughout the debate. it's unfortunate that they had to edit the final reel. the raw footage could have been too much to stomach.

peace,
j

Unknown said...

Dear Sir,

Kudos on a job well done. You clearly distinguished yourself in standards and shown to the world that nazri is ..Sub-par.

I can't help agree with Nazri on one thing .. that we're real stupid to put ppl like him into government.

Anonymous said...

Caught the show last night.

Interesting how Al-Jazeera tried to play up "people's sentiments" to increase ratings.

Examples;
1. Concentrated on clips from the only area where the police used water cannons. Can't remember if there's a clip on the peaceful march towards Istana.

2. Camera tried to catch Malik's facial expressions whenever KJ or the Menteri make certain statements.

3. Prematurely interrupted KJ's "politically correct" statements and focus "attack" on the less "sophisticated" minister

4. Menteri was put in a spot with a "Yes/No" question.

So, was it a fair reporting?

Hmmm....where can I get a truly unbiased view?

Anonymous said...

Hi MIS,

it was great....i only wished it could have been longer...well, my dad wished the same thing 2...the look on Nazri n Khairy's face just made my day... ;)

Anonymous said...

MIS,
Yah, I feel awfully sorry for the Minister. He lost steam towards the end, and that resigned look on his face. It says volume, well that's my first impression. Will watch the programme again for other priceless moments that I've somehow missed the first time it was on air. Hard Talk next?

.. said...

Malik,you did brilliantly well, against KJ and Nazri. As restrained as Nazri seemed, he still managed to call the voters stupid,so typical, leopard cant change its spots right. And, YES, how come UMNO doesnt need permit? How come no negotiation with Bersih first? All the people there were extremely peaceful, it was the police that used force.

Still shameful that millions were denied the truth.

Anonymous said...

you people just played to the hands of the opposition parties. who do these 40K or so demonstrators think they are representing? who? all us rakyat?? sorry to break yr bubble, but that day, you were pawns of the opposition.
sure the opposition claims that BERSIH consists of 60 plus Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and a small "insignificant" number of 5 Opposition political parties, making this a "non political " rally. i hear that all the time from those in favour of the rally.

that statement is nothing more than political tactic made up by the opposition, a cunning and manipulative one. the obvious outcome of such rally is more ppl voting for the opposition. and you all would hv just played into their hands.
they hype the crowd with feel good statements, use the king (who was horse riding in trengganu tht day) to raise the emotions of these pawns , instructed their members (the bulk of protesters) to not waive party flags to reinforce their claim tht this is a rakyat rally not a political one, repeatedly harp on all the bad things BN has done ( which they have - yes im not a BN supporter) , with the extensive news coverage from tv3 to al jazeera, the opposition hit a home run this time. great publicity , and hopefully more angered voters and fence sitters voting for them.

yea yea , i hear u ..of 60 plus non govt org only "insignificant" 5 opposition political parties, or in percentage terms, 7% of bersih is opposition parties.

ok so tell me , so tell me why is it that 5 out of 7 delegation that went to to hand the memorandum to the King were leaders of opposition political parties?

sorry to break yr bubble, im a rakyat. u did nothing for me except made a 1/2 hr journey turn into a 3 hr journey thanks to traffic and roadblocks. enough of your 'we did it for malaysia' and yr 'daulat tuanku'..you guys didnt gv an ass abt the tuanku when they were beaten to the ground by DrM. and u didnt do it for malaysia, you did it for the 5 ppl out of 7 that went to see the king... who was in trengganu horse riding.

Deepblue_dude said...

Malik,
You spoke well on the finer legal points and legitimacy of the BERSIH rally. The government, represented by 3 speakers (Zam (on the 1st interview), KJ and Nazri) obviously could not replicate their UMNO arguments in front of an international audience who will, in no doubt, find their opinions and views, weak and partisan to their party politics.

I am in no doubt that in today's UMNO, KJ IS in the political driving seat after yesterday's interview. His ability to articulate to his audience (of course not to those outside of UMNO) coupled with the nature of UMNO politics will definitely see him rise through the ranks (subjected to of course Pak Lah remaining in control).

I am however apalled with Nazri for his continued state of denial and view that after 50 years, there is still no need for change in the system which is obviously starting to lag (if not already lagged) behind major economies.

I worry for fellow Malaysians (to whom you refer to as the Heartland) who are continuously subjected to this lack of political will to improve the institutions, which will ultimately improve their livelihood (in the basic way that I see it). They will continue to be marginalized in the face of such complacency against such change. UMNO is breeding a dangerous future and if Pak Lah is to be remembered as a good and strong leader, I hope he starts showing a better sense of appointing better leaders, at the least, some better than people like Nazri and Zam.

Anonymous said...

Hey dude, thanks for voicing out the truth, much respect for you, cheers!

Anonymous said...

KJ cleverly deflected the question on whether UMNO would have got the permit if the event was organised by them. Too bad the question was not pursued harder, as I'm sure KJ would have broken apart.
As for Nazri, I would not even bother commenting.....

Anonymous said...

Malik, u are awesome. I so have a crush on you now ;)

Dominic said...

Imtiaz, I appreciated the fact that you made mention of certain segments of the Police also helping the crowd in their march to see the King. I was impressed that some of the cops were working together with the Unit Amal Malaysia in stopping traffic to ensure that the crowd could cross the roads safely. Kudos to those individuals in the police where responsibility to crowd safety came first.

Anonymous said...

Dear rh,

you want unbiased views? really really unbiased views??
well...according to nutzri, you can just read our local press.
If you cant sense that kj is trying very hard to spin-off the questions on hand, regardless of the camera angle, i'm sorry to say that you would not be able to recognised 'unbiased views' even if it is a 2ton lorry running you over. Use you god given brain to think through it please. those ppl who protested under BERSIH is fighting for a freer election. it is not easy to fight for these changes in Malaysia. the mountain is against us. i agree with MIS that the rural areas ppl are more ill-informed & / OR misinformed! do you think the gahmeh is going to give a hoot by giving them your so called 'fair reporting'??
monkey king's speech was cut short because he was trying to diviate from the discussed issue. if the host does not stop him, my god!, you think air time is as flexible as borak-borak in coffee shop? you said 'attack' less sophisticated minister? helOOOooo, is it the host's problem if nutzri cant even hold his ground? wake up, this is the reality! OR...you want the host to pass a pacifier for nutzri to suck on?!

keat aun said...

to realist,

i used to be a BN supporter (if it ain't broke, don't fix it - that was then), but now i support the opposition. why? - there are just too many things wrong in this country and i surely don't need to list them down and BN does not seem to want to fix them. so if you are not a BN supporter, why give a rat's ass if more people fall for the opposition's "tricks"? share with us your ideas to fix the wrongs in this country instead of complaining about the inconvenience the police caused you with the roadblocks and subsequent traffic jams? make a stand, brother!

Anonymous said...

Hi, Malik,
The discussion was a big let down. Look like Aljazeera was out to score point after being rebuked for the 10-Eleven coverage. The main issue of the Bersih 10-Eleven Rally was hardly touched.The moderator had cleverly steered away from it. He stressed more on police action. You did not talk much. I guessed you were there as a "flower pot" to give some credibility o the discussion. Your body language and facial expression showed aplenty. the other two were gloating away. SIL was his usual arrogant self with the nothing-can-touch-me attitude. The Ministerr could wait for the show to be over. He was bored by the whole thing. May be he just wants to go back to his 'constituency' Anyway, syabas.
The Rakyat has spoken. To borrow from the Bar Council Chairperson ... when the Rakyat walks, you better take notice.

multidimid said...

Watch the latest Better Quality Video Clips (Visuals & Sound) on the Al Jazeera 101 East Forum on Bersih Rally
Part I - 8 min;
Part II - 9 mins 40s
with inserted Video Clip on the Protest March on 10 Nov 07; And the last Q & A transcript
Teymoor: As a representative of the younger generation of the UMNO Party, do you agree with what the minister said or do you think there is room for change within the institutional structure
Khairy Jamaluddin: I agree with what the minister says. There is nothing wrong with the system. There need to be some changes to the process to strengthen it. The institutions are fine the system works we lose an election, we lost Kelantan we lost before. More details at:
http://powerpresent.blogspot.com/2007/11/al-jazeera-bersih-rally-forum-videos.html

Anonymous said...

What Nazri & Khairy actually said was:
"The loaded dice is working, there's no need for change"

Anonymous said...

Malik,

Greetings from down under, where the opposition party is enjoying the same previlege accorded to the ruling party in terms of tv air time,etc for the coming election.

You would not have so easy if you were in parliament - because the Speaker will keep interrupting you!!

Seriously though, you were great - calm and composed, delivering factual and sensible arguments. The same can't be said about the other two.

Khairy has quite a good command of the language, but it's a pity that ability is wasted defending the indefensible.

And credit goes to Teymoor for the handling of the forum - a far cry from johan jaafar on rtm!!

Anonymous said...

Salam Malik,
I have never met you before, never seen/heard you talk in public b4 this, but are you always this calm?
This is an asset.
Did catch one rather naughty (?) or exasperated (?) look from you.
The Minister looked shell-shocked, i thot. And if nothing else from sil, i at least now know how england is spoken,the oxford way. Oh, and i looked up "plethora".

Anonymous said...

Dear realist & aw dai kooi,

i'm sure you even confused yourself sometime. Can you even find your way back to the department that sent you..@_@

http://www.savefile.com/files/1198472

BALLOT BOX PLZZ - i am so waiting to cast my vote!!!

MakLijah said...

I must say to you what a great job you did, Malik. Thank you, thank you so much for representing us so well.

We answered questions well and addressed issues that matter (in such a limited span of time).

You did the smart thing and let those two shoot themselves in the foot. They contradicted themselves and used bad conduct of putting words in your mouth. But i see you are man composed enought yo handle it.

Please continue your postings and visit mine once in a while?

Anonymous said...

so unfair, so insulting, Malik against 2 monkeys, don't they have humans anymore?

Anonymous said...

Dear ycg,

Honestly, like in 1999, I am sitting on the fence for next year's general election.

I hope your immature ramblings do not represent the attittude of the opposition parties. The opposition need votes from "neutrals" to win. They should not practice the "if you don't agree with me, then you are against me" Bush-like attitude. Opposition parties should win hearts and not alienate the neutrals. When one starts using demeaning names to describe others, then one becomes no better than .......

Sunday's rally show the strategic dexterity of the opposition party and the lack of credible spin doctors within BN. Seems like One-Nil to the opposition party. I'm sure ycg was there amongst the yellow wave to view this first hand.

I like football (soccer) and I equate the elections to the beautiful game. BN is the home team and will use home advantage. If the away team plays with wingers, the home team make the pitch narrower. If the away team plays passing game, the home team grows the grass longer to slow the ball. If the away team play long balls, make the pitch and grass shorter. That is not cheating but making use of home advantage (btw, trying to equate this with demarcation of voting areas). The away team may have more possession (equating to popular votes), but if they do not score (equating to winning seats), then they lose the match.

When billions of ringgit is at stake, winning is everything.

Looking forward to better balance of power.

btw, Malik, you seem rather subdued on the show....

Anonymous said...

We've posted this everywhere n we'll keep on doing so to prove our point!

To all the khairy jamaluddins n nazris out there...
Mothers n housewives of our beloved country has this to say to u...
Remember! WE r the majority voters!!!!

We Will be heard!

Come rain or shine!
Arms entwined, we’ll march the line!
Whatever the color, we really don’t mind!
Whatever race, creed or rank, in purpose we bind!
Whatever it takes, in spirit or in kind!
We Will be heard, we Will Not be undermined!

We do not wish to think, or speak, or write with moderation.
We are in earnest. We will not equivocate.
We will not excuse. We will not retreat a single inch.
And we Will be heard!
We Will have our say, and we Will be heard!
The future belongs to us. We Will be heard!

- Your mother, your wife, your sister, your mother-in-law! -

MakLijah said...

You showed poise and calmness.

Khairy's demeanor seemed very combative with his overly grand gestures coupled with his usual diatribe. As usual.

Nazri seemed somewhat practiced and more restraint than usual. Yet his bigotry still shines through at the end.

My compliments to you for remaining patient and my thanks for explaining to the world what BERSIH stood for.

Anonymous said...

so now, those who dont agree with the opposition are cybertroopers. sigh, and u all keep bashing the ruling party for its propagandas.

cant u idiots swallow the fact that not everyone who is against the opposition are BN supporters?

Anonymous said...

dear deepblue dude,

IMHO, KJ's riding high in UMNO because of relationship. He has articulate intelligent rhetorics but seems that he is not speaking the "UMNO language". Seems that UMNO audience don't get the same vibes. Difficult to explain but I hope you get my point. If you managed to catch this week's Bersama Menteri on TV1 with Idris Jusoh, then you'll know what I mean.

UMNO should utilise him as a spokesperson to the international press where he is able to impress and be understood; much like Anwar Ibrahim, the "Renaissance Man" who used to be synonymous with UMNO

Anonymous said...

realist

So what if the rally was an opposition thing? I walked not because who organized it. I walked because of a need for a fair and free election. Democracy is meaningless without a fair and free election.

Don't blame us for the traffic jam you were stuck in. We didn't lock down KL.

Btw, I don't belong to any political party but am only an ordinary citizen exercising his right to assemble peacefully without arms which is guaranteed by the Constitution but denied by those in power.

Anonymous said...

Enjoyed the discourse last night. But very concerned about KJ. He is articulate, and hence all his emotional outbursts have to be choreographed. If that is true, then there is a fantastic conspiracy agenda ongoing. We will wake up one day and find ourselves in a "fatal" checkmate situation.

Anonymous said...

What i find worrying is how Nazri said he gets his news only from the local newspapers. And he is a government leader and policymaker? He doesn't get intelligence reports? He doesn't look at online news? He doesn't watch cable TV? Gosh, if our Government Ministers are so misinformed/underinformed, then we should be so worried.

Anonymous said...

Dear rh,

[Honestly, like in 1999, I am sitting on the fence for next year's general election.]
And I'm sure humpty dumpty was your pal.

[I hope your immature ramblings do not represent the attittude of the opposition parties.] - jorr! why you like that one? if i so bad, worse come to worse, u n me, like pot calling the kettle black lor...

[They should not practice the "if you don't agree with me, then you are against me" Bush-like attitude.] - but the PM pantan*..., and the naz* & naj* & khai*.., awhh...nevermind :P .

[Opposition parties should win hearts and not alienate the neutrals.] - Neutrals, pro BN or existing pro opposition, do we really need to segregate them like you said? all are citizen! we, including you, have the right to know. once those we elected to protect the very existence of these freedom abused their power and take it away from us...*sigh*...to think that you are still on the fence.

[When one starts using demeaning names to describe others, then one becomes no better than .......] - ergh...demeaning name calling...i wonder who :P

[I'm sure ycg was there amongst the yellow wave to view this first hand.] - *nod**nodnod*...so was ali, muthu & ah kow...but we missed you...oh ya...you were on the fence, neither here nor there...sorrysorry.

[Seems like One-Nil to the opposition party.] - ya, ya, it was like 1-nil to the people! then then these minister & umnopoop keeps scoring own goal...its like they dont even need the opposition...what a sight i tell you.

[....lack of credible spin doctors within BN] - see, mengaku pun using spin doctor. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spin_(public_relations). Say if they were to spin it successfully, who would you vote then?

[I like football...then they lose the match.] - okok...you continue to play your balls on the fence while I continue bringing the news to the people.

[When billions of ringgit is at stake, winning is everything.] - so you do agree money is involved...and a big sum too huh...and you are still on the fence...huh...

[Looking forward to better balance of power.] - EH!? talking my language ar? so, does this mean you are coming down from the fence finally?

[btw, Malik, you seem rather subdued on the show....] - MIS, on the contrarary, anything more would be really boasting.

Natasha Fernz said...

Dear Mr Malik

Well done on East 101.

Initially I thought it was really infair that Al-Jazeera had 2 people from the ruling government. But by the end of the show, I realised that you alone outwitted the two of them easily.

Even KJ, the snooty Oxford grad didn't stand a chance against you!

Well done and thank you.

God bless

Natasha

Anonymous said...

Logic (?) of Politician & Government official?
================================
1. Protest was "illegal" but allowed to show democracy while appealing to Agong. But gathering has to be dispersed!
2. March greeted by Water cannons with chemicals and Teargas at Masjid Jamek while those around Istana was given escort.
3. Teargas and Water Cannons with Chemicals were NOT FORCE!
4. Police were prepared for riot so they used Water Cannons with Chemicals and Teargas in the March (even without riot!).
5. Information Minister has to refer to newspaper for all the information when medias are regulated.
6. Traffic Jam because of Police's blocks due to Protest. So, Protest was the cause of the Traffic Jam.
7. Medias spot nothing on Istana.
8. A lot of changes so the Voice in the March need not!
9. Constitution need no change as Government and the Minsters are elected by the People. So, they are representing People!!
10. Institutional reform no need as the institution being well for the last 50 years and no unfair should be mentioned!
11. Information are regulated and will be self-regulated even information now is much under informed!

FAIR IS THE TOPIC
INTERVIEW WITH NO PANIC
IF TALKS ARE BACK-UP WITH CREDITS
AND REALISTIC!

WISDOM STANDS ALL WAVES
BUT TUMBLING WHEN TRUTH NOT CONVEYED
OR BETRAYED!

After all the rounds
it was a merry-go-round
to say the government have no ground!
Hopefully rules & regulations around
with Laws & Constitutions rebound!!

Anonymous said...

MOTHER R US

If they had a heart
they know Democracy was surpassed
Fairness was threaded apart.
No Rally will be hurt
but all Rights be heard
instead of taking Voice as dirt!

The Rally had gone through
not because 40,000 or 50,000 is true
but they had to let a Royal through.
This helped to stop further blues!

Malik in the show
a clear sign of Human Rights.
The Son-In-Law to speak of Politics?
The minister to speak of info and juridic?
They thought they can make magic
when video gave more than statistic!

They thought they were to debate
but they forgot they were to confess!

THE RALLY NOT HEARD
BY POWERS IN THE HERD
BUT HOPEFULLY HEARD
BY THOSE TO ELECT
TO FIND THOSE WHO CARE AND CAN LEAD
SO SHADE ALL OF YOU FROM RAIN & SHINE
AND FORGET THE CANNONS AND TEARGAS!!

A TRANSPLANT IS NEEDED
BEFORE ALL WILL BE HEARD!
TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT HEARTS
WITH A CAREFUL HEART!!
TIME TO THINK HARD
ONLY AN INDEPENDENT EC COULD START!!

Anonymous said...

hi!
Mr Malik...thanks alot to be a saviour from that 2 'taghut' person from UMNO...you're great men!!

Mr. HATE UMNO!!

toyolbuster said...

2 against 1 is very unfair. To pit against Malik Imtiaz, Al Jazeera should have invited the entire cabinet ministers to participate. 2 morons against Malik, I would say thats poor representation by the govt.

Chong Zhemin said...

Just watched the clip on youtube. You did a good job malik. Keep it up.

Nazri was so ignorant to call the people in heartland stupid. another malaysian minister embarassed himself in front of the world.

Anonymous said...

MIS,

I'm sorry you had to spend valuable time to address an obviously silly school bully retort by the minister (probably retaliating sorely after loosing ground in the argument) about people being stupid. That was such a low blow, that I winced just watching him. I was impressed with the moderator, loved the fact he had national papers at hand .

Long Man said...

congratulations and thank you for your profesionalism while with aljazeera...

lad said...

well done malik..

Anonymous said...

First things first, congratulations on your notable performance. It was both a calm and lucid delivery. I suppose speaking about the general truth, being objective and not defensive, have its advantages.

I, however, have my reservation about the efficacy of overhauling an ingrained system overnight.

We all agree that 50 years of antediluvian, old-school UMNO's policies and pillages is more than criminal enough. But let's face it..

UMNO is a bedraggled institution that is well entrenched among the majority. We cannot just get rid of it overnight. Are we totally eliminating the possibility of engaging it so that transparency and institutional reforms can be gradually introduced and executed?

What if, within the anachronistic political party, there exists a new school of thought made up of learned, new blood adopting world views; WITH the power to effect changes?

You know who I am referring to - KJ. His intentions may appear to be 'au contraire' but what if he has a bigger agenda?

I am apprehensive to go with the popular vehemence of demanding changes overnight because it would mean going against well-oiled political machineries within an environment that is made up of a largely uninformed populace.

Economically and geo-politically, in order for all to survive in the long-run, a reunification with Singapore founded on meritocracy is the way forward.

After all present day China did not arrive through the complete destruction of the communist party or the forceful introduction of western-style democracy.

What are your thoughts, Mr. Malik?

me said...

I'm 100% agree what you have said in the 101 east forum ..nice work .

zewt said...

well done... you spoke intelligently... unlike that that that that that... u know...

Deriku said...

Well done on the interview. I would've expected a better reply from Nazri but then here is a person that calls the rakyat stupid for electing them to office.

Anonymous said...

Imtiaz,
watched it on youtube. well done! the monkey minister tried to corner you with the "so you are calling the voters stupid" statement - but you explained it very well. I was surprised that there were no expletives from nazri - or did it get sliced by the editor?

- a former varsity mate.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations Malik!
I was not worried about you being alone. You had facts and arguments behind you - a man with truth defeats millions with lies.
Nazri and Khairy clearly were on their guard. They were vividly scrutinized by the host who clearly doubts their misleading and contradictory arguments. As a neutral observer may agree, it was clear whos' side was better off from the debate.

Anonymous said...

MIS, i must say you represented the face and the voice of the silent majority with your articulate comments. Syabas !

KJ was just trying to show off his accent while Nazri talked without substance and acted like a gangster throughout the interview.

Is that the best ppl UMNO/ government can offer?? What a shame !

Anonymous said...

Official Youtubes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJXOVrziDlY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpGBTBkBcPc

Unknown said...

hi all.

seriously Mr.Malik your interview was so professional. you answer the question with intellectual answers. but the others, answer were not up to a professional level.

my personal opinion. i would love to see malaysia being a prosperous and developed country. the only way is to leave out racial sentiments and work together as malaysian. let us dont be distinguished by races. then i believe we can do wonders. sadly currently we are not like that.

Malik Imtiaz Sarwar said...

Lalat Dinding,

I think institutional change will take time. An expectation for overnight change is not a realistic one. Having said that, a sincere intention to effect change, in thought, deed and action, are essential for starting us off on the right path. Thus far we have heard a lot of rhetoric, usually at cross-purposes with 'spin' on key issues, and very little meaningful action. We have seen almost no sincerity.

Any process of change must start with a recognition of change.

Sadly, the nation is held to ransom by UMNO's internal goings-on and politics. We hear so much being said of how UMNO politicians have to keep things in control internally, and how, if they want to remain in the game, they have to treat that as a priority. So much so that the internal politics has subsumed everything else.

I am not convinced of the viability and strength of the 'working a change from within' that you are perhaps alluding to. The UMNO system is too idiosyncratic to lend itself to change.

The change must come from the rakyat. We need to start re-thinking our acceptance of race and racialist politics. We need to see that divisions like those that exist, and that being allowed to become more entrenched, leave us all vulnerable to abuses by those who have power, abuses that may ultimately lead us down a path of no return.

MIS

Satya said...

Dear Mr. Imtiaz,

Thanks for all your efforts to make Malaysia a better place for us all. More specifically, excellent stuff from you at the interview! Well done. As an earlier commenter observed, having the truth on your side and not having to lie and spin certainly helps.

I would disagree with those here who thought you were up against 2 monkeys though. I think credit goes to you and to Teymoore Nabili for not allowing Khairy to get away with a lot of things. He was doing a good job of it too at one point in the interview. It may have been less one-sided (in your favour) if it was just Khairy and you on the show.

Interestingly, I noticed that in the mainstream media, Nazri has tried to take most of the credit for Khairy's clever spinning and patch-up work of the former's mistakes. Bernama has (deliberately?) attributed some of Khairy's statements to Nazri. Check out http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/11/17/nation/19494192&sec=nation to see what I mean.

It's too bad that portions of the interview were edited out. Could you please give us some more details on exactly what was discussed regarding the independence of the SPR and the judicial crisis?

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

The world needs more people like Malik. It'll be a much better place. Rock on, Malik!

I felt Khairy had to cover up a few things that Nazri said. LOL.

Anonymous said...

The show was on two sides!
=========================

Close your eyes!
and look at Malik
with an eye
and then both eyes!

Close your eyes!
and look at the other side
with an eye
and then both eyes!

What have you got?

1 vs 2 - the Aljazeera's wisdoms on the spot!
One already hint here
if one go thru the notes!
Similarly for The Makcik and The Hunk
where "LuLu" had hung
together with what the Police hunt!

Wisdoms are many where
IF they are there
when people care!!

One is bigger than two!
When truth is the tool
instead of merry-go-rounds!

DoctorWho said...

Dear Sir,

Hi, I'm a medical doctor from the UK. I would just like to voice my support and congratulate you on your excellent and concise description of events on Al Jazeera. Even though it was clearly a two versus one event, but the forum moderator (and any other right thinking person) was clearly on your side, and rightly so. It's citizen like yourself that gives Malaysia some hope of recovery. I shall pass this clip on to my friends. Meanwhile, keep up the brilliant job!

Best regards.

DoctorWho said...

As for the Law Minister, who has a tendency of repeating the same word again and again, equipped with barely twenty words in Engrish vocabulary, you could clearly see his resigned shell-shocked look after twenty minutes when he exhausted his vocabulary. I could sense KJ quivering and squirming in his pants, giving the minister long hard stares towards the end of the interview...That just wins the cookies.

Anonymous said...

Dear all,

those government monkeys on tv was embarrassing themselves...

trying to twist around with their words but not able to handle with great ppl like the lawyer and interviewer. their english was superb while our so-called UMNO'S STUPID MONKEY's english was not good enough to handle them.

Malik doing a great job in fighting these two monkey on 101 East.

I represent the whole nation to salute you MIS.


BERSIH ROCKS!!!

Anonymous said...

Mr Imtiaz,

congratulations on your wonderful display of words, profesionalism and maturity. you certainly are at a different level than the other 2 politicians in the al jazeera interview. how i wish there were more of them so you can hentam them all sekaligus.

well done and keep it going :) hope to see you doing more bashings. A just and fairer Malaysia is counting on people like you :)

cheers

Blow d' whistle said...

hi MIS

please let people know the different between government and U Must Never Object(UMNO)...civil servant like me are not UMNO and we sometimes get bored when being link to UMNO...please4X....

kami cuma pelaksana dasar...whoever rules the country can have our services.

Anonymous said...

I'm a student from UK, watched the video on youtube. I just wanted to say, I admired your level of honesty and passion towards a better future for all Malaysian.

I prayed earnestly that your passion to see a better future for our country will not shaken, but will be challenged and strengthen after each obstacle. May the lord continue guide you.

Lastly, a not of appreciation, you might have hear this all all the times, but I would like to personally say, "Thank you"

Warwick University,
UK
CV4 7AL

Anonymous said...

Thank you Malik for speaking on behalf of we Malaysians. May God Bless people like u abundantly.

47 said...

Mr Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, you're cool! :) I love the clarity and the lucidity of your arguments. Clear cut and precise, keep it up man!!

Anonymous said...

Dear Mr.Imtiaz,

Firstly I would like to thank you for representing us, Malaysians on this talk show because quite frankly I could not relate to the other two. Being a not very informed 22 year old about the current affairs that is happening in Malaysia, due to what I feel the Governments lack of courage in practicing transparency or distributing information to the citizens of Malaysia or probably even my lack of initiative, individuals like you inspire others to make an effort to know and understand whats happening, spark the civil rights consciousness amongst Malaysian citizen and this might translate to actions that would might make a difference in the end. Thank you again, and I would also like you to know that your Blog has another regular reader.

Vyannan

Anonymous said...

Congrats! I think you did really well at the discussion on Al-Jazeera. You made us all proud. I must say you were so impressive that you got some girls having crushes on you.. Did you know there was a question posted on Yahoo and the Q is : Is Malik Imtiaz married ?..(I was amazed)

You seem to be also scoring points with the girls with that discussion =). Not that you need any held in that department.

Anyways ! Well done imtiaz.

Anonymous said...

care to stand for MP this coming GE, you have my vote!!

Sarnan said...

I think the "discussion" was seriously exciting. The "minister" and his "sidekick" had many plausible points, but the Human Rights lawyer "Malik Imtiaz Anwar" was spot on!!!! I support the part where some of the commenters pointed out "they should have brought more members representing the government"

Anonymous said...

Dear Anonymous November 22, 2007 10:50:00,

I'm not surprised. I too have a very high regard for Malik.

Anonymous said...

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN,

I am a Malaysian citizen, and I am a subscriber of ASTRO Satellite TV Broadcast here in Malaysia. Recently I have subscribed to the ASTRO News Package which contains Al Jazeera and other foreign news media.

I was highly looking forward for the international news broadcast on all of the stations provided by the package when I had shocking news from our local news station claiming that the foreign news broadcasters are lying and making stories without properly acquiring the real facts and they are very good actors !!! Furthermore these claims were also made by our government's politicians.

Now, this is rather disturbing and disappointing for me as I have only subscribed for the service for just a few days and I'm being bombarded with such claims. This eventually made me to think:

Am I an IDIOT to subscribe, pay and end up watching acts and lies
OR
Is there is any conspiracy going on here????

I clearly understand the fact that Al Jazeera has a strong principal called the Code of Ethics and you strictly follow it. But the claims by the politicians and local media here make me to think otherwise.

The claims below were broadcasted on 27-November-2007 in TV3 news station. Similar claims were also made in other local newscasters. This is just a few of the claims.

1. TV3 news station claimed that the foreign media cannot be trusted as they do not report the actual news.

2. YAB Datuk Sri Samy Velu claims that there were only 4,600 demonstrators on 25-November-2007 and NOT 50,000 or any other number as claimed by the foreign media.

3. TV3 news station said that the questions thrown at the Information Minister of Malaysia by Al Jazeera (Al Jazeera's name was mentioned) was to purposely create a scene to show that Malaysia is in kiosk situation and Al Jazeera purposely built up the story from the real one. They also mentioned the criticism made by the Information Minister to Al Jazeera.

(Prior to sending the mail, I did some research on the net and actually found the video clip of the above Interview in Youtube. And I actually laughed myself out listening to the reply given by our Minister. Pity him for his language. But in the Malaysian news channel TV3, they only provided the "CLEAN" version of the transcript and the actual call was not aired. This makes me even more confused!!! Who is telling the truth here???)

Now, if Al Jazeera is telling lies,

It is high time for Al Jazeera to review back their Code of Ethics and provide the truth for the people. If you can't do it then don't cheat the entire world. And don't broadcast your news at all. I am not a fool to keep paying for acts and lies.

And if Al Jazeera is NOT lying,

Well, what the heck. The damage has already been done. No one in Malaysia is going to listen to your news anyway due to the "VERY GOOD" publicity done by the Malaysian politicians and the local media. By the way, did I mention that our local media could also be received by our neighboring countries like Singapore and Thailand?


FINAL CONCLUSION

It is not my intension to insult Al Jazeera, other foreign media, our local media or the politicians. If you feel offended by this email, I sincerely apologize to you. Whatever the scenario is, all that I want (and the rest of Malaysian citizens who are in my situation want) is the truth. Since Al Jazeera's and other foreign media's names have been badly damaged here in Malaysia, Al Jazeera and the other foreign media's SHOULD do something to fix it back or you may start loosing your viewer in Malaysia.(and its surrounding countries too)

I hope you could keep my details confidential and properly investigate on this issue (just incase if you don't trust me) and find out the real truth behind such a drastic claims by our local media. That is if you still follow your Code of Ethics.


Yours truly,
A concerned viewer.

PS:
1. i am also forwarding this mail to other foreign media for their response.
2. i will be posting this transcript in the internet via blogs so that the viewers around the world will be aware that this matter has been brought to your attention and for them to express their views.