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PDRM vs Bersih: A tale of two truths


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'Why can't the government put their version in YouTube and ask people to watch and also analyze those already there?'

Rais urges rakyat to see the truth of July 9 rally

Restless_Native: When the information minister has to intervene to "explain the truth" behind the Bersih 2.0 rally, you know the administration is getting desperate.

This follows Najib's cancellation of his holiday "to be with the rakyat". They can see that the writing is on the wall and are ratcheting up the spin, hoping to reach the "uninformed kampong folk" and sway their opinions.

Karma: Earlier, they urged people to bring in evidence to them for analysis. Just a few days later, they said they have their own version. Why can't they put their version on YouTube and ask people to watch and also analyze those already there?

KSD: Can somebody please put that RTM video online? Sorry, I have not watched the state-owned TV for 25 years.

It would be good if it is on YouTube and the rest of the world can see it so that netizens can compare the RTM videos and the rakyat videos. Perhaps also make some comments.

Geronimo: RTM? Is it still around? I thought it has gone extinct with the dinosaurs. Anyway, I have not tune in to the station for many years now, especially with its bad video quality.

RTM is controlled by Umno. So what do you expect us to see? That the police actually did brutalise the protesters on July 9, or are going to show how kind the police were by providing first aid and drinks to the demonstrators like they do in Hong Kong, or are you going to doctor the video to distort the real event?

Anonymous: The BN's version of the 'truth' isn't necessarily the real truth. Why should the rakyat believe you rather than the scores of photos and videos that are in the Internet? What makes the BN's 'truth' facts and the rakyat's lies?

KitaAkanSiasat: Information Minister Rais Yatim, do you think we, the rakyat, will believe video footage screened by a government-owned TV channel that has undergone weeks of filtering and tampering?

Like any other government-linked media institution, we expect the video to be biased and selective. You are blatantly lying to the 50,000 rally-goers who directly witnessed things contrary to your claims.

You should remember what former premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's advice that "economic progress and better education have directly resulted in the birth of a class of voters who are better informed, very demanding and highly critical".

Abdullah also said, "If we do not heed this message, their seething anger will become hatred and in the end this may cause them to abandon us altogether."


DPM: Police's Bersih footage shows the truth

Wira: The Bersih 2.0 footage came out live and was uploaded to YouTube soon after the event took place. Police footage came out more than two weeks after.

If both of them tell a different story, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, you tell me which version is likely to be altered.

Disbeliever: Of course, the police video is authentic and shows the truth. The thing is the video cameraman from the police department will obviously focus on all the pretty things that the police did and all the bad things that the rakyat did on July 9. Which manufacturer will say its product is defective?

On the other hand, the videos that have been circulating on YouTube and other Internet sites are mostly taken by the ordinary folks who were either part of the Bersih rally or innocent bystanders and even international videographers.

So Muhyiddin, are you telling us that the police speak the truth and all others are liars? On July 9, there were the good police officers and there were also some bad ones who kicked and stomped on the protesters. Then there were those who fired teargas into the Tung Shin Hospital.

Because of some bad apples, the whole force gets a bad name. But who is to be blamed if not the police themselves?

Freemsia: Are we to also believe the photograph on Berita Mingguof the guy throwing a batu (rock) and holding a pisau (knife)?

YellowBoxer: All those hundreds of YouTube video clips were tampered with? These ordinary people who did the tampering must all be experts at doctoring videos then.

But if anyone should be accused of tampering, it is probably the police. They have the expertise who could do this. That's why it took them a few weeks before they could screen the clips.

Louis: Footage from online media were screened as soon as the rally was over. Where can they find so much time to doctor the recordings. Moreover, they do not have the resources to do it.

On the other hand, the government has money and experts in doctoring recordings at its disposal. And it took almost three weeks before the police recordings were shown. In the meantime, what happened to the recordings? Must have been edited a thousand times, I suspect.

Gerard Samuel Vijayan: The police in Malaysia are experts in tampering, editing and fabricating evidence. They will probably show some clip of an Indonesian riot and pass it off as Bersih 2.0 or get something from the 1998 pro-Anwar demonstrations and say that it took place last week.

The authorities should be the last persons to talk about the truth. The government has lost all credibility. Nobody trusts them any more even if they want to tell the truth.

As they say, when you overdo things and indulge in endless spin, eventually your message gets lost. The fact remains in Malaysia no public expressions of dissent are tolerated, period.

Acissej: "It is easier for a king to have a lie believed than a beggar to spread the truth." - Robert Strecker, MD.

Malaysiakini

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