No Sympathy, says Khaled Nordin

Instead of reproaching acts of mob violence – as in the case of the attack at Dataran Merdeka – Higher Education minister Khaled Nordin (left) struck a dispassionate chord by chiding students who were attacked. In comments on his Twitter account, Khaled said the students should not expect sympathy when such incidents take place.

"No one told them to camp out at Dataran. So when these things happen, don't cry for pity," he wrote.

In fact, this has caused PAS deputy president Mat Sabu to wonder if Khaled's insensitive stand was due to the culprits being hired by UMNO.

Rights group Suara Rakyat Malaysia said the latest violence unleashed on the Dataran Merdeka occupiers was just one of many in a series of gangster-like actions inspired by UMNO-backed groups. Its executive director Nalini Elumalai listed similar incidents this year, including the disruption on January 21 of an event in Shah Alam co-organised by the 'Anything But UMNO' movement and Indian rights group Hindraf, the commotion caused by UMNO and Perkasa members when they disrupted anti-Lynas protesters at Penang's Speakers' Corner on February 26, and the violence by UMNO at a Felda settlement in Gambang, Pahang, which greeted an event attended by PKR vice president Nurul Izzah Anwar. Lawlessness is spreading like a contagion and the police are not doing anything!

I cannot help but speculate if this and other incidents echo the ‘blood and bones’ battle cry promises of Najib Razak at the last UMNO general assembly.

Yesterday, I was in Petaling Jaya for the MIHRM Toastmasters meeting. I played the role of a Grammarian. There were good speeches but the evaluations and the other proceedings were just so-so. But time management was poor – we started thirteen minutes late and we finished the meeting twenty-five minutes behind schedule. Toastmasters are getting to be really slack about time. Perhaps we should just do away with the Timekeeper’s role since we start and end meetings according to our whims and fancies? I shall give this particular meeting a score of 3.5 out of a 10.