Wednesday, March 2, 2011

You Can, After All, Fight City Hall

The residents of Batu Estate, scored a rare victory today, for themselves, and for long-suffering Malaysians. They managed to get City Hall to back off demolishing their property to satisfy yet another avaricious developer.

Accompanied by their lawyer Mr.Surendran, and supported by MPs Mr.Tian Chua, Mr.Lim Lip Eng, Mr.Sivarasah, Mr.Manickavasagam and Port Dickson's Mr.Ravi, they set out to a hunger-strike in front of DBKL in Jalan Raja Laut.

In the event, nobody had to go hungry, as DBKL quickly caved in. DBKL would not get involved. They would not misuse the Emergency Ordinance. And they don't know how they got themselves into this horrible mess. They would instead, leave it to the courts, as they should have done in the first place.

We don't know how the courts will decide. But it does show that a determined people can make the forces of authoritarianism take heed.

And, sometimes, when patently in the wrong, back down.

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