Bersih 3.0-A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Dataran Merdeka

The Peaceful Assembly Act has been passed en masse in Parliament much to the frustration of the dissenting voice.

There were some peaceful demonstrations lately and the police acted accordingly because they believed the numbers were small.

Then Bersih 3.0 was declared.

Then everything went haywire.

The Home Minister says fine, it is allowed. But with a caveat as the venue is subjected to the approval of DBKL.

DBKL says no.

Home Minister says that they should provide alternative venues for the sit-in.

The Mayor came back with three venues from Titiwangsa to Cheras.

Bersih says no-adamant with sitting in at Dataran.

DBKL warns of punitive action.

To make it worse, the Dang Wangi District Police Chief bans the sit-in saying it is sensitive to security, upping his boss,the Home Minister.

What a comedy of errors!

So, the stage is set once more for heavy street drama.

For many, a definite confrontation is good news and they will brave the elements to participate.

Will the police and the law enforcement agencies come out hard as on July 9, 2011?

Will there be a lock down, counter to what the Home Minister had said earlier on, that he over-reacted to Bersih 2.0?

A Funny Thing is really happening on the way to Dataran?

Anyone laughing?

The Searchers Continues to Thrill

For an old 1956 movie, The Searchers, continues to be as exciting today as it was yesterday.

A John Wayne evergreen, the movie pans out a tale of a man in seek of his niece taken away by a blood-thirsty Comanche war party.

Though the movie needs a little more tightening in terms of its film editing to be as exciting as today's movies, I still enjoyed the movie.

You will see a young Jeffrey Hunter playing alongside the Duke as they braved through both sandy barrenness of Texas and New Mexico of the desert to the cold snowy waste of the north.

Vera Mills starred as the delectable lady in waiting for Jeffrey Hunter.

Good movie like having a fun drive along the countryside in the pale moonlight of yesteryear.

Obnoxious People-Met Any Lately?

You may have been lucky. Not me.

In my many years of meeting people near and far, friends and relatives, colleagues and classmates, and whatever they may be; I have seen good people and the not-so-good ones.

What I distinctly abhors are the obnoxious know-alls and pointing finger types. They are so full of themselves.

Not only are they loud and unbearable, but they show the most shallow minds on almost everything yet professing to be masters of all.

To themselves, looking introspectively with the 'sun' being themselves, every one is below their station.

Pets make better companions.

The Lady-Intensely Real

This Luc Beeson movie, a biopic of Aung San Suu Kyi, is truly engaging.

For the unitiated of Burmese history and politics, it could really be educative.

For me, it managed to plugged some holes or gaps that I do not know in the tapestry of Burmese political history.

Michelle Yeoh and David Tewless did one fine job as Suu Kyi and Dr Michael Aris. Their endeavours to bring about democracy in a lawless land ruled by machine gun and bullets is well documented in the movie.

The movie would have been better if it has taken in what happened this year when Suu Kyi won her seat in the Burmese Parliament.

A Milestone of a movie.

Bersih 3.0-Some Scenarios

Will there still be trouble in down-town KL on 28 April now that the Bersih 3.0 sit-in has been approved by the government?

I think for the government, it continues to be a pricky situation.

To lend credence to the just passed Peaceful Assembly Act, they must show that they are for the new era of democracy in Malaysia. At the back of their mind, they might still want their hands on the hand-brake. So, they passed the buck to the appointed mayor of Kuala Lumpur.

This current mayor, apparently from a a better batch of civil servants, is caught with a red hot brick. He has to say 'no' to the sit-in site-the historical Dataran Merdeka or Independence Square. So, his deputy issues a letter saying 'no' to Maria Chin, the Secretary of the NGO. As far as the Bersih Secretariat is concerned, it is all action stations. They won't budge.

Some scenarios.

The first one is nothing serious will really happen. The police,RELA,DBKL and even the military will be all out to ensure traffic and crowd control. The foreign press will be happy and will report that PM Najib meant business and Bersih 3.0 was a victory for the government as it supports the dynamic liberalisation of civil liberties. This would be sweet for the UMNO Assembly on May 1st and be positive for the general elections speculated to be held in mid June.

The second scenario-There will be some trouble and skirmishes especially from Hijau as they march from KLCC to the Dataran Merdeka. Hijau is the movement supporting the closure of the Lynas Rare Earth Plant at Gebeng. So, if not managed well, there could be arrests, tear-gassng and even water canons. Could cause a back-lash from the Bersih supporters as they spilled onto the road to support their comrades.

The worst scenario-a repeat of Bersih 2 of July 7, 2011 though not to the extent of the mass arrest and total lock-down of KL. There could still be some sort of 'lockdown' with reduced public transportation, public transport interruption or slowdown.

In summary, what will the day after sounds like?

All parties will claim victory though a big turn-out will be a moral victory for the Bersih NGO and dissidents and not too good for the ruling BN.

Ruthless Gods of Mount Zion?

If you seen the full series of this Mount Zion saga, you would want to know why the gods are so humane both in greed and weaknesses.

Starting from the original Clash of the Titans which is the benchmark movie for the series,we have wandered into the dreadful re-make of the new clash and now the Wrath of the Titans.

Verdict?

The original is still the best but Wrath of the Titans is pretty good with the continuing saga story and the death of the gods.

The special effects is awesome.

Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes and Rosamond Pike add their presence to this movie that makes it a worthy film to watch.

New Re-rating Again for Digi.com?

I thought that after one of those analysts' call that Digi.com is fully valued,the interest for this counter will surely wane.

Looking back, this counter saw traction for one short period in February and once in early March.

In February, it roared to new heights scaling beyond the RM4.30 level on 8 February. The highest was at RM4.32 before it went sideways. On March 1st and 2nd, it again moved up with volume up the RM4.15 level. Since then, it has gone below the RM4 radar and is currently skipping along the RM3.90 level with much headwinds.

The impression one gets is that the price of Digi has been reached and the stock is now at its best value. As such, only long term investors knowing the value of a well managed company will dare to hold on to it. Also,EPF has been selling down the counter to get cash, puncturing the Bursa for sometime. Digi was not spared.

It has been about more than two months now that Digi shares have been looking for a breakout.The resistance price level seems to be at about RM3.93.

Interestingly, RHB has been giving out calls for investors to pick up this stock.

If I remembered, they recommended the share will hit a top price of about RM4.20 again.

Today, they put out another call stating the new found confidence and optimism that it will pole vault to RM4.40.

Are they pulling our legs?

One thing I am sure, Digi is awaiting for the BNM directive to allow Telenor to buy shares beyond 50% as PM Najib has already endorsed the liberalisation of the telecommunications sector. BNM was been napping here.

With this development, more shares will be mopped up from the market and Digi will then find traction to move up to RM4.40 and more.

At this price of RM3.90, if the Digi shares should jump to RM4.40, that represents a leap of faith of some RM0.50 sen. Deducting about RM50 for brokerage and ancillary charges,that would allow a clear profit of RM450.00.

Ain't that a steal?