Games people play. Be it business , politics , socializing, its all in the posturing,body language,mind games ,one upmanship.
Especially in politics ,the current malaysian scene, i am no expert ,don't pretend to be one, yet just can't help but to be caught up in the current developments which have very much shaped a personal opinion towards whats going on. To an armchair observer getting much of the info from the internet , print media,blogs. conclusion leans towards more anti than for the establishment.
But i do think that my impression represents a large part of the layman ,the guy on the street ,on whats going on in the political arena. I am neither a diehard BN nor PKR, Neutral at the moment , but do have a voice in my vote , and that vote will be swayed by my take on things as they develop.
Alleged abuse of powers by the police,beaten to death in detention ,what do i do, more out of curiousity at first , surf 'you tube' see what i can find out, Type in Kugan , and i see disturbing images of a deceased person with marks of being traumatized, images dont lie, and common sense conflicts against the explanation given on how the bruises came about. Again, i am no expert,neither am i a fool , anyone with a shred of intelligence will feel
its being insulted when you try to match the visual images with the explanation.
Therein lies the problem, Nobody likes to be lied to, its makes you angry and want to retaliate.
Is there a cover up? Was he beaten to death in detention? Not so much the truth but these very questions are the basis upon which the credibility of the PDRM rest. To be fair, of course you'd want to give the benefit of doubt, but as we very well know, being human, our mindset doesnt really work that way, exact opposite, guilty till proven otherwise, grudgingly speaking , my conclusion of the incident is similar to what a large part of Malaysian society has arrived at.
Another observation of mine are the tactics of the PKR against BN, role of the police in the scheme of things, they seem to be in a position of "damned if you do, damned if you don't", its so plain to see what the agenda of the candlelight vigil is about, this is my 5 cents worth of
opinion based on my armchair observations. Challenge the current institution by protesting peacefully,wearing black and all, now if the cops arrest you , create the impression they are merely a tool of the controlling political party being used to silence dissent on what is viewed as injustice and abuse and corruption, yet if they dont do anything, then of course the message or rhetoric (depending on how you view it) can be advanced further.
As it is, it has done damage to the prestige of the police force in the eyes of the public, and the perception of a fair and unbiased institution is eroding as we speak. Impression is that its merely a tentacle of a tyrannical establishment willing to stoop to all lengths to consolidate its power base, nipping in the bud anything it perceives as a threat to the status quo, and on the opposing side, is a party looking for the flaws and weak links and god forbid they find them, the jaws of a pit bull will be locked on it so fast,you'd have to kill the dog to release the grip.
Character assasination seems to be the game of the day on both sides. The opposition now, probably building up an arsenal of ammo in the form of perceived wrongdoing , injustice , etc , all to be unleashed come next general election.
If there is one thing about Malaysian politics ,subtlety is not a word. Like in other "civilized" countries,same game ,same dirt and slime, grandstanding, excesses , just played more intelligently and more subtle.
In all this fracas,where do we ,the silent marjority,fit in ?
In all frankness,the argument about our basic rights being trampled on, the excesses of the powerful elite etc. when given some thought , does sounds convincing to a degree, more importantly is the question, what can we do about it?

Surely,there are avenues for us to express our dissatisfaction apart from the ballot. But seems as if the message being sent out now is , NO.! You are not allowed to show disapproval of goverment behaviour. Just shut up and live with it.! Now, if the current mood of us layman persist , i dread the position of the ruling party when its time to voice our opinion through the ballot.
          The perception of abuses in power are very real and annoying , and if the perception that    there is no change and nothing is or will be done about the status quo , and also we are not allowed to voice our concern then what is there left but to bottled it in for now and protest with the only option we have when the time comes.

    And whether it makes a difference or not ,at least i would have expressed my sentiment.!

Thats how it works in this country..Different standards for different folks , all in the name of law and order..Even amongst criminals , standards apply ,you know , i.e. lets say you were a "datuk" ( never mind the fact that you kud be a lord in the underworld) but you have millions to throw so can afford to buy a title wif the fortune u haf n also a permit for a firearm, dangerous occupation u r in ,you do need to protect yourself) then one day you discover someone stealing from you , amount is paltry but principle of the thing is heavy, cant afford to lose face, so shoot the thief in cold blood , as a message you r not to be mesed with , Yup , shoot 1st , cos this is malaysia after all , murder ,cold blooded or otherwise can be dealt with to ones favour , if you know how to work the system..?

   Which brings to mind another point . Now if you were a nobody but in possesion of a firearm,
for whatever reason , criminal or not (its another issue ) back to the hypothesis , you get busted ,
     Well ,guess how the interogation will go with you ,

  AS for the datuk , he 'd probly be invited to the station to record his statement , tea or coffee will be served with goreng-goreng snacks,of course , more convenient if interogation is done at OC's office,has air conditioning, or datuk isnt going to be very cooperative ,being hot and uncomfortable.