Grounds for dissent in a Kuala Lumpur coffee party

[Prometheus Bound]

Source: South China Morning Post (subscription)

Jun 10, 2009
Dressed in black, the colour of protest, 200 activists sat at cafe tables quietly drinking coffee - black, of course. Bewildered, police stood outside and watched the coffee drinkers without interfering. The protest at three cafes in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, was their way around a ban on unauthorised protests. It was the latest twist in a row over the governing National Front coalition's seizure of power in Perak state.

"Police were coming down hard on us and so we used this unique way to protest and tell people to demand an election in Perak," said Wong Chin Huat, a protest leader and academic at the city's Monash University campus. "We managed to send the message across."

However, Sunday's protest - which the academic called a "mild form" of civil disobedience - did not last long. Within half an hour, the managers of the cafes...had ushered the protesters and other customers out the door. A spokeswoman said the three were shutting temporarily for "regular maintenance and renovations". .....

Undeterred, pro-opposition NGOs yesterday announced (via Facebook) they would repeat the protest tomorrow...This time, police will be waiting for them. "We are monitoring the targeted outlets and if necessary will arrest any person wearing black as they approach the outlets," a police spokesman said.

Background:
Malaysian government crackdown on political opponents
By John Roberts
9 June 2009

The Malaysian government of Prime Minister Najib Razak carried out a wave of arrests last month in a bid to stem opposition to its ousting of the state government in Perak earlier this year. More than 160 supporters of the national opposition People Alliance (PR), comprising the Peoples Justice Party (Keadilan), Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS) and Democratic Action Party (DAP), have been detained.

.....Social tensions have been rising as a result of the country’s deepening economic crisis. In the first quarter of 2009, GDP contracted by 5.1 percent seasonally adjusted from the previous quarter—the largest fall since the last quarter of 1998. Exports fell by 15.2 percent and domestic consumption only held up due to a huge government stimulus package. Najib is now predicting that the economy could contract by 4-5 percent in 2009—far worse than previous predictions of a 1 percent decline.

The crackdown in Perak makes clear that Najib and his government will use all available means, including police repression, to cling to office. Anwar is still being pursued over new charges of sodomy concocted last year to smear the opposition leader and lay the basis for his removal from parliament. The trial begins next month.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/jun2009/mala-j09.shtml

Read more: http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2af62ecb329d3d7733492d9253a0a0a0/?vgnextoid=8a2eedfb095c1210VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD&%20World=&ss=Asia+&s=News

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Rather a clever protest to get around police state restrictions - at least temporarily.