Peaceful protest over ‘Listen, listen, listen’

Anisah Shukry

 | January 19, 2013

Some 100 people gathered at Brickfields to demand that Sharifah Zohra Jabeen apologise to KS Bawani.

KUALA LUMPUR: Some 100 people gathered peacefully around the fountain in Little India, Brickfields this morning to protest against Sharifah Zohra Jabeen Syed Shah Miskin, the little-known SW1M president turned Internet sensation after a video of her humiliating a student went viral this week.

By 11.30am, some of the predominantly Indian crowd were seen holding placards with cartoonish drawings of a shark wearing headphones along with the words ‘respect freedom of speech’. Others brandished colourful t-shirts bearing the now-infamous mantra ‘listen, listen, listen’.

In the centre of the rally, leaders of various non-governmental organisations (NGO) such as the Malaysian Indians Progressive Association (MIPAS), Tamil Action Force and Pertubuhan Kebajikan Dan Amal India Baru Malaysia (Perinnbam) took turns to publically demand Sharifah apologise to Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) student and PSM activist KS Bawani.

“This is not a racial or political issue. If this happened to a Malay or a Chinese student, we would still be gathering here today, demanding that Sharifah issue a public apology,” MIPAS secretary-general S Barathidasan told the cheering crowd.

This was all in reference to Sharifah’s tirade against Bawani during a forum last month – an incident that was recorded and uploaded onto video sharing website YouTube last week and has since been viewed over 723,490 at the time of writing.

In the video, Sharifah had snatched the microphone from Bawani while the latter was asking a question and interrupted her by deliberately and slowly repeating the word ‘listen’ 11 times and ‘let me speak’ seven times.

And instead of answering Bawani’s question on free education, Sharifah had lectured her on respecting elders, on the problems faced by animals such cats, dogs and sharks, and at one point even told her to leave the university and country.

Want Umno to act
Today, the chairman of NGO Rakan Pakatan Rakyat (RAPAT), Kannan Ramasamy, pointed out to rally-goers the irony in the fact that Sharifah was now shunning the limelight.

“She kept saying ‘listen, listen, listen’ and ‘let me speak, let me speak, let me speak,’ but now when we want to hear her speak, she is nowhere,” quipped Kannan as the crowd laughed.

Sharifah had reportedly gone into hiding after having allegedly received threats over the video. But she told Malay daily Sinar Harian on Thursday that she would respond soon, though she did not mention when and where.

“Bawani may have said that Sharifah does not need to apologise, but we still want her to come forward because she humiliated a student and took away that student’s freedom of speech,” said Kannan.

But other NGO leaders, including MIPAS president P Raja Retinam, wanted more than an apology from Sharifah; they wanted Umno to teach her a lesson.

“We have to take stern action against Sharifah – If Umno really cares about freedom of speech, it should strip her of her membership and position. otherwise it would appear that Umno supports her.

“We want Umno to teach its members to speak carefully and not just shoot off their mouths. Every time a non-Malay talks about their rights, they are told to return to India or China. Malaysia is our country, we were born here, so don’t you dare say that,”  Raja thundered.

He also reiterated the challenge that Sharifah turn up for a debate on free education this Thursday night at the Kuala Lumpur Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall.

Stop cyber-bullying
The highlight of the rally was when Bawani showed up to emphasise the three main issues that she said the public should focus on following the uproar over the video.

“One is freedom of speech – every student should be free to give their own views, and that forum showed that the voices of students are being stifled. This is wrong because students are the country’s future leaders,” said the 27-year-old activist.

“The second issue is that of university freedom. Universities should be politically neutral, independent and provide students with well-rounded knowledge. But instead they bring in forums that provide only one side of the story.

“Thirdly is free education. I think this is relevant because other countries providing free education have lower income than Malaysia but their academic quality is higher,” Bawani pointed out.

She also implored netizens to stop cyber-bullying another UUM student who had been present at the forum.

According to Bawani, someone had apparently taken a screenshot of one particular student clapping during the forum, circled her face and labelled her as ‘Sharifah’s number one fan” and shared it among Facebook users.

Ever since, the student had been on the receiving end of threats, ridicule and racist remarks, despite not even having understood what Sharifah had said throughout the forum.

“Please stop this, because this issue does not involve any single individual; just the voice of students. We cannot condemn this one student, so please stop,” said Bawani.

Meanwhile, a vendor had taken advantage of the rally’s theme to temporarily set up shop beside the fountain and sell his ‘listen, listen, listen’ t-shirts at RM20 each. His wares, which came in an assortment of sizes and colours and depicted various animals, were ironically draped over a public sign prohibiting the public from gathering at the area.

But despite this, no policemen moved into to disperse the crowd, and spirits were high as the small gathering melted away on its own accord about an hour and a half after it began.

Two plainclothes policemen who had been snapping pictures of the rally also assured FMT that there would be no trouble over the protest.