MALAYSIANS CAN LEARN FROM LONDON VIOLENCE

    KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 11 (Bernama) -- The riots in London and several other
cities in England should be an eye-opener for Malaysians on the implications of
an illegal assembly, according to two social observers.
    
    "Whatever the justification for the riots there, we Malaysians need to ask
ourselves whether we want that to happen in Malaysia," said Prof   Hamdan
Adnan.
    "Do we want a loss of life in the family and destruction of personal and
public property?" he said when asked to comment on the violence in England that
began on Aug 8.
    
    "Those keen on holding or participating in street demonstrations to express
themselves, including those who took part in the July 9 illegal rally here,
should realise that no organisers can guarantee that a peaceful demonstration
will also end peacefully."
    
    The torching of buildings, vehicles, even police stations, and looting at
business premises and shopping malls by rioters should make the people see sense
in the Malaysian police's appropriate and timely action during the July 9
illegal rally, he stressed.
    
    
    The London riots were said to have originated from dissatisfaction over the
shooting by police of Mark Duggan, 29, a father of four and suspected drug
trafficker in Tottenham, North London on Aug 4.
    
    About 200 of Duggan's family members, his friends and residents held a
protest rally which started peacefully but developed within a few hours into a
skirmish and then escalated into a riot.
    
    Four lives were lost, and dozens injured including Malaysian student Asyraf
Haziq who not only lost his bicycle and other personal belongings, but also a
few teeth and had to undergo surgery for a broken jaw after he was attacked and
robbed by a group of rioters.
    
    The rioting and looting then spread fast to other cities including
Leicester, Birmingham, Nottingham and Manchester, so much so that the local and
international media have described the violence as the worst in England in
centuries.
    
    According to Hamdan, the violence spread fast because the rioters saw the
police as lame in London where the violence first broke out.
    
    
    "The majority of the rioters are probably opportunists who are already
inclined towards crime, or are criminals who were simply waiting for an
opportunity to loot shops and supermarkets and destroy public property," he
said.
    
    Another social observer, Zainab Yusof, who is also a humanitarian aid
activist, said she could imagine a likely violence on July 9 if police
here had not acted the way they did to stop the illegal rally on that day.
    
    "We should be thankful our police had exercised restraint, yet were firm and
actedly wisely in handling and controlling the situation within a few hours and
not days like in England," she said.
    
    The media in England reported that 16,000 police personnel were mobilised to
back up security but they viewed the measure as overdue as much destruction had
already taken place and victims traumatised after the first three days of
violence in London.
    
    Meanwhile, Shah Alam 'kuih' seller Hafez Hamed said the London violence made
him appreciate being a Malaysian.
    
    
    
    "There are Malaysians who are angry with the police for detaining more than
1,000 people on July 9 to prevent an ugly situation. I don't know whether
they still feel their anger was justified or not," he said.
    
    "What happens in England could also be divine retribution as the West, in
the name of freedom of expression and human rights, has always condemned
countries which curb street demonstrations including Malaysia.
    
    "Now with what is happening in their own backyard, we don't hear their human
rights groups making noise like they always have in trying to teach other
countries how to manage their affairs," said Hafez who has been following the
violent unrest in England on television.