Pakatan’s democracy tree vandalised

IPOH, March 13 — malaysianinsider

Pakatan Rakyat's newly minted icon of democracy, erected in the form of a marble plaque beneath the infamous yellow flame tree here, has been destroyed.

Embattled Perak Assembly Speaker V. Sivakumar surveying the damaged plaque

Edges of the dark marble have been chipped off, broken into several slivers and left scattered around the vacant lot beneath the tree, where the country's first open-air assembly sitting was held on March 3.

The act was believed to have been performed by vandals between 8pm yesterday and 9am today, as claimed by regular passers-by and neighbours in the area.

A sad-faced Speaker V. Sivakumar dropped by the site at about 10am and said that the destruction of the Pakatan Rakyat's prized emblem of democracy was "very unethical".

He however refused to speculate on who the culprits could have been.

Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin, who still claims to be the legitimate mentri besar, also decided not to point fingers and instead blamed the "people who do not want to see democracy in the country."

He paid a visit to the site at about 11am and was greeted by hoots and whistles from the large crowd of supporters, onlookers, Pakatan Rakyat assemblymen and even tourists who had gathered beneath the tree since 9am.

He even initiated an oath-taking ceremony whereby all those gathered, including supporters, promised they would continue their struggle towards saving democracy.

They also pledged to solve the Perak political crisis through the dissolution of the assembly and the convening of fresh elections.

"We meet here today beneath this tree again to show that we are together and that we want to allow the people their right to choose their own government.

"This was the work of those who want to deny the people this right," Nizar told pressmen later.

He added that he felt sufficiently angered and distraught by the incident, but did not indicate if the Pakatan Rakyat would lodge a police report on the incident.

"We will decide together whether we should lodge the report," was all he said.

Earlier, former exco member Nga Kor Ming said that a donation campaign would be launched to replace the plaque.

"This time, we will construct a bigger and stronger one.

"We will make sure that it is well taken care of," he said.

Nga added that the new plaque would contain inscriptions in four languages - Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese, Tamil and English.
He also assured the people that the monument would not obstruct the movement of traffic or pedestrians in the area.

"This tree has been turned into a tourist attraction for Ipoh. Many people have stopped by from foreign countries to take a look at our tree," he said.

True to his word, it has been observed that since the March 3 sitting, scores of people, both locals and foreigners alike, have been paying visits to the tree.

Many people have been placing flowers, mostly yellow carnations, against the bark of the tree while some have even put joss sticks there while engaging in prayers.