The Schelling Incident: Ground Zero of BERSIH 3.0 Riot

Remember my Post Anatomy of A High Risk Contentious Performance (here)

In there I mentioned the Schelling Incident

In 1960 Thomas Schelling in The Strategy of Conflict (1960: 90) wrote, It is usually the essence of mob formation that the potential members have to know not only where and when to meet but just when to act so that they act in concert. Overt leadership solves the problem; but leadership can often be identified and eliminated by the authority trying to prevent mob action. In this case the mob's problem is to act in unison without overt leadership, to find some common signal that makes everyone confident that, if he acts on it, he will not be acting alone. The role of ``incidents'' can thus be seen as a coordinating role; it is a substitute for overt leadership and communication. Without something like an incident, it may be difficult to get action at all, since immunity requires that all know when to act together. 

 And the role of The Entrepreneur

For a riot to begin, it is necessary but not sufficient that there be many people who want to riot and who believe that others want to riot too. One more hurdle has to be overcome. Even in an unstable gathering, the first perpetrator of a misdemeanor is at risk if the police are willing and able to zero in on him. Thus, someone has to serve as a catalyst--a sort of entrepreneur to get things going--in Buford's account usually by breaking a window (a signal that can be heard by many who do not see it). In civil rights, anti-war or anti-abortion marches, it is probably pretty common to find participants eager to expose themselves to arrest in exchange for the chance to optimize the desired impact of their protest. This sort of self-sacrifice is certainly rare in ordinary riots, where potential rioters' behavior is consistent, we suppose, with something like the following calculation: ``If somebody else gets the riot started, I can participate without much risk. But if I stick my neck out and nobody follows, I'll be the only one arrested. So I'll wait for somebody else to go first.'' If every would-be rioter reasoned thus, nobody would cast the first stone, and the riot would not ignite. This is a typical free-rider problem, as economists have called it. It is usually sufficient to prevent riots from occurring, even where there is a plentiful supply of disposed participants. Riots await events that surmount the free rider problem. The entrepreneur will throw the first stone when he calculates that the risk that he will be apprehended for doing so has diminished to an acceptable level. The risk of arrest declines as a function of two variables--the size of the crowd relative to the police force available to control it, and the probability that others will follow if somebody leads. This latter point could potentially be tricky, because as we have noted, crowds will generally be inhospitable to the commission of violent acts

Watch the Youtube Video below I'm no professional lip reader but words like "BUKAK" and "MASUK" and the corresponding actions clearly shows that Anwar Ibrahim gave the GO AHEAD to Azmin Ali to instruct the Guy on his right to breach the Police Barricade


Enjoy folks....have a lovely Sunday evening



If the above gets deleted refer this one a shorter version edited by me


UPDATE 1001PM 30th April

Watch this PDRM Vid from another angle to see how he unleash the Mob

 


What will Ambiga, Anwar and Azmin do now?

Scream NOT GUILTY AND DEMAND RCI???

And what will Hishammudin Misai Nipis do now?

As for the space monkey ....

He wants to tattoo every single inch of Ambiga in Bright Gaudy Keling Kampung Yellow...

Wanna join the party?

Lets go get the biatch then while we're at it..lets grab that Hantu Raya Perut Buncit as well

PS: A Big Thank You to the Person who shot the Video

This was the message from ground zero (For the Full 18 Mins Account go here)

I couldn't have made the day without my very dedicated cameraman who stood side by side with me throughout til one of us passed out... This video is to show give you a fair view of what happened during Bersih 3.0, from my perspective, as one of hundreds of other newsmen at the scene. Let you be the best judge on who provoked, started the who retaliated and who ended up kaput on that day. For some privacy reasons, I had to delete the earlier part when my cameraman and I insisted to get in the ambulance to get help. This is because, as a journalist, I have to maintain a certain level of friendship with both sides of the government. Can't quite reveal here who was in the ambulance, but that person gave way for me and my cameraman to get some medical help, which was never given to us in the end. at TC (timecode) 2:00 - We were first fired with chemical water. Ia akan buatkan kita pedih di kulit, mata, kepala, dan tempat yang terkena. We then accidentally did the biggest mistake to run away from the police and instead, we ran together with the demonstrators. at TC 3:30 - The first TEAR GAS was fired, directly at my cameraman and I and the group of people surrounding us. Within seconds, we could feel the after-effect -> difficulty to breathe through mouth + nose. Within 1 minute -> tears will run down your eyes, your nose will be discharging liquid, and so will your mouth with saliva that you cannot control. We also lost our voice this time. This when also when my cameraman took my towel and berebut towel to cover our face. This time, I knew that we both were struggling to breathe as we could only think of ourselves. This was also the time I started rubbing my skin, face with salt that i carried in my bag, and later helped my cameraman and others who came to me for help. Ramai makcik-pakcik Melayu yang datang tak bawak apa-apa untuk protect diri mereka. Were they not told to prepare something by their organiser? At TC 4:50 - my cameraman passed out, just few seconds before I thought I could pass out. Looking at him sitting by the roadside in front of DBKL building, nearly not bothering his camera (camera is the life of any cameraman, as for journalists like me, my life would be the safety of my cameraman, our camera and of course - our visual), I had to pretend that I am alright. Carried him to run for another 10 seconds before we both stopped to give up. It felt as though we were having 10-20% capacity to breathe. The effect of the gas made our nose, throat, mouth kaput and struggling to breathe. Masa ni, kami, like all of the others around us, tak dapat bernafas. With or without mineral water, salt, towel, we simply couldn't breathe. Masa ni jugak, orang yang lari dah rempuh kami dari belakang. Kami semua terjatuh, berhimpit dan cermin mata saya pecah. What came to mind was to get the 2 of us out there, away from the police force behind us who would be firing more tear gas. At TC 6:00 - I saw an ambulance, parked in front of Jalan TAR. At this moment, my cameraman refused to move and wanted to give up. Much later at night, we discussed about it saying that if either one of us saw the other was giving up, the other one MUST pretend that we are alright. At this point, I simply gave up my salt ration and water bottle to the running crowd. Kami berdua terpaksa pujuk diri satu sama lain untuk berlari ke ambulance tu. It felt that it would be a lot easier if we were to fall flat at the street, though. --- Saya terpaksa edit visual awal di ambulance, sebab dalam ambulance tu ada seorang ahli parlimen yang sangat prominent. Let's just say that the member of parliament and her few friends gave us the space in the ambulance. But what I need to highlight here is the ignorance of the driver and co driver to help us with the oxygen. At TC 6:17 - We only managed to MAKE the driver and his assistance to help us when another victim of the gas was brought to the ambulance. It seemed to me that the victim had a very serious breathing problem - he was not concious until we arrived at HKL. The funny thing is, although both of us needed help, we were the one who had to switch on the medical and oxygen supply in the ambulance for the victim. It seems to me that the people running the ambulance were not prepared to any possibilities. At TC 10:00 - Another victim was brought in - this time, a Chinese guy who jumped from quite a tall building to save his life amidst the chaos. He suffered a broken leg and severe cuts. He was bleeding badly. At this time, I had to scream to the driver to take us to HKL. I only wanted to get out from Jln TAR as I could see from the ambulance that more gas has been fired. I am quite sure that 1 more hit by the gas, I would end up like the man - unconscious. At TC 14:40 - We got panicked when the man stopped responding to us. Being a big built, it was hard for me to find and feel his pulse, what more in the fast moving ambulance. He remained unconscious until much later when we arrived at HKL. Only God knows how he is doing now. What happened at HKL was a different story - their PR officers and emergency team did not respond to us quickly, despite being aware that HKL is the main hospital to be referred to, should any untowards incidents occur from Bersih 3.0. The PR girl was busier asking questions to me like, "weren't you from a different TV before?" and asking our permission to take photos of us! In the end, our 2 friends with 2 separate motorcycles REACHED the hospital much faster than the oxygen aid that we asked for from the hospital. We left the hospital without any medical assistance in the end. I later realised that my left knee and leg were bruised and bleeding from the fall earlier on. Although I was caught in such a horrible chaos, I wish to point out here that the police has been nothing but patient and polite, throughout the day. Watch the video, and judge for yourself. At the end of today, a policeman was beaten badly and is still in ICU as of now. More upsetting, one of us, a cameraman from another local tv station, Al Hijrah was beaten badly by those wearing yellow, out of agression. Please read and watch, dear friends - not just from one source. Assalam!

PPS: In case you missed the MERAPU "3.1 Million Hantu voter Claim" Counter-analysis go here kasi bukak bijik mate sikit dhows