“Our masters have not heard the people's voice for generations and it is much, much louder than they care to remember.”

- Alan Moore, V for Vendetta

COMMENT | What really angers me about the Bersih demonstrations described as riots is the fact that there have been Malay political operatives who have actually threatened riots and got away with it.

Here is former Sungai Besar Umno division chief Jamal Md Yunos in 2015, threatening the kind of violence that Bersih has been characterised as advocating: "If the authorities don't act by Friday, I am 99 percent certain on Saturday, there would be a rally and a riot may happen."

Mind you, so concerned that there could be violence against the Chinese community that the then Chinese ambassador Huang Huikang visited Petaling Street and said: "But with regard to the infringement on China's national interests, violations of legal rights and interests of Chinese citizens and businesses which may damage the friendly relationship between China and the host country, we will not sit by idly."

If this is not a “black mark” on our nation’s history, I do not know what is.

Other black marks include...