Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Oh Mubarak! Oh Mesir!

Egyptians have taken to the streets to protest their president of three decades, Hosni Mubarak.

According to activists on the ground, the numbers are just getting bigger and bigger. And soldiers are joining the protesters.

There is a tangible, strong sense of solidarity.

Embattled and very unpopular Mubarak says that he'll step down -- in September,

They say he is "offering a mixture of concession and defiance". Some say it's a trick.

I'm just really wondering -- what will Egypt be after all this is over? Will it be a better Egypt? More democratic?

Meanwhile, our students in Egypt (mainly in Cairo), numbering some 11,000, are trying to get out of the country. Most are so scared.

The government will be evacuating them. The first evacuation of Malaysian students from Cairo to Saudi Arabia will begin by tomorrow (Thursday) at the latest.

Two C130 RMAF aircraft are being despatched to Cairo today to fly the students to Jeddah.



4 comments:

  1. These so called pro mubarak protesters are the poeple who suppressing the innocent people of egypts ,they are getting hefty sums from these regime from 30 years and they will loose all these.it is the time the egyptians should not buckle down instead should remove the whole regime for future generations...

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  2. Anonymous11:49 AM

    Let this be a lesson to those who overstay their welcome. Nobody is indispensable. The Egyptians certainly learnt from their neighbours, the Tunisians. The Tunisians dumped their leader of 20+ yrs and Mubarak has been there since 1981 (the same year Mahathir became our PM and Taib Mahmud became Sarawak's CM). Did anyone see the writing on the wall or blinded by a new bride?

    belum kahwin

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  3. It is my opinion that Hosni Mubarak and the ruling party (National Democratic Party) will NOT be toppled anytime soon, despite growing resistance and uprising from every corner of Egypt.

    The present Egyptian popular uprising somehow reminds me of The Tianamen Square uprising in China years back.

    The Chinese popular democratic movement failed miserably because of these two military factors;

    1. The Chinese military was too strong for the people to handle.

    2. Despite the name "The People's Liberation Army", The Chinese army was fiercely loyal to the ruling Communist party.

    Thousands of Chinese pro-democracy protesters died horribly at the hand of the very same army that had sworn to protect them. Some were shot using anti-aircraft ammos. Some were simply ran over by Main Battle Tanks!

    I suspect that the protesters in Egypt will soon meet the same fate. Remember that the Egyptian military is currently ranked the 10th most powerful in the world.

    Like it's Chinese counterpart, the Egyptian military is also unquestionably loyal to the ruling party. In fact Egypt has been ruled under Emergency Law since 1967.

    As of now, I don't see any plausible sign that Egypt's military elites will render it's support to the people, and their brutal treatment of foreign journalists is a clear indication that they will get nasty soon.

    Like the people of China, Egyptians have never really tasted the fruit of democracy. Ever since President Jamal Abdel Nasser took power in 1953, he made it clear that Egypt was to be ruled under a a single-party system. Both of his successors, Anwar Saddat and Mubarak unswervingly carried on this authoritarian tradition with the help of the military.

    My prayers and best wishes to the people of Egypt. May they win this fight, InsyaAllah.

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  4. Anonymous12:20 PM

    who actually gain from this arab spring and who actually loose in this game

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