Gerakan National Deputy Youth Chief, Oh Tong Keong expresses his regrets on the UPSI student protest incident which led to many students being beaten up by the police whilst one of them badly injured. The incident not only aroused more anger amongst the citizens of the country especially young people, it also further tarnishes the image of the police which is another blow to the government.

Oh urged the police to be more civilized and act within the ambit of law when carrying out their duty in handling protests. He said, “It is unreasonable to be so violent to students who are armless and protesting in peace.” Oh is also in the opinion that the police should carry out internal investigation on the UPSI incident and give an explanation to the badly injured student.

Oh said that the police should view the incident as a valuable experience and do not repeat the same mistake again in the future. He also said that the anti establishment sentiment is very strong after General Election 2008, and it is expected that there will only be more such protests or assemblies to voice dissatisfaction against the government. If the police continue to inflict unnecessary force on protestors, it will only further infuriate the public and potentially lead to more protests in the future.

Oh Tong Keong, who is also Penang Gerakan Youth Chief, also said that there is an urgent need to review on the trend of protest and assembly that is happening so frequently especially among youth of the country. The government should also review why students, the highly educated group in the society has such strong sentiment to protest as a means to channel their emotions and demands to the government. Could it be that the channel to express their voices is not working.

“There should be more dialogues between the government or the university with the students in order for them to express their wishes and opinions. Now that the government has decided to repeal the UUCA, it shows that the government is encouraging students to be involved in politics and speaking up is one of the basic right to be able to participate effectively in politics. Instead of imposing more restrictions on students, the government and the university should listen to the students with an open mind given that the youngsters nowadays are better informed and critical compared to before,” Oh added.

Oh also praises the courage of the students to participate in social activities for the sake of creating awareness, however, he said that students should always focus more on their studies and do not be involved in such political activities too often.