Interesting Events : The Sabah Standoff - The Point of No Return

They have done it. They finally decided to end the 17-day standoff. The Malaysian police and security forces finally ended their siege on the Sultanate of Sulu's followers by attacking them with gunfire, which resulted in a firefight with the followers. The firefight ended with fourteen casualties: twelve Sultanate followers and two Malaysian police officers.

But the big question now is : Did the decision to attack the Sultanate's followers really ended the standoff? Or it just ushered the standoff into the point of no return. No more negotiations for the Malaysians, and no surrender 'til death for the Sultanate's followers.

The Malaysians succeeded to scatter, scare and demoralize the Sultanate's followers, but they created martyrs out of the twelve followers they killed. Now it's not only about the Sabah claim anymore, but also vengeance for the twelve martyrs who shed their blood for Sabah.

It wasn't a prudent move for  the Malaysians. The killing of the Sultanate's followers forfeited and ended their role as peace broker and negotiator for the Mindanao peace process. How will they talk about peace, justice and tolerance now? They lost their credibility as peacemakers. And with what they did, they practically included Sabah to the Mindanao conflict. The Malaysians really bungled big time. 

Not unlike the Sabah standoff, the twelve martyrs of Sabah have gone to the point of no return. Peace be upon them.


Picture Source :
http://vimeo.com/31371475

Interesting Events : The Sabah Standoff - What the Malaysians Say

The Sabah standoff has been the major headline of newspapers these past days. The standoff has been dragging on for weeks and is now on its third week. Here in the Philippines we are having a field day on news and commentaries about the standoff, but surprisingly, in Malaysia where the standoff is happening, there seems to be a scarcity of news and update on what's going on. News coming out of most of their newspapers were sanitized and censored. Malaysians are complaining to their government about the news black out on the standoff. Most Malaysians are getting their updates mostly from the internet's social media and the Philippine media. And the social media has been their only way of venting their concerns, comments and frustrations on the Sabah issue freely and "unsanitized".

It would also be interesting to know the sentiments, concerns and comments of the Malaysians about the standoff. Here's a blogsite of Malaysian blogger/writer Mr. Din Merican : Din Merican–The Malaysian DJ Blogger , which gives us a glimpse of what the Malaysians are saying about the standoff. By the way, this blogsite is quite informative and a good read about Malaysia's economy, people and politics.

Please click links below to read on Malaysians' comments on the Sabah standoff :
http://dinmerican.wordpress.com/2013/02/25/lahad-datu-incursion-invasion-of-malaysia-by-the-philippines/

http://dinmerican.wordpress.com/2013/02/26/philippines-press-stand-off-is-malaysias-karma/

http://dinmerican.wordpress.com/2013/02/27/51888/

http://dinmerican.wordpress.com/2013/02/25/51842/

Photo Source :
http://www.lionelg.be/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/malaysian-demonstration03.jpg
Related Link :
http://theprojectreview.blogspot.com/2013/02/interesting-events-sabah-standoff.html
http://theprojectreview.blogspot.com/2013/03/interesting-events-sabah-standoff-point.html