Speaker's Square, Penang.

I went with college mates to this place, one and only in Penang, could be Malaysia as well.

When someone mentioned going, I was quite excited already. Going to a place like Speaker's Square seems out of place here in Malaysia, but it is a good thing to be able to say and do that, here in Penang. Besides, you never know what kind of speakers you will get.

Upon arriving there, I spotted my Gerakan friend among his comrades. They spotted us too, and before long, we were engaged and the awkwardness with the place disappeared. The weather was gloomy and it was drizzling, but more and more people came and gathered. The Gerakan group seemed poised to talk. I joked that it would take a really passionate person to exercise his right to freedom of speech with this weather around.

Although we weren't a big group, but it was fun listening to the people talk. The responses from the crowd were funny, and at times, rude, but it all made up the atmosphere.

Want to bomb also got limit 1.

1st person to talk.

My friend, Mr. Dalbinder Singh.

Devoted reporters and journalists, snapping and jotting down notes.

Spot the mat salleh ah pek??

The chatting was here and there.

One passionate uncle took the front page of a Chinese daily and pointed the words out, loudly. Together with his gang, they were rather rowdy, generous with their Hokkien and vulgar words.

To an esoteric, he or she would have spotted a familiar, but forgotten face, here.

I had fun and some real insight. Regardless of our political affiliations, school of thoughts and issues raised, I think the general opinion is that Malaysians are not up to that kind of standard of maturity just yet. Perhaps that explains the abolishment of the jury in our legal system? To have your immature peers to decide your verdict, be it civil or criminal, would be a nightmare.

The reason for this may vary, but the fact remains. I would think that education is seriously lacking here.

We raise an issue and shout and scream about it, but more than often, we do not understand that issue. Correction then comes from another person or party and, in their attempts to clear the air, created either more confusions or emotions to eventually lead to unwarranted clashes.

Most people just want to talk, or they want to hear want they want to hear. No one is listening properly, and almost certainly, no one has bothered to research an issue throughly enough, and any correction or rebuke is met with negative responses.

This is to the esoteric: Mak Minah there, in the picture, was present. She and her hubby suggested that the place, Speaker's Square, be scrapped since no EXCOs visit the place regularly.

I think the establishment of such a place is already a baby step in raising the maturity and awareness of Malaysians. As a youngster, it is relatively a better past time than your usual routine of online gaming and whatnot. To scrap the place is to be back at square one.

There were also claims saying that the place is merely a political agenda of politicians. Despite its triteness, people still do not seem to grasp the saying that politicians are politicians, and the ultimate goal of any politicians is to gain power. I doubt the existence of a 'kind and fatherly politician' . They will have their own agendas, because that's what they do. However, we as the people could control and subject them to responsibility and accountability, through our identity as voters. So, to me, *even* if the Speaker's Square is part of any political agenda, there is nothing wrong with it. The people want it, the people like it. And politicians usually do what the people want and like to gain support. So we ended up with a place where we can talk freely and exchange ideas and speak in the public because politicians build it, in their quest for power. Is it a bad thing? I doubt so. The voters are only fulfilling their function, and their function is to make them politicians *work* for power.

I'm already thinking of going for the second time.