Thursday, January 27, 2011

scary january in Egypt

photo credit: facebook

Twitter has been blocked in Egypt.
Facebook was blocked for a couple of hours in Egypt.
why?
they said the government is furious about the riot they've been doing since january 25th. January 25th, the police day public holiday in Egypt. because it's a public holiday, everyone decided to gather together and protest the 30 years of dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak, the President of A.R.E. the protest was inspired from a man who was beaten to death by a couple of police officers in Alexandria despite his calls for mercy,after he posted a video on the internet of officers sharing the spoils from a drug bust among themselves.(more story here) hence the facebook group name: we are all Khaled Said.

other than redeeming justice for the ill-treatment of Khaled Said, the riot is also inspired by the Tunisians in demanding their rights and freedom from their president's dictatorship. the result from Tunisia's protests? Ben Ali fled to Jeddah. they hate the prime minister and demanding an election, and there will be an election after 6 months. for now? state of emergency is declared.

what's going to happen in Egypt, i don't really know. from what i heard, the President's son and his family had fled to London, the police Head Quarters in Suez is burned down which made most of the Malaysian students changing thoughts of having their winter break anywhere, and we are advised to not to leave the house unless it is important, and we have to bring along our male friend at any time.

it's been 2 days. it's entering the 3rd day. they are really protesting. 4 people died in Cairo, 20 in Alexandria, they shut down the electricity in some small town(i couldn't remember which town), they used tear gas in Mansoura. if that's not enough to convince the world that this is serious, i don't know what will.

why do i care so much about this? because i'm afraid of what's worst to come. and i am persuading all of you out there to pray for us Malaysian students studying in Egypt, to be safe, and to pray that they will not harm us.

my experience:
it was 1.20 pm, and i was getting ready for my exam which will be held at 2pm, i decided to leave the house at 1.30 pm but i received a call from Nadia telling me there's a demonstration along the road in front of my house, she told me to take a cab and be extra careful since the independent her also walked to the university along with Pokmie. i got out of the house, suddenly a large group of people running toward me. hell yeah i was so afraid, even more afraid when i couldn't get a single cab and the police were everywhere! was about to burst into tears before i remembered Eza, and i called her so that we walk together to the exam( after couldn't get through for several times), and we hold hands along the way until we reach the most safest place in Mansoura, the University. scary? very! i hugged Nadia once i saw her, i swear i could cry if i hug her long enough.

mak:' boleh balik tak?'
me:' tak dgr ape2 pon lagi pasal flights, insyaAllah ok je kot'
yes, i am going home. i hope Egypt will stay as it is, at least untill i go home.

further infos:

UPDATED: death toll in Cairo strikes to 6 after rock-throwing between the police and demonstrators, yesterday(26/1)

UPDATED 27/1: facebook and twitter has been blocked and they're (1 million) going to gather in Tahrir, Cairo tomorrow to show their protest. people are advised to stay home.

ps: happy 5th birthday,bloggie!

1 comment:

Hambiah Liyana said...

scary gile weh. huhu. tape2 aku doakan korg selamat tade pape k.