Bersih: The Perfect Assembly, Almost

By
Marcus van Geyzel
 | 30 April 2012

Marcus van Geyzel records what he personally witnessed at Bersih 3.0.

There are so many stories and perspectives from Bersih 3.0 on 28 April 2012. Many first-hand accounts have already been published online, and I’m sure the coming days and weeks will see many more articles and analysis being churned out as well. I was there, and very much at the heart of the incident that has thrown up much speculation – that barrier breach. Well, I was close, but not close enough – as you will see.

As I was trying to process my thoughts and decide what to write about Bersih, Sivin Kit suggested that I just do a factual account of what I experienced that day, and leave the analysis for later. I thought that was a good idea, and am doing so with this post. There is minimal analysis here, and no “spin” – everything that is written here I witnessed and felt personally. I have written what I experienced, felt, and thought at the time, before all the spin and armchair commentators flooded my Twitter timeline with their views.

I clearly point out instances where what I’ve written is based on what I was told by others; I have kept these to a minimum.

It is long, and perhaps a bit dry, as it is a record so I will not forget what happened.

This then, is my experience of Bersih 3.0.

Two LoyarBurokkers, rempit style

We had planned our transportation arrangements a couple of days before. I already knew I had to attend my daughter’s first-ever sports day that morning – which the preschool very kindly rescheduled to an hour earlier. That went well enough by the way, she got a nice trophy for taking first prize in the team event, and we came in second in the parent-child event too!

Anyway, me and fellow LoyarBurokker Fahri Azzat decided that the best way to get into KL without having the hassle of potential roadblocks and traffic jams would be to ride in on his kapchai. Rempit style baby! Fahri picked me up from the TTDI mosque at around 10.45am. We discussed the official meeting points and decided that it would be best to try to get to Central Market.

Riding down the Sprint highway with minimal traffic, the cool breeze and smell of fresh-ish air made me optimistic that, maybe, today would turn out well after all. The perfect assembly maybe? We were optimistic.

Our ride in. Poor girl almost didn’t make it. | Photo by Marcus van Geyzel

When we reached the flyover entrance to Jalan Parlimen, there was a roadblock. A rotund (do they come in any other shape?) traffic policeman had just turned away a car as we approached, and turned away a motorbike when we stopped. Fahri had to call him a couple of times before he deigned to look over. “Bang, nak pergi Lake Club bang.” (Bro, we’re going to Lake Club bro) The policeman didn’t look too impressed. Two fellas on a kapchai – Lake Club? But he waved us in with an expression that said “whatever lah, I really can’t be bothered.”

So we continued up Jalan Parlimen and down Jalan Tembusu and Jalan Lembah, then Jalan Perdana until we got to Masjid Negara. Along the way, there were random groups of twos or threes walking along – some in yellow t-shirts, some not. We were excited, but the excitement was too much for the ol kapchai, and its back tyre suddenly sprung a leak. As we approached Masjid Negara on a now wobbly kapchai, there were several police trucks and many, many police officers. We squeezed through, rempit style, and parked the bike on the pavement along many others.

Masjid Negara – breaking into our own city

There was already a big crowd at Masjid Negara. People were sitting around waiting for the time to make their way to Dataran. This was one of the pre-designated gathering points. We kept to our earlier decision to make our way to Central Market, and walked.

As we made our way up Jalan Kinabalu and approached the turn-off, we noticed that it was barricaded with plastic red-and-white barriers, as well as razor wire. I really despised the sight of razor wire, having seen photos the night before of razor wire being used to barricade Dataran Merdeka as well. Why are we being kept out of our own city? And didn’t the authorities say that only Dataran would be sealed off? What’s with the roadblocks all over the place? This was obviously contradictory to the “order” obtained, as well as the earlier statements.

Anyway, hardly surprising.

We crossed Jalan Kinabalu – suicidal under normal circumstances, but there was obviously hardly any traffic at the time – and walked towards Dayabumi. Jalan Sultan Hishammuddin was also sealed off – more barricades and razor wire. We then tried to get into the underground carpark, but that was chained off. Anyway, just step over the chain lah – which attracted a security guard, who explained that, sorry, he was under instructions not to allow anyone in. But we just want to walk through we said, but he explained that there was no point as the back exit was sealed off anyway. He also turned away a postman who wanted to get to the post office!

We made our way down Jalan Tugu, hoping to find another way, and hoping that we wouldn’t have to go all the way to the Kinabalu roundabout and back. We met several other groups and individuals along the way, all trying to find a way in. We exchanged information about which roads were blocked off. We reflected on how ridiculous it was, all of us on foot, having to “break in” to our own city, denied by razor wire. I would have felt deeply saddened, if I wasn’t feeling knackered from walking aimlessly in the heat.

We met a 40-something year old Chinese man also trying to find a way in. We told him that Dayabumi was sealed off, for which he thanked us for saving him the walk into a dead-end. “I’m here not because of politics you know. I’m here for the next generation. No choice lah. Elections must be fair. Cannot keep on like this, no change. I don’t have any children, but am doing this for my nephews and nieces. I told them, you know, I’m going to walk for you. I don’t want them to have to suffer the same thing. Very unfair. No choice lah, for next generation. But it’s okay lah, I don’t mind. People organise something like this, we must support.”

He told us that he saw some people climbing through a hole in the fence leading to the railway tracks earlier, and that we might want to consider that. We thanked him, but both me and Fahri decided there was no way we would be walking across the railway tracks. “Don’t wanna be making the morning papers for the wrong reasons man,” he said.

We met another group, of five Malay men. They were checking out the fence along the railway tracks. They said they knew of the hole further up, but that when they got in they couldn’t find another hole on the other side so it was quite pointless. We told them of the dead-ends that we had come across, and moved on.

So we resigned ourselves to having to take the long way in – all the way to Kinabalu roundabout and back, and hoped that it would not be blocked off. We came across another group, two women and two men, who were heading up towards Masjid Negara as they had given up on making it into town on their own. We wished each other luck and carried on.

Suddenly, I noticed that there was a massive pedestrian bridge above us.

Me: “Eh Fahri, you think we can get into that bridge?”

Fahri: “Maybe. Let’s try only lah.”

We accessed it through a multi-storey carpark, climbing up about two floors. “JyeaH!” But wait, the bloody grill was closed and locked. So close, yet so far. We could see people walking around further into, via the train station and down the other side. Frustrating!

We decided to channel Lord Bobo’s monkey powers and climb around the side of the grill – sharp metal rods and plastic barbed wire notwithstanding. Momentarily hanging two floors above the road, we made it across, and exited onto Jalan Tun Sambanthan.

We were in.

Central Market

Making our way across the bridge towards Central Market, we were already walking amongst groups of people. And there were already many, many people gathered around and in the Central Market carpark. It was obvious that the turnout was going to be impressive. There were also many stalls selling food and drink. I saw some yellow balloons floating around above the crowd; the atmosphere was fun and festive.

Fahri decided he needed to get his kolomee fix, and we needed to head to Petaling Street. It was still well before 2 pm anyway, so off we went.

Petaling Street – makan time

The streets leading up to Petaling Street were bustling with activity. All along the way, stalls and coffeeshops were fully operational, and packed.

We got to Koon Kee, the Azzat-meister’s traditional kolomee destination, and he queued up to makan. I decided to skip the food and take a walk all the way up to Petaling Street and the surrounding areas.

Fahri queueing for kolo mee. Halal ke ni? | Photo by Marcus van Geyzel

The crowd was really big in this area, and went on for as long as I could see. There were some anti-Lynas banners, and a man with a loudhailer was leading a chant of “Bersih! Bersih!”. I spotted a 70-something year old woman in what looked like yellow pyjamas, with her hands in the air joining in the shouts of “Bersih! Bersih!”.

One guy tried to start up a chant of “Re-for-ma-si!” but it was not taken up by the crowd. He looked around sheepishly and pretended to take a call on his mobile phone.

I bought a 100 Plus from a roadside stall, nice and ice-cold. Next to me was an elderly Malay man struggling to find change in his pockets for a drink; I told him “Takpe pakcik, saya belanja,” (It’s alright uncle, my treat) to which he grinned and said “Hidup Rakyat!” (Long Live the People!). I cheekily asked the young man selling the drinks whether his business was badly affected by Bersih, as ignorantly claimed by many critics. He looked at in mock shock, and smilingly said: “Bang, saya rasa kalau satu bulan biasa jual pun tak boleh jual macam ni lah. Dah nak habis dah! Aku mintak member aku pi bawak stock lagi,” (Bro, I think I wouldn’t be able to sell this much even in a whole month in normal circumstances. I’m running out! I’ve already asked my friend to go and get some more stock) and right on cue another fella with a trolley-full of canned drinks packed into a styrofoam box arrived, breathing heavily but smiling.

The HS Lee – Petaling Street area. | Photo by Marcus van Geyzel

I got back to Koon Kee, and Fahri still wasn’t done – I could see him slumped over his food. I bought another herbal drink to pass the time, and support those who opened their stalls. This one was run by a Chinese lady. I noted that the prices being charged by all the vendors were quite reasonable – if it was me I may have been tempted to jack up the prices! I mentioned this to her, and she said “Nolah, we don’t want to cheat people. We also support Bersih. It’s for all of us right?”

When Fahri was finished (“Sorrylah bro, it was so damn good that I had a second bowl!”) we made our way back to Central Market.

Back to Central Market, and the Bar Council

The crowd at Central Market had swelled even more in our absence. Fahri climbed up a lamp-post to get a slightly-higher angle on his shots.

Fahri: “It’s like friggin Malaysia Day Carnival or something out here man!”

I agreed, it was beautiful. Despite the heat from the mid-day sun, everyone was having a genuinely good day out.

Me: “Ya man, most of these fellas would probably not set foot in this part of town again for the rest of the year – if only our actual Merdeka Day celebrations were like this.”

We continued our makan-minum (eat-drink) tour of KL with a couple of drinks from a stall run by a rather cute-looking young Malay girl; I got an orange juice. As we were paying, a man walked by and teasingly said to her: “Mana ada bisnes rugi sebab Bersih. Tak henti-henti orang beli minum kan?” (Loss of business due to Bersih? People are buying your drinks non-stop, right?!)  to which we all laughed.

We walked through the covered pedestrian walkway to the Bar Council, where there was another big crowd gathered. The police had blocked off the road just before the bridge across to Dataran. Many people were taking photos of themselves and the crowds. Fahri observed that the “Malaysian rally tourist pose” was one where you stood with your hands slightly raised, holding a smartphone or a camera. Everyone was having a good time – it was certainly better than what they would have otherwise been doing, which was likely to be hanging out in an air-conditioned shopping mall somewhere.

The Bar Council. | Photo by Marcus van Geyzel

Next we went up Medan Pasar and Jalan Benteng – Fahri continued his makan tour “Oooh, fishballs!”

There was a big group of 30-40 police officers at the HSBC building, and about 10 police officers crowding around a stall next to the Masjid Jamek LRT station. While Fahri was taking photos of the hungry policemen (“Now this I gotta get a shot of!”) I bumped into Roger Chan, looking spiffy in his suit – part of the Bar Council monitoring team for the day. We exchanged stories about what we’d seen so far, and expressed optimism that things were “looking good”.

In this area we also met Seira Sacha, Brendan Siva, Janet Chai, and Tung Seng. All seemed to be enjoying the atmosphere.

Jalan Tun Perak, at Masjid Jamek Station. | Photo by Marcus van Geyzel

Masjid Jamek – carnival time

Speaking of atmosphere, the crowd at Masjid Jamek was definitely the most impressive we had come across so far. If not the biggest – the Petaling Street and Central Market crowds were quite big and spread out – it was definitely the noisiest. The cheers of “Bersih! Bersih!” and “Hidup Rakyat!” echoed through the seemingly-narrow Jalan Tun Perak.

Another view of Jalan Tun Perak. | Photo by Marcus van Geyzel

Balloons and banners were everywhere. Some people were already sitting down on Jalan Tun Perak under the LRT tracks – the crowd was thick, as far as the eye could see towards Dataran Maybank, and all the way up to Jalan Parlimen, as we would later find out. There were all sorts of signs and banners.

Fahri: “It seems everyone with a cause of any kind has come out today man.”

Me: “Next time we must remember to bring that ‘Vote for Lord Bobo’ sign!”

First look at Dataran

We slowly made our way through the thick crowd of people – really slowly – towards Dataran Merdeka. As we reached the Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman junction – which would be a momentous location for us later on – we saw heavy police presence, FRU in a distance, and that damn razor wire. The crowd here was calmer than at Masjid Jamek, and extended far back into Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman. I had lost sight of Fahri (damn rally tourist!) so stood around observing people.

Dataran looking towards Jalan TAR. | Photo by Marcus van Geyzel

There really were people from all walks of life here. A truly Malaysian crowd with all the stereotypes one could imagine (in a good way lah). There were Melayu mat-rempit looking fellas, Indian machas, bespectacled clean-cut Chinese guys, lots and lots of good looking girls in short-shorts and spaghetti straps, women in tudungs, old young and everything in-between. The perfect rally. I even saw a rain-cloud in the distance. The heat was scorching.

The barricades were metal barriers, then those plastic barriers you see on highways, and razor wire. There was a double-file of police officers standing on the other side. (These police officers and the razor wire would later be strangely missing in the pictures and videos of the events at this exact location closer to 3pm.)

Dataran Merdeka. FRU. Police. Razor wire. Heartbreaking. | Photo by Marcus van Geyzel

As I was standing around, there were suddenly shouts of “bagi laluan!” (make way!) and police officers started filing in through the crowd towards Dataran. I’m not exaggerating when I say that the line was seemingly endless – the stream of police officers (mostly single-file) went on for at least 10-15 minutes. There must have been 100-200 of them. As they walked by, the mood in the crowd was jovial – many shook hands with them, and so did I.

The police officers were a mix of grizzled-looking veterans to obviously rookie cops. I made a point of saying thank you by name (their name-badges were stitched onto their uniforms) to a number of them (“Terima kasih Manan”) – I recall one young man was named “Casper”. I like to think that this would make a difference somehow, and later perhaps they’d be more inclined to show kindness.

Some of the other attendees next to me also some of the more stony-faced ones to smile “Kalau senyum mesti hansem bang!” (Bro, if you smile I’m sure you’ll look handsome!). The mood was light, friendly.

While this was going on (as I said, the line was seemingly endless), someone inflated a huge green ball and it was being bounced above the crowd. At some point, some fellas decided it would be funny to keep pushing the ball to land on the line of police officers that was streaming through. A balding, bespectacled individual (an attendee, not a police officer) on the other side of the line sternly shouted at the crowd: “Hey! Do not aggravate the officers! They are just doing their job, and they are not hurting you! Do not give them an excuse to react to you! Remember that we are here today for a reason – electoral justice!” The ball moved away and never came back. (I later found out, via his account published on the blawg, that this guy was Ahmad Azrai, who I’ve communicated with on numerous occasions but never met!)

Further down Tun Perak, looking towards Raja Laut. | Photo by Marcus van Geyzel

Eventually I located Fahri – I saw him standing around with his arms above his head taking photos of course, and we walked towards Jalan Parlimen.

There, we met more of the Bar Council monitoring team, including Himahlini and HR Dipendra. Dipen offered to take a photo of us. He also expressed optimism that it looked like things would be allowed to happen peacefully. The crowd extended all the way to the roundabout-junction, where several police trucks were parked.

The rally tourists. Fahri: “I look like some spaz here man!” | Photo by HR Dipendra

It was amazing just standing there, looking at the huge crowd of Malaysians that had turned up. And under the blazing hot sun too! And they turned up early! Words don’t suffice.

All of a sudden, the police truck at the end of the road towards Parlimen sounded its bell. Tear gas?! There was a buzz in the crowd as people started to get up and move nervously. I pointed out a couple of guys to Fahri – as soon as the bell rung, they ran to the side of the road, opened their backpacks, and fished out gas masks and goggles.

Me: “Damn, these guys are prepared man!”

Fahri: “Yeah and we’re like a couple of amateurs!”

We also noticed that while we were inching away from the police truck, most people were moving towards it.

Fahri: “Err. I think we’ll just slowly move away, shall we?”

Me: “Yup, no shame in that!”

As we were walking away, we met Danny Lim. We told him about the bell. His response was “Oh really? I’m gonna head there and check it out.” After talking with Danny about what we’d seen, what a peaceful lovely gathering it was, and a great day for photos (damn rally tourists!), we made our way back up Jalan Tun Perak. Obviously no tear gas was fired at the time after all. Perhaps someone accidentally feel asleep on the alarm switch.

Back to Masjid Jamek

Making our way back up Jalan Tun Perak, we stopped for a while at the grilled corridors of the Panggung Bandaraya. A cooling breeze was making its way out through the building. We stopped to look around and take in the scene, and the crowd again. To remember what it looked and felt like.

I suddenly thought of a nice cool iced coffee.

Me: “You know, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to open a high-end cafe say one floor up from here. It would be good for the Bangsar activists. I wouldn’t mind paying RM30 for a coffee to get a good view.”

Fahri: “Yup, I’d pay for that.”

Me: “But it can’t be al-fresco lah, must have properly sealed glass windows so we don’t kena the tear gas.”

Fahri: “Definitely!”

After the quick rest and tokkok session, we squeezed back to Masjid Jamek. The call to prayer was coming through the mosque speakers, and people were making their way in to pray. We went back to Fahri’s fishball stall and had a couple more drinks to continue our minum tour – cendol and something else I can’t recall, I think it was longan (important details dammit!).

We followed that with a stroll along the river – romantic eh? In fact, we were commenting about how they were a lot of couples around, walking hand-in-hand, taking couple-photos. There really was an element of romance in the air. Too bad I was with Fahri (no offence brah!).

I suggested that we try to make our way back to Dataran via a parallel route, to make an approach via Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman. It would’ve been impossible to make it back in via Jalan Tun Perak as the crowd was really jam-packed by then.

Masjid India – almost time to walk in

We walked across Jalan Tun Perak, up Jalan Melaka – where we saw policemen randomly lepak-ing in the alleyways, up Jalan Ampang a bit and over the river through Jalan Bunus Satu and found ourselves at Masjid India, where there was another big crowd gathered. The mamak shops in the back alleys were also doing good business – I’d expect that they’d usually be emptier on a Saturday afternoon.

As we approached Masjid India, someone was starting off a speech. I was informed by a short Malay man next to me that the group was about to start walking towards Dataran. Masjid India was one of the official meeting points. The speaker (whom neither me nor Fahri could identify) was talking about Bersih, and how we are fighting for a free and fair election process, which is crucial in any functioning democracy. There was some detail about how even a seemingly small number of “dubious voters” could swing seats that could swing entire states.

Masjid India. | Photo by Marcus van Geyzel

The crowd was multi-racial, despite it being a mosque – everyone was just a “Malaysian”. As we looked up at the low-cost accommodation, there were many foreign workers crowded around the windows, looking down at the crowd below.

Fahri: “These fellas are probably wondering what the hell these Malaysians are complaining about man, they have it good here!”

That’s probably true, but we always have to strive for better, and for all we know, they could be thinking “Man, I wish we could rally for free and fair elections, or justice, or democracy in our country – I respect what these guys are doing, despite their relative affluence.”

After the speech was over, the Unit Amal volunteers made a corridor through the crowd, and the speaker announced that we would walk to Dataran. He reminded everyone to stay calm and to walk slowly and in an orderly manner. He also urged everyone not to react to any provocation, and to remember that we were there to fight for free and fair elections.

As we started walking, the chants of “Hidup Rakyat!” and “Bersih! Bersih!” rang out again.

Making our way through Lorong TAR. | Photo by Marcus van Geyzel

As we made our way through the narrow back-alleys, I looked around and took in the scene again. I couldn’t stop doing this. I wanted to remember what it felt like to be walking shoulder-to-shoulder with fellow Malaysians for a single purpose. Just for a few hours, our differences were cast aside. We all want a better future – and to be able to determine our future in a fair manner. More balloons. More chants. Beautiful.

When we arrived at the junction of Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman and Jalan Melayu, the crowd couldn’t move further forward. The main road was already packed with seated people. So another drink to continue our minum tour – canned chrysanthemum tea – and sat down. “Duduk Bantah!” (Sit-in Protest!)

Squeezing our way through Jalan TAR. | Photo by Marcus van Geyzel

After about 5 minutes, we realised that there were quite a number of people walking off, past us, so we stood up and walked forward into the space that they vacated.

I pointed out to Fahri that it’s quite easy to know where to walk, where the path would be clearer: “Just look for where the sunshine falls on the road – everyone is packed into the shady areas”. So we did, and we inched and inched – there were two tidal flows, some moving in, some moving out – until we got to Dataran.

Looking back up Jalan TAR. | Photo by Marcus van Geyzel

Dataran – Anwar arrives, and we are brutally gassed by the police

We settled on a spot just under the LRT tracks, so we were about 20-30 metres I guess from the barricades? (a two-lane road and some pavement). Again, we took in the atmosphere. We spoke a bit to people on either side of us. It looked like we had done it – that we had all successfully pulled off a peaceful, beautiful rally, and that the police had allowed us to.

We started talking about crowd estimates. While it’s obviously difficult for us to give an accurate estimate, we were sure that the crowd was massive – at least 70,000 surely. There were big crowds wherever we went, and there were also many people walking around in big groups. We didn’t even make it to Dataran Maybank, where there was apparently one of the bigger crowds, and we also knew there was a big crowd that came from KLCC.

I also know of many who came in the morning and left around 2.30pm after they had “made their point”. Most of the people I knew who attended Bersih didn’t give a damn about the “It’s BN’s fault!” or “Anwar started it!” argument, and all the noise generated online and offline by people arguing, blame-shifting, labelling – they came to show that they wanted free and fair elections.

It was a stunning turnout, and a great day.

There were chants of “Bersih! Bersih!” and “Hidup Rakyat!”. Massive balloons were passed above the crowd, and people were sitting and standing and just drinking in the atmosphere.

Party atmosphere at Dataran Merdeka. | Photo by Marcus van Geyzel

After some time, we noticed that there was a massive flag arriving from an elevated position.

Me: “Check out the huge-ass flag.”

Fahri: “What does it say on the flag?”

We both focused and as it approached we read it: “SAMM: Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia”.

Fahri: “What the hell is that?”

Me: “Beats me.”

I pointed out an approaching rain-cloud to Fahri: “Look, it might rain. We might get Edmund’s perfect assembly after all. While the fella is dossing about in Sarawak.”

We then realised that it was some sort of truck or lorry that was bringing in the flag-bearer, and that there were a number of people seated in the back of it.

Fahri: “How the heck did they manage to get that in here?”

Me: “Ya man, selamba only driving in, damn cool innit.”

As it came to a stop at the barricades, just in front of us, we spotted the individuals – Nurul Izzah, Wan Azizah and Dr Jeyakumar.

Me: “No wonder lah can drive in.”

And then Anwar Ibrahim and Lim Kit Siang stood up and walked to the front of the lorry. The crowd cheered loudly – in fact, they roared. Anwar took the megaphone and led chants of “Bersih! Bersih!” and “Hidup Rakyat!”. The crowd was really jostling around at this point, and we were focusing on keeping our footing. Some people in front of me ended up behind me, as I seemed to have been jostled further forward.

Anwar makes an appearance. | Photo by LoyarBurok

Me: “Where the hell is Ambi man?”

Fahri: “Yeah, I can’t believe she didn’t show up. She’s supposed to be running this. I’m here for her, not for bloody Anwar.”

Me: “Maybe she’s coming in a bit.”

Fahri: “Yeah, maybe.”

(We later found out, when zooming in on some photos taken there, that Ambiga actually was on the truck – it was like Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, where a face reveals itself in a photo after some high-powered zooming. She was seated, on the Dataran side, away from the crowd. She did not stand up. She did not speak. I read reports about her speaking and asking the crowd to disperse, but I can clearly state that this did not happen at Dataran. As I said, we did not even know she was there. I am still disappointed that she did not even bother standing up to show herself. Many of us turned up because of her invitation, and she should have at least acknowledged the crowd and said something.)

A glimpse of Ambiga. | Photo by Fahri Azzat

I had a very clear view of Anwar from where I was standing, and this is what I saw. Note that these are how I interpreted events at the time – I know there’s been a lot of subsequent discussion about what happened, but to me it seemed quite clear.

Anwar repeatedly gestured for the crowd to move back, away from the barricade. Every time he did this, there was a noticeable push back, and I had to try hard to maintain my footing. As I mentioned, some people in front of me ended up being pushed back behind me when this happened.

I would say there were at least 3 instances of Anwar gesturing to “move back” and the crowd obeying and pushing back.

Anwar asking the crowd to calm down. | Photo by Marcus van Geyzel

Anwar again gesturing for calm. | Photo by Marcus van Geyzel

One of the individuals asking the crowd to move back. | Photo by Marcus van Geyzel

Again, an individual asking the crowd to move back. | Photo by Marcus van Geyzel

Anwar also made a gesture towards the barricades – I assumed at the time that he was making this gesture to the police officers there. He would do a hands-together “praying” gesture, and a “open” gesture, as if asking the police whether they would consider letting us in. After doing this twice, he turned to us, and shrugged, with palms turned upward, as if to say “oh well, I tried”.

The crowd chanted “Buka! Buka!” (Open! Open!) Anwar at this point again gestured for the crowd to “move back”, and made a gesture telling people at the front to “calm down” repeatedly.

His “move back” gestures were very clear.

After that, Anwar seemed to have given up, and sat crouching with his hand over the shoulder of another individual on the truck. This individual, together with another individual, were observed repeatedly asking the crowd to “move back” as well as at one point making clear “no” gestures to someone, or a group of someones, at the front of the crowd.

Anwar, squatting and smiling. | Photo by Marcus van Geyzel

Suddenly, we heard a loud cheer from the front of the crowd.

Fahri: “Eh, they’re letting us in!”

Me: “No, wait. Don’t move first. Wait and see. It might be a trap.”

I looked at Anwar and he seemed surprised at whatever was happening at the front, and was waving his hand in what I interpreted as a disapproving gesture to say “no, no”.

As much as we heard cheering and noticed some people at the front moving forward, and noticing that there were some people running around past the barricades, the crowd around us did not move forward. We all stood still, stunned really, but making no attempt to barge into Dataran Merdeka.

Within seconds, we saw plumes of smoke up ahead, and water cannons being deployed.

Fahri: “Fuckers! They lured them in and whacked them.”

Me: “Good thing we didn’t move forward right? The order was you cannot go into Dataran, so those fellas went in and kena lah.” I thought we would be safe since we were just standing outside, and the crowd was not surging in. How naive of me! I was quickly proven wrong.

Fahri: “Eh bugger, the trucks are moving forward!”

Suddenly I heard the “poom poom poom poom poom” which I recognised as tear gas canisters being fired, from all the YouTube videos I’d seen before. I noticed a canister flying high and seemingly on a trajectory to land right on our heads. I pointed this out to Fahri: “Shit, look at that one!” It thankfully hit the LRT tracks and seemingly got stuck on top. I didn’t want to find out, as we turned and ran.

Here’s the surprising part – although we had not seen any tear gas canisters going past us, when we turned, it was already a wall of smoke in front of us. (I was later informed that there were several individuals in the crowd who rolled tear gas canisters into the crowd from behind – several people told me this, at least 5 different accounts, and some also said that the individuals rolling the tear gas canisters were wearing yellow t-shirts).

I had no choice, I had to run into the gas.

It was thick gas, and it was my first time experiencing tear gas. I don’t see why they bloody call it “tear” gas – my eyes didn’t really tear up as much as it felt like my skin was melting. I shouted to Fahri: “Bro, spit it out, whatever you do, don’t swallow it in!” and that was the last I saw of him for some time.

As I was running, the first sensation was of my face burning, then the back of my neck, then my arms and legs. Then I could hardly breathe. I was gagging and vomited mucus. Around me, I could hear people screaming and vomiting.

I heard more “poom poom poom poom” (how many were they firing at us?!) and thought I saw a canister fly by towards my left and hit a building.

Then my vision went, and my eyes burnt. My nose was like a faucet. I kept spitting and spitting as I went along.

The air was thick with gas for what seemed like an eternity. I remember thinking that surely I would pass out – I had to breathe, but every breath brought sharp pain. It either felt like I was on fire, or that someone was rubbing cili padi all over me (including in my eyes). I was trying to figure out how to fall down and pass out without being trampled on. Then a lady beside me tripped; I grabbed her arm and jogged along with her until she regained her balance and could run again. That effort of having to catch her seemed to distract me from my own pain, and it suddenly became bearable.

The air thinned out and seemed to clear of gas. I took my squirt water bottle from my pouch and squirted my eyes and face and mouth. I passed it to a young Malay boy on my left, and he took it and sprayed water over his face as well. An older Indian man on my right also asked for it, and I shared it with him.

I looked around for the first time, and realised that I was at Kamdar. That was quite a distance to run. And it made me realise the extent to which the gas was rolled in behind us.

“Bloody bastards! Why did they gas us! We were standing around doing nothing!” I said out loud. People around me were also cursing as they regained calm “Babi punya polis!” (Police pigs!) “Polis serang rakyat!” (Police attacking the people!) “What the hell is wrong with the police?!” I pulled over at Kamdar, and washed my face and arms again. A Chinese guy came over to offer me some salt. It helped a lot, and my head seemed to clear up.

A few of us – young student-looking Malay guys, a young Chinese couple, an elderly Chinese couple, an old Indian man, and a few others – were standing around Kamdar for a couple of minutes ranting and raving about why the police decided to open fire. This is when I was told by some of them that they saw individuals rolling tear gas canisters into the crowd, quite a distance back from Dataran Merdeka. They had no idea what was going on in front – in fact many of them did not even know that Anwar and the truck of other people had arrived. Many of them were still sitting on the road when tear gas started to fill the air, and they had to quickly stand up to avoid being trampled on.

I really could not understand why the police would try to box us in. This was no dispersal. If the intention was to disperse the crowd from entering Dataran, why roll tear gas in the middle and behind most of us? We were boxed in.

It reminded me immediately of how June Rubis was ambushed like an animal at Bersih 2.0. The police were cruel, and acted wholly inconsistently. They endangered our lives, and obviously had the intention of inflicting pain and suffering. There was no “warning bell” which I have been informed numerous times is a standard operating procedure, and which the FRU and Home Minister always insist is a procedure that is followed.

And there was a hell of a lot of tear gas fired; a ridiculous amount. Even after we turned and saw a wall of gas, I kept hearing the “poom poom poom poom”.

This is our police force, which is supposed to serve and protect us. Instead they ended up inflicting unnecessary pain on us and protecting a field. I was livid.

The post-gas crowd, dispersing peacefully. | Photo by Marcus van Geyzel

After the chaos

After a couple of minutes, I heard the “poom poom poom poom” again, so everyone started running up the road again.

Along the way, there were several groups of policemen standing at the side of the road. Some of them were goading the crowd aggressively. “Padan muka!” (Serves you right!) “Kenapa lari? Balik ke Dataran lah. Padan muka!” (Why are you running away? Go back to Dataran lah. Serves you right!) “Sakit ke? Memang patut!” (Does it hurt? It should!) These are police officers goading people who were not bothering them. It was ridiculous. Thankfully nobody seemed to react to them.

I got to Sogo, and decided to stop again as things seemed to have calmed down.

It was here that I bumped into Rahul and Cristabel. Cristabel had been split up from her group of friends, including June Low whom I know, and I lent her my phone to SMS them and her brother, Nat who I also know. Rahul is a regular UndiMsia! member. He had salt all over his face, and had got tear-gassed quite badly too.

I couldn’t get hold of Fahri, as the phone lines were down and SMSes seemed delayed. Eventually it turns out he ran down a side-street (Jalan Melayu) which we came from and was now having mamak (continuing his makan-minum tour without me obviously) near Masjid India, far away from the main road. He asked to go back and join him as “things seemed peaceful” I considered it, but then we saw crowds running up the road again and I saw smoke in a distance. Me, Rahul, and Cristabel started jogging forward.

As we got to Pertama Complex, Cristabel said: “There’s traffic here. I think we’re okay now. They wouldn’t fire tear gas when there’s traffic right.” I wasn’t so sure. “You never know with these fellas.”

Then we noticed a crowd of police officers suddenly making their way into the area, and I said: “OK, time to make a move again, we don’t want to be hanging around here.”

We arrived at Maju Junction and sat down again. Cristabel managed to get hold of June and they made plans to meet up at Tune Hotel across the road. We noticed that the police suddenly closed Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman to traffic, pulling barricades across the junction from Jalan Sultan Ismail. “I think we’d better cross the road. No traffic means bad news,” I said, so we crossed. There we met June and a whole bunch of other friends. We exchanged stories. I was again told about people rolling in tear gas into the middle of crowds to box them in.

I got Fahri on the phone and he said that things seemed to have quietened down. “All quiet here  man, come and meet me here lah.” Fine, I’ll make my way back to Masjid India. I said my goodbyes to Rahul, June, Cristabel, and the others. I crossed the road and walked past Maju Junction then heard “poom poom poom poom” again and saw people running. Screw that Fahri, it’s not worth it. I turned back and rejoined the group at Tune Hotel.

We decided to get the monorail to KL Sentral, as their cars were parked at Bangsar LRT. So we walked up Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman. I could tell that the mood had changed – many people I walked past looked tired, probably from having been tear-gassed. I looked at some of the more elderly and frail people and wondered how bad it must have been for them.

As I walked past a bus-stop with a massive plastic advertisement with Najib’s face on it, next to the words “Rakyat Didahulukan.” (People First), a woman in a tudung walking past punched his face, swearing, followed by a man who spat on his face, and another man who also spat at him.

As I said, the mood had changed.

Much to think about

At that point, I was more sad than angry really. I was sad that what for the most part was an absolutely beautiful, peaceful gathering ended up on a sour note. I don’t know what happened at the barricades of Dataran, but I do know that the police reaction was extremely excessive. As we went by on the monorail, we noticed that the FRU trucks had pushed all the way up to Jalan Sultan Ismail, parked right in front of Maju Junction.

There is much to think about. Many people have been throwing their opinions about. In fact, many armchair commentators who weren’t even there were already giving strong and confident opinions about whether or not Bersih was a “success” or not. As I mentioned at the beginning, I will not go into these issues here.

This is meant to be a record of what happened, so I do not forget.

As I rode back on the monorail, I chose to remember the beautiful part of the day – before the FRU went wild on us.

The people, the smiles, the festive atmosphere, the balloons, the cheers and songs, the food and drink.

The purpose. The peace.

And yes — it even drizzled a bit at the end. The perfect assembly, almost.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 1 May 2012, 11:50 am and is filed under
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Editors, journalists slam police violence against media

Malaysiakini

Apr 30, 2012

Editors and journalists from major news outlets in Malaysia have issued a joint statement, the first of its kind in the nation’s history, blasting the government’s violence against journalists covering the Bersih 3.0 rally last Saturday.

It alleged that the authorities had acted upon “orders from above” that resulted in members of the press being intimidated, harassed, assaulted and arrested while on duty.

It called on the government to take firm action against the perpetrators and to live up to its claim of democratic reforms and media freedom.

The statement, signed by various news portals’ chiefs, accompanies an online petition ‘Don’t beat up journalists’.

The statement in full:

Joint statement condemning intimidation and violence against journalists

We, members of the journalism fraternity of Malaysia, appalled by the attacks on journalists covering the mass public rally on the streets of Kuala Lumpur on Saturday April 28, and by restrictions imposed on media coverage of the rally,

CONDEMN
 the use of intimidation and violence against journalists,

CONDEMN
 all actions preventing journalists and the media from providing full, fair and accurate coverage of events that are of concern to Malaysians,

CONDEMN
 the action of media organisations in withholding reports or being complicit in a news blackout of attacks on journalists,

CALL FOR
 immediate and firm action by the government of Malaysia, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Royal Malaysia Police against all those involved in these acts of violence and intimidation to prevent journalists from carrying out their duty and depriving Malaysian citizens of fair, full and accurate journalism; and

CALL UPON
 the government of Malaysia, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Royal Malaysia Police to give their assurance of firm action to ensure the safety of journalists at public events and to protect the right of all journalists to cover public events without fear of violence and intimidation, and without interference from the authorities. According to published reports and information from our colleagues:

•One journalist suffered head injuries when attacked by the crowd;

•One journalist, assaulted by police, was feared to have suffered broken ribs;

•Two journalists were arrested by police while on duty;

•Several journalists reported being attacked by police;

•A female journalist was manhandled by several male police;

•Photographic equipment was smashed or destroyed;

•Data storage cards of journalists’ cameras were removed and destroyed; and

•Journalists were ordered not to take photographs of police actions.

The action by members of the police force, apparently acting on orders, or ‘arahan dari atas’, was taken directly against journalists engaged in carrying out their duties and clearly aimed at preventing journalists from reporting accurately on events that they witnessed, and in several cases to specifically prevent them from reporting on police action to disperse the rally.

These actions on the ground are in direct contradiction of the Malaysian government’s declarations of respect of the rights of journalists and the mass media, and of the Government’s intention to carry out reforms for a vibrant Malaysia media that will hold its place in the world media community.

It is the duty of all journalists and of the media to provide full, fair and accurate reports and keep citizens informed of current issues that are of concern. Violence and intimidation are acts of censorship to prevent public knowledge of these events.

We urge the Malaysian government, and especially the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Royal Malaysia Police, to live up to their responsibilities to safeguard the role of the media in carrying out their duty to inform the Malaysian people, and to ensure that journalists are able to report freely without intimidation and interference, especially from the authorities.

Undersigned:

Asohan Aryaduray, Chong Cheng Hai, Deborah Loh, Gobind Rudra, Jacqueline Ann Surin, Jahabar Sadiq, K Kabilan, KL Chan, Premesh Chandran, Steven Gan.

This statement is included in an online petition to the government of Malaysia, and is supported by more than 250 signatories.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 1 May 2012, 4:03 pm and is filed under
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Journalist groups call for impartial probe on police violence

By Anisah Shukry

The Malaysian Insider

May 01, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, May 1 — Putrajaya must form an independent panel to investigate claims that police manhandled journalists covering Saturday’s Bersih rally, journalist organisations said today.

The National Union of Journalists Malaysia (NUJ) maintained that the panel should comprise a retired judge, a former Bar Council President as well as journalism experts.

“Reporters, including those from foreign press, were beaten while on duty, and this is a serious accusation.

“The panel should summon police officers involved, as well as the journalists and photographers to testify, so that the public can finally know what transpired during the Bersih 3.0 rally,” NUJ said in a statement.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) revealed in a statement that more than 12 photographers and journalists were assaulted, intimidated or detained by police while reporting the rally.

“Many were injured, with some receiving injuries serious enough to require stitches and hospitalisation,” it said.

The IFJ added they were alarmed to have witnessed police officers threatening and assaulting journalists who were “only engaged in reporting legitimate news stories”.

“The press should be able to report freely on events in the public interest, without fear for their public safety.

“We urge Inspector-General Tan Sri Ismail to ensure police officers fulfil their duty to protect the safety of media personnel in the interests of press freedom,” it said.

Yesterday, human rights group Proham called for an independent panel to investigate all instances of violence that took place during the Bersih rally, adding that the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) could help with the probe.

The Bersih rally for free and fair elections turned chaotic when Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) personnel began firing tear gas and water cannons after demonstrators breached police lines in their attempt to reach Dataran Merdeka.

The event was initially planned for the historic square but authorities had secured a court order on Friday barring its use for public assemblies until May 1, forcing Bersih supporters to splinter into groups.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 1 May 2012, 6:02 pm and is filed under
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Testimony of Bersih 3.0

By Pang Teck Yaw

The Malaysian Insider

May 01, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, May 1 — My name is Pang Teck Yaw. I am a student of law. I must admit reading law has been both a joyful and heartbreaking experience. During the course of my study, I read about the concept of separation of power, judiciary independence, the supremacy of constitutional rights, but it’s heartbreaking because all these are fiction to a certain extent.

 That’s why I decided to attend Bersih and the reason is to convince myself what I studied can be employed in Malaysia, that I can exercise my right as a Malaysian.

 I must admit I do have fear because my exam is around the corner, and at the eve of 26 and 27 of April, policemen were spotted in my college.

 To be on the safe side, I stayed overnight at Jalan Sultan with no idea what’s going to happen the next day.

 Nevertheless, the experience was eye opening. 9.30 am, the streets was already crowded with people. I felt so happy and proud. Never had I seen so many Chinese at Jalan Sultan. People were having a good time, some people were playing instruments, some were making friends, I had a pleasant surprise to see so many of my schoolmates and students turn up. I am very sure, the hawkers around there were making big money.

At 12.30, I noticed that the crowd was moving, so I tagged along. The spirit was high, the gathering was peaceful, we gathered at Dataran Maybank and from there we proceeded to Masjid Jamek and we stay there. The place was so packed that we literally had no place to sit. At 1.30 a few opposition members presented their speeches and clearly the crowd was roused especially when Anwar spoke. Finally, Ambiga was there, she declared that we had archived our objectives and asked us to disperse.

Unfortunately, the crowd was showing high emotions; some people around me even said that they just arrived and they refused to go back. They were people shouting “Dataran, Dataran”.

After a while, I saw the crowd in front of me clapping hands and chanting Bersih as though they just won a war, and started to march forward.

My first instinct was the police had backed down and they allowed us to proceed.

We marched for about 10 minutes, when suddenly tear gas was fired at us. We were really confused because we thought the police allowed us to march forward.

The crowd panicked and we started to move back. To our horror, even when we were retreating, more tear gas was fired. We felt fear and panic because there were old people among us. The place was so packed and we had no room to disperse and we couldn’t rush fearing that people might fall down and got injured. The police had not given us enough time to disperse.

I was shocked to see there were children below 5 crying and shouting looking for their parents. Some people were fainting, a person’s head was badly injured because one tear gas canister landed directly on his head.

The tear gas was fired rapidly and was too unbearable. Therefore, some of us decided to climb over a wall into a mosque beside Masjid Jamek station. As we were resting inside the mosque, tear gas was still being fired.

We were trapped inside the mosque as the entrance was blocked by the FRU. We could clearly see water cannons were being deployed around Jalan Mahkamah. There is a platform connecting the mosque to the corridor of Masjid Jamek LRT station and people were risking their life trying to cross over to the other side.

I stayed inside the mosque for one hour and after that I made my way to Masjid Jamek LRT station. Surprisingly, the LRT station had been shut down. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the water cannon truck fired towards the crowd outside the LRT station.

We were really confused, whether they want us to disperse or to isolate us and exterminate us.

People started to run, we managed to gather at the side corridor of Masjid Jamek LRT station near the river and opposite us is the mosque that I was trapped earlier. Until that time, there were still people trapped inside the mosque. Two people fainted at the corridor; the medic team were looking after them. At that time, behind us was Masjid Jamek LRT station and it was blocked by FRU and the only way out is to move forward.

We carried the injured and moved forward. To our dismay, tear gas was fired at us. We were trapped again, we were confined to the corridor area and there was no way out.

Luckily, there was a van selling drinks, Needless to say, he was making big money too. After a while, we decided to move forward again.

By then, an ambulance had come and the injured was in good hands. As we moved forward to Jalan Pudu, tear gas was still being fired at us. I was puzzled, because we just wanted to go back and there was only a maximum 25 of us. By the way, two tourists were around that area too.

When we reached Jalan Pudu, the LRT at Plaza Rakyat was not functioning. We were told that we had to move to Monorail Jalan Maharajalela to leave.

From there, everything was safe. After I reached home, I could not help but to feel disgusted towards the police force. I must admit, I lost all my respect towards them. I am convinced until now that they planned to isolate and attack us tactically from the very beginning.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 1 May 2012, 1:10 pm and is filed under
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A Bersih story

By Harris Nasril

The Malaysian Insider

May 01, 2012

MAY 1 — Where shall I start? From the beginning? The ending? The conclusion? Everyone has their side of the story and mine is just a piece of a jigsaw puzzle. Maybe in the end, the jigsaw puzzle will be solved by somebody. Clean and neat.

I received a call from my brother, Ikbal at 5.30 am.

“I think we should move now. People are gathering. I heard it is more than ten thousand people now in Dataran!” he said.

“Fetch me at 6am. I need to take a bath and pray my Subuh first,” I replied.

I had not even finished a cup Milo for breakfast, when my brother arrived. I told him, I need to pray first, and I told him to wait for me.

 “No time! You can pray at Kelana Jaya LRT station. I heard they will close down the LRT station!”.

We then reached Kelana Jaya LRT station around 6.45am. After Ikbal parked his car, we saw one young Chinese guy wearing the Bersih yellow T-Shirt. ” Look at that Chinese guy. He is not afraid ofwearing yellow. Why we are?” I asked my brothers.

“Hahaha, that is because he is not ‘penakut’ like us!” my brothers replied.

We then took the escalator and were very much surprised to see so many peoples in yellow shirts in the LRT station! “

After a while, we then arrived at Pasar Seni LRT station at 8am. One of the gathering point of the pre-rally is Pasar Seni- the central market, but at that time around 8am, the area still seemef to be quite empty.

” The crowd is at Jalan Tun Perak. Maybe we need to move there since there are not many people,” I told Ikbal.

 ” Yup, we need to go with the crowd to stay safe,” Ikbal replied.

Then, we walked through Central Market heading to Jalan Tun Perak via HSBC building. As we arrived at the junction at HSBC, few dozens of policemen already cordonned off the area.

“Never mind, we gather at Jalan Sultan-the other meeting point” I told my brother. We then walk thru Petaling Street and were relieved to saw crowds already building up in that area. Most of the crowds are youngsters. Around 20-30 years old. There were senior citizens and children as well already singing the Bersih song.

Some were taking photos of each other. Some were passing around the Bersih pamphlets and yellow ribbon. It was a festive atmosphere and very peaceful just around 11am. The crowd then moved to Jalan Sultan where a bigger crowd already gathered. There was one medical unit booth set up in a corner shop. We were also are given free mineral water distributed by a supporter from one lorry.

 Then, at 12pm the crowd moved  towards Jalan Silang then gathered with another crowd at Pudu near Menara Maybank. The crowd is huge. The biggest I ever saw since 21 September 1998 – the Reformasi rally at Masjid Negara. All are singing the Bersih song- the ole-ole football kinda song, Negaraku and also some chanting Reformasi and Hidup Rakyat.

Me and my brothers went up to Menara Maybank to get a better view of the crowds. From the left side, the Pudu Bus Station, towards on the right heading to Jalan Tun Perak, it’s a sea of people in yellow. Massive! Then around 12.30pm, the crowd lead by Unit Amal Pas, wearing red shirts, moved towards Jalan Tun Perak heading the Dataran Merdeka.

It was packed. I could see  multiracial participants, the Malays, Chinese and Indians. Truly Malaysian crowd. Peaceful. I also saw a few university students wearing purdah to cover their faces.

 I saw Adam Adli, Safwan Anang, Mahfuz Omar, and a few opposition leaders give their speeches. The loud hailer can’t get through the crowds. I can’t even hear what they are talking about because the crowd is huge and noisy.

 At this time around 2 pm I already saw that the FRU are planning for the tear gas firing. They already were in formation- I recognised it, thanks to my experience joining the Reformasi rally years ago. I asked one Uncle standing beside me:

” Uncle, do you think that they will fire the tear gas?”

” No I don’t think so. Look at the crowd. It’s like sardines. If they fire, there will be a stampede. Many people may  die,” the Uncle replied.

” But looking at their formation, it’s like they are preparing for it?” I said.

” No lah! Can’t be, “ he said.

My brother texted me:

 “We are at Masjid Jamek. Nurul Izzah, Ambiga giving speech in a jeep” my brother text me.

It was difficult but I made it to where Ambiga, Nurul Izzah, Lim Kit Siang, Chegu Bard and a few opposition figures were right in front of the Masjid Jamek LRT station.

“ Today is our day! Nobody can take it from us!” Ambiga told the crowd. She then told the crowd to disperse. Surprisingly, at this time, all communications start to breakdown. I couldn’t call or SMS my brothers.

Perhaps it was because of the frequency jammers used for the first time in a Malaysian rally. This is one of the reason that Bersih failed to disperse the crowd because the message did not reach down to the crowd. I made my way to Masjid Jamek to pray.

 After that, the crowd moved towards Dataran. Do they manage to went inside Dataran? I wondered.  I was at Jalan Tun Perak in between Masjid Jamek and Dataran. At around 3pm, I saw white gas near the intersection right in front where the barbed wire is located. The fumes of the gas was powerful. The crowds all jeered at  the cops. Some shouting abusive words.

The crowds then retreated towards Pudu. The retreat is so slow-moving like a snail – because of the high density of the crowds. Some are pushing, some fell down. Some fainted because of the gas is so powerful. It not only affects your eyes, and throat, its affects your movement as well.

Then I saw a Malay girl dispensing salt to the people and told them to put it on their tongue. I took the salt and put it onto my tongue and surprisingly  I’m energised. Upon reaching the LRT Masjid Jamek, drama started.

“They are shutting down the station!” I heard somebody shout. Some already managed to went inside the station and went up towards the LRT platform. At this time, the fumes of the gas already reached the station. Supposedly this crowd should be allowed to take the LRT and disperse. What is the plan closing the station?   Then suddenly, the gate of the LRT is closed down. Just like the scene in Titanic where they closed the lift door to prevent Jack and Rose from entering.

” Open! Tear gas is here!” I heard people shouting at the LRT officer.

 “We can’t. We have to close. We have received the instruction” the officer replied.

Then the crowd chanting ” BUKA!BUKA!” but the officer do nothing.

I ran. Kept running. Tear gas. Water cannons.

I then reached the Pasar Seni LRT station. I saw from where I stood, tear gas fired at the bridge near Central Market that is connected to Dayabumi. People there are trapped. Some jumping off from the bridge! I went up to the escalator of the LRT station.

The station was closing too. I ran through the halfway closing shutter and managed to get inside. It was chaos.

I have to salute the woman officer at the Pasar Seni station who made an announcement to the crowd. She told us to just go inside to the platform without the token and pay at the exit.

I managed to contact my brothers, before finally arriving at Kelana Jaya station at 6pm and arriving home at 7 pm.

 The next morning,  I went to 7 Eleven to see the mainstream media headlines : ” Bersih is violent” “Bersih kotor dan ganas” and so on. Well, I was at ground zero from 7am in the morning. If we wanted to be violent, we had  ample time to do so-but it did not happen( only at the end).

 250 thousand brave Malaysians joined in the largest rally in Malaysian history asking for one thing:

“A Free and Fair Election”. Is that difficult to understand?

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 5:36 pm and is filed under
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Analysing Bersih 3.0

— Malaysian in the US

The Malaysian Insider

May 01, 2012

MAY 1 — Bersih 3.0 has come and gone.  The protests outside KL were peaceful — 11 other cities in Malaysia, 85 cities in 33 countries outside Malaysia, including hikers up Mount Everest and divers off Acheh.  Numbers ranged from a handful of Malaysians in some countries like Austria and Sri Lanka, to over a thousand in cities like London and Melbourne, to ten thousand in Penang.

The negatives.  Many conspiracy theories abound as to how Dataran Merdeka was breached — was it just a group of unruly protesters, were the protesters instigated by the opposition, were the protesters planted by the government, were the police ordered to allow the protesters in?  Whatever the case, once that happened, the police took that as an excuse to fire tear gas and spray chemical-laced water into the crowds, even those who were peacefully dispersing.

The trains stopped running at that point, effectively barring people from joining the protest and from leaving it.  Again, where did those orders come from?

There was an ugly incident with protesters attacking a police car which then ran over some people.  Was it staged?  It’s understood that the police car was later overturned because the crowd believed that there was a person trapped under it.  That single episode, taken out of context, has been used to depict the protest as unruly.

The negatives which help Bersih’s cause.  The police chased, beat up, and arrested protesters and journalists.  A bit stupid, really, with media and technology the way it is today.  An Australian senator was in the crowd and got tear-gassed.  Local and international journalists got their cameras smashed and their memory cards confiscated.  The breach of Dataran Merdeka in no way justifies the level of police brutality.  The government has shown itself to be “kejam” and “zalim,” in the words of many participants of Bersih 3.0.

The positives.  Up until the breach, it was very, very peaceful.  The photos of the sea of people in yellow are inspiring.  The crowd was intergenerational, multiracial … people in wheelchairs were even sighted.  This show of solidarity gives us hope for a new future.

Practically speaking, what happens now?  I don’t think the government is actually going to revise anything about the electoral process.  (The two demands which were “partially” met were the use of indelible ink and 10 days of campaigning — we asked for 21 days.)  Let’s not even talk about malapportionment and gerrymandering, which was not in Bersih’s eight requests.  In fact, a bill amended in Parliament prevents people from approaching the polling station, raising the possibility of hanky-panky.

The government might possibly offer up the Election Commission chief and deputy, discovered to be members of UMNO, as sacrificial lambs, but that’s probably it.  Forget about cleaning up the electoral roll or reforming postal ballots — obviously that’s where their safety votes are coming from: deceased people, phantom voters, illegal immigrants bought over with instant citizenship, and police and military forces compelled to vote for the government.

How does this affect Najib’s calling for elections?  Elections have to be called by May of next year.  Speculations about the election date over the past two years have been rife, and time is running out.  Prior to the protest, every sign indicated to the election being called in June.  Reasons to delay elections: the aftershocks of the protest will undoubtedly result in heightened anger against the government (Bersih 1.0 held four months before the 2008 elections saw the ruling coalition losing the two-thirds majority for the first time, and five states falling to the opposition).  Reasons not to delay elections: billions of dollars have been spent to buy the people over — the government has disbursed RM500 to low-income families, raised the pay of civil servants, and are about to announce a minimum wage law.

If the ruling coalition fails to recapture the two-thirds majority (which is highly likely even despite the rampant cheating in the election process), Najib will most assuredly be Badawi-ed out sooner or later.

The biggest (and possibly only) hope is that the massive turnout in KL (estimated 200,000) will have sent a very strong signal to the government that you can only push us so far.  Yes, you will cheat — what else is new — but cook the numbers a little too vigorously, and the people will rise against you.  We are no longer the stupid, submissive rakyat cowering in fear.  We are ready to fight for our rights.

The most likely scenario.  Elections are called, the ruling coalition wins with a smaller majority than 2008, the opposition maintains the four states, reclaims the one state that was stolen from them, and hopefully wins a few more.

The best case scenario.  Elections are called, and the ruling coalition is kicked out even despite the cheating.  If that happens, be wise, do not celebrate on the streets.  Pray for a peaceful transition lest the ghosts of May 13 are reawakened.

Why am I so passionate about my country?  Simply because if we don’t save Malaysia in the next few years, there might be nothing left to save.  Billions of dollars have left the country in the past ten years or so, pilfered by greedy, corrupt parasitical leeches masquerading as politicians.  Religious rights are being trampled on.  The land is being raped—the forests in Sabah and Sarawak are being cleared with no compensation offered to the indigenous peoples, and an Australian company is preparing to dispose their toxic waste in Pahang.  The education system is in shambles.  Crime is on the rise.  Prices have risen, risen, risen, and salaries are not commensurate — how to cari makan?  The judiciary, the police, the media, the anti-corruption agency, the election commission — every conceivable institution is in the pocket of the government.

The next year will be very crucial to the future of Malaysia.  Be wise and alert.  There will be an increase in wickedness, but it’s always darkest before the dawn.  The rakyat have awakened, and we will stand together to fight to reclaim our land.  Bersatu teguh, bercerai roboh!

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 4:20 am and is filed under
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Bar Council: Police brutality worsens in Bersih 3.0

Nigel Aw | May 1, 2012

Malaysiakini

The Malaysian Bar Council in its interim report today said police brutality against protesters during Bersih 3.0 last Saturday had worsened despite several police shortcomings that were highlighted during the last Bersih rally.

“Of all the problems that were highlighted last year, as far as the use of force is concerned, this year it has magnified.

“So far as police brutality goes, we have observed more police brutality (this time), so far as indiscriminate and arbitrary use of water cannon and tear gas, our observers saw far more (instances),” said Bar Council president Lim Chee Wee.

The interim report is a preliminary compilation of reports from 78 of the council’s volunteer observers positioned at six locations on the ground during Bersih 3.0 on April 28.

Among the observations made by the Bar Council were:

•Rally was peaceful until around 3pm when police fired teargas and water cannon.

 • Use of force by police without any obvious provocation or cause, was far worse, indiscriminate, disproportionate and excessive.

 • Police brutality was more widespread.

 • There was concerted effort by police to prevent and stop any recording of their conduct.

 • Police fired tear gas directly at the crowd in a way to box in participants rather than to disperse.

 • There was retaliatory behaviour exhibited by rally participants against police wrongful use of force.

 •Police were observed taunting and mocking the crowd.

 • Police responded, stooped when participants threw items at them.

 • Police personnel failed to display identification numbers on uniform.

Lessons not learnt

The police, Lim said, had failed to learn from the past lessons despite having acknowledged that during the last Bersih, on which Suhakam’s inquiry is still in progress.

“It is incomprehensible, if not a reflection of sheer incompetence or arrogance of the police force that it has not learnt from its past mistakes in the management of assemblies of people exercising their constitutional rights,” he said.

Even though protesters had breached the barricade at Dataran Merdeka, Lim said police had responded with disproportionate force that went against international standards.

This includes the five stages in the use of force as recommended by Suhakam: it begins with verbal persuasion, followed by unarmed physical force, force using non-lethal weapons, force using impact weapons and deadly force.

Observers from the Bar Council too were harassed on top of journalists and members of the public being roughed up.

“It was unfortunate that the police refused to give us recognition as official monitors (during the rally this time),” said Lim.

The interim report was released in response to what Lim said was the absence of debate on the police use of force in terms of acceptable international standards.

Adding on, Bar Council deputy president Christopher Leong said the police action of confiscating recordings from the media was inconsistent with police assertion that it had done no wrong and had nothing to hide.

Leong, who stood some 200 metres away from the barricade and was tear-gassed twice, said the police had failed to strike a balance between national security and human rights.

“What will be the worst consequence if the crowd breaks through the police barrier? The consequence will be about 100,000 people gathering on Dataran Merdeka and sitting there for another hour.

“It is not like they were trying to storm a sensitive government facility or a military installation, so where is the balance?” he asked.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 3:04 am and is filed under
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Bersih 3.0: Public order and preservation

— Maj (Rtd) Lee Kong Kok

The Malaysian Insider

May 02, 2012

MAY 2 — I was prompted to write this article after being on the ground and reading the many reports of how a carnival-like rally turned so ugly.

I’m a retired Army officer having served 27 years. A day before Bersih 3.0, I e-mailed my ‘squad mates’ that I would be participating in the rally and cheekily ended by saying I planned to see first-hand POPO (Public Order and Preservation Ordnance) in action. The Army has an obligation to assist the Police under POPO should they ask the Army to step in. Hence, during my time, we spend a great deal of time practising POPO drills and I was deployed on two occasions on such duties.

I can re-collect vividly some of the key principles of POPO (I may have missed out a few):

1.
 Minimum Force.
 Simply put, you don’t use a sledgehammer to kill a fly;

2.
 Warnings.
 Give ample three warnings to the crowd to disperse otherwise force will be taken;

3.
Identify the ringleaders.
 We go after the ringleaders to restore public order;

4.
Dispersal avenue.
 Ensure the incident location has avenues for the protesters to disperse;

5.
 Render Assistance.
 Assistance is to be given to the injured when the situation permits;

6.
Unity in purpose.
 The platoon commander (lieutenant in rank) of 30-odd soldiers makes the hard decision on the ground and ensures his platoon stays intact at all times.

If one analyses the basis of the above principles one can see the human heart of the POPO authors and at the same time, the goal of achieving the mission at hand. The Army or PDRM are there to protect the people and the nation and to be loyal to King and country. These two are noble organisations, We, Army guys, in peacetime train for war and in war we fight. We are always grateful for the hard training we undergo for it has borne us well during live operations.

From the events of Bersih 3.0, the question here that I would like to ask the IGP and powers-that-be:

Are we still talking about the same POPO principles or has the PDRM formulated a new set of POPO principles (and so devoid of the human heart)?

It is my wish that any public inquiries will be guided somewhat by the POPO principles. Let us bring back some good governance.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 8:21 pm and is filed under
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Jangan lawan polis!

By Eddie Tuen

The Malaysian Insider

May 02, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, May 2 —”Jangan Lawan Polis!” I screamed out at the crowd as a Chinese polis officer flanked by two outriders rode down Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman in front of Sogo. The time was close to 3:45pm.

Moments before, I had watched in dismay as BERSIH rally goers threw mineral water bottles at a patrol car and then at an outrider who had driven recklessly through the crowd.

Why were they driving through the hostile crowd which had been bombed with tear gas, drenched in chemically laced water and chased all the way down from Dataran Merdeka up to Sogo at high speed? Was there anything urgent that messages could not be passed through the radio? Was there a VIP needing to be delivered to the other side of town that requires dangerously driving through a crowd? Or, was it for the video cameras? To paint a picture of a rowdy crowd bent on creating havoc?

I cannot blame some of the crowd for doing what they did. They were angry, they had been betrayed. The polis were supposed to protect us and ensure order, but we found ourselves being attacked and hunted down like wild animals.

I joined the rally on the 28th of April 2012 to support the cause for free and fair elections, as well as to protest against the setting up of the massive rare Earth plant in Kuantan. I wore both the green of Himpunan Hijau and the yellow underneath of Bersih 3.0. I removed the green and revealed the yellow when I reached the outskirts of Dataran, a green ribbon around my neck.

I am a professional, an engineer, a tax payer, a registered voter and a Malaysian citizen. I did not join the rally to ‘lawan polis’. Far from it, I expected a peaceful sit in ending with everyone standing up at 4:00pm singing to our national anthem, ‘Negaraku’.

I was there on Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, barely 20m from the polis cordon of barricades and razor wire. It was close to 12:00 noon when we arrived and we mingled in a sea of faces that represented a good cross section of Malaysians.

Everyone was there, the makciks and their pakciks, the uncles and the aunties, the young, the old, children and even the handicapped on their wheelchairs. There was a festive feeling in the air, we were showing to the government our spirit, our unity which none of their insincere sloganeering could ever truly reflect.

Shouts of “Hidup Rakyat!”, “Bersih!” and “Reformasi!” filled the air, the last ironic as the Bersih organisers had specifically forbidden the representation of political parties in the rally. Nevertheless, the reality was a significant number of Bersih supporters were active supporters of Pakatan Rakyat. There was no doubt of that fact. A clean and fair election will serve the interests of the opposition and otherwise for the ruling coalition.

Foreigners walked through the crowds, somewhat amused at the festivities. I worried for them, dressed lightly for tropical weather in their T-shirts and short pants, especially when I could see those red coloured trucks that represented the notorious Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) lining up on the road directly in front of Dataran Merdeka, two lines of red helmeted, body armoured FRU personnel armed with shields and truncheons standing at attention before it.

They were not present at Himpunan Hijau 2.0, Kuantan and that event went well without a hitch. Does the presence of the FRU signal an intention to use them?

“Najib wouldn’t dare”, I thought! Not when the election is about to be called!

My friends and I sat in the crowd. That was what we intended to do all along, despite the hot afternoon sun beating down on us.

At 2:30pm, the crowd in front of us begin to shout “Masuk! Masuk!” I was becoming uneasy, did these people intend to enter Dataran Merdeka? I gestured to my friends who followed me here to pull back. If there was going to be a stampede, we would be in big trouble.

We moved back 100m down Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman beyond 7-11 and took shelter under the verandah of pre-war shop lots, mostly closed. Some of us chatted with other rally goers, I had a light snack and drank the rest of the water I brought.

3:00pm, all hell broke loose. It started off with the sound of ‘pops’ in a distance. I peered out down towards Dataran Merdeka, plumes of white smoke were forming in front of the crowd!

“Najib did it! He actually did it!” I exclaimed in dismay.

Nearby, a Malay man immediately offered us sweets, saying that it will cushion the effects of the tear gas. I took it and thanked him.

That was when more ‘pops’ were heard, much, much closer. The crowd begin to run helter skelter. Try as I might to walk calmly, eventually I broke into a run, especially when my eyes begin to tear and my skin begin to sting. Nearby, a man fainted and had to be carried away by others.

I stopped near the Coliseum Restaurant, attempting to regroup with my friends. Nearby a Chinese man was pouring water on a Malay man’s palm to wash his eyes. I asked for some water, because I had finished drinking my supply earlier on. The Chinese man without hesitation poured some into my cupped hands. Others offered me salt, I respectfully declined, the sweet in my mouth actually doing what it was said to be doing.

The onslaught continued. More ‘pops’ and warnings of polis charging into the crowd arresting people. Everyone ran again, my friends and I running into a nearby Mamak stall that was surprisingly still open.

It was almost full of Malaysians. I shared a table with a middle aged Malay man and woman. Both were resting after being hit by tear gas. Another middle aged Malay couple joined us, one woman was crying. One of my friends offered rock salt.

Outside it was pandemonium as the attack continued. Tear gas seeped into the shop and the shutters had to be closed.

We spent about 20 minutes in the shop before deciding to leave. Only when on the way out did I realise who the middle aged Malay man was. He was Zunar, the famed political cartoonist. I came over, asked to shake his hand and thank him for his efforts in bringing political awareness to us all Malaysians.

We returned to the streets, heading towards Dang Wangi LRT station. We found it was closed, a line of FRU advancing down Jalan Dang Wangi heading towards us. No warning, more tear gas fired, polischased us.

Then there was a lull. A row of Red Crescent vehicles stopped along Jalan Dang Wangi to distribute mineral water bottles to the crowd. People thanked them, shook their hands and gave them the thumbs up. An elderly Malay man came up to me to see whether I had another mineral water bottle to spare, I gave him mine and told him I would share with my friend.

When they left, the polis advanced again. Overhead a copter hovered. “Hidup Rakyat!”, someone shouted and I followed.

It was then, that I saw the polisoutrider was being attacked by bystanders.

4:00pm, a lone Unit Amal member yelled to the crowd that the rally was over and everyone was to disperse. In the din of a crowd constantly being charged at by polis, I doubt a lot of people heard him.

I did, and my friends and I made our way back to KLCC.

Such was our fear of being caught and beaten up by polis reminiscent of Bersih 2.0, that we decided to enter a side alley next to a well-known hotel on Jalan Sultan Ismail to change out of our yellow T-shirts and don our normal clothes.

As we did so, unexpectedly a lone Malay man joined us at the side alley. He did not wear the familiar yellow.

Once changed, we continued down Jalan Ampang towards KLCC, the man followed us. I asked him whether he attended the rally, he claimed he did. I was suspicious, he could be Special Branch, secretly I whispered to my friends to watch what they are saying.

At KLCC we split up, moving separately to the LRT station to lose our tail. I reached home safely, exhausted but no less shocked and angry at what happened.

In retrospect, looking at the videos of polis brutality as well as my first-hand experience of being tear gassed and attacked without warning, my scant faith in the Malaysian PolisForce had completely evaporated on the 28th of April 2012. We as Malaysians, of all races and creed came to Dataran Merdeka with the intention of asking for free and fair elections as well as for a government that cares for the environment and health of its citizens.

Instead, this government has shown to us how much they are disconnected from public opinion, contempt even at the rakyat’s genuine aspirations.

As for the PDRM, notice that I refer to them as ‘polis’ rather than ‘police’. I have been and studied in foreign countries, Saturday’s action proves that they have not reached the level of professionalism of their brethen to be titled the same.

Worse, I strongly suspect that the polis action last Saturday was completely planned to ‘punish’ the BERSIH rally goers. Otherwise, how would one explain the deployment of phone jammers and officers without polis numbers? Compared with Bersih 2.0, polis didn’t even bother to take the time to warn the rally goers to disperse, rather they kept on attacking, attacking and attacking unarmed civilians; the old, the young and the handicapped. Helicopters were buzzing overhead, they could have just easily mounted a speaker on them to tell the people to disperse.

Their mandate was to stop rally goers from entering Dataran Merdeka. Why pursue us across KL unleashing their entire arsenal at us innocents who stayed behind the barricades? Why not just arrest those that breached the barricades? They had more than enough officers at Dataran Merdeka to handle the few hundred protestors that got through without resorting to firing tear gas into the crowd. Why were warnings not given?

Clearly, their intention and strategy was never to peacefully disperse the rally goers but rather to teach us ‘a lesson’, forgetting that we, the rakyat pay for their salary, their perks as well as all the ammunition they thrown at us last Saturday.

As I finish writing this, I kept thinking the words I uttered last Saturday at the crowd, “Jangan lawan polis!”. I wonder, how could some people not when the polis were hellbent at wanting to ‘lawan’ the rakyat instead?

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 3:22 pm and is filed under
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Many people failed Malaysia on Saturday

— A Malaysian

The Malaysian Insider

May 01, 2012

MAY 1 — Tan Sri Ahmad Fuad Ismail, the Datuk Bandar of Kuala Lumpur, failed us when he forgot that he was a public servant and instead, became a servant of the ruling party of the day.

Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein failed us when, even after the experience of Bersih 2.0, he oversaw, as Home Minister, the unnecessary violence wreaked on an almost wholly peaceful gathering of citizens who merely were out to state their concerns over what they see as a flawed electoral process. And to rub salt into the wound, in the aftermath, Hishammuddin sought to justify the unwarranted violence.

Datuk Seri Najib Razak failed us when as Prime Minister of all Malaysians — regardless whether they support him or not — he uttered not a squeak to ensure his flock (and as citizens, we are his flock) were facilitated in gathering peacefully to voice their concerns.

The mainstream newspapers — The Star, the New Straits Times, Berita
Harian and, but of course, Utusan Malaysia — failed us yet again when they sought to justify the wrongs and entrenched their position as propagandists rather than the chroniclers of truth that they are supposed to be.

And while the police and the ruling party may want us to believe that the organisers of Bersih 3.0 also failed us, I disagree because everything that Fuad and the authorities did to prevent their citizens from gathering at Dataran Merdeka, I believe, was a formula to encourage a few hotheads to breach the barriers and they got what they wished for — an excuse to blame the organisers.

Some, like the New Straits Times, say the organisers should have taken the option of gathering at Stadium Merdeka as offered by the authorities and that would have prevented any incident. Really? Why not argue that if Fuad had allowed Dataran Merdeka as a venue, there would not have been any incidence either? But Fuad acted as if Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square) — an oxymoron after Saturday’s events — is his personal turf. Why so adamant Fuad? Independence is not only yours to savour; it is ours as well.

I have never voted for the opposition parties in my life. Now, months towards retirement age, I will ashamedly say that every election that I have been eligible to vote, I blindly marked X next to the “dacing” symbol. Yes, I had my concerns about issues. But I always felt that the Barisan Nasional was the better alternative, despite its shortcomings, despite its corruption and abuse of power, despite its authoritarian ways.

But in recent years, many a time I have looked up and asked the Almighty, is this what we deserve — a choice between bad and slightly worse? When Bersih 2.0 took to the streets in July last year, I stayed away, monitoring their progress on the news portals. I believed in their cause but I was one of the many who asked what use it would be to gather like that. Nothing will change.

But, like the many who were appalled at the way our ordinary fellow citizens were herded up like cattle and bundled into Black Marias to Pulapol and who were appalled at the way the authorities and the mainstream media tried to lie to us in subsequent days that there were only 6,000 “violent” protesters, and that they arrested a quarter of them, I decided then that I would be at Bersih 3.0. I believed then that whether things changed or not, I would be there to tell this Government, this ruling party that I have supported for more than 30 years, that I, too, want them to change things.

There have been so many accounts in cyber world of “My Bersih 3.0” experience — some heart wrenching, some angry, some bitter and some, in the spirit of all the great religions of this world — Islam, Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism — urging forgiveness and asking us to move forward.

But this is what I saw.

I saw friends who had never shown an interest in politics coming with their wives and children to say they wanted free and fair elections, because rightly or wrongly, they believe that the electoral system is flawed. They were not there to be violent.

I saw in the narrow alleys cutting through to Lebuh Ampang, a group of young and old Muslims, praying as a Jemaah in their distinctive yellow T-shirts. They were not there to be violent.

I saw many mothers and their teenaged daughters; fathers holding up small children. They were not there to be violent.

I saw the normally reticent Chinese, many young people among them, taking to the streets — either in green “Stop Lynas” or yellow Bersih tees. I saw this refined old Malay gentleman, well dressed and in his 60s, holding on firmly to an equally distinguished looking Chinese gentleman of similar age, marching to show that they were friends united in a cause. I saw this elderly Chinese lady, caught by a skull-capped, bearded PAS Unit Amal, as she almost stumbled and fell while taking photographs. I heard him say: “Aunty, jaga-jaga sikit. Jangan jatuh…”

I saw the lawyer-type Indian gentlemen and ladies marching proudly, side by side their spouses and children, laughing and joking in between chanting “Hidup Bersih.” I saw them passing water bottles to those who did not have any; I saw them aiding the old; I saw them carrying the young; I saw — after such a long, long time, Malaysians who represent the spectrum of the Malaysia that should be, united in purpose.

None of them were there to be violent.

Many a time I choked up — like when they burst into the national anthem and despite the heat and the rush of bodies, trying to stand at attention. Like when they played around with the huge yellow balloon, pushing it from one to another, like a carnival. Like when I saw the children and fathers of different races looking out for each other, offering a tissue or a sweet, holding up umbrellas for the old. Like when this teenaged Chinese boy asked me: “Uncle, why you not wearing yellow?” Like when the old Kelantanese man — whom I knew not from Adam — spoke to me in Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman: “Dah make? Make dulu. Lama nak tunggu.” (Have you eaten? Better eat. It’s a long wait.)

Who, I ask myself, among them was there to be violent? To whom should we pose this question?

Tell us Tan Sri Fuad. Tell us Datuk Seri Hishammuddin. Please tell us Datuk Seri Najib and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin. Please tell us Datuk Seri Rais Yatim because you, who once led unruly demonstrations when you were in Semangat 46, had so many mean things to say about us. Tell us Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, you who ruled us for 23 years and brooked no dissent — who among this crowd of elderly to very young, representing the 1 Malaysia you all pay lip service to, who were the violent ones out to overthrow the Government?

Perhaps there were some amongst the tens of thousands who were carried away and broke the barricades. Perhaps it’s a sign of the level of trust and confidence that people have in their Government that some believe agent provocateurs planted among the crowd started the trouble. But pray tell Datuk Seri Hishammuddin and Tan Sri Ismail Omar — what justification was there to punch, kick, tear gas and baton charge so many of us who were on our way back and were so far from the scene of the incident? Our pain and our blood are on your hands.

Barisan Nasional has not learnt from the past. They do not listen. They only want us to listen. As far as I am concerned, July 9, 2011, and April 28, 2012, made up my mind and that of my family and friends.

In a perverse way, the Barisan Nasional has achieved what it could not through its sloganeering — a growing number of Malaysians united in purpose.

That spirit, Datuk Seri Najib, you cannot break, no matter how many baton charges, how many beatings, how many tear gas canisters and how much chemical-laced water you throw at us. You know why? Because you failed us.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 4:09 am and is filed under
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My experience of 428, trapped by the FRU

By Sean Chin

The Malaysian Insider

May 02, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, May 2 — Two friends and I arrived at Masjid Jamek around 11am on April 28.

We, like hundreds of others already there, were there for the BERSIH 3.0 gathering scheduled at 2pm around Dataran Merdeka.

The atmosphere at the time was relaxed, lively and not at all tense, even with the presence of several dozen uniformed police officers and a few police trucks.

People from all walks of life were walking about, carrying signs and wearing costumes related to the demand for free and fair elections.

McDonalds, Burger King, as well as road side vendors were doing brisk business. This proves that the resilient few did not let a peaceful protest hamper their livelihoods; they find solutions.

Around 12pm, groups of people from all directions started streaming into Jalan Tun Perak, and marched towards Jalan Raja.

There were representatives from various states, the anti-Lynas Himpunan Hijau group, and even the anti-Pengerang Deep Water Terminal project group came with their “Lobster man”.

My friends and I walked to Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, where we then joined a large group of people there for a sit-down protest.

Groups of people led by their leaders chanted “Hidup, hidup, hidup Bersih”, sang Rasa Sayang and the national anthem.

People of various races were seating together, chanting together and even laughing together when someone’s voice went off-pitch or somebody shouted somethins others couldn’t follow.

There was a group of elderly Chinese men and women, led by a gentleman with only a few teeth left, shouting some slogans in Malay and trying to lead the crowd in their chants.

However, most of us couldn’t understand his heavily accented Malay and could only manage to laugh and clap together.

Mind you, these was appreciative laughter and applause, and I think they felt the support from the crowd around them too. It was then I felt the true spirit of muhibbah. If only we could have more of these moments in our daily life.

Around 2:30pm, we left the group and walked towards the other end of Dataran Merdeka — adjacent to Klang river, next to Bar Council building.

A large group of FRU personnel were already in position here, blocking the bridge on Jalan Hang Lekiu leading to the Dataran Merdeka.

After a while, we saw a few people who looked like reporters removing the plastic barricades blocking the bridge.

People gradually started walking towards the other end of the bridge, just a few meters away from the FRU. Even then, most people were just busy taking photos of the FRU and mingling with each other. The situation was not tense as well.

At around 3:00pm, I received an SMS (couldn’t receive any calls from 2pm onwards, the phone lines were too jammed) telling me the FRU had started spraying chemicals and tear gas at the Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman crowd.

We began to leave the area, when suddenly, without any warning, the FRU here also started spraying chemicals at the crowd.

My friend was just telling us not to worry, as the FRU would usually give verbal warning, in three languages before firing at the crowd!

Luckily we were quite near Medan Pasar already, so we quickly hid into one of the five foot ways.

A young woman who was soaked thoroughly with chemical spray rushed in, and many of us quickly poured water on her.

She was trembling and apparently too scared to open her eyes due to the chemicals.

My friend got sprayed at the back, and immediately felt pain and itchiness.

Luckily he brought a spare set of clothes. Just as soon as he had finished changing his clothes, the FRU truck came charging up, and turned its spray nozzles at the crowd hiding at Medan Pasar.

This time, tear gas canisters were fired at us too, and everybody ran helter-skelter towards Lebuh Ampang.

Another group of FRU came firing tear gas from that direction and the crowd like scurrying rats were forced to hid at a back lane of Jalan Tun HS Lee.

As soon as there was some breathing space, people started to share water and salt to relieve the pain and irritations caused by the tear gas.

One of my friends didn’t bring a wet towel, so he and I took turns to cover our faces. He was also coughing and his eyes were tearing up badly.

At that moment, I really felt our group here resembled war refugees, trying to escape from the powerful and encroaching enemies, who seemed not satisfied to just chase off the group, but appeared bent on trapping, surrounding and torturing us!

Probably irritated by the tear gas, some residents of an adjacent building threw things down at us. This was naturally met with strong shouts of protests from our group.

After about 10 minutes of hiding, we gradually disperse towards Jalan Tun HS Lee. We were told Masjid Jamek and Plaza Rakyat LRT stations were closed, so we had to find other options to get home.

We walked towards Jalan Sultan, where we observed the situation to be normal. We could see people going about their daily lives and conducting business as usual.

Naturally, most of the protesters escaped here to clean and wash themselves, and to take a breather.

Many of us, total strangers to each other, shared experience of our earlier encounters and most of us were puzzled as to what triggered the aggression towards the protesters.

How strange and bizarre feeling it was to see a carnival-like atmosphere turn almost into a war zone in just a matter of minutes.

Some told us the situation along Jalan Tun Perak was much worse, and there were many injured while trying to escape from the police.

We walked to Pasar Seni LRT station, only to be told it was closed too. In the end, we had to take the Komuter train back home.

I reached home around 7pm. The last eight hours were one of the most fulfilling and inspirational moments of my life, and I definitely did not regret joining this historic gathering.

At least I will be able to tell my next generation proudly that I made an effort towards the social development of my country.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 3:11 pm and is filed under
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