709 marks the empowerment of the real 1Malaysia

“709” will go down in Malaysian history as the day of empowerment of the real 1Malaysia – where all races and religions came together to demand a “Clean Malaysia”, not just for clean elections but also in the political system and all aspects of national governance.

The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak coined the 1Malaysia slogan on taking office in April 2009 but it has been pure gimmicry in the past two years and three months – reduced to  1Malaysia T-shirt 1Malaysia Tupperware circus.

But it was yesterday that Malaysians of all races and religions who gave true meaning to a 1Malaysia by coming out in tens of thousands in the federal capital to support Bersih’s call for free, fair and clean elections.  This is something Najib can never understand.

In 1981 a new Prime Minister launched a national slogan of Bersih Cekap Amanah. But 30 years down the road, abuses of power and greed have so corrupted the system of governance that the national government is afflicted with a terminal bout of Bersih-phobia with “Bersih” regarded as so dirty, criminal and subversive a word that  it is a justification for police  arrest on sight and the heavy-handed suppression of the peaceful Bersih 2.0 rally for Merdeka Stadium yesterday. On top of Bersih-phobia, there is also xanthophobia – fear of yellow!

The violent and  brutal police conduct yesterday, resulting in the death of Baharuddin Ahmad, a martyr for justice and fair play in Malaysia; the mass arrests of over 1,400 people; the wanton and criminal firing of tear gas such as into the Tung Shin Hospital and the KL Sentral tunnel aimed directly at Bersih and Pakatan Rakyat leaders violate all principles of democratic policing where the police should protect the human rights of the people.

The 2005 Dzaiddin Police Royal Commission recommended three core functions for an efficient, professional world-class police service – to reduce crime, to eradicate corruption and to uphold human rights. Yesterday, the police did not uphold human rights but suppressed human rights!

There must be a total revamp of the mission of the Malaysian police to ensure that it abandon the regime policing of colonial times to abide by the principles of democratic policing to vindicate and protect the human rights of all Malaysians.

A Clean Malaysia not just for elections, but for the political system and all aspects of national governance is now the rallying cry for all Malaysians who want to see real change and transformation in the country.

The high-handed and repressive actions of the Barisan Nasional government has reduced the choice of Malaysians to very simple terms – whether they are for a Malaysia which is Bersih or Not Bersih!

* Media Statement when visiting Tung Shin Hospital Kuala Lumpur (Police fired tear gas into Tung Shin Hospital during Bersih 2.0 rally yesterday)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 10 July 2011, 6:48 pm and is filed under
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‘Lady of Liberty’ at Bersih march draws online support

By
Clara Chooi

July 11, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, July 11 — Quiet has settled over Saturday’s chaos but one image is still making waves on the Internet — the picture of an elderly woman in yellow, drenched in rain and chemical-laced water, walking away from riot police while clutching on to a long-stemmed flower and a near-empty mineral water bottle.

She is Annie Ooi Siew Lan, a 65-year-old retired English teacher who took a bus from Setapak in the early morning of July 9 to join thousands of others in Bersih 2.0’s march for free and fair elections. An unknown man had offered her the flower in the morning and she waved it like a flag throughout the four-hour march.

Netizens have dubbed her “Aunty Bersih”, and even Malaysia’s “Lady of Liberty”, for placing her health and safety at risk to join a march the government had declared illegal.

Pictures of the diminutive Ooi strolling in the war zone that Kuala Lumpur had turned into are all over the Internet, inviting messages of awe and wonderment from netizens across the country.

On Facebook, at least three fan pages were set up in dedication to Ooi immediately after the event. One page called
“Malaysian Lady of Liberty”
 attracted 17,176 “likes” as of 9am this morning.

Ooi was one of the few who dared to turn up in yellow to mark the occasion, despite earlier warnings that those with clothes indicating support for the outlawed Bersih 2.0 coalition would be arrested.

Speaking to The Malaysian Insider through her daughter over Facebook chat last night, Ooi confirmed that she had been tear gassed four times and sprayed with the water cannon once during Saturday’s pandemonium.

She said she was unsure of what time the rally was scheduled to start or where, but was determined to support its cause by participating in it even if she had to do it alone.

“She took the bus to General Hospital because the roads into town were blocked,” her daughter related. “She walked to Chow Kit, Maju Junction, went into the back lane of Little India to pass Masjid Jamek, avoiding cops, heading to National Mosque but was stopped at Dayabumi.”

There, Ooi was interviewed by one uniformed policeman and four others in plainclothes. They asked for her IC and recorded her details, then asked her why she was dressed in yellow. “Why can’t I wear yellow?” she asked in return.

According to a post by a blogger who claimed to have spoken to Ooi before the march began, the feisty retiree had asked other protesters why they did not turn up in yellow as well. “Why do we have to feel so scared in our own home land . . . and by own countrymen,” she had reportedly said.

A newbie at street protests, Ooi also did not know what to do in the event that she got gassed, and had not brought anything to protect herself, her daughter said.

“She wasn’t prepared for any of the attacks,” her daughter said. “She went without protection; no goggles, no masks, no salt, nothing. It was horrible . . . the coughing, and didn’t know how to stop the discomfort and pain. After the second gassing, she was offered salt by someone and it helped a lot.”

Despite this, eyewitnesses claimed on the Internet that Ooi had marched on determinedly during the protest and despite the chaos, even yelled at others not to run.

When told to ask her mother if she would dare to brave another march for the same cause, her daughter replied, “Without a doubt”.

“There was a very strong oneness in spirit which she had never felt before in this country,” added the daugter. “Especially from the younger generation which have their years ahead of them yet marched on despite the possibility of ruining their lives by getting arrested.”

Ooi was among the thousands of protesters who took to the streets of Kuala Lumpur on Saturday to march in support of Bersih 2.0’s demand for electoral reforms.

More than a thousand people were arrested, and chaos broke out at midday after the police fired tear gas canisters and sprayed water cannons to break up the crowd.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 11 July 2011, 11:02 am and is filed under
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An inconvenient focus

By
Jema Khan

July 11, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

JULY 11 — The Bersih 2.0 rally on Saturday where tens of thousands of Malaysians demonstrated appeared to be more spontaneous than precision planned. Although we all knew that July 9th was the day for the rally, there was hope that it would be held in a stadium and that any disruptions would be minimised. It appears that even the intercession of the King was not enough for the police to provide a proper venue for Bersih to air their grouses.

The police warned us that they were in effect “locking down” Kuala Lumpur and that anyone suspected of being involved with Bersih would be arrested. As it happened, they arrested a total of more than 1,600 Malaysians.

Tear gas and water cannons were used on the crowd and there are claims that one man lost his life because the police delayed medical attention during the rally. Because of the “lock down”, millions of Malaysians were not able to carry out their usual routine on Saturday.

Many were anxiously seeking news from the media, both alternative and mainstream, as to actually what was going on in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. The world’s media too did not disappoint and news of the demonstration was carried by CNN, the BBC and Al-Jazeera.

The alternative media too were giving updates every few minutes and their coverage made you feel that you were actually there minus the tear gas, water cannons and arrests, of course.

The Malaysian mainstream media also did their propaganda job by interviewing those whose business were adversely affected by the rally. The slant, of course, was to blame Bersih 2.0 for this.

It is strange that the mainstream Malaysian media didn’t blame the police instead. After all, it was the police roadblocks, shutting down and diverting of public transport, random stops and searches that basically “locked down” Kuala Lumpur.

Bersih’s leader Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan claimed the rally was a success as it had focussed many Malaysian minds on the issues that were brought up by the group. She may be right, to some extent, that many support Bersih’s eight demands for reforms but to my mind the issues are far more fundamental.

It is a question of freedom of expression and our rights as enshrined in our Constitution as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1946 to which our nation is a party to.

The government claims that Bersih 2.0 has been hijacked by the Opposition. I agree. But so what? Does that entitle the police to “lock down” our city? Does that allow the police to arrest fellow Malaysians for having a yellow T-shirt or for carrying salt? Does that allow the police to fire tear gas and water cannons at a peaceful crowd walking through the streets of Kuala Lumpur?

The police claim that the demonstration would have been much larger had they not instituted such a draconian shut down. Don’t they realise that all that they did was subvert the fundamental rights of all Malaysians to express their views? All those people who would have come to the rally did not do so because of what the police did. Is that a victory for the police or a defeat for a more free and democratic Malaysia, or perhaps both?

The police have a hierarchical structure where the officers are supposed to follow orders. They are trained like that and to be fair, that applies to all the security forces throughout the world. Nevertheless as with most police forces throughout the world, they see themselves as the “good guys” and a force of good in society. The problem that arises is that when you have peaceful protestors who are also “good people” on the other side.

To some extent even the police recognised this and that is why they prepared food, drink and other facilities for those they arrested during the rally. In some places. they even shook hands with the protestors after the rally.

While the police had their orders, they bore no ill-will towards the protestors and to some extent the protestors also knew they were under orders. If there is blame to be laid on this protest, then it most likely resides with the people who gave the “orders.”

While many of us were in a city under “lock down”, we had pause to consider more deeply the events happening around us. Though it has tested our patience, some good did come out of it. The King had acted with great equanimity to try to calm things down. The Bersih 2.0 protestors were not afraid to express their feelings and did so peacefully. The police while they did act high-handedly tried to redeem themselves by treating most of those arrested reasonably and releasing them quickly. The likes of Perkasa were nowhere to be seen.

While the game continues, I can’t help but think that through all the troubles that we faced on July 9th, we are more united as Malaysians today than whatever was envisaged under Prime Minister Najib Razak’s 1 Malaysia. It would indeed be ironic if the slogan succeeds but the man does not.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 11 July 2011, 11:47 am and is filed under
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Bersih rally and the real 1Malaysia

by
Meng Yee

Malaysiakini

Jul 11, 11

Which Malaysia is PM Najib referring to in his catchy phrase 1Malaysia? The Malaysia I see him representing is one of tense tolerance always holding a precarious balance in check. A coalition of three main parties divided along racial lines.

Each takes care of its own community, each fights for the same pie for its community. On all sides of the racial divide in Najib’s 1Malaysia there are routine threats, name-calling and extremists who insist on ketuanan Melayu.

The other side of Malaysia who came out in the tens of thousands this weekend during the Bersih 2.0 rally represented all segments of Malaysian society.

All races, all generations, all beliefs and religion walked together; all who believed in a more democratic Malaysia. It wasn’t that the Chinese walked on one side of the street while the Malays walked on the other or that the Indians walked behind while the Malays walked in front.

We were all in one group singing our national anthem proudly. This was a dream come true that I had once learned in my siviks class in school at the age of 10.

Growing up in the Mahathir era, I never saw it in evidence, and in fact saw more segregation and suspicion and animosity amongst the races.

On Saturday, however, I saw the different races caring for one another. While sharing fresh water from a hose at Puduraya bus station, hosing one another down, a Malay brother shared some salt with me.

We put a pinch of salt each in our mouths, and smiled at each other through our eyes watering from the tear gas, and ran out again to confront the ‘other side’. Had we not been pursued by the cops, and in different circumstances, we would have bersalam and hugged and sat down together for kopi tarik.

I even met many Chinese business owners, traditionally well-known for their kiasu-ness (play-safe attitude), last Saturday. Those who had supported change silently in 2008. Enough, they were saying now, braving the police; they too made their point in the march.

We have to reclaim Malaysia from those who are determined to oppress us to stay in power. I am sure that our Malaysia won the approval of our dear Bapa Malaysia and other Malay warriors of the past. He would have smiled approvingly and would have supported us that day.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 11 July 2011, 10:31 pm and is filed under
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Bersih, the humbling of government

By
Sakmongkol AK47

The Malaysian Insider

Jul 10, 2011

JULY 10 — And then the whole country erupts into chaos. This is what I’m worried about. The government also keeps flip-flopping on whether it will allow the rally to go on or not. It needs to rule with a firmer hand!”

Now Ibrahim Ali is making sense. The whole country erupts into chaos because this country hasn’t got a firm leadership.

But how does Ibrahim Ali define firm? By applying the big stick on Ambiga? On Bersih? It seems according to Ibrahim, general of Perkasa, Malay of the Malays, the government is firm only if they lock up Ambiga (who’s trying to undermine the Malays, who is a threat to Islam etc.). The government is firm only when it does the bidding of Ibrahim Ali.

It depends who is defining what. Some people will say the government is firm if it arrests Ibrahim Ali and leaders of martial arts groups who subvert the legal apparatuses of coercion in this country- the police and the military. By not reigning in the forces of ‘our 3rd line of defence’ the government is sending messages that other groupings can elevate their questionable statuses into respectable 3rd line defence forces.

Pekida the shadowy group of Malay enforcers can, in future become one too. Toh Peh Kong group emerging from the bowels of Jinjang can become one. The Red Thali group from some estate somewhere can also become one.

Friends coming into the city called me in the wee hours of the morning lamenting of the traffic snarls. Surprisingly, they are blaming the police for causing the hardships in their daily routine. If people have not been paying attention to Bersih these past two weeks, today, they are asking one another what is Bersih?

The past two weeks, the government hasn’t developed and earned a positive characterization; it is  largely vilified as incompetent and confused in its responses. Here Hishamudin made some noises- eventually outlawing Bersih. There Muhyidin was spewing statements of no consequence.

Najib is fox-trotting with whatever came to his mind at the moment; first by sounding accommodative and willing to allow Bersih to do their thing in a stadium. Then backtracking because he wasn’t aware that cousin Hisham has outlawed the NGO.

Hisham was bolder saying that despite being granted an audience with the King, the organization remains an outlawed entity. The King means nothing. Probably the King is fed-up of the whole messy and the make-it-up-as-you-go responses of the government.

The object of public concern is the conduct of the elections commission. Bersih represents the voice of the people who demand only 8 simple things from the election commission. They demand the electoral roll be cleaned, that the postal voting system be reformed, that indelible ink be used, a minimum 21 day campaign period be instated, free and fair access to media for all be provided, public institutions be strengthened, and for corruption as well as dirty politics to be stopped.

But these, say Ibrahim Ali, proxy of Umno and Malay of the Malays, are actually disguises aimed at undermining the rule of the Malays, Malay rulers and whatever is of concern to the Malays.

The first and probably the only strategy Umno and its supporters know is to cast aspersions on Bersih. Dig up any dirt you can find; destroy the credibility of the witness. Make him out as a fiend and traitor and all that. Hence Bersih is communist inspired because some photographs of Shamsiah Fakeh were found; Bersih is out to cause injury and bloodshed because some weapons (usually the stock in trade of secret societies) were found.

Maybe the Police will be kind enough to allow inspection whether some items already in their inventory, were booked out temporarily to show the public the cache of arms belonging to Bersih?

Funny thing, people should start thinking why was Ambiga (that woman who is out to cause trouble and a threat to Islam) was able to meet up the King who is the head of the Islamic religion. Who is Ibrahim Ali to tell the king who he should or should not meet? Then I remember Nazri Aziz saying of Ibrahim Ali — he is nothing, nobody listens to him.

The government’s ability in crisis management is now suspect. It put up a proxy fight through that pompous windbag from Pasir Mas and probably attempted to intimidate people through the show of force by 50,000 or whatever figures that can be conjured by one Silat Grandmaster. Didn’t this person at one time stood as candidate opposing the BN at one point?

One son of the Linchah Grandmaster is an exco member of Pemuda Umno who must have used his father’s organisation to scare the rally participants. I asked one fight trainer to the Police force what he thought about using martial arts groups for prop effects; he laughed it away by saying you think all silat opponents are lion hearted? Maybe 3 out of 10 will brave any onslaughts. You think they can withstand the forces of the moral majority? Silat proponents have conscience too.

The generals behind Mubarak and Zainal Abideen employed the might of the military forces. They can’t forever strike at their own brothers and sisters. How can you even compare 50,000 martial arts experts to the well-equipped army of Mubarak and Zainal Abideen.

Here is a lesson painfully obvious. Once people are not intimidated with the show of force, your days are numbered.

We can spin till kingdom come about the willingness of the King to meet up with Ambiga. As one buffoon of a minister said, doing the hair splitting stuff- oh, the king met Ambiga in her capacity of a person. The king does not meet Bersih. However you say it, the people will say the King recognizes Ambiga as the leader of Bersih – whether that organization has been outlawed or not. She and what she represents is of some consequence.

Bersih is recognised while Ibrahim Ali, Umno’s proxy is not. To push the incredulity of the minister’s twisted statement further — Ibrahim Ali, in person or representing a lawful society doing unlawful things isn’t recognised. The government should outlaw Perkasa.

I would like to ask Umno people, why do we support Ibrahim Ali who is not even an Umno member? He has no moral standing to speak about the Malays in a space where it is Umno who is claiming a monopoly to speak on and about Malays. If Ibrahim Ali is given that freedom, then by default Umno accepts that it’s no longer the sole and voice of choice for Malays.

What about those who insist — never mind, things will get back to normal for Umno. We will let those who have no inkling about what’s developing in the minds of the people, continue to think that by some miraculous act, Umno will regain the ground that it lost, without doing anything substantial about it. What they have done is to psyche themselves into delusion.

This mistake is probably due to misreading history. In the history of revolutions and changes on the social and political scene, the catalytic forces of change always start in the towns and cities. Change is always started by progressive elements which are usually associated with towns and cities.

Hence the consoling and self-patting assertions that, oh, this Bersih agenda will not be of any consequence because it doesn’t affect the majority in the countryside, will be proven to be fallacious. Unfortunately this kind of torpid thinking seems to dominate Umno’s outlook.

Who keeps flip-flopping Ibrahim? I thought this was the moniker used to describe Pak Lah, our previous PM. He was OUR previous PM right — the one most Umno people prostrate before and who was once carried on the shoulders of his staunch supporters when he won the Vice President’s post at a time when Dr Mahathir wanted him booted out?

But then I realised that Ibrahim Ali is taking about our current PM. This was what Ibrahim Ali said. Now, this is the man who Umno counts upon to help out when it feels hapless. This is a serious thing, for it suggests Umno hasn’t got leadership. When the PM reaches out to martial groups, imploring them to defend the nation from enemies from within, it shows that not only Umno hasn’t got leadership but it hasn’t got responsible leadership.

This will serve to prove that all those talk about 1 Malaysia are all rhetoric. When the country is in trouble is should turn to the sanctity of the law of the land not to people like Ibrahim Ali or some martial arts group. Ibrahim Ali says it as much- the leader of this country is flip-flopping. — sakmongkol.blogspot.com

* Sakmongkol AK47 is the nom de plume of Datuk Mohd Ariff Sabri Abdul Aziz. He was Pulau Manis assemblyman (2004-2008).

                This entry was posted on Monday, 11 July 2011, 10:13 am and is filed under
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Bersih’s legacy – the eradication of fear

By
 Lee Min Keong

Jul 11, 11 | MalaysiaKini

COMMENT
Despite weeks of threats and intimidation over the Bersih 2.0 rally and a massive operation to lock down Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, my wife and I joined tens of thousands of Malaysians from all walks of life to give the government a simple message – give us free and fair elections, true democracy and a better future for our children.

Walking down traffic-free downtown Kuala Lumpur near Petaling Street at about noon, I see people representing a cross-section of Malaysian society congregating, patiently waiting for the Bersih rally to start.

I bumped into several friends along the way – a CEO of a trading company, a senior insurance agency manager and the head of a company secretarial services firm. They told me it was the first time they were joining any form of public protest or demonstration.

I wondered why they, like me, were willing to temporarily leave the comfort of our upper middle-class existence and participate in an event which has been declared illegal by the government.

To risk getting caught up in the crossfire of tear-gas launchers, water cannons, baton charges by the FRU and the indignity of arrest in public was something quite unthinkable not too long ago.

However, they all expressed the same sentiments – dismay and disbelief at the government’s irrational and heavy-handed response against a coalition with a perfectly noble objective. Isn’t having free and fair elections the legitimate right of the people?

Are we now living in a dictatorship that we no longer have the right to wear T-shirts, shoes and drive cars of a particular colour? they asked. In short, they were now willing to take the risk, and perhaps pay a price, to reclaim the rights of Malaysians which have been steadily eroded over the years.

One key lesson from the Bersih 2.0 rally is that many Malaysians are no longer afraid and cowed by an authoritarian government.

I can see that when young adults, college students, professionals, housewives and even retirees of all races are willing to stand up to police strong-arm tactics, choking clouds of tear gas, bursts of chemically-laced water, and even arrest.

Close to 1,700 people were arrested, according to police. It must be a new Malaysian record for Prime Minister Najib Razak. Even during the dark days of Operation Lallang under Dr Mahathir Mohamad, only about a couple hundred people were detained.

It’s BN’s turn to fear

Thomas Jefferson, one of the drafters of the US Declaration of Independence, said: “When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”

For the BN government, that must be an extremely troubling realisation. When ordinary Malaysians are liberated from their fear of a government which unleashes the full force of state power to stamp out legitimate cries for true democracy, then it is the BN’s turn to fear.

How else do you explain the paranoia of the PM, his ministers and police and their demonisation of Bersih 2.0 and its supporters in the run-up to the rally?

Perhaps the BN government knows this is the beginning of the end for them. That may well explain why government leaders are terrified of a people’s movement demanding clean and fair elections. They probably know that if elections are held on a level-playing field without manipulation and fraud, they will be swept out of Putrajaya by a tidal wave.

The second key lesson of July 9 is that the race-baiting by Perkasa and its ilk, and incendiary reporting by Utusan Malaysia, appears to have fallen on deaf ears, at least for the people in the Klang Valley.

On the streets of KL’s Chinatown, I saw Malays, Chinese, Indians and East Malaysians mingling, walking side-by-side, peacefully and united in their quest for a better Malaysia – a more democratic, equitable and harmonious nation.

Seeing that gave me a renewed sense of belief that there is indeed hope for our beloved country. The Bersih movement appears to be gathering momentum, and has already achieved something more monumental than Najib’s hollow 1Malaysia slogan ever will.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 11 July 2011, 10:57 am and is filed under
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Countering the anti-Bersih talk

By
Azmil Tayeb

July 10, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

JULY 10 — To those who support the recent Bersih 2.0 rally for clean elections we’ve heard the same old tired detracting canards propounded by the Malaysian mainstream media echo chamber, which were later parroted by our own family members and friends.

Truth be told, it got to the point where I simply refused to dignify their “anti-Bersih” arguments with sound intellectual responses because I think they were too frivolous and didn’t deserve any.

Still, I also have this nagging need to clear the air for once and for all especially now in the aftermath of the event. The dust has finally settled and the facts have naturally emerged from the battle-scarred ground.

Below are some of the main arguments put forth by the Bersih 2.0 detractors and my ensuing refutations.

Traffic jams: They were actually caused by the police roadblocks on major arteries leading into the city, checking for imaginary weapons and stopping potential rally participants. If people were allowed unimpeded access in and around the Klang Valley the traffic flow would just be like any other day.

Even some of the nearby LRT, Monorail and Komuter stations were shut down to force people to walk farther than they had to with the all too obvious intention of discouraging them from going to the rally sites. Also, if the protesters were given the permission to march on a pre-determined route the authority didn’t have to close down more roads than what were necessary.

Also, how can one complain about the traffic jam in the city during the rally when there had been ample warnings ahead of time and plus it was only a matter of few hours of inconvenience? More streets were closed for an even longer period of time during the recent Standard Chartered KL Marathon, of which I was also a participant, and I didn’t hear a peep from anyone. That said, common sense dictates that it’s simply irresponsible and foolhardy to go through life without any contingency plan!

Economic loss: It was clear that shops that dared to open up during the rally were raking in huge profit due to streams of marchers stopping by for food and drinks. A few mamak restaurants near Central Market, Jalan Nagasari and Masjid India seemed to be enjoying brisk business.

The mamak place by Central Market even charged 30 cent for the use of its toilet! The Medan Selera on Jalan Masjid India (next to Pasar Borong Mydin) was also packed with people. So was the pasar malam near Semua House and Campbell. If Bersih 2.0 merchandise had been legal vendors could have made a killing by selling them along the marching route.

Heavy downpour during the rally also meant that if some of the shops had carried (preferably yellow) umbrellas and raincoats they would have been sold like hot goreng pisang. If somehow the business people still felt that their businesses were genuinely affected by the rally then it was advisable for them to counsel patience and bear with the hassles for only a short while.

What’s a few hours of temporary setback for the sake of common good and a better future for all? In short the rally could have served as an opportunity for businesspeople to profit off the mass influx of people into the city. Even the ice cream seller on motorcycle seemed to be doing pretty good. (Disclosure: I bought an ice cream from the guy selling next to the Sogo shopping complex and he attested that his stock almost ran out.)

Chaos and property damage: The march was peaceful and calm at first until the police and the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU), unprovoked, decided to shoot water cannons and lob tear gas canisters at the protesters. What kind of orchestrated dispersal the authority expected when they indiscriminately fired tear gas and water cannons into the crowd?

The crowd, much to its credit, managed to stay as composed and orderly as it could given the very stressful condition. Also, the authority should claim responsibility for destroying public property due to use of excessive force.

As best as I can recall the throngs of protesters were respectful to their surrounding and did not engage in any kinds of vandalism at all. None of the parked cars were burned nor shop windows broken. After all these were concerned citizens with real grievances, not thugs and looters.

Had the authority allowed the march to proceed on a pre-determined route and time it could have easily avoided all the confusion and pandemonium, which would have then resulted in a win-win situation for all parties involved.

Malay-dominated rally: The crux of this racist conjecture is basically saying that the Malays, due to their prominent presence during the rally, were exploited by the Chinese in DAP. The word used was “diperkudakan” (to be ridden like a horse).  I was a bit taken aback when several of my (Malay) friends posted statements of this nature on Facebook — and not surprisingly they weren’t even at the rally.

It also goes without saying that they are all anti-Bersih 2.0 to begin with and most likely Umno and/or Perkasa supporters too. But the facts on the ground proved otherwise. Of course Malays, by virtue of being the largest ethnic group in Malaysia, would be heavily represented proportion-wise in the rally. But other ethnic groups were also well represented, even the Dayaks from Borneo.

If the Prime Minister honestly wants to see what a true 1Malaysia looks like, he doesn’t need to look any further than the composition of the Bersih 2.0 participants who braved the streets on 9th July. The whole rally was essentially multiracial that transcends age and religion. It was the very epitome of 1Malaysia, and not to add, a completely voluntary and uncontrived one.

What the Najib administration has vainly tried to achieve in the past two years with its multi-million Ringgit public relations campaign (read: Apco scandal) the Bersih 2.0 organizers managed to do it in a much lesser time, against almost insurmountable obstacles, and free-of-charge too. Maybe there’s something the government can learn here.

It was such an amazing feeling to be among my fellow Malaysians who were courageous enough to take to the streets of KL, despite the threats, intimidation and possible arrest, facing down water cannons and tear gas, to struggle for a more democratic and just Malaysia.

I’m also saddened by the baseless statements coming from some of my so-called “educated” friends, summarised in the preceding points. They emotionally engage in a form of solipsistic argument, in which only one’s own lived experience and weltanschaaung (world view) form the sole basis of “truth.” In research parlance their sample size (N) is equal to 1, which every self-respecting social scientist knows is empirically weak and statistically insignificant.

In addition, it rankles the mind of how these people can just eat up the bile churned out by the Malaysian mainstream media and somehow stop using their critical thinking faculty to question the fairness and veracity of the government propaganda.

One doesn’t need to be a seasoned media analyst to be cognisant of the blatantly one-sided nature of the mainstream media in Malaysia.

Maybe it’s time for these anti-Bersih 2.0 people, especially my dear friends, to swallow the bitter red pill — or is it blue? — and escape for once and for all the illusionary and corrupt world of the Barisan Nasional Matrix. As the cliche goes, only the (un-solipsistic) truth can set you free.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 11 July 2011, 11:06 am and is filed under
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DAP never asked Chinese to avoid Bersih, says Guan Eng

By
Yow Hong Chieh

July 10, 201 | The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, July 10 — The DAP did not send out any text messages asking the Chinese not to attend yesterday’s Bersih rally, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said today..

He stressed that the only messages sent out by the party were those encouraging people to turn up at the rally for free and fair elections.

“This is a lie. No DAP leader sent out (messages) asking the Chinese not to go out and to let Malays fight each other,” said Lim.

“Anti-Bersih elements are trying to sabotage the relationship (between component parties) in PR but this will not work.”

The Penang chief minister pointed out that almost 5,000 mainly DAP supporters had gathered in Pudu to show support for the election watchdog and its eight reform demands yesterday.

Lim was speaking to reporters after paying his respects to the family of Baharudin Ahmad, who died yesterday after collapsing during the rally.

Baharudin, 56, had fallen down after running away from police firing tear gas and water cannon before being taken to Kuala Lumpur Hospital, where he died.

His brother, Kassim Ahmad, 72, blames the police for allegedly withholding medical aid for 90 minutes, during which time Baharudin is said to have had difficulty breathing.

It is understood that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) is looking into possible legal action against the police for his death.

Bersih claimed a turnout of 50,000 for yesterday’s street demonstration which went ahead without police permission after protracted negotiation with the authorities.

The coalition of 62 NGOs decided to take to the streets despite previously accepting Najib’s offer to move the street rally to a stadium after the government refused to allow the gathering to take place in Stadium Merdeka.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 11 July 2011, 11:42 am and is filed under
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Family says police responsible for Bersih death

By
Yow Hong Chieh

July 10, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, July 10 — The brother of Baharuddin Ahmad, who died yesterday after collapsing during the Bersih rally, has blamed the death on a “deliberate act of cruelty” by the police.

Kassim Ahmad, 72, told The Malaysian Insider his brother had died because the police had withheld medical aid from Baharudin after he collapsed while running away from tear gas and water cannon bombardment.

“[They] asked the police to help send him to hospital but they refused, so we waited for one-and-a-half hours before the van came,” he said.

“A lot of people tried to revive him … Had he been given oxygen, he would be alive today.”

Kassim also expressed shock at the violence employed by police during yesterday’s mammoth rally, which he likened to war, but stressed that people should not be intimidated by force.

Baharuddin, 56, who died at Kuala Lumpur Hospital yesterday evening, was laid to rest at 12.55pm today at Lembah Keramat Muslim Burial Ground here just three kilometres from his home.

His hearse was escorted by the same yellow T-shirts he had marched alongside just a day before.

Baharuddin leaves behind his wife, Setiawangsa PKR division chief Rosni Malan, his daughter, Dr Hamizar Baharuddin, 24, and sons Mohd Nasrul Baharudin, 22, and Hadriyudin Baharudin, 19.

Kassim added that he was thankful for the presence of Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders at Baharuddin’s wake and burial, including PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang, PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu and PKR deputy president Azmin Ali.

Also present were Bersih chairman Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan and steering committee member Maria Chin Abdullah.

“Have you ever seen the other party come to bury a normal person?” he asked.

“This is the most poignant burial I’ve ever experienced … because it’s from the heart. All through sweat, all having walked together for miles.”

It is understood that PR is looking into possible legal action against the police for Baharuddin’s death.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 11 July 2011, 11:30 am and is filed under
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Firmness without justice or manners

By
Hafiz Yatim

Jul 10, 11 | MalaysiaKini

COMMENT
The motto for the Royal Malaysian Police Force is Tegas (Firmness), Adil (Just), and Berhemah (Well-mannered) But was it practised in its crackdown on the Bersih 2.0 demonstrators yesterday?

There is much mention over the Inspector General Standing Orders (IGSO) which is under the Official Secrets Act. But were such guidelines employed by the force?

Witnessing the event live on the field among the demonstrators and law enforcement officers, I have to say I have my doubts over the manner and professionalism as to how our police reacted in handling such a pressure cooker situation!

There is no doubt there are those in the police who follow the rule book.

But to see some of the “ruffian” officers kicking, punching and roughing up the demonstrators before arresting them, makes you anxious when you think a future inspector general of police or state police chief could be among them.

Or will the police internal inquiry or even the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) Inquiry see disciplinary action taken on these officers?

IGP Ismail Omar today immediately denied reports over the “extent of force” used and cited they were provoked. The question is, are the police not “professional” enough to handle provocation?

Ismail also denied the police shot at the Tung Shin Hospital, which is certainly a no-no as a place to attack or use force, whether in times of war or peace.

However, eyewitnesses and a Malaysiakini video showed otherwise.

Even Suhakam commissioner Muhammad Sha’ani Abdullah condemned the police for compromising the safety and health of the public by firing tear gas into the Tung Shin compound.

Will such unprofessional practices continue after this rally?

Such lingering questions remained in the minds of the rakyat as to how can the public maintain their trust or support on the force if they are continuously being seen to be abusing their task of maintaining security not in a well-mannered way as stated in their motto.

Professionalism in question

Four days before the rally Kuala Lumpur and Selangor police were reported to have seized machetes, Molotov cocktails, Bersih 2.0 t-shirts and fireworks during operations in Gombak, Selangor and three locations in Kuala Lumpur.

Brandishing new machetes and bottles containing inflammable liquid to the press, the police chiefs of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur were quick to point out a possible link to Bersih although there were no arrests made in the seizure.

This resulted in PAS questioning the weapons link two days later in a police report by its Supreme Council member Mazlan Aliman and PAS Selangor Youth information chief Shahrom Daud.

Following this, the police set up roadblocks on roads into Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, citing the discovery of the weapons as justification, resulting in massive traffic jams.

Yesterday’s demonstrations saw police starting their night by searching in some of mostly booked hotels in Kuala Lumpur looking for those in the list of 91.

As some of the supporters trickled into the city from outside Kuala Lumpur, there were already signs of strong police presence during the road closures and in tourism related spots like KL Sentral, the national mosque, Puduraya, and Dataran Merdeka.

They were not allowed in although some tourists who were oblivious of the situation were allowed to pass through, raising questions whether tourists or foreigners have more rights than citizens?

Unlike in the past where most of the action took place near the vicinity of the National Mosque, yesterday’s demonstrations saw much more happening in Pudu and the KL Sentral area.

Those locations saw the brunt of the police action. A crowd of more than 10,000 of various races marching in Pudu only were met by water cannons and tear gas.

Similar drama was also seen at transport hub KL Sentral as police fired tear gas as soon as opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, PAS Abdul Hadi Awang and DAP’s Lim Kit Siang were spotted with Bersih 2.0 chairperson, Ambiga Sreenevasan.

Anwar’s security detail Fayat Al Bakri and PAS Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad were injured. The the opposition leader was not spared either, when they tried to leave KL Sentral and into a tunnel only to be shot at by a police tear gas unit.

PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar, also the Lembah Pantai MP, questioned the motive of the firing as there were no proper warning given for the estimated 1,000 in the entourage to disperse and the riot squad firing the gas canisters not at trajectory level but directly aiming at the crowd.

Taxpayers money well spent?

Was the money of taxpayers spent well in seeing the desired level of professionalism in the police force after 54 years of independence? Mind you, Malaysia is a member of the prestigious United Nations of Human Rights Council, until 2013.

Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein had in a statement released last night, commended the police action on Bersih whom he claimed was forwarding the agenda of Pakatan Rakyat rather than seeking electoral reforms.

However, how is one to explain the worldwide support for Bersih 2.0’s call for electoral reforms spanning the globe from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the United States.

Are they Pakatan supporters who had gathered peacefully overseas or simply Malaysians living overseas, who strongly believe there should be electoral reform?

Also it could be instructive for our men in blue when someone from Melbourne (right) and Hong Kong commends the police for allowing peaceful demonstrations at the respective embassies and consulate.

In Hong Kong, Brandon Tan reported the Malaysian police could learn from their counterparts there as they guided them as they marched through the city.

The Public Services Department director-general Abu Bakar Abdullah issued a circular dated June 30, barring civil servants from attending any of the rallies, and it also went further to remind that the civil service is neutral and does not support any movement or political party.

However, the concept of neutrality in the civil service or ‘adil’ (just) as in the police force motto is certainly brought in disrepute with some questionable actions taken by the men in blue.

Questions remain on whether the force followed the much touted IGSO directive in curbing the protests.

Could the public be blamed to question whether such high-handed actions that saw 1,667 protesters arrested comprising 1500 men, 151 women and 16 children, according to the police Facebook be under scrutiny, as it could be the largest number of arrests made so far, in an illegal rally.

It is also interesting to note there are quite a number of police personnel exercising restraint in their actions on the protesters who came from all walks of life, all races, and from all over the country to the capital.

Probably they realised these protesters are merely citizens and taxpayers, who are here to assert their rights and not criminals whom the force should be addressing.

Although the protest started out as seeking electoral reform, the next target could well be to seek a revamp of the police force and a renewed effort to push for the implementation of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission.

Out of the three words in the motto of Tegas, Adil and Berhemah, one stands out more yesterday, that is Tegas (firmness) to describe the actions of the police.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 11 July 2011, 11:09 am and is filed under
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Good Things that Came Out of Bersih 2.0 Rally

By
Kee Thuan Chye

11 July 2011

WHAT the Bersih 2.0 rally of July 9 has shown is that Malaysians of all races are willing to risk arrest to speak up for their rights; that Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali is nothing but hot air and the media should no longer give him any attention; that Umno Youth is just a directionless bunch of brats; and, above all, that the Government is the biggest loser for mishandling the entire issue.

As it was, the rally turned out to be peaceful, as the organisers had pledged it would be. The only acts of violence were those committed by the police, when they attacked the protestors with tear gas and water cannons although the latter did not provoke them. In retrospect, if the Government had allowed the rally to go on without fuss from the start – and it must be said that Bersih 2.0 (Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections) asked modestly for only two hours, from 2pm to 4pm – it would have just gone on without fuss, and everything would have been all right.

The Government would have been seen to be accommodating and benevolent, and not afraid of a call for fair elections. Instead, by choosing to clamp down on the rally even weeks before its scheduled date – in ways as brutal as detaining six people under the Emergency Ordinance and as absurd as arresting more than 200 people, some for merely wearing yellow T-shirts – it has lost immense favour and, some analysts say, the middle ground. It is also seen to be insecure, and irrational in its overreacting to the rally, surely not a trait of good governance.

Be that as it may, two positive things emerged from July 9.

One, the culture of fear that was forged during the time of Mahathir Mohamad is forever gone. If Malaysians were daring enough to defy the strong, repeated calls by the police and the Government to stay away from the Kuala Lumpur city centre on July 9, they will not be intimidated any more by future threats as long as they know what they are doing is right and the Government is wrong.

Sure, pro-Government critics will argue that the Bersih 2.0 supporters did not comprise all Malaysians, but what is significant is that it comprised the knowing ones. In the history of revolutions, these are the ones who agitate for change and cause it to happen, not the ones who have been brainwashed by official propaganda.

Two, the most heartening feature about the rally is the composition of the protestors. They came from all races, young and old. They came from all over the country, including Sabah and Sarawak. Even a one-legged man walked (on crutches) for fair and free elections.

Many were the Chinese on the streets shouting “Hidup Bersih!” and “Hidup rakyat!”, giving the lie to Ibrahim Ali’s prediction that the Chinese would stay home. As it turned out, he was the one who stayed home!

After the event, the New Straits Times interviewed some Universiti Sains Malaysia lecturer about his observations of the rally. When he said he did not see any Chinese there, he told a blatant lie. I was there and I saw a few thousand Chinese, if not more. Many were women, many were elderly. One of them said to me, “We are walking for our rights.” To see how wrong he is, this lecturer should go to youtube and type in “Bersih 2.0 at Petaling Street” and watch the video.

My friend, the writer-filmmaker Amir Muhammad, said it very well in response to the lecturer’s observation, “Maybe he meant that there were no Chinese because everyone there was MALAYSIAN.”

Indeed. Everyone there must have been a Malaysian who cared enough for the country to dare to defy the odds against them, in order to ask for their country to be set right again.

Many of them actually booked rooms in KL hotels the night before so that they would not be locked out of the city on the historic day. Many came from other states one or two days ahead to elude the authorities’ restriction on travel. Many from the outskirts found ways to get into the city centre despite the police road blocks and checks, causing massive traffic jams.

Many feared arrest as they made their way to gathering points. I walked with trepidation, with my friends, from KL Sentral to Stadium Merdeka. We passed by policemen stationed along the way. When we got to the stadium vicinity, we found the road to it barricaded so we hung out for a while in Petaling Street. Throughout our wait for the rally to start, we felt a sense of unease; at any time, the FRU could rush us and catch us unawares.

When the march started, many faced the dreaded power of the police as the latter shot water cannons and tear gas at the crowd. But whenever the crowd was thus scattered, they regrouped a short while later to carry on the march. Some protestors were chased and beaten up, but spirits were not broken. In the end, nearly 1,700 people were arrested, including the leaders of Bersih 2.0 and those of Opposition parties that had responded to Bersih 2.0’s call to all (including the ruling Barisan Nasional) to join its cause.

Ten thousand is an underestimation of the total crowd size at the rally, although that’s what an online news website puts it at. The police’s estimate of 6,000, on the other hand, is far too few. That puts the 1,700 arrested as being a quarter of their total, which doesn’t seem plausible. The crowd I marched with to Puduraya, at the base of Menara Maybank, was already about 10,000. This did not include the other groups elsewhere at the time.

If there had been no road blocks, no court order barring the leaders from entering certain parts of the city, no restriction on travel from other states to KL, no shutdown of public transport, no fear-mongering, no warnings from sultans to subjects to stay away, many, many more people would have come.

Even so, in spite of all these formidable stumbling blocks, the turnout was fantastic. The people’s belief in the cause overwhelmed their fading belief in the Executive, the Police and, even to a certain extent, the Royalty. And when a people come to lose faith in their country’s institutions, that is when change is inevitable.

The July 9 rally marked a moral victory for Bersih 2.0. And it was a well-deserved one. It proved more than ever to Prime Minister Najib Razak that the people wanted electoral reform – and, more than that, a better government. He and his government would have been spared all this drama if they had read the writing on the wall from the very start.

Last week, when it seemed he had relented by agreeing to let the rally be held in a stadium, he could have still achieved some damage control, but instead his ratings dropped further when his team came up with a Catch-22 that made it impossible for Bersih 2.0 to get the stadium.

Now it seems he’s still rejecting the writing on the wall. He’s still talking tough and trying to put on a brave, even aggressive, front by hastily arranging an unusual gathering called Majlis Penerangan Perdana, attended by reportedly 6,000 Umno members and Malay NGOs, at which he ridiculed the Bersih 2.0 rally and boasted, “Umno has three million members. If we gather one million members, it is more than enough. We can conquer Kuala Lumpur.”

This is pathetically childish behaviour for a prime minister. It is as if he is playing the game of ‘Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better’. His need to stage this show of force clearly shows his insecurity. One wonders which adviser of his suggested this move, but the effect of it is more laughable than impressive.

Deep down, Najib is afraid. That explains the paranoia he exuded over the Bersih 2.0 rally before July 9. Now, in its aftermath, neither he nor anyone can stop the reform movement. The wheels of change are already rolling. Even if BN wins the next general election, it will not rest easy.

The knowing Malaysians are already sensitised to BN’s dirty rule and want to have a clean government. They will continue to press for change and reform. If BN tries to stop them by applying repression, it will not frighten or deter them any more. If one group is put down, another one will rise and take its place.

To BN, Bob Dylan sings:

Then you better start swimmin’

Or you’ll sink like a stone

For the times they are a-changin’

If BN doesn’t hear that, it will surely sink.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 11 July 2011, 5:46 pm and is filed under
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I am proud to be Malaysian

By
May Chee Chook Ying

July 11, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

JULY 11 — On Friday, after checking into the Swiss Garden Hotel at around 5pm, I sent an SMS to my good friend Kim which said: “Just checked into the Swiss Garden Hotel for my second honeymoon. Going for a picnic tomorrow at 2pm at Stadium Merdeka. Please pray for all of us gathered there, that everything will be peaceful.”

When asked whether he wanted a room with single beds or one with a king-size bed, we were requested to check into the Residence after my husband asked for the latter. Later, we took a stroll down Bukit Bintang Road and I was rather surprised at how things have changed.

I do go to Pavilion once in a while, but I’ve not strolled down the street of Bukit Bintang since my varsity days back in the early Eighties. It’s kind of sleazy now. I’ve since told my kids not to go there on their own!

After taking our dinner at the cafeteria in Lot 10, my husband and I went to Pavilion. After half an hour, we made our way back to the Residence. I was dead beat as I’d been awake since 4am, leaving Malacca at 5am for KL, my second home. Since there would be a lock-down at 12.01am on Saturday, I had to get into the city before then, hence the necessity to book a room at the Swiss Garden.

Just before I knocked off that Friday night, my husband read to me a posting on Haris Ibrahim’s blog about a 75-year-old Pak Mat who had to do what he thought was his duty despite pleas from his wife. My husband’s voice quivered and it was choked with tears even before he reached the end. I think I fell into a slumber then, but my sleep was interrupted now and then by sirens somewhere in the background.

The next morning, my daughter, who kept watch at our other home in TTDI, SMSed us to say that the Swiss Garden Hotel was among those hotels raided. She couldn’t join us because she was on standby with the Urgent Arrest Team of lawyers. I had quite a good sleep, considering that I woke up only after 8am that Saturday morning when I usually am up and about after 6am on most days.

We checked out at noon, then headed for Bukit Bintang again for our lunch. On our way to Lot 10 to use the washrooms, we saw the press and some burly Malay guys loitering around the shops opposite McDonald’s.

Most of them were sitting on the pavement outside shops that had closed for the day. That was around 1pm. We met a friend’s daughter who was there with a colleague. They were covering the event about to unfold, supposedly at Stadium Merdeka. We told her we would follow her.

However, after a second visit to the washrooms, we lost her. Three patrol cars then came and lined up across the road facing McDonald’s. A short distance away was a pick-up truck with guys on top of it. They were throwing red shirts with the word “Patriot” emblazoned across the front.

Many Malay guys then went towards them from all directions, catching those shirts and putting them on. Some stall operators also went forward to collect the red shirts. I overheard someone saying that for the red shirts, they had police escorts but for the yellow shirts, they would be rounded up. I didn’t see any patriots, just saw goons!

After hearing hostile words blaring from a loudhailer, we decided not to follow this group. We then moved forward, stepped into a side lane to continue our journey. I prayed for direction as we moved along.

We turned right and lo and behold, we saw a group walking towards us, but away from Stadium Merdeka. We crossed the road, stepped in line with them, not sure why we were heading in the opposite direction. I nudged my husband to ask someone where we were heading.

A tall, bespectacled guy said: “Don’t ask me anything. I know you want to ask me something.” That was quite funny. I wanted to laugh out loud but thought better of it.

Another two guys were ahead of us. My husband approached the taller one who said: “We are going to Dataran. The stadium was just a red herring.” I thought that made sense. We exchanged pleasantries. The tall one asked us why we were there. My guess was we looked like tourists.

I replied: “Because I’m a Christian.” Both of them then shook our hands and said: “We, too.” I wanted to add: “Because I’m Malaysian and my fellow Malaysians shouldn’t have to walk alone.”

I actually joined the “Bersih for fair and free elections” march out of a sense of guilt, especially after reading the holy book which reiterates this: “Fear is a bad adviser; it turns cowards into violent people. God comes to the rescue of the person who confronts the crowd for God’s sake. The fear of acting is an insult to God.”

To me, not to join in this march of justice would be an affront to the God I love so much. To me, to just watch as others march for the truth would make me out to be a plain empty vessel, all talk and no action. To me, to let my fellow Malaysians shoulder this alone would be sheer irresponsibility on my part. I, too, am Malaysian, I told myself, and I can do this!

So, I said to my husband: “Let’s march.” Of course, he was game. He, too, loves God just as much if not more than me. He loves his fellow Malaysians, too.

As we approached Hentian Puduraya, I saw my friend’s daughter again. She had been tear-gassed. The crowd was now going in the opposite direction, yet there was no panic. I saw a Malay boy rubbing his eyes. Both his eyes and face were inflamed. I handed him a pack of tissues. He took a piece and returned the rest. I told him to keep it. That made him smile.

Later, as calm set in, we started to move towards Hentian Puduraya again. This time, with me was a kakak from Penang. We struck up a conversation. She said: “Kita tidak boleh berundur. Dia orang tak tau kita betapa susah.” To which, my husband replied: “Saya tau, saya boleh nampak.”

Kakak is in her sixties. She walked slowly, aided by her daughter at her side. There was also a regal-looking Chinese man behind me. He limped along with a walking stick. He could easily have been 70, yet he was unaccompanied. Their courage put me to shame.

Kakak was really cute. When Dr Tan Seng Giaw came, she nudged me aside. She wanted to shake his hands. She was blind, colour- blind! I lost sight of kakak after a series of tear-gassing. I even lost my handphone, while running away from my fourth or so shot of tear gas.

It was a disaster waiting to happen. I was texting and updating my kids and my friend Kim now and then. While my husband did the shouting, I texted.

At the foot of the slope below Tung Shin Hospital was a small compound where we took a breather. Before that we were tear-gassed left and right. That was when some of us ran towards the hospital. Someone shouted to us to just run through and not stop.

I prayed like crazy. I pulled my cap down, covering my eyes as I ran, beside my husband. We decided to leave a bag of supplies back at the Residence when we read that police were checking backpacks. So, we were without towels and salt but we had water.

The pain was sharp but momentary. My husband remarked that my eyes weren’t so bad. That was when a young Malay man offered my husband some salt. I took a pinch though the pain had somewhat subsided. We saw an old Malay man beside the young man. He was rubbing his eyes with a towel. Both of them had really inflamed eyes and faces.

My husband poured water onto the old man’s towel, then gave the young man the bottle. He washed his eyes and face, then returned the bottle to me. I told him to keep it. He asked: “Auntie, bagaimana?” I told him I still have another bottle, so it was OK.

Then another tear gas attack came. We had nowhere else to run to except up the slope into the hospital. It was still raining and the slope was slippery. However, two knights in shining armour in the guise of a Malay man and an Indian were at the top of the slope to help us up.

We went into the hospital where we managed to use their washrooms. We hung around in their waiting lounge for a while and decided it was not safe to remain there, too. As we were leaving Tung Shin, we saw Irene Fernandez, seated in her wheelchair, surrounded by five youths.

We asked if she was OK, to which a girl laughingly said she was better than the rest of them. Irene was smiling throughout. Nothing was going to get her down! My husband cautioned them to move along and not be the last one to remain behind.

We watched from the balcony when someone shouted it was all right now to go down. They, as the police and the leaders of the movement, were negotiating. So down we went. At that point, we were at the junction where a lane to the left led to the Church of St Anthony.

Some young boys opted to sit down on the road while “they” negotiated. Then we were told to occupy only one lane, the one further away from the hospital. We were told the police would let us through if we did that. So, we happily obeyed and even sang the “NegaraKu”. At all times, we obeyed.

When it was calm, we were told to move slowly, which we did. When someone shouted something out of the norm, we were told not to aggravate, to which the shouting ceased. We were well-behaved, all of us were. After a good 10 minutes of waiting, I heard a young Malay man say: “Jangan-jangan kita ditipu lagi. Mereka selalu menipu!” So young and so disillusioned! I felt almost sorry for him. Where’s Perkasa now? This young Malay man surely does not believe he’s a “Tuan.” He has no faith in those purportedly fighting for his interests. He’s so lost!

To my left, another two young Malay men washed their faces, then, rolled out their mats to pray. I, too, said a little prayer, that God will protect His little ones from all evil and harm. Suddenly, we saw water gushing towards us. They were firing chemical water at us. Like the tear gas, this water was targeted directly at us. They meant to hurt. How could they?

As we ran towards St Anthony’s, I saw another two young Malay men kneeling down to pray on my right. They would not know what hit them. Poor guys! My husband told me then, when you write about this, don’t forget to say that our government betrayed us!

He was rather emotional when he said that, was rather angry, too. As for me, I felt really sad. I make it a point to remind my kids now and then, to always forgive others; to always give them more than a second chance. I believe that everyone deserves more than a second chance. I don’t know if he would throw me a punch at me if I said that, then! Guess things don’t always work that way.

At the gate of St Anthony’s, the caretaker was already unlocking the gate for us. He ushered us to the back gate to escape. On the way, we saw a grotto where we stopped to pray and asked Mother Mary to intercede for us to her Son for protection.

We had to cross over a 2ft-high brick fencing to get to the back gate to escape. I heard a loud thud. Someone had fallen. It was my beloved husband. Running away from tear gas and water cannons was a breeze for him but he had to fall as we strolled through the church.

The rest of the people there were shocked but not me. I had to stifle my urge to laugh because it was just like him to be injured over silly stunts. He jokingly wanted to shout: “Police brutality!” I had to shut him up. We were already laughing for I knew we were already safe.

How can we not be safe in the house of God? By the way, my husband’s right cheek, elbow and shin now bear some scratches due to that fall. He’s telling his friends that it was all worth it and that he would gladly go through it all over again.

It took us another three minutes to reach our hotel. In fact the whole charade happened just down the road. It was about 4pm then. We changed, logged onto the Net to see what was happening elsewhere when suddenly the police in front of the hotel dispersed.

We went across the road to get some drinks from the 168 store. They had run out of Coke. A Malay man overheard us telling each other to go to the mamak shop instead. He told us they were sold out, too.

He, then, added that business was brisk and could have been better. He disputed the government’s version of how business could have been badly affected by the gathering at the stadium. Honestly, that was how I saw it, too.

Had we been allowed to picnic on the Stadium Merdeka grounds, how can business in the city not be better? We would have to buy our stuff from the stores here, in Bukit Bintang Road. Business would have been roaring!

This was my inaugural march, it will not be my last. I wasn’t paid to go. I guess that’s why the red shirts show fizzled out. Perhaps there wasn’t enough money thrown around? Like I said, I wasn’t paid to go. I paid a lot to go. Someone paid with his life.

He, you goons in the government, is the patriot you’ll never be. You goons now stand responsible for his death. I am proud to be Malaysian because of someone like Baharuddin Ahmad. Though words cannot describe your loss, my dear Rosni Malan, your beloved husband’s death will not be in vain.

You and your family will be richly blessed for generations to come because of his selfless love for his country. He died for his country, he died for a stab at free and fair elections. Like I said, he will not die in vain. We, the rest of us, will see to that.

I am not just proud to be Malaysian. More than that, I’m truly proud of my fellow Malaysians. May God bless you all.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 11 July 2011, 12:21 pm and is filed under
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… if you believe what we believe : justice, and democracy

                This entry was posted on Monday, 11 July 2011, 7:48 pm and is filed under
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Liow blames protesters for ‘ambushing’ Tung Shin

By
Patrick Lee

July 11, 2011 | Free Malaysia Today

KUALA LUMPUR: Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai today slammed Bersih protesters for seeking refuge in the Tung Shin Maternity Hospital when the police charged them on Saturday.

He said that the protesters should have stayed away from the Jalan Pudu hospital, instead of “ambushing” it during the rally.

“We need to take care of our hospital. It must be protected. Even demonstrators should not ambush the hospital,” he told reporters at Tung Shin today.

Liow said this after having a nearly hour-long meeting with Tung Shin’s board of directors.

The minister added that the hospital, though meant for the public, should not have been a place of refuge for the demonstrators.

“We can’t just close the hospital. It is here for the public. The hospital is here to treat anybody that needs our help.”

“(But), it should be away from all kinds of problems. We don’t want demonstrators to create chaos in the hospital as well,” he said.

During Saturday’s rally, Bersih supporters were caught between two groups of police and Federal Reserve Units along Jalan Pudu.

Forced to retreat from the oncoming policemen and multiple tear gas canisters, many of the protesters sought a safe haven in the hospital.

What happened after that remains highly debatable with the protesters and several other eye-witnesses saying that the police had fired tear gas into the hospital to lure out the protesters. There are also photographic and video evidence to show this.

However the police have denied this, stating that they did not fire any tear gas into the hospital compound. Liow and the hospital’s directors today backed the police on this.

Wind brought in the smoke

Liow, the MCA deputy president, also offered his own explanation on how the tear gas and water cannon could have hit the hospital compound.

“It is confirmed that when they (police) sent the tear gas out, it’s not into the hospital. Maybe when the wind blew, the smoke (may have) gone in this direction. We won’t know,” he said.

“Even the water cannon they’re shooting at 45 degrees, at the main road, maybe at the edge of it (may have entered the hospital).”

Liow also slammed DAP leaders for their visit to the hospital yesterday, accusing them of trying to score political mileage.

“They are trying to implicate this hospital and shed a bad light on Malaysia to the world. They are trying to highlight that the police shot tear gas and water cannon into the hospital,” he said.

The minister blamed Pakatan Rakyat and Bersih supporters for the gathering, which he said, led to the hospital’s problems.

He also took a swipe at DAP’s Serdang MP Teo Nie Ching for claiming that the firing of tear gas into the hospital went against the Geneva Convention.

Liow that such a remark was “uncalled for”.

Hospital: No tear gas, a bit of water maybe

Tung Shin board chairman Ng Beh Tong was also adamant that no tear gas canisters reached the hospital area.

“There is no tear gas shot into our Tung Shin compound,” he said.

Ng however admitted that some water from the FRU cannons may have entered the hospital compound.

“As far as the water cannons are concerned, some water may have sprayed into our outside car park,” he said.

Some policemen, Ng conceded, may have entered the compound in their pursuit of the protesters.

Defending the police, Ng also said that police officers had later brought some of the injured rally-goers to the hospital for treatment.

More than 1,600 people were arrested in last Saturday’s rally, which saw over 15,000 Bersih supporters take to the streets of KL.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 11 July 2011, 11:04 pm and is filed under
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Liow Tiong Lai: “Tung Shin Hospital ‘not hit’ in rally crackdown”

By
Lee Way Loon

Jul 11, 11 | MalaysiaKini

"... don't cite whatever pictures or videos again..."
Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai has claimed that the police did not shoot tear gas and water cannon into the Tung Shin Hospital compound, in the crackdown on last Saturday’s Bersih 2.0 rally.

He said he has confirmed with the hospital authorities that the claims circulating on the Internet are not true.

“The police shot the tear gas over the main road. Maybe the smoke was blown by the wind in this direction – that, we don’t know, but they were not aiming at the hospital,” he told reporters after meeting board members of the hospital this afternoon.

“As for the water cannon, they were shooting at 45 degrees onto the main road, maybe the edge of it may…(have spread to the hospital).”

Asked to comment on video footage and photos posted by netizens that appear to contradict the claim, Liow told reporters not to show photos or videos to counter his claims.

“The board of the hospital also confirmed this, (so) don’t cite whatever pictures or videos again,” he said.

“The most important thing is that the person in charge of the hospital has confirmed that the police did not shoot the tear gas or water cannon into the hospital (compound).”

Hospital board head Ng Beh Tong, who was present, echoed the minister’s statement.

He said the hospital administrator had briefed the board on the situation at a meeting this morning.

Liow and Ng also denied that the police came into the hospital compound to arrest the protesters, claiming the police “only brought in some injured demonstrators for medical treatment”.

Asked to comment on differing accounts by some journalists on the ground who had also witnessed the incident, Liow reacted angrily and said, “The board chairman has clarified this, but you still want to ask this question.”

“Anybody including the media, if you have any allegation, you can tell the Health Ministry or Home Ministry, and we will investigate it,” he said.

Liow blamed the opposition for bringing in politics to the hospital, which he labelled as an irresponsible act.

He also defended the police action by saying the latter was forced to use teargas and water cannon in order to disperse the “street demonstration”.

“Highligting that the police shot at the hospital is an uncalled-for action,” he said, adding that the reports in the past two days have been unfair to the Tung Shin hospital.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 11 July 2011, 5:26 pm and is filed under
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Malaysians Passed The Test, Brilliantly!

By
M. Bakri Musa

A remarkable thing happened this past weekend. To many, the event on Saturday was nothing more than a massive public demonstration that capped a long brewing confrontation between those advocating “fair and free elections” and those who deemed that our elections are already so.

As with any fight, the drama was played out long before the event, and by the time the actual battle took place, the participants had long forgotten the original issue. Instead, now the preoccupation is who blinked first, who outsmarted whom, and most of all, who lost and who won. These then become the new overriding divisive issues, eclipsing the original one.

The losers would return to their corner with their new resolve: “Next time!” And the battle continues; they never learn! There were plenty of losers this weekend but few winners. The winners may be few but their achievements scaled new heights.

To me, this weekend was one of those moments (much too frequent, I hasten to add!) that test our nation. This time however, Malaysians acquitted themselves well. The same cannot be said of the Najib administration.

If this was an academic exercise, I would grade the performance of Malaysians as represented in Bersih an “A,” while the Najib Administration flunked badly. So dismal was its performance that the Najib administration should have no recourse to a remedial course or supplemental test; expulsion is the only option.

Terrible Trajectory

I would have thought that after the debacle of 1997 with the grossly inept handling of the reformasi demonstrations, and again a decade later with HINDRAF, the UMNO government would have learned a thing or two on how to deal intelligently with dissent and public demonstrations, two inherent features of a democracy. My expectation is not unreasonable, if not heightened, considering that we are today dealing with essentially the same characters in the administration. Most of the ministers who were in power during the reformasi and HINDRAF (now dubbed Bersih 1) are still there in Najib’s cabinet.

Obviously they, individually and collectively, have a flat learning curve. They are incapable of learning. There is a clinical term for that, but since this is a lay article I will resort to street lingo: idiots.

Their flat learning curve is even more incomprehensible considering that the consequences to them were so severe. The 1997 reformasi mess resulted in Barisan being thrashed in the 1999 elections, with Najib nearly being kicked out of his safe seat in Pekan that his father had held for many years.

            The price escalated with Bersih 1.0. The general elections of 2008 saw Barisan being humiliated with an unprecedented loss of its two-thirds parliamentary majority, along with five states, including two of the most developed: Penang and Selangor.

            I will let readers plot the trajectory as to the consequences of this weekend’s mess should the next general elections be held soon, as is widely predicted.

The iconic image of the reformasi debacle was of former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar’s battered face; that of Bersih1.0 was of Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin frothing at the mouth, babbling incoherently in front of the international news media trying to justify his government’s brutal suppression of its people. It was a classic demonstration of that uniquely Malay mental malady, latah (verbal diarrhea). It was also a display of amok, another peculiarly Malay affliction, albeit in this case only of the oral variety.

The iconic image of Bersih 2.0 was refreshing; that of its leader Ambiga Sreenivasan, former Bar Council President, serenely leaving the Istana after an audience with the King. The symbolism could not be overstated, for the Najib Administration had earlier declared her organization illegal! Only those retarded would miss the message, and they are precisely the types we are dealing with here.

Winners and Losers

My award for courage and excellence in Berseh 2.0 goes to those brave Malay masses who defied their government, their imams, and the party that had long proclaimed and presumed to speak on their behalf. In taking a very active part in a movement led predominantly by non-Malays, those Malays showed that they are no longer trapped by tribalism; they had escaped the clutches of chauvinism. There is now no going back.

This significant milestone is not acknowledged, much less appreciated. However, leaders who ignore this do so at their peril. For aspiring Malay leaders, it is now no longer enough for you to display your nationalistic zeal or ethnic instincts. You have to articulate the issues that matter most to the Malay masses: fairness, honesty, and justice, in elections and on other issues. I would also add competence. Those incidentally are also the concerns of all Malaysians.

Yes, there was a time when you could garner Malay support by justifying that the victims of your corruption, injustices and unfairness were non-Malays. Those days are now long gone; get used to it! Malays now realize that while in the past those victims may be mostly non-Malays, today they are increasingly Malays too.

The comforting corollary to my observation is that those capable non-Malay leaders would be assured of Malay support, if they were to address the central issues facing the masses.

Yes, Bersih 2.0 had strong non-Malay support especially abroad. Unanswered is whether a similar movement with equally noble objectives but with predominantly Malay leadership would garner the same enthusiastic support from non-Malays. If reformasi was any indication, the answer would be a reassuring yes.

I am especially heartened by the responses of Malay NGO leaders like Marina Mahathir. When Najib, and others who took their cue from him, began demonizing Ambiga by maliciously injecting ugly racial and religious accusations, Marina unambiguously and passionately defended Ambiga. Marina was of course all smiles and gentleness, as is the traditional halus (fine) Malay way, but there was no disguising her contempt for such odious tactics and their purveyors.

The biggest loser was of course the Najib Administration, specifically Najib and his fellow UMNO ministers. Their inanity was typified by Home Minister Hishammuddin complimenting the police for keeping the peace and stability. Yes, with the streets blockaded, stores closed, and citizens bludgeoned – the ‘peace’ and ‘stability’ of a prison “lockdown.” That was KL all week leading to last Saturday.

The conspicuous silence of other Barisan leaders was noted; that reflected solidarity not out of courage but cowardice. In contrast, even UMNO Youth defied Najib in declaring that it too would stage a counter demonstration.

Despite its defiance, UMNO Youth was also the loser, together with that ultra-Malay organization led by has-been politicians and past-their-peak professors, Perkasa. Good thing that the government had banned their leaders from KL; at least they had a ready excuse for their dismal performance.

The list of losers is long; there is little merit in mentioning more except for just this one, and I do so with profound sadness. A few weeks before the event, all the mosques in Kuala Lumpur, including the National Mosque, were warning their Friday prayer congregants of the evilness of those who led Bersih 2.0 and the sin that would befall those who would participate in it.

At a time when our community is divided, as with this central issue of fair and free elections, I would expect our ulamas and religious leaders to be our healers, to bring us together, to be the balm to our collective wounds. Instead they became only too willing instruments of the state with their canned state-issued sermons demonizing those who saw merit in the objectives of Bersih 2.0.

Obviously to the thousands of Malays who took part in Bersih 2.0, including one particular old man in his jubbah who had to be helped to walk, those characters cloaked in their flowing robes standing at their mimbar every Friday noon are less pious ulamas to be revered but more propagandists for the state to be defied. They may be Imams, but to the thousands who took part in Berseh 2.0 last Saturday, they are carma imams, to borrow National Laureate Samad Said’s term. Carma is the Malay contraction of cari makan, seeking a living. Idiomatically it refers to those who prostituted their honored craft or profession.

Those GI Imams (Government-issued) have flunked their test; there is no remedial course for them either. That is one of the great casualties of last Saturday’s event. For those carma imams, there is no corner they can return to or hide in.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 11 July 2011, 3:47 pm and is filed under
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Malaysians Resort To Facebook To Voice Out Their Opinions

By
Dinesh Karthikesu

July 10, 2011

Malaysia, according to a recent report by greyreview, is home to more than 11 million Facebook users, and is Asia’s No. 4 Facebook nation behind Indonesia, India and the Philippines respectively. Malaysians however, aren’t just using this ingenious creation to keep in touch with their friends, and to have some social fun. They’ve actually resorted to Facebook to voice out their opinions, and to make themselves heard, and to be perfectly honest with you, they are doing a pretty good job at it.

In the wake of the recent Bersih 2.0 rally that took place in Malaysia, as well as several other countries by concerned Malaysians, several Facebook pages have been set-up by angry, and dissatisfied Malaysians.

A Facebook page was registered under the title, “100,000 People Request Najib Tun Razak’s Resignation“, and moments later, people started flooding the page. The page went viral, and has 52,802 ‘likes’ as I type this. The best part of it? Well, the page has been up for less than a day! Instead of blatantly insulting their leader, who is under immense pressure right now, they figured that being united would be the best way to achieve their goal of having a good government. Some use the page as a medium to share shocking facts, and revelations related to the country’s government.

Impressed? Well, I definitely am. Prior to this, a Facebook page titled, “Curi-Curi Wang Malaysia” was created much to the delight of Malaysian Facebook users. “Curi-Curi Wang Malaysia” was created in reference to the Tourism Ministry of Malaysia’s decision to fork out around 1.8 million Ringgit ($600,000) to ‘develop’ 6 Facebook pages. ”Curi-Curi Wang Malaysia” when translated to English, sounds a little more like this, “Keep Stealing The Money Of Malaysians”.

Social networking is being taken rather seriously nowadays, and with the introduction of Google+, Google’s third social media installment, we might just see more, and more people around the world voice out their opinions using this medium. Very impressive I must say.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 11 July 2011, 11:52 am and is filed under
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My Bersih 2.0 Experience

By
Marina Mahathir

So I went.

I have to say that the night before I had many many misgivings, especially after reading about the army doing exercises with the FRU. Could the government seriously be contemplating shooting their own people? Who knows? My stomach was in knots thinking about the many young people I knew who were intent on going, including my daughter. Would I be able to forgive myself if something happened to them?

After seeking advice from various friends, I finally decided that I could not stay safely at home while my daughter, friends and colleagues faced possible danger. I had to walk with them. Besides even if I stayed home, I would have spent all my time worrying. So I had to go.

A friend who lived in the city offered to be my protector and together we devised a plan on what to do. Hubby was supportive and gave some advice on how to stay safe. My neighbours also wanted to come along. So fairly earlyish, my friend drove over to get me with no problem and we headed back into the city. Despite the roadblocks in some areas, we encountered no problems. In fact driving into KL was so pleasant because the roads were so clear. The police directed traffic where they had to and were generally cooperative ( except for one we saw arguing with a man trying to get into his own condo). We got to a roadblock in the KLCC area and my friend explained that he lived in the area and they let us through, four people in a car dressed as if we were going hiking!

From my friend’s apartment block, we walked to Times Square and parked ourselves at the Starbucks for a coffee while we waited. A cursory look around the outlet and mall revealed that many people were doing the same thing. Meanwhile a whole van of police was stationed outside the mall but after a while they all went off.

We kept in touch with various friends around the city to find out where they were and what the situation was. At about 12.30 we started to walk up Jalan Hang Tuah towards the stadium area. We were not in big groups, just people out on a weekend stroll. We thought we would encounter police in front of the big police headquarters in front of Pudu Jail but there was nothing. When we got to the corner of Jalan Hang Jebat, we saw some police motorcycles and only a couple of cops. Lots of people were just sitting on the curbside under the eye of the cops. It was pretty clear what all these people were there for.

We walked along Jalan Hang Jebat in front of Stadium Negara towards the OCM and found many other friends waiting there. Apparently at one point the cops had given chase even though there was no reason to and caught some people and hauled them off. But from then on we could sit and wait by the curb without anyone disturbing us.

Jalan Hang Jebat and the small road that led up to Stadium Merdeka stayed pretty quiet. Members of the Bar Council (who had to suffer wearing their suits in the heat just so that we could spot them easily) walked around observing what was happening. At one point one woman in a suit sat herself at the intersection to take notes.

We all debated whether to stay there or move down to Petaling Street but we were afraid that we wouldn’t be let back up again. Then it started to rain. My friend and I sought shelter under some hoarding along with young people. Just then I got a message that we were to go to KL Sentral. After confirming this with a friend at Sentral, my friends and I started to walk down Hang Jebat just as a large group of people started walking up. The rain was pouring at that point and I didn’t know quite what to do, whether to tell people they should turn round or not.

Seeking shelter for a while under a shop five-foot way, I talked to various other friends and eventually decided to head back to the stadium area where I found my daughter and lots of other friends there. The main group earlier had gone up to Stadium Merdeka, did some chanting in front of the FRU and then headed down again. But many people hung about just to observe everything and soak in the atmosphere. One group of young people had yellow ribbons on sticks and started a little dance. Others were buying ice cream from a bicycle vendor who came by. There was a real carnival atmosphere.

I have to say that I never felt safer than when I was in the crowd. People recognized me and said hello. Some wanted to take photos. It didn’t feel any different from any other Saturday out. And to be perfectly fair, the cops and FRU in my area showed admirable restraint. They saw that people were not doing anything more than chanting and nobody was harming anyone so they just stood there and left everyone to do their thing. We came across a whole FRU unit blocking a lane next to the Chinese temple at the roundabout at the bottom of Jalan Maharajalela, waved at them and they waved. Cool cops!

Of course not everyone had the same experience. Here’s an account from a colleague who was in a different street:

Unfortunately my experience wasn’t so benign. I was part of the marchers (along with A and others) who were effectively kettled by the police in Jalan Pudu. FRU units to the front and back of us prevented us from leaving, and we were trapped by the walls of a construction site opposite Tung Shin Hospital after the FRUs pushed us back. It was probably the worst of the hotspots because of that: when the police started firing round after round of tear gas at us, we had nowhere to run to. I think they were determined to make an example out of us, because they bloody well tear-gassed and sprayed us with water cannons when they had no reason to do so.

We were all tear-gassed at least three, four times. An NGO staffer was hit by a canister. V told me that she saw people jumping off the second floor of the Puduraya bus terminal because the police had released tear gas too close to the terminal and the wind carried the fumes into the enclosed building. When the marchers ran for shelter in Tung Shin Hospital, the police fired tear gas and water cannons INTO the hospital grounds. Later the police lured us into re-assembling on the road on the pretext of negotiating a peaceful dispersal. They arrested the MP (Sivarasa) who was doing the negotiating, then — after ordering us to sit down so (as we realised later) we would be sitting ducks — they fired more tear gas and water cannons at us. A, myself and our companions eventually managed to find a way out from the trap via the Santo Antonius church and (irony of ironies) the car park of the Hang Tuah police station (near the monorail station). There were so many very brave people yesterday.

I now know that smearing toothpaste under the eyes to reduce irritation caused by tear gas actually works (thanks, A)! I’m still itchy and short of breath from all that tear gas, which is a bit annoying. But really, mostly what I remember of the rally was how moving it was: the solidarity among the protesters, how people looked out for one another. Whenever I was tear-gassed there was a stranger running along at my side and offering me and my friends salt to counteract the effects. When the police sprayed chemical-laced water cannons into the crowd and the people affected cried out for water to wash the stuff away, others turned and ran back toward the cannons with bottles of water to help. People helped others climb up a hill towards the hospital to escape (some guy helped me up the steep slope). Someone always stepped up to make sure that a panicked run doesn’t turn into a stampede, including an elderly woman who took it upon herself to guide the marchers to safety. She’s a first-time marcher to boot! Actually there were lots of first-time marchers, and more young middle-class urbanites than I’ve ever seen at any other rallies including the 2007 Bersih rally. At one point people started picking up the tear gas canisters and throwing them back at the police, or kicking the canisters safely away from the marchers and bystanders. I heard via the #bersihstories Twitter hashtag when the police fired tear gas into Tung Shin, there were people who grabbed the canisters and wrapped them in their own towels, then threw the canisters into the drain so there wouldn’t be so much fumes.

And another one, about people’s goodness:

My group has a lovely little story to tell as well, of how we escaped from the Tung Shin hospital area after one of the tear gas attacks.  We took a little alley uphill between the shophouses, and there was a block of flats there.  One of the residents told us to go through the building to get out through the back!  We climbed upstairs and then along the opposite corridor a woman shouted and pointed, “That way, go that way, there is an exit out the back!” and we scuttled along our corridor, down the back stairs and found ourselves safe outside on Changkat Tung Shin or something like that.

Rakyat all contributing in their own ways!

There are many stories and photos, both good and bad, of the whole event. But to me what was most important was that Malaysians proved two things: one, they can assemble together on a common cause peacefully and two, therefore showed that they are a mature people.  The fact is that there were all kinds of people there, young and old, all races and religions and all classes and creeds. I bumped into many young people, the children of my friends, who had come to see what it was all about and decide for themselves what to think about the issue.

Whatever one thinks about the issue that Bersih is espousing, we should all be proud of our fellow Malaysians who did not, despite dire predictions by some, behave like hooligans and destroy property and hurt one another. There were people hurt and one death but people who had participated in the rally did not cause them. The restaurants and shops around the area were doing roaring business as people got thirsty and hungry.

There are also some people claiming that the world now has a bad impression of Malaysia because the foreign media (and the local media for that matter) reported only about the teargassing and water-cannoning. I think people are confusing the government with the people. Yes, the world now has a bad impression of the Malaysian government because it has handled this whole issue so badly. They don’t have the same impression of the Malaysians who stood up for their rights and their cause.

And by the way, I can’t believe some of the mean things being said about the man who died after being teargassed! My goodness, every time I read totally uncompassionate things like that, I know that I’m on the right side.

For more accounts by people who were there, read
this
.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 11 July 2011, 10:44 am and is filed under
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