IPOH, May 7 — Barbed wires and road blocks: this wasn't something the people of Ipoh were familiar with as they went about their business this morning. The police had blocked all access to the State Secretariat and this resulted in a traffic jam around the area.
Nearer to the secretariat an uneasy truce was in place as both the police and black-garbed Pakatan Rakyat supporters breakfasted together in the same neighbourhood restaurants. They threw awkward glances at each other but generally kept to themselves.
All the restaurants — except the one beneath the DAP office — were open to take advantage of the increased "traffic" in the vicinity.
At around 9am, protesters began to come out from the "closed" restaurant. They were wearing black T-shirts and held posters of the King. All were calling loudly for the state assembly to be dissolved.
Minutes later, DSP Glen Anthony noticed them and shouted, "Arrest them! Don't be soft on them, arrest them now!"
The protesters ran towards the restaurants but the police were able to nab a number of them.
Several assemblymen started to arrive and those without the secretariat-issued pass were denied entry. When PKR Wanita chief Zuraida Kamarrudin was forced out of the car, she started scolding the police.
"Why do you have to shout? Why do you have to act so uncivilised?" she said.
The police officer asked her to shut up but she wouldn’t stop talking. The officer then ordered her arrest.
As the officers forcefully arrested her, she shouted back, "I know how to walk, don’t push me!"
At 9.50am, Ipoh Timur MP Lim Kit Siang and Ipoh Barat MP M. Kulasegaran were stopped by the police and asked to drive away. Both MPs and Kulasegaran's political secretary P. Sugumaran got out of the car and began arguing with the officers.
"I received an official invitation from the Speaker... I have a right to be here. This is my constituency," Kulasegaran argued.
A shouting match began between Sugumaran and the police. It finally ended when Sugumaran was arrested. Both Lim and Kulasegaran then decided to leave.
While Lim was driven off, he told reporters: " This is a war zone. This is a national and international disgrace. Even when we received official invitations from the Speaker, we are denied entry. It is most shameful and outrageous."
A huge crowd in black T-shirts began to gather at the restaurant under the DAP office. The police regrouped and Anthony began to warn the protesters to disperse through the speakerphone.
"We have court orders to arrest anybody within 500 metres of the fence of the SUK. I am giving you 10 seconds to disperse," he warned.
After counting to 10, the police began to swarm into the shop and forced it to close. Both protesters and innocent bystanders were arrested.
"What are you doing? Can't you see I am drinking. I just want to minum-lah. You can't arrest me," a customer complained before being dragged away by the police.
The police began to scout the area for protesters and made more arrests. They included Kubang Kerian MP Salahuddin Ayub.
"What we want is justice and we are willing to risk anything for it. We don’t mind losing as long as there is democracy," Salahuddin told reporters before he was arrested.
The police tried to close down another restaurant but the owner refused and asked for compensation.
The police finally gave up and began to buy drinks from the shop. The rest of the riot and police officers then began to disperse with some of them taking group photos.
Mi
07/05/09
PEOPLE'S POWER
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