JULY 15 — I am a 39-year-old Indian doctor living in Kajang. In 2007, I was in KL and wanted to attend the Bersih rally, but I was stopped from going by my mother and wife, who was pregnant with my second son. Now my boys are three and five years old.When the talk of Bersih 2.0 started a little over a month ago, I first informed my parents that I’ll be attending so that they will get used to the idea. Mother asked me why was I was hell-bent on attending the rally when the government was issuing threats through the police force, Perkasa and Umno Youth.
I just told her, Ambiga is walking for us and not for herself and I’m walking for the future of my boys. I am a Malaysian, I have nowhere to go, this is my country. She also reminded me of May 13 and I simply said I trust my life in the hands of the thousands of PAS supporters who will come and I will walk with all races as equals with one cause.
I got anxious as the day came closer; a school buddy of mine said he was attending too. We decided to meet at KL Sentral at noon. I packed my bag with a towel soaked with vinegar, took my swimming goggles, drinking water and a small pack of rock salt and left for the Putrajaya Sentral train stop to take the ERL straight to KL Sentral.
When I got into KL Sentral, I was shocked by the number of police personnel questioning fellow travellers waiting there, looking at their ICs, asking questions, checking their bags. I wondered if all this was necessary and legal. They seemed to be targetting the Malay community.
I met up with my friend and we walked out of KL Sentral towards Brickfields. While having lunch we discussed the route we would take to the stadium. We decided to walk to Central Market, and as we were walking we saw Malaysians of different races walking in twos and threes.
When we reached Central Market, we came across FRU personnel. We waited and watched them fire tear gas into a chanting crowd coming from the Dayabumi vicinity preventing them from reaching Central Market... we had our first smell of tear gas from the shots. We continued walking towards Petaling Street through the back alleys, and as we approached Petaling Street the sounds of “Hidup, Hidup, Hidup Rakyat” chants grew louder as we turned the corner we saw a sea of multiracial faces, chanting and singing.
We joined the crowd and there I was, a true born-again Malaysian and for the first time I was proud to be a Malaysian. We sang the national anthem with such pride. That was the very first time I felt a sense of belonging to my fellow Malaysians, we were one as Malaysians coming together regardless of race, religion or profession.
We marched while chanting to Pudu where the FRU aggressors attacked us with no warning with their mighty chemical-laced water cannons, and round after round of tear gas. Choking in the fumes, we were trapped in Jalan Pudu and bombarded with tear gas from both ends, with nowhere to go.
We were helped by our fellow Malaysians who handed us salt and water to counter the effects of the tear gas. We had to take shelter behind one of the buildings in Jalan Pudu trekking up small hills, helped by others, climbing under fences to get to safety.
This is a day I will never forget, and I’ll narrate this story to my grandchildren with pride, that I was part of a movement of ordinary men and women who went against all odds to make a statement and stand our ground. We, the ordinary rakyat, won that day. We were ONE!
1 comment:
I’m sure that there are several reforms that Malaysia should undergo. Let’s at least get one thing reformed: education. As it is, there are three language streams in Malaysia. That, is, there are Malay-medium, Chinese-medium, and Tamil-medium schools currently operating in Malaysia. Then somebody decided to teach maths and science in English in all these three school systems. Next, somebody decided to flip-flop and remove the teaching of Maths and Science in English. What’s going on? They introduce English and then they remove it. There are too many flip flops.
Therefore, I read something interesting as a solution. Let me share it with you.
Firstly, lets leave the three language school system as it is.
Let’s focus on kindergarten schools. Let’s allow private kindergarten schools to have total autonomy from political intervention. If private kindergarten schools are allowed to teach the 3R’s (reading, writing, arithmetic) in English, then it may solve the problem.
Hopefully, the next generation of Malaysian children will firstly go for three years to an English kindergarten. After completing a stint in the English kindergarten, next the children will enter primary school. In primary school, they have to choose between Malay, Chinese, and Tamil medium schools. Eventually, they will complete secondary school education.
These students will be more multi-lingual and therefore will be an asset to the nation in a globalizing world.
In any case, almost all the universities (both government and private) use English language text books. Therefore, we have to connect English kindergartens on the one hand with English language text books in universities on the other hand. Do you see the connection now?
In any case, it is better than flip flopping.
If you do agree with me, please copy and remail it to whom it may concern. Those who receive it must in turn copy and remail it to whom it may concern. Let’s get the word around to as many people as possible. Let’s see what happens.
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