Aliran
The huge Bersih 3.0 crowd testified to the fact that many people no
longer trust the BN government, let alone the Election Commission, to
ensure free and fair elections, reports Sarajun Hoda Abdul Hassan.
What a day it was. If not for the unwarranted cruel police
crackdown towards the end of the peaceful Bersih rally on 28 April 2012,
it would have been the greatest festive carnival on Malaysian soil.
Unlike PM Najib’s rhetoric, this was truly an occasion the real
1Malaysia was expressed in substance and spirit. Unlike BN gatherings
characterised by gifts, payments and other sponsored means, genuinely
patriotic Malaysians got together, at their own expense and sacrifice,
to save the nation from the clutches of unscrupulous politicians who
came to power through dubious means (alleged collusion with tightly held
agencies like the Election Commission and National Registration
Department?). Their parties have held on to power for over five decades.
Malaysians of all walks of lives who turned up for Bersih 3.0 are
Malaysians first and they so love the country that personal sacrifices
are immaterial. I am not a politician, I am not a member of any
political party and neither was my participation sponsored by any party.
This narration therefore represents a true Malaysian’s perspective.
On the eve of the rally, I had joined MP Charles Santiago and a few
other friends at the Dataran area to lend support and express Aliran’s
espousal and solidarity for the university students who had already been
camping there for some days. At close to 11.00pm, a group of policemen
surrounded these boys and demanded that they vacate the place and move
out towards the Jalan Tun Perak intersection behind the razor wire that
ringed Dataran Merdeka. These youngsters obediently and peacefully moved
out.
Another group of people chanting ‘Bersih’ slogans at the junction of
Jalan Tun Perak and Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman caught my attention. As I
approached them, what I thought was a small group of people turned out
to be over a thousand strong, and by close to midnight it had swelled so
quickly to about 4000. They roared in exuberance, as if they just
couldn’t wait till rally the next day.
The whole area was jammed with protesters, supporters of the university
students, and reporters. At any one time, at least a thousand camera
flashes were illuminating the darkened scene. I watched the fun from
behind the razor-wire barricade, where thousands of police had already
lined up. We had earlier been chased away by police but arguments that
their injunction only took effect from from midnight worked in our
favour for a while. As more and more police personnel began to assemble,
we moved out.
The early signal was clear
The early signal was clear
As we walked back to our car parked at the Royal Selangor Club, I passed
Jalan Raja beside St Mary’s Cathederal. Coincidently, a car stopped
right in front of me and out stepped the Kuala Lumpur CPO Mohmad Salleh.
A senior police officer approached him and blurted out, “Boss, the crowd is too big.”
The CPO was clearly aghast, and his face turned pale as if he had just
seen a ghost. He couldn’t believe his eyes. The early signals of what
would come the next day were already clear.
The following day, I joined the group that started from Brickfields. By
noon, there were only a few hundred Bersih supporters congregating.
Several Pakatan leaders, MPs, Senators and Aduns from all over Malaysia
could be seen mingling but the crowd comprised mainly NGO members and
the public. The “Bersih!” chanting started and grew louder by the
minute. The BN government’s later insinuation that opposition leaders
had hijacked the Bersih rally was not true at all.
As the protesters strolled towards the city center, the crowd swelled.
Scores of police in small groups lined the street along the way as we
passed. They just stood by and allowed the people to gather and walk
past without giving a helping hand to control the crowd or the traffic.
That was painstakingly done by self-appointed Bersih ‘traffic marshals’
who made sure the traffic flow was not disrupted. Passing motorists
honked their support adding merriment to the chanting.
A massive flood of people
People in yellow and green kept pouring in from every side into the
procession like streams gushing into an overflowing river. Young and old
alike, some with family members, children, people with disabilities on
wheel chairs and grandparents with walking sticks.
Every other person seemed to be holding creative banners and placards or
had ingenious messages printed on their T-shirts. They were clearly
convinced that reforms for free and fair elections were long overdue and
the BN government had not shown the political will to move the process
forward. Hence the people had no choice but to join the rally and send a
clear message to those in power, that the time for change has come.
Further down Jalan Sambantan, just 10 minutes later, the crowd had
swelled to thousands. By the time we reached closer to the railway
station, we were about 5,000-strong. Thanks to Twitter, we received
minute-by-minute reports from the other starting points at Masjid Jamek,
Masjid Negara, Central Market, Sogo, Jalan Sultan, KLCC and several
streets around Dataran Merdeka.
By 1.00pm, we learned that the combined turnout had reach about 50,000.
The smart phones were still working but they were later jammed,
presumably by mobile frequency jammers. Communications between the
various points completely broke down.
We walked on to Central Market. By the time we reached our destination,
our own group alone had expanded to 15,000. Information from Twitter
indicated that the total turnout had swelled to 100,000, and this was
confirmed by Malaysiakini.
While we waited at Central Market for the signal from the organisers to
proceed to Jalan Petaling, some leaders took to giving speeches. We were
then joined by Bersih leaders Ambiga and her group including Aliran’s
own Dr Subramaniam Pillay, who sits on the Bersih steering committee,
scores more politicians and many, many more people from every walk of
life imaginable. More people on wheel chairs had joined us as well.
The crowd then then moved to Jalan Yap Ah Loy and onwards to Jalan Hang
Lekiu and finally to Jalan Tun Perak. The organisers had planned well.
Thousands of groups were stopped at every intersection to allow our
group to pass as the Bersih leaders had to go to the front. Many more
notable leaders were allowed to move up to the front including Anwar
Ibrahim and ex-Perak MB Nizar Jamaluddin, who was accompanied by his
family including his child perched on his shoulders. Tourists on budget
hotel rooftops had a field day looking down and snapping away with their
cameras.
When the Bersih supporters from the other adjoining streets converged,
my friends and I were jammed body-to-body packed not far from Masjid
Jamek. We all sat down. Bersih leaders began speaking but only those at
the front got to hear because the chanting continued non stop. It was
much more boisterous than what we were accustomed to hearing at World
Cup football matches.
We had our peaceful sit in while waiting for the signal that our
objective had been achieved and we could then disperse. The clocked
ticked – it was 2.45 pm and our phones were jammed by the signal
jammers, and that prevented us from getting instructions from the
organisers although, in any case, we were already preparing to leave.
Why, why, why?
Why, why, why?
Suddenly, we were shocked to see smoke rising from the front. Then
message filtered through that the police had started firing tear gas and
water cannons. That abruptly ended the peaceful nature of the rally.
Everyone was asking everyone else, what was happening. The rally had
been so peaceful and carnival like. Everyone has having such good fun;
so why had the police to resort to such brutal acts?
We then saw the police firing tear gas everywhere and as the smoke rose,
people ran helter shelter as the wave of people choking and crying
spread faster than wild fire. Many shared salt and water with those
around them. Some kind-hearted individuals on buildings helped shoot
hose water from their windows.
Within seconds, I could feel a stinging sensation in my eyes and a
burning sensation in my throat. A friend, John, went closer to the front
to take photos and a can of tear gas landed on him. He rushed back and
we shared our salt and water with him just like everyone else around us
was doing.
These were touching gestures. There were no Malays or Chinese or Indians
or anyone else. They were all simply Malaysians, suffering but the
camaraderie among the peaceful rally members was moving. I saw an old
Malay woman in tudung helping an old Chinese man, a young Chinese boy
helping an old Indian man. A young Indian lad helping an old Malay man
in jubah. It made me feel real good and proud to be Malaysian. This was
definitely the real 1Malaysia spirit. Everyone was like a brother or
sister to everyone else.
Malaysian generally are very friendly despite the diverse racial and
religious differences but the divide-and-rule policy inherited by the
Barisan Nasional from the colonials and still incessantly practised by
them never allowed the 1Malaysia spirit to flourish. The racial
profiling propagated by Barisan Nasional parties is the evil that is
preventing us from loving one another. This thought haunted me for hours
as I later trudged back to Brickfields to pick upmy car parked there.
Did the business people really lose business? Who was responsible?
Back to the tumultuous scene: having finished our water, we rushed to a
nearby Indian restaurant for a drink. It was packed and the owner was
trying hard to oblige his patrons. He was apologetic. “Sorry,” he said,
‘we have finished our food three times over and the cook is busy cooking
for the fourth time.”
The BN will say traders lost business due to the rally. How untrue. Not
all the shops were closed. One drinks wholesaler was seen giving away
water and other aerated waters for free just as St John ambulances were
also doing. May God bless them, I prayed.
As unfamiliar people grouped, freely engaging one another, all sorts of
theories were brought up about what could have happened. What went
wrong? I was confused too. If the government had allowed the peaceful
Bersih supporters to enter Dataran Merdeka and sit for two hours, they
would have themselves dispersed peacefully.
There are no shops around the area and no shops had to close and nobody
would have claimed losses. Rather, the Bersih crowd was so huge, they
would have themselves given plenty of business to the traders around the
area.
The reason these Bersih people jammed the streets all over is that they
were not allowed into the empty and vacant Dataran. It would have
accommodated all. It is as simple as that but the government later
dished out incredulous reasons to vilify the peaceful rally in order to –
unconvincingly – justify their their wicked actions.
Even if street
vendors had suffered losses, was a day’s business for them more
important than the collective good of the nation?
If we have free and fair elections and a two-party system with rigorous
checks and balances emerges, wouldn’t the people overall truly benefit
from good governance?
If the corruption at higher levels is checked,
wouldn’t we save hundreds of billions in callous, unscrupulous and
indiscriminate government spending?
Wouldn’t we all benefit more in the
long run? What are we bequeathing of this country to our loved ones,
children and grandchildren?
If the business fraternity had lost a lot of business as they later
claimed or as they had always claimed after people’s gatherings, it was
the police or Kuala Lumpur mayor who should be held responsible.
Isn’t
Dataran the symbol of our ‘merdeka’ freedom? Why was the KL mayor so
unpatriotic in denying the people the right to peacefully gather there?
Whose peace and security? The rectangular lawn’s or the flag pole’s?
I kept on guessing. The government says the police had obtained a court
injunction to prevent Bersih supporters from entering the field to
preserve the peace and security. After having obtained the injunction,
the upholding of the law. But whose peace and security, I kept asking
myself and the friends around me. The peace and security of the
rectangle green field? its grass or the flag pole? It just didn’t make
any sense. Why did our courts hand out such an absurd injunction?
Malaysians do not deserve peaceful sit-ins? How did the Magistrate
decide?
What message were the police sending?
Minutes before the tear gas and water cannons were fired, the police who
had lined the road leading to Dataran suddenly retreated creating a
50-metre space as if signalling an invitation for the Bersih people. It
almost appeared as if the police had preplanned the attack. If the
police had waited until until 4.00pm, the crowd would have dispersed
peaceful.
Why did the police have to attack the people an hour earlier? Why did
they appear to have jammed the phone reception thus preventing the
message to disperse from reaching the rally participants? Why did the
police suddenly, without giving ample notice, shoot tear gas everywhere,
thus choking the exit points? Why did the police not have name tags?
Videos showed the police just hauling anyone they could get hold from
the crowd and very cruelly start bashing them up? Is this what the
Malaysian government calls maintaining peace and security? Don’t the
police have loved ones? Have they no human feeling?
Different sources gave different figures for the total number at the gathering. Malayskini estimated
100,000; Bersih said 250,000. My own estimate was that the sea of
people clad in yellow and green T-shirts could not be fewer than
250,000. It was probably the biggest gathering in the history of
Malaysia. The biggest joke the next day was the reports from the
mainstream BN media which shamelessly reported the turnout at only a few
thousand; the most generous estimate they could offer was 20,000. I had
a good laugh when I heard it on TV news.
I later learned that Bersih supporters also converged in 85 cities
around the World. The silliest statements came from the Home Minster,
who said the police had acted professionally and from Jamil Khir who
said the Saudi government would punish Malaysians by not allowing more
Malaysians for the haj. Does our government think the Saudi government
is as stupid as they would like to think Malaysians are?
I returned home tired but contented after having participated in a truly
peaceful rally. After all, it was just to call for free and fair
elections, nothing more. It does not matter if the BN continues to rule
or Pakatan comes to power in the next general election as long as the
government is elected in free and fair elections.
Anyway, the signal the people wanted to give was loud and clear. The
huge Bersih crowd testified to the fact that many people no longer don’t
trust the BN government, let alone the Election Commission, to ensure
free and fair elections. But will Najib the PM listen to the people and
push through real reforms? Or does he really have no will?
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