About 10,000 people gathered near Pasar Seni and Dataran Merdeka to remind the government of its unfulfilled promises.
KUALA
LUMPUR: About 10,000 people gathered peacefully near Dataran Merdeka
tonight where the Janji Demokrasi coalition and supporters of Save Jalan
Sultan converged to remind the government of its unfulfilled promises.
While the Janji Demokrasi coalition wants electoral reform, the Save
Jalan Sultan group is opposing the construction of the MRT. The crowd
started gathering as early 9.30pm.
There was an air of fiesta despite police presence and Dataran
Merdeka itself was cordoned off to facilitate the official Merdeka
celebration tomorrow morning.
PAS deputy president Mat Sabu’s presence was greeted with cheers from
the crowd. Also seen in the crowd was PKR vice-president and Batu MP
Tian Chua.
National
Laureate A Samad Said also arrived along with Empower executive
director Maria Chin Abdullah – both also being the steering committee
members of Bersih. Samad was expected to read out a poem before the
gathering was officially called to an end just past midnight.
Earlier, more than 2,000 people from the Save Jalan Sultan group
gathered at the Gospel Hall along Jalan Hang Jebat to protest the
construction of the My Rapid Transit (MRT) line.
The crowd started congregating at around 8pm with many of them clad
in yellow Bersih T-shirts. They demanded the government and the MRT
project to stay away from the Jalan Sultan area.
Three demands
Their protest was part of a matter that dominated the area for the
past 13 months: the building of underground tunnels, which some argued
would put heritage sites there at risk.
Preservation for Jalan Sultan Committee chief Stanley Yong Yew Wei
told the crowd: “If it is to be built, what will happen to the memory
(of Jalan Sultan)?”
He was flanked by several Jalan Sultan landowners and DAP elected reps.
They were also supported by Himpunan Hijau Raub, Janji Demokrasi and other activist groups.
They then demanded three things:
- withdrawal of the new gazetting of the land and its subsequent land acquisition.
- for the importance of public consultation to be realised.
- urging Malaysians to make a “wise decision” in the next general election.
Yong further warned that the committee would not hesitate to call for another rally to defend Jalan Sultan “if necessary”.
The crowd later marched from the Gospel Hall at around 9pm towards
the Pasar Seni LRT station. They were accompanied by drummers and a lion
dance troupe.
Along the way, they chanted “Defend our heritage!” and “Bersih!”
Many
of them later made their way for the Janji Demokrasi rally, which
started at nearby Dataran Merdeka at 11pm. The iconic square itself is
cordoned off to facilitate the official Merdeka celebration tomorrow
morning.
Asked later on what he meant by more rallies, Yong said: “Certainly
one rally is not enough to translate our message clearly (to the
government)… It is clearly a useful tool to bring solidarity among the
people.”
He added that he did not see large rallies forming along Jalan Sultan in the future unless there was a need for it.
The committee’s supporters, he said, would gather at Parliament or at various ministry headquarters, instead.
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