I was contemplating for weeks of whether to attend the BERSIH’s peaceful gathering to submit a memorandum to the Yang DiPertuan Agong on electoral reforms - to demand for a free and clean election.
10 Nov, I was awakened by an SMS saying that all the roads leading into KL are closed, and police are everywhere. Anyone in yellow will be stopped.
My colleague who was heading to Melaka said that his bus was detour as the route to the Istana was closed, advising me to be careful when attending the peaceful walk later.
Later, I got online, and chatted with some of my friends. I was still deciding if I should go. People said that the gathering is illegal and those who are attending might get caught. My friend had even forwarded me a document on "The police & our right" - how to response when we're caught. My adrenaline was running high.
Should I go? Should I wear yellow? Will I be arrested? What if I was arrested? Why should I go? So many questions were running through my head.
Having to try to advocate the importance of voting and registration as a voters among my friends and family, I told myself that, I should walk the talk. If I truly believe that, we could change things by casting our votes, and if the ballot box is indeed haunted by phantom voters, tempered, gerrymandered and etc, then I should support the cause to call for a free, clean and fair process for the coming election. I told myself that, YES, I want to walk for this cause and be counted. And I think I would regret if I did not attend it...
I was at the Burger King in Masjid Jamek at about
We were standing with the lawyers from the Bar Council who were there as Observers. Later, I saw many people wearing "Unit Amal Kebajikan" in red lining up, getting ready to march into Dataran Mederka. A lawyer told me that these people are from PAS.
The FRU trucks were in front of them. At that point, I was feeling excited and scared at the same time.
Suddenly the FRU started firing water cannon without warning. I thought that was unnecessary as the crowds were not violently protesting. There were no riots, no warning issue by the FRU, no nothing, and there’s absolutely no REASON for them to do that.
If the police truly care for the public safety, like what the mainstream news reported, they should not even fire the water cannon or the tear gas. At this juncture, the Burger King staffs hurriedly closed their shop, and asked people to retreat into the shop if they want shelter or leave. I was panicked. It was really scary. I continued to stand at the side to watch. It’s sad, but it’s true, I was only like an observer, I didn’t join in the crowd to brave the FRU. They tried to break the FRU barrier to march into Dataran Merdeka a few times, but were hold back by water cannons and tear gas fired by the FRU. I admired their courage and persistence. Despite of being attacked, they did not resort to violence.
We knew that there’s no chance for us to go into the Dataran Merdeka. Updates said that the other marchers are now walking towards the Istana from Masjid Negara. So, we followed suit. At first I did not know where we were walking to, either to Masjid Negara or to the Istana. I just followed the lawyers, my friends and the crowds in yellow. At that point, I’ve decided walk with my yellow shirt. So, I’ve joined the “gelombang kuning”.
We walked past the Bar Council to Pasar Seni, and from Pasar Seni to the Istana. As we reached Istana, I see a sea of yellow people and many of them were Malays. I wonder where the other ethnic groups are. Many of them were PAS and Keadilan supporters.. My friend felt that we were decoyed as this seemed to be the oppositions’ rally, due to the heavy presence of our Malay friends, as result of the absence of other races.
However, I felt that, it was their commitments and supports that had made this the biggest ever peaceful protest in
No, none of them yell any of their party slogans.
Some slogans that I heard were, “Daulat Tuanku”, “Hidup rakyat, Hidup! Hidup”, “God is great”. I’ve also heard the shout of “Reformasi” at one point. It’s true that this phrase is tightly coupled to Anwar, however, it is also correct that we need a reformation in our electoral system, thus, “reformasi” is needed.
Anyway, I’m glad I joined thousands in the walk on
