I missed the event last year in July but somehow, I managed to convince my dad to allow me to go for the 3rd version of what has now been famously known to people as Bersih 3.0. Yes people, it is the rally that the Najib-led Gov sort of feared but I'll leave that for another day. Now, onto what actually took place on 28th April 2012 in the heart of Kuala Lumpur City.
My dad and I managed to reach KL quite fast as the drive down Federal Highway was surprisingly a breeze. I parked in Brickfields and walked to the Dataran Merdeka or Merdeka Square as some would call it. We reached around 10 a.m and hopped on to a few other locations like Central Market, Petaling Street among some others, and all were quite similar. It was more like a party atmosphere and many people were in a joyful mood, all in the name gathering so that the 'powers that be' can actually witness for themselves that the people will no longer have the 'its okay, lets accept it' attitude but rather demand for justice and transparency.
Fast-forward to 1.30 p.m. We were all gathered near Dataran Merdeka, all in the hope that by 2 p.m, the MenInBlue would somehow show a sense of goodwill and allow us into the Dataran to carry on peacefully with what we had planned to do, which was a quiet 'sit-in' so that our objective of campaigning for Free&Fair Elections would somehow be fulfilled. How wrong we were!, and I realised that any hopes we harboured of being allowed into the DM were to remain that, just hopes, fat hopes rather.
There was no way to move at all as everyone in yellow were sort of 'jostling' for position in order to get as close as possible to the DM. I was standing near the traffic light situated along Jalan Tun Perak and the situation there was intense to say the least. Many opposition leaders passed by and were given way by the people to get to the intersection of Jalan Tun Perak and Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman. There were numerous trucks carrying the MenInBlue although there was actually no place for even people to walk. More than one occasion, people were clearly unhappy with the actions of these officers as it showed that they were indeed trying to get on the people's nerves.
Then, a Toyota Hilux with Ambiga, Anwar, Wan Azizah, Nurul Izzah, Lim Kit Siang and a few others came to the fore. When they reached the intersection, there were a few words from Ambiga instructing the crowd to disperse but in that situation which was clearly on a knife's edge, that was the last thing possible, to actually disperse! I mean, there were no instructions given earlier for us disperse or to actually do anything. The ONLY thing on the minds of the people gathered there was to get to Dataran but there was no real alternative. At the time, there was no real sense of direction and majority were hoping for someone, anyone actually, to take the lead to do something. There were many shouts of 'We Want Dataran' and the crowd also sang the 'Bersih' version to the tune of the famous football song 'Ole Ole Ole' and I have to admit, that actually sent shivers down my spine. Another moment was when the 'Negaraku' was sung with great spirit, inexplicable really. You would have to be there to get the feeling.
Suddenly, there was a jeer from the crowd and then all hell broke loose. I was standing near the old courthouse along Jalan Tun Perak, near the traffic light and I had a pretty good view of the Dataran from where I was. There were a few people who managed to break through and surged toward the Dataran. The place where I was had a small alley in which there were also barricades and barbed wires. (I learnt later that they weren't really barbed wires but actually wires with tiny pieces of glass which cut through anything in its sight). The cops in the small alley, around 10 of them, all suddenly sort of panicked and two of them actually assisted people in removing the barricades due to the amounting pressure from those gathered. I was dumbfounded to see them actually doing that, plus they even said 'Jaga-jaga', pointing to the barbed wires. Somehow, their actions, though surprising, gave people the proverbial 'green light' to go ahead to the Dataran. Again, we were in for a real shock.
My dad and I ran towards the Dataran but I was caught in the melee in the 'alley' (The pushing and shoving going on was like between life and death, many were raring to go into the DM). The barbed wires caught me and my shoe was stuck so there was no quick way out from there. Keeping my cool, I decided to flip out my trusty phone and videotape the whole scene. Then, I saw water being sprayed and instantly, my mind went back to the pictures I saw last year on the tele of Bersih 2.0 when the authorities sprayed people with jet-powered hoses and they fell like dominoes. That's what the water cannons can do to human beings, make people look like pieces of dominoes.
Many of us managed to get back to the main road (Jalan Tun Perak) but then there was no way out as it was jam packed with yellow t-shirts everywhere. All of a sudden, the air seemed to get thinner and at once I knew that something had happened. The police actually had fired their trusty little tear gas canisters. How kind of them! The air was worsening with every passing second. With the build I possess, I was very much able to get a 'bird's eye view' on the condition of the situation at the time. The crowd was swaying, from left to right. I could see that it was some sort of a human wave but an involuntary one at that. The only message I passed to my dad was, "Hold on to me, NO MATTER WHAT!" and we turned around and headed away from the Dataran, albeit slowly. There were a few people who were about to go down but I immediately grabbed their hands. They were young people but the tear gas is utter torture. Everywhere I looked, there were people struggling for air, mostly coughing, eyes watering among others.
Within a minute, another canister flew into the air and landed barely 10 metres in front of me. This time it was unbearable. Many of us feared for the worst as the canister exploded and the white-coloured gas was visible. Somehow, the gate leading to the old courthouse was opened and everyone rushed for cover. We had to climb to the 1st floor and many people were rushing up the staircase but very slowly as nobody was in a proper condition to run due to the kindness of the cops, not forgetting the tear gas. Roughly 30 people managed to make their way up to the first floor and sort of recuperate up there. I had one bottle of water with me and instantly gave it to my dad. Immediately, about 5 people came up to him and asked 'Tuan, tolong bagi air sikit' and without any fuss though the water was almost finishing, we all managed to share among ourselves. That is what I call Malaysia, not what some people talk about and also come up with political slogans to just sway the public.
From the 1st floor, we had sort of a 'vantage point' as to what the FRU were doing. It was like a revolver action. The 1st bell by the truck behind two lines of FRU was to signal them to reload their gas guns with canisters and the 2nd bell was to fire. Again, 1st bell, reload and aim, 2nd, FIRE. It was like they were treating it like a video game, NO MERCY! I have the whole thing on video, will need to find the time to upload it. Out of nowhere, someone threw an empty bottle in the direction of one of the cops downstairs and one guy pointed his 'tear gas gun' toward our direction and we immediately ran for cover. Someone yelled 'Dia mau datang atas!', which I later realised was not true but we were not going to take any chances and headed for the exit. We managed to get out through the back and escape the building, headed towards Masjid Jamek. The 'pak cik' there pointed to the fence and said 'Dik, cepat masuk, panjat pagar itu'. I knew I was more than capable of getting across but still, another guy offered me his hand and 'voila', I was into the masjid along with my dad. When we got inside, the amount of people visible was staggering. Men and women were 'recharging' after going through hell outside and the Masjid served as a pitstop in a 60 lap race in a Grand Prix. This time, KL city was the circuit.
The 'tear gas equipped' guys came in front of the Masjid and looked in. People, being people, dared them to fire in but they resisted. However, the MenInBlue refused to budge from the entrance which left us trapped. There was one person who was injured badly, I could see blood dripping from his face and body and barely seconds later we heard the siren of a Red Crescent ambulance. Four men carried him out and many of us waived at the ambulance to come in but the FRU held position thus the vehicle was not able to come in. These men rushed out and I followed behind to get a snapshot together with another elderly man. To my surprise, a smart fella with a 'tear gas gun' fired and the canister hit the guy in front of me, at once making us run for cover. Two of us managed to pull the guy who was hit, otherwise he would've been in real trouble, on the floor with tear gas.
After this minor debacle, the police ordered us out of the masjid and told us to 'pulang' though there were many who were quite cautious. My dad and I decided to not delay and grab this opportunity to somehow find another location and off we went. We stopped by Masjid Jamek LRT and witnessed the MenInBlue acting like ruffians more than a couple of occasions, just dragging people, pushing them, typical 'twisting arms' tactics. I won't comment further, well at least not on this article anyway.
We made our way south, past Burger King and turned left, I'm not really sure what road that was but that's where majority of the people were headed. We reached a Chinese Restaurant when once again, another canister was fired and a group of ten of us rushed into the shop which was already packed with people in yellow. At once, they used a piece of wood to secure the door to make sure the cops wouldn't get in. To my amazement, two traffic police who were walking to their bikes parked outside fell victims to the tear gas canister as they were barely metres from it but did not spot the spoke as it was a crossroad. The two of them were in considerable agony but many people in the restaurant were overjoyed and I was part of the group as well. Some people may be of the opinion that our actions of laughing while others were in pain may be inhumane but what about firing tear gas into a crowd when they are unable to run or escape?
Anyhow, after the dust settled, my dad and I managed to get into an area which was not that hot i.e covered with cops and tear gas canisters, and people seemed re-energised after the whole fiasco. The post-Bersih news was really atrocious, as many people have come up and given testimonies of being beaten by the powers that be but we see the Home Minister intent on victimising the public. If people really want justice, then whoever it was who incited and created violence, be it the cops or participants of the rally, should face the law. For every action, there is a reaction so people have to be responsible for their actions. No regrets for attending the rally, just hope the next one should have more sense of direction to it rather than being too predictable.
Jay Jay Denis
