Whoever it was who advised Najib on Bersih: Shouldn't he be sacked too?

This was the first time in my entire life going down town for a demonstration.

People say that the Chinese are afraid of the ghost of May 13, but for me, it was the hot sun and the big crowd, but after all that I saw happening in Bersih 2.0, my blood boiled against the Barisan Nasional (BN) Government for the way it has treated the civilians. I told myself, I have to go support Bersih!

This time around, many who went were first timers. I know of at least eight, if not ten, people who were first timers. Despite rumours that there was crackdown, I salute all, except one, who went. I guess everyone, like me, was equally angry with what they saw in Bersih 2.0.

According to my wife, her entire IT team was making preparations to go for Bersih 3.0. Another colleague of hers, on an overseas assignment, also went straight downtown, the moment she touched down at the KLIA on Saturday morning.

The number of people who turned up at Bersih 3.0 on April 28 was huge, by comparison to Bersih 2.0. Throughout the entire Bersih 3.0 event, I was monitoring the crowd, mainly at Pasar Seni and Jalan Sultan. Although the people were angry with the BN, they had found ways to turn it into a carnival-like protest. There were yellow balloons and people were seen posing in front of the banners. Some had their faces or foreheads stamped “Bersih.” I must say that the entire episode was a peaceful demonstration and carnival-like.

Someday, Malaysians should celebrate Bersih event in a big way, turning it into a carnival. I am sure the BN Government would refuse against it, but would the Pakatan Government turn it into a holiday for Malaysians of all walks of life to come together in a celebratory mood?

Small businesses selling drinks and ice-cream had a great time; there were also many tourists who were doing their usual tour of the town. Most of the tourists said that they are used to these public demonstrations in their own countries. One even said, “I love these people. They are so friendly.”

Bersih is violent? I don’t think so.

The Statistics

Throughout the country, Penang has probably gathered the largest turnout – 5,000, with Johor Baru ranking second, 3,000. The other towns had between 500 and 2,000 civilians. This is based on Malaysiakini’s estimates.

Ambiga said there were some 250,000 trying to converge in Dataran Merdeka. I think the number is far bigger. It could be well over 350,000, considering many who could not make it to the city centre last minute.

According to feedback from the organisers in Johor Baru, the number of Johoreans who turned up was definitely more than 5,000. He estimated 8,000. Malaysians living and working in Singapore also had their rally in a separate shopping mall in Johor Baru. This number, despite having only two weeks to promote the event, had the Johor Baru organisers in a daze, how they could rally that many people within a short period of time – all with a common objective in mind, demanding for a clean and fair election.

At the point of writing, reports of statistics in other parts of the world are slowly streaming in. We will surely see pictures of Malaysians coming together to show their solidarity behind Bersih 3.0.

I guess it has been far too long that Malaysians of all walks of life have yearned for a clean and fair election, but it is only of late that, with powerful computer servers and information technology, the masses are finally awakened. The mastermind of frauds in the electoral process and former premier, Dr Mahathir Mahathir should be thankful that during his days, people did not have the benefit of both technology, but God must have allowed him to live this long to see the people’s reactions to his doing.

The crowd was mainly a peaceful crowd. I see nothing wrong of them shouting in chorus, "Rakyat Melayu Rakyat Malaysia, Rakyat Cina Rakyat Malaysia, Rakyat India Rakyat Malaysia". I wonder why is Najib’s administration suddenly so shaken by such a slogan? Even with words like “Reformation” – if Najib has been calling for Economic and Government Transformation, there is no reason why he should be concerned about “Reformasi.” Yet, he chose to stay away.

Despite heavy police surveillance in all the major cities in the country, and for the most part of Bersih 3.0 in the vicinity of Dataran Merdeka, the people of Malaysia has proven that the protest was peaceful. This is the conclusion given by international observers who were monitoring Bersih 3.0 protest, calling it an ‘exemplary’ protest.

At around 3.00 pm, Ambiga had announced that the Bersih 3.0 has achieved its objective. As co-chairman, she had thanked the participants for their time to come forward to demand for a clean and fair election. Both Ambiga and Opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim had asked the people to disperse. With yesterday’s turnout, Malaysians, from all walks of life, have turned out in full force to express their unhappiness over the way how the electoral process has been rigged to allow BN win.

On my side of Pasar Seni, where tens of thousands could not get across to Dataran Merdeka, the police fired tear gas at the crowd. Elsewhere I am told that the police also fired tear gas into the crowds, when the demonstrators were already leaving the place. I cried, not because of the tear gas, but because I see this country being ruled by a wicked regime that did not prefer the people. The tear gas was uncalled for, because the crowd had already started dispersing. This is one thing I will never forget, but will tell to my children when they grow up that “Daddy’s eyes were painful because of the tear gas.”

Crackdown

Based on the people that I have interviewed, which I will put up on YouTube, Bersih 3.0 is a peaceful rally to allow them to express their discontent with premier, Najib Razak and his entire BN regime. From Tokyo to Sydney, and from New York to Hong Kong, Malaysians of all races, religions and creed, were united.

Bersih 3.0 was a peaceful event. If it had ended up a peaceful event, the Najib government would have been disgraced because the people have proven to the BN Government that Bersih 3.0 can indeed be a peaceful movement for clean and fair election.

In order to demonise Bersih 3.0, it cannot end up in a peaceful manner. Any strategist would tell you that in order for you to haunt the masses, you have to send out agent provocateurs out there to create some violence and arrest some people. The best time to do it was during the tail end of the demonstration, where the number has dwindled down to a smaller number. There would be fewer observers and cameras to shoot the entire episode.

Therefore, when I look at the entire scenario, it does not add up. A total of 511 people were arrested over their involvement with the Bersih 3.0 at Dataran Merdeka. Home Minister, Hishamuddin Hussein, was among the first to come out to say that the police acted professionally.

I beg to differ. If the police had acted professionally, why were photographers nabbed, and their memory cards confiscated despite them wearing press tags? What Standard Operating Procedure is this but that of a thud! Can Hishamuddin condone such a SOP?

The public is keen to see that police return the memory card with the pictures intact. Radzi Razak of the Sun has suffered broken ribs, when a group of policemen charged towards his direction, despite eyewitness report saying that there were few protestors in his vicinity? The event had turned out to be brutal, with even lawyer, Mohd Haijan Omar, who was observing the protest on behalf of Lawyers for Liberty, was injured when several police officers charged at him at Jalan Tun HS Lee.

According to Kuala Lumpur police chief Mohmad Salleh, the police cordon around Dataran Merdeka near the Jalan Tun Perak-Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman intersection was breached.

Commonsense tells us that, unless you are military-trained, ordinary citizens would not go beyond the barbed wire. This raises a further question. No matter how the authorities try to explain the issue, the people would no longer be interested to listen, because in the first place, their voices demanding for the resignation of the entire Election Commission, till now are not being heard.

Rumours

Amid the chaos, rumours spread on Facebook that at least four protesters had died in the melee, with claims that one was even shot dead, further fuelling the crowd’s anger.

As early as the night before, there were also rumours saying that the police had found explosives on Dataran Merdeka. On our way to Dataran Merdeka, we were also told that the police had closed down all LRT stations down town, which we found to be untrue. Even the police reported that a pistol belonging to a policeman had been stolen, but it was later found in Sogo.

The rumours, similar to that of May 13, could have been spread by agent provocateurs using cloned identities of political parties to stop people from coming out to support Bersih 3.0. However, Malaysians have to stop believing in rumours, and no longer be haunted by the ghosts of May 13. It will happen again during the coming General Election. In the past election, this has cost certain MCA parliamentarian in the Petaling Jaya her constituency. I won’t be surprised if this time it will cost Najib and the entire BN their parliamentary seats, because people will be cautious in what they hear.

At the time of writing, most of these rumours have not been ascertained, but the public wants a thorough investigation to be carried out by all parties. Like a true blue lawyer, Ambiga has urged all parties to remain calm, until the facts are established. A thorough investigation has to be done, leaving no stones unturned.

Provocateurs in Bersih t-shirt

In the midst of the Bersih protestors, I have noticed that there were several people wearing Bersih t-shirts seated by the road sides, watching the crowd. Curious to find out their identities, I went to chat with them, and asked if they would go on record why they supported Bersih.

When their reply was, “Sorry, we cannot say anything”, I knew straightaway that these were not part of the Bersih demonstration. Although they were wearing Bersih t-shirts, they appeared to have a specific task to monitor the crowd. So, not every wearing a Bersih t-shirt is a Bersih supporter.

When you are on the ground yourself observing the kind of people who turned up for Bersih 3.0, you would not understand why the Bersih co-chair, Ambiga told the press that she was “very perturbed” by numerous reports that protesters for the sit-in, which was meant to be peaceful, had provoked and even attacked the police during yesterday’s event.

“To me, there is no question about it,” she is quoted saying over the phone on the evening of April 28. “We have never and will never ever condone that type of violence. They must face the full force of the law. This is wholly unacceptable.”

Violent protestors will have to face the brunt of the law. Ambiga has urged that all violent protesters face the “full force of the law” if they had indeed staged attacks against the police yesterday without being provoked. Be it Azmin Ali, or anyone, neither Bersih steering committee nor the public, will condone such acts.

The police have the right to prosecute, if they have evidence of provocation, but the public also will want the police to publish their identities so that members of the public will be able to determine who they are – whether they are genuine demonstrators or agent provocateurs. Without that, any police action will be seen as unprofessional.

BN to pay a high price

Australian senator, Nicholas Xenophon, who tried to follow the news on television was appalled that the mainstream media had given only a 30-second coverage to the demonstration with no word about it being one of the largest demonstrations in Malaysian history.

“Instead they spent more time saying (premier) Najib Abdul Razak having a tea and eating banana fritters in Sabah,” he told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. Xenophon, who was monitoring the Bersih 3.0 rally, said he was also stunned when he tuned in to television reports at night to find that news coverage of the event was grossly distorted.

Turning the clock backwards to Day 1, when Ambiga and the Bersih 2.0 steering committee launched Bersih 3.0 nearly three weeks ago, the authorities had acted insincerely towards the call for Sit-in protest at Dataran Merdeka.

Dataran Merdeka, as we know it, is managed by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL). Being tasked with the job similar to the Maintenance office of a condominium or apartment block, the mayor has no ownership over the Dataran. In my opinion, Fuad Ismail should have shut up and allowed the protest to take place peacefully at Dataran Merdeka like in any other cities around the world.

Instead, he and the KL Police Chief, Mohamed Salleh, were seen playing tug-of-war. Despite Hishammuddin Hussein trying to wash his hands off, the mandate is clearly one which is instructed by Najib Razak and likely his deputy, Muhyiddin Yassin, as well. As the premier and deputy premier, both of them have the power to instruct Fuad and Mohamad Salleh to cooperate with the Bersih Steering Committee, but their silence was clearly an evidence of their involvement in the entire plot.

Najib, Muhyiddin and Hishammuddin, as well as the entire BN regime cannot wash itself of some Yellow blood spilled on April 28. It will take a very long time for the people to forget the last few hours of what was supposed to be a peaceful demonstration. There will be Yellow people everywhere – on the streets, in shopping malls, in temples, in mosques, in churches, in the police force, in the military – who demand for a clean and fair election.

If Najib still cannot hear the voice of the people, he and his BN regime will definitely suffer a backlash of the people’s wrath. In the first place, Bersih would have been totally unnecessary if the BN government had listened to the people.

And I guess it doesn’t have to be Bersih paraphernalia -- now, after Bersih 3.0, everywhere I go, when I see yellow, I think of the civilian movement to demand for clean and fair election. I wonder if Najib (and Mahathir) notice the colour everywhere, including the banana fritters that he was enjoying, will that colour also remind him of Bersih.

The days of BN are numbered. Meanwhile, Bersih should press for the resignation of two Umno strongmen from the Election Commission, and a final word to Najib and the BN government, “You have overstayed our hospitality for far too long."

Malaysia Chronicle