Politweet says 150k at rally but assumes Stadium only houses 30k, meeting pts not included

The crowd at the HRK#KL112 rally held on Saturday could have reached up to 150,000 people, according to preliminary estimates by think-tank Politweet.

However, the estimate does not take into account the crowds at all the 8 meeting points arranged by organizers. Many participants had gathered at those spots and marched with great determination to the Stadium Merdeka where the main event was held, but were turned away by the police.

Politweet's estimate also assumes that the capacity of the Stadium itself was a "reported 30,000". However, seasoned users of the Stadium will vouch that it can squeeze in at least 80,000 to 100,000.

The think-tank also did not mention in its statement published on Facebook whether its estimate was at 'peak' or 'non-peak' time.

Way higher than the Malaysian media

Even so, Politweet's calculation is still way higher than the highest estimate from the government-controlled Malaysian media. These have been accused of bowing to government pressure to under-report the crowd size. The smallest estimate was 30,000 and the largest was 100,000.

Police initially estimated a crowd of 80,000 but later scaled this back to 45,000. The rally organizers have put the total crowd size at 500,000.

Malaysia Chronicle estimated the total number of rally goers was more than the Bersih 3.0 rally for free and fair polls held last year, where 250,000 Malaysians attended a sit-in rally in the vicinity of the Dataran Merdeka.

Revisions to come soon

Below is the Politweet statement published verbatim (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151338418832486&set=a.10151337014227486.501505.150884017485&type=1&ref=nf).

"Area covered by the crowd that attended the rally (not including stadium seating), based on photos in the media and shared online. Shaded area covers 424149.14 sq.ft.

Crowd density varies, but if you take an average of 3.5-4 sq.ft. per person, the total is 106037 - 121185 people outside the stadium.

Including the 30K reported capacity of the stadium, the estimated size of the crowd is: 136037 - 151185 people.

Each area will be evaluated separately to determine a more accurate crowd density. Please expect this figure to be revised later this week."

Politweet is a research firm that analyses Twitter usage. Among recent findings, it detected an effort by Prime Minister Najib Razak's office to cheat in setting a tweeting record during the Merdeka celebrations last year.

Malaysia Chronicle