Crowds desert ‘boring speeches’

Despite an enthusiastic march to Padang Merbok, hundreds leave Pakatan's rally an hour into the speeches which many described as boring

KUALA LUMPUR: Despite an enthusiastic kick off to Pakatan Rakyat’s Black 505 rally, participants were seen leaving as early as an hour following their convergence at Padang Merbok.

Hundreds of participants were seen walking away from Padang Merbok as early as 3.30pm, with many of them citing “heat, haze and boring speeches” as reasons for leaving.

When approached by FMT, one participant who gave her name as Lee said that she was “tired” and “sick from the weather”.

“I’m very tired-lah… We are all very tired. We have been here (at the rally) since this morning, we have made our point. We just want to go home now,” she said, when asked why she was leaving so early.

Another participant who gave his name as Murugan mirrored Lee’s sentiments and said: “It is time to go home now”.

“We have come here and shown our force. It’s very hot and the people are tired. We are all going home now,” he said.

Friends Syah and Zamri from Kuala Lumpur blamed “hijacking of the rally by opposition leaders” as their reason for leaving.

“This was supposed to be a gathering for the people, but Pakatan have turned it into a political platform to criticise BN (ruling coalition Barisan Nasional). We are not here for that,” Syah told FMT.

“Many of us were put off by speeches bashing BN and the SPR (Elections Commission). Their speeches belong to pre-election ceramahs, not at a rally for the rakyat,” he added.

When pointed out that the rally was organised by opposition political party PKR and that its agenda included speeches by Pakatan leaders, Zamri said he had hoped the leaders would air the rakyat’s grievances instead of pursuing their own political agenda.

“For instance, they should have spoken to us or nominated a member of the public to convey what the people want, instead of constantly bashing BN and SPR,” he said.

“Moreover, most of them only criticised their rivals but did not come up with solutions to solve the problems faced by majority of the people. I think this is not right,” he added.

However, both Syah and Zamri said they would not refrain from attending political rallies in future, but hoped Pakatan would speak out for the rakyat instead of themselves.

“They were only speaking of their own problems faced in their constituencies, and how dirty the election was… We want real change, and real change has to start by solving the people’s problems.”