For two hours this afternoon, five Amanah Youth members gathered outside the Sogo shopping complex in Kuala Lumpur, handing out more than 100 flyers for the upcoming anti-kleptocracy rally on Oct 14.
Leading the group was Federal Territories Amanah Youth chief Nik Abdul Razak Nik Mohamad, who later admitted to Malaysiakini that the response to their mobilisation efforts, with less than a week left before the rally in Petaling Jaya, had been lukewarm.
"To be honest, the response has not been too great, if we were to compare with the last Bersih 5 rally.
"The mobilisation efforts this time was not at its optimum," Nik Abdul Razak said at 4pm, as they were preparing to leave.
"We are not quite sure why... There are veterans backing the rally. Maybe it could be as simple as a branding issue," he added, in reference to the "Love Malaysia, Eradicate Kleptocracy" rally.
Undeterred, Nik Abdul Razak said the organisers would continue to gather and hand out flyers at several other locations around Kuala Lumpur, every day until Oct 13.
Watching along the sidelines was Yub Mahmud who hails from Padang Terap, Kedah.
A Pakatan Harapan supporter, Yub was more optimistic about the prospects of the anti-kleptocracy rally.
"Sometimes people, especially the Malays, they are afraid. If we try to give a flyer, they refuse to take as if it is something wrong," he said.
Yub said news about the rally had been widely circulated on social media.
He added that there would be at least be two buses of Harapan supporters coming from Padang Terap for the rally.
Few responded enthusiastically
Based on Malaysiakini's observations, those approached by the Amanah activists were generally polite but non-committal, either immediately pocketing the flyers or taking a cursory glance and walking off.
Some who received the flyers said they are familiar with the kleptocracy issues but were unaware of Saturday's rally.
However, there were also a few who responded enthusiastically to the leafleting.
A burger seller, who only wanted to be known as "Man", believes the rally would be important as there is much discontent.
"I sell burgers and sometimes I talk to my customers. They will say things like how it is so difficult to find jobs now," said Man, who hails from Sentul.
He later volunteered to help the group hand out their flyers.
Cars passing by the Jalan Dang Wangi intersection honked in support of the group who raised placards urging rejection of a "kleptocrat leader".
Similar leafleting exercises elsewhere have also been challenging.
An Amanah Youth-led effort at a Tesco outlet in Malacca earlier today was turned away by the owner of the premises.
A light drizzle further disrupted their gathering after they moved to a nearby location.
Malacca Amanah Youth chief Adly Zahari, who was part of the group, later told Malaysiakini that the overall approach to the anti-kleptocracy rally may have contributed to the lukewarm response.
Adly noted that unlike the Bersih 5 rally, which was more confrontational, the anti-kleptocracy rally would be more carnival-like.
On criticisms that the flyers were unattractive and failed to highlight the point of people attending the rally, Adly said it was intended to provide information on 1MDB and to educate the people.
Amanah Youth deputy chief Faiz Fadzil, who is the technical director for the gathering, had previously raised similar concerns over a lack of response towards the rally, which organisers initially claimed would attract a crowd of 100,000 or more.- Mkini
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