May Day rally - cops allow workers to 'liberate' Dataran Merdeka'

This year's May Day rally in Kuala Lumpur was extra special for demonstrators after police allowed them into Dataran Merdeka for the first time since 2014.

"Workers have liberated Dataran Merdeka!" PSM activist KS Bawani shouted as the cheering 500-strong crowd marched into the square.

The Labour Day rally began at 10.30am at Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman's Maju Junction and was to proceed to Medan Pasar as it was assumed that Dataran Merdeka, as usual, would be closed off to rallies.

Besides PSM, the organisers said 99 NGOs had joined the rally.

As they marched, the crowd, clad mostly in red, chanted several slogans such as "Long live the workers", "Stop discrimination", "Raise the minimum wage", "Control the price of goods" and "Free the media" among others.

PSM activist Khalid Ismath, meanwhile, used a loudspeaker to address the public.

"To everyone here, we are marching to celebrate Labour Day and to demand the things we have sought for all this while.

"The demands of workers are very simple. The main one is to raise the minimum wage so that it matches the rising cost of goods and the cost of living," he said.

Specifically, the rally-goers wanted the minimum wage to be raised to RM1,800.

As the marchers exited Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, however, they were greeted with a surprise when police allowed them to enter Dataran Merdeka.

There, the demonstrators were met by participants of the Kuala Lumpur Hospital's City Run who, ironically, were also clad in red.

Police then asked the rally-goers to take a shortcut and make their way to Medan Pasar.

Speaking to reporters after the rally ended, organising committee member M Nalini expressed her gratitude to the police.

"We had planned for years to have a march at Dataran Merdeka but we never got through.

"We were supposed to use Jalan Tun Perak (instead of Dataran Merdeka) because of the HKL City Run but the police let us in. That made the participants really happy," she said.

This is the first time since a rally has been held at Dataran Merdeka on May 1. The last was in 2014 when an anti-GST protest was organised to coincide with Labour Day celebrations.

The anti-GST rally saw participation by PKR, DAP and PAS and featured speakers such as then-opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. - Mkini