Bersih 3.0

I believe we need reforms in the Electoral Roll. I believe in clean, free and fair elections. That is why I decided to head down to Dataran Merdeka and join the Bersih 3.0 rally with my friends. My friends and I are peace-loving, laid-back and educated. We are there not to create trouble but stand up for justice. You want to know what was in my bag? A book. 3 bananas. A change of t-shirt. My protein shake. A bottle of water. A pen. A piece of paper. A nail clipper was in my bag the night before. I took it out and left it at home. The furthest thing in my mind is to go violent. I believe nearly all of us were like-minded.

When we gathered at Pasar Seni, we were all in celebratory mood.

Friends playing Monopoly Deal

Balloons and flowers

All I can say is that it felt like a huge carnival. Like a picnic of bananas.

Walking to Dataran Merdeka

Walking to Dataran Merdeka

The walk to Dataran Merdeka was done in an orderly manner. My friend picked up a towel lying on the road (somebody might have accidentally dropped it) and since we couldn't find a nearby rubbish bin, I asked her to just stuff it in my bag first so as to not create rubbish on the road.

Once we reached the Masjid Jamek station, we just couldn't move any further. We were crammed like sardines.

We made our way to the Bar Council building where we sat down (it's a sit-in protest) and peacefully cheered on to the cries of the rally leader that we will not breakthrough the barriers and leave at 4pm sharp. It was 3pm then.

We sat and saw them standing

This was my last shot of peace because fifteen minutes later, with no prior warning, gas canisters were shot and they started spraying everybody. What entailed after that was utter chaos. They cornered us in an alley next to the Bar Council building and sprayed at us at the entrance and gassed us at the exit. With nowhere to run, suffocating, tearing and in a dazed state, people started panicking and a near stampede happened.

I can remotely understand if you release a little spray just to get people to disperse since you want to rush back home for tea or to catch The Avengers but to corner us like that in an alley and endanger our lives is nothing short of an act of violence by a vicious bully. Didn't we tell you that we will be leaving at 4pm? Didn't we behave ourselves? Didn't we keep to the boundaries you have set? Then why behave like a moron?

You see, Saturday was an opportunity for the government to show me that they are larger than politics. It was a chance for them to show me that they are mature, gentlemanly in their approach and have the people at their heart. At least pretend to do so and show me you're shrewd and politically intelligent since GE13 is so close and you need to win people's hearts. They didn't even do that. They screwed up big time!

I am not a big fan of politics. I generally don't trust politicians. All politicians. I am not a BN supporter and neither am I a PR supporter. I am a Malaysian who wants to see an intelligent candidate, with a heart for the people and the country rise to power. If PR can do the job, then PR it is. If BN can do the job, then BN it is. However, after Saturday, BN needs a huge kick in the behind at a rigged GE13 for them to wake up.