Najib the biggest loser from Bersih 3.0 by Koon Yew Yin CPI

The Bersih 3.0 rally at Dataran Merdeka has thankfully passed without any major outbreaks of violence but there are recorded scenes which show how it could have so easily gone the other way.

A report by Aljazeera showed bloodied demonstrators and the unwarranted use of teargas and water cannons on sections of the crowd.

According to Harry Fawcett, the Aljazeera correspondent covering the event, the police were extremely heavy handed, kneeing and slapping some of the demonstrators who had broken through the barricades.

The police also busted the station's television camera in an attempt to prevent their violent and unlawful acts from being filmed. The police also had the temerity to threaten and act harshly towards the reporters.

Forced to improvise by using Skype, Fawcett was still able to show ugly images of the country's police and authorities which have been broadcast all over the world as well as uploaded on You Tube.

In an analysis of the aftermath, our respect and congratulations must go to the Bersih participants that congregated in Kuala Lumpur as well as in other major cities. The estimated 100,000 crowd were remarkably well behaved and acted with decorum and good sense.

It is a tribute to the political maturity of the enormous crowd converging on Dataran Merdeka from all over the country and of their commitment to peaceful political reform that they did not allow themselves to be provoked.

Despite all the official threats and coercion, despite the roadblocks placed to prevent them from reaching the venue of the rally, they still kept their cool. They showed the Barisan government and other Malaysians that they are made of sterner stuff and that they will not give in meekly to crude authoritarian intimidation.

Only one episode marred the conduct of the protesters. Footage from the police website shows a police car being overturned while a video clip on You Tube from a bystander showed the vehicle going out of control and hitting the kerb (see video).

There are conflicting accounts of this incident but you can expect the police to milk public sympathy based on this portrayal of protestor violence.

In the next few days, the government and Bersih as well as the opposition will claim success in achieving their objectives with regard to the outcome of the rally. The government will no doubt crow through the official mass media as to why they have won an important victory.

Already the police are claiming that it was the demonstrators who were responsible for the violence that took place although unofficial reports indicate that more than 60 demonstrators were beaten up.

The demonstrators have their side of the story. According to one of them in reference to the breaching of the barricades at Dataran Merdeka: 'Hello PDRM don't come and give us this crap OK! You guys partially opened the barriers making us think that we could go in, and without warning you started your tear-gassing. Worse still you ordered all the [LRT] stations to close their shutters preventing us from getting back.'

Whichever way the story is spun it is clear that the biggest loser is Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Where was the prime minister when all of this was taking place? He was in Kuching. Did he not care about what was happening in Kuala Lumpur? Apparently not.

In fact, the Prime Minister was an invisible man not only on April 28 but also throughout the entire week of official posturing on the rejection of the Bersih venue in the run-up to the rally. Hiding behind the sarong of the city mayor, Ahmad Fuad, the prime minister was guilty of an official conspiracy to have the Dataran Merdeka designated as a security site to prevent Bersih from gathering there, and therefore heightening the official rhetoric to deny and intimidate the protestors.

An activist was quoted as saying on the eve of the rally: 'We appeal to the good sense and stewardship of the prime minister ' as prime minister of the country, and not just of Barisan Nasional ' the prime minister has the authority to overrule DBKL (Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur) and the police. All he has to do is make a phone call and allow Bersih to go on at Dataran Merdeka.'

That phone call not only did not materialize but the prime minister seems to have put his tail between his legs and headed out of the capital during a time of crisis.

What Najib should have done

Najib should not only have permitted the use of Dataran Merdeka but he should have facilitated his fellow Malaysians to attend the gathering there.

If he had any political acumen he should have instructed the various agencies of government to facilitate the rally by arranging for mobile toilets, Red Crescent assistance for the old and infirm (many thousands of elderly took part, some in wheel chairs!) and provided nasi bungkus (through his 1Malaysia Foundation) for the many poor who could ill afford to eat at the stalls.

He could have unclogged the roads and saved everyone the traffic mess caused by the police barring entry to the square.

He should have also offered to make a speech at the gathering ' standing side by side with the Bersih and other rally leaders ' to explain his agenda of democratic and electoral reform.

That way, he could have burnished his image in Malaysia and around the world as a reformist leader. He also would have scored political points which could have tilted the coming elections in his favour.

Instead he made a monumental political boo boo which is likely to seal his fate as the last Barisan Nasional prime minister of the country.


My Bersih 3.0 experience: Behind the barbed-wire barricades ' Marina Mahathir
The Malaysian Insider

Apr 29, 2012 APRIL 29 ' It was the barbed wire that did it for me. Up til Friday afternoon I was still unsure about going. My hubby thought I'd already made my point last year. I was annoyed with continually being asked whether I was going or not, more so with the non-story that came out in M'kini which basically said I hadn't decided yet. I mean, does it matter?

Then I saw the photos of the police rolling out the barbed wire and I saw red. Since when did our police, or whoever is their boss, roll out barbed wire ' barbed wire!! ' against their own people?? Are we thugs? Terrorists? Thieves?

So I decided to go. I contacted friends and found out their plans on how to get round the roads which were sure to be blocked and the LRT which may be stopped. The same friend who so kindly offered to be my 'bodyguard' last year offered himself again. We got into my car, went to collect some other friends and drove to as close to Central Market as we could.

Part of the way down Jln Brickfields we couldn't go any further so we got down to walk. On one side of the street were thousands of people in yellow walking in the direction of the Central Market. On the other side of the street were hundreds of police in their dark blue uniforms. But they didn't look hostile and just watched us go by.

We got to the Central Market which was swarming with people. Earlier I'd read a tweet that said that people were going into the Market to have lunch and my friends and I were laughing about Malaysians and their food. 'Well,' we said, 'Central Market restaurants will get a lot of business!'. But when we got there, the Market was totally closed. So all those restaurants lost business today!

Caught up with friends in the car park while we sat to wait. It was HOT!! On the little CM stage, Ambiga was seated there with many of our colleagues from women's groups. I went up to say hello, took some photos and then went down to wait again. At 1.20pm or so, Ambi took the mike to announce that we were going to move off soon, heading towards Dataran Merdeka. But, she added, we were not to breach the barriers, we would only go as far as we could and then we would simply sit down for a while and then disperse.

The atmosphere was much more fiesta-like than last year. There were people in yellow T-shirts or in other colours, in shorts or in tudungs, lots of young ones and some also of a certain age. Like last year, it was a very diverse crowd. I bumped into some old friends, some young people I knew including a nephew and the children of some friends, and met some new ones, people who were coming to a rally for the first time ever. These were not radical highly-politicised types, just your average men and women, the type you'd meet at the supermarket perhaps. I asked one newbie woman why she came and she said it was because she realised that if she wanted change, then she had to do something.

After Ambiga spoke and a quick briefing by the marshals, we moved off. Because of the crowd we made our way slowly, stopping every now and then to take photos of the awesome crowd and ourselves. At Central Market I estimated there were at least 6,000 people that I could see (though I have to say I'm bad at estimates) but many, many more joined us as we walked along.

When we got to Lebuh Pasar Besar, there was a big crowd on it facing the direction of Dataran Merdeka while others continued on to Jalan Tun Perak. We decided we would stay on Lebuh Pasar Besar (where the Bar Council is) and made our way towards the bridge across the Klang River (just before Agro Bank). That was where we had to stop because the police had put up a barrier of barbed wire (actually my husband said it's razor wire, not barbed wire) and those red plastic road barriers, all stamped 'DUKE'. On the other side of the barrier stood a whole row of police. Most look quite senior and they simply stood there and looked at us.

I got to the front of the barrier where someone had put up a sign that said 'Welcome to Tel Aviv'. It felt very accurate. The police recognised me and nodded. I asked them, 'What is this?' pointing at the razor wire, which has blades on them which can seriously cut you if you get hurled on to them (see close-up pic above). The senior cop there shrugged and gave a wan smile. 'This makes me sad,' I said to him. Again he shrugged.

We stood there for a while. Some people started to sing Negara Ku so we all joined in. The senior cop who shrugged at me stood at attention, really the only one who did so. Some people started chanting 'Bukak, bukak!' meaning open the barriers. But overall there were high spirits but nothing provocative.

Then suddenly all the cops moved back, away from us. We were puzzled but in a short while we realised why. Several police trucks moved in and headed in our direction. For a moment I wondered if they were simply going to mow us down. Then they retreated again. Next a whole row of police with helmets, batons and shields formed in front of the trucks facing us. Again we wondered if they were going to charge us, which seems silly because they too would have come up against the razor wire.

Someone then told us to sit down. So we did on our side of the barrier while on the other side, about 10 metres away, the police were lined up with their shields and batons. It looked like it was going to be a battle of wills, who would last longer in the heat. We were prepared to sit for the next two hours til 4pm, the appointed dispersal time.

After about 15 minutes sweating behind the razor wire, someone told us to move back and disperse. 'We must use our brains. Don't provoke. It's time to move back.' So we moved away from the barriers and milled around the streets, just looking at people. Bumped into more friends and chatted to random people who said hello. It was a nice atmosphere, akin to going to a fun run or something like that.

We then read a Star tweet that said that Ambiga said Bersih 3.0 was already successful and we can all now disperse. So my friends and I made our way back to Brickfields, got into my car and drove home.

It was only after that that we started to get SMSes and tweets regarding teargas at Dataran Merdeka. It was a shock because up til then there was nothing to indicate that the police might do that, even when they brought the ones with the helmets and shields out. We passed many cops on our way home and they hardly looked at us.

My phone was running low on battery and I had to wait til I got home before hearing from my daughter that she had been tear-gassed. She was part of a team video-streaming the events today and was near Dataran Merdeka, stuck among thousands of people, when some people, against Bersih's instructions, breached the barriers and ran onto the Dataran. The police then started running away from them and soon they saw why: the teargas canisters being fired at them. Her first time being tear-gassed, she said it was awful but people around her were all helping one another. What was more frightening was the fear of being crushed but luckily people were so mindful of this that if anyone fell, they were immediately given space and a hand up. She's fine though and I never really worried about her because she had a friend with her who was tasked with making sure she was alright.

(Her videos, along with those by others, are now on the Bersih428 YouTube channel).

Since reaching home, I've been trying to keep up with the many, many reports on today's events, both the good and the bad. Yes, there were some people who misbehaved, let's be honest. We don't know who they are but in such a large crowd there are bound to be people like that, despite instructions from the Bersih steering committee and marshals not to provoke anyone. There are also very likely agent provocateurs who are out to make trouble and discredit Bersih.

But it doesn't detract from the fact that an unbelievable number of people turned out today, far more than last year, and compared to the incidents of bad behaviour, there was a far larger number of people who marched and rallied peacefully. I hardly saw anyone with a frown or a scowl but lots of happy smiles. Just like last year, I never once felt unsafe. Instead I felt part of a large Malaysian community, all together for one cause. Or two, since the anti-Lynas people also turned out in huge numbers.

Here's a report from the UK's Independent newspaper which is pretty accurate although there were far, far more than 25,000 people there. It was hard to see everybody but it had to be about 50,000-80,000. There are thousands and thousands of photos and videos being uploaded right now. So go take a look and decide for yourself. I also hope people will put up their personal stories too.

Note : I will write my personal story about my 'Bersih' journey.

I'm sorry that there were people who got injured, both protestors and police. None of that was really necessary. A few weeks ago, at the International Women's Day rally in PJ, 5,000 people turned up and there was absolutely no violence because the police left everyone alone to do their thing. The same could have happened today, if only the powers-that-be could have been wiser.

One more thing, about those politicians who were there. At Central Market there were some there but they were not allowed to speak. Along the march, if anyone started any chants that sounded political, others wouldn't take it up and they pretty soon petered out. Like last year, the most popular chants were those that simply said 'Bersih' and 'Hidup Rakyat'. Most were simple ordinary people, who just want to express how they feel and who really have no time for politicians.

Besides, which politician or political party, from any side, can mobilise anything as incredible as Global Bersih? ' rantingsbymm.blogspot.com

Note : Marina is TDM's daughter.

TEH