Initially, my intention of going to this rally is just to gain an insight as to what life as a photojournalist might be like. I most definitely got more than I bargained for.
Before I begin, here is a quick insight into what BERSIH 2.0 is about for those who are ignorant, those who said the rally is plain stupid, believers of the ruling party's conspiracy theories and well technically all those who are IGNORANT.
The Bersih 2.0 rally (also called the Walk for Democracy) was a demonstration in Kuala Lumpur held on 9 July 2011 as a follow-up to the 2007 Bersih rally. The rally, organised by the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih), was supported by Pakatan Rakyat, the coalition of the three largest opposition parties in Malaysia, but was deemed illegal by the government. Bersih, chaired by former president of the Bar Council Ambiga Sreenevasan, were pushing the Election Commission of Malaysia (EC) to ensure free and fair elections in Malaysia. It demanded that the EC clean up the electoral roll, reform postal voting, use indelible ink, introduce a minimum 21-day campaign period, allow all parties free access to the media, and put an end to electoral fraud.
I started my journey from home and took a bus hoping that it would stop at KL Sentral monorail as announced by several websites online. This however was not the case. The entire traffic in Old Klang Road were redirected to Seremban Highway. Not even Mid Valley was accessible. Undeterred, I walked to the nearest KTM station and took the rail until KL Sentral and started my walk to Stadium Merdeka. During my journey I documented the entirely empty streets of Kuala Lumpur (which is always congested and extremely busy). I started following the crowd from the Pasar Seni LRT station and was a bit baffled at why they were not walking towards Stadium Merdeka.
So I followed the moving flow of bodies from Petaling street to Jalan Pudu. After taking several pictures, chaos ensued. Chaos that was provoked by the riot police and the FRU.
(In my pictures you will note that there is at least a 400 meter gap in between the ralliers and the law enforcement units, and non of the ralliers were anywhere near them or even provoked them)
What I saw was ralliers just walking and mingling. I was looking into my viewfinder to get the next shot when I heard a series of firearms discharged. I looked towards the FRU side and saw tear gas canisters flying towards the general area where I was standing. In a detached side of my mind I was thinking "I guess I'm about to find out what it feels like" while watching the canisters continue on their arc towards the masses.
Two realizations hit me as I watched the canisters land around me. The first was "Run fool run!!" and the second was "This is unprovoked! I'll never forgive myself if I didn't get a shot of this". And so I ran towards the riot police while the thousands behind me ran in the opposite direction
(Must have been quite a sight to see a lone figure in white holding a camera with a ponytail and a slouch hat run towards the police through the tear gas. Hope someone has a picture, but I doubt it hahaha).
During my sprint I switched my lens to my trusty 80-200mm lens while scrunching up my nose in a effort to try and not breathe in the stinging fumes with tears welling up in my eyes. I lined up my camera and got ready to photograph the moment they fired the second wave of gas canisters.
It started raining heavily out of nowhere and I thanked God for the rain even as I got drenched along with my camera, for it extinguished the gas canisters and provided some relief for my eyes. It was then I decided to "field test" the weather seals on my camera and thus remained unsheltered to get off some quick shots. Glad to say my camera held up against the elements. (PENTAX for the win!) I stayed around a little longer taking some more shots until the FRU and riot police moved to another location.
Still baffled as to why the ralliers did not march to Stadium Merdeka, I decided to make my way there. Along the way people asked me what happened and some friendly people even offered me the plastic bags they were using to shelter their head to protect my camera (Bless them). I actually had my own plastic bag prepared in my pocket but didn't want to waste time wrapping my camera in case I miss an important moment.
The truth of the matter was made clear when I reached the stadium. Despite the approval from the Agong that BERSIH may use the stadium as a rallying point, the police had cordoned off the road and placed barb wires to block ralliers. Water canons and more riot police were standing by behind the wires. After a few shots, I went up to the pedestrian bridge to try and get a better shot. I was so lucky that I decided to move from where I was to the pedestrian bridge. Once again I thanked God as the area I was standing a minute before was fired upon by the water canon. However well my camera had held up against the rain, I'd rather not test its resilience against a water canon. The short spray by the water canon provided the BERSIH ralliers with amusement as instead of hitting the ralliers, it was a friendly fire towards the police on the front lines.Cheers and claps erupted from the BERSIH crowd as we watched the police get a taste of their own medicine.
As I moved down from the pedestrian bridge to ground level, National Laureate Mr. A. Samad Said, also known as Pak Samad made his appearance. Resplendent in a yellow BERSIH 2.0 shirt, this fearless author made his way to the front with chanting and cheering from the BERSIH crowd to negotiate with the police. As time passed more and more key figures showed up. At one point the entire crowd in front of Stadium Merdeka started singing our National Anthem. Just the sight and singing along with fellow countrymen gave me goosebumps. As time passed more and more key figures showed up and the isolated BERSIH groups from other parts of KL finally arrived at Stadium. There was a massive march from them from Petaling Street.
The key figures gave speeches in turn. The last speaker even said a prayer for the benefit of the muslim people and it was he who said this -
"We promised the Agong that we will assemble here until 4pm. Lets show the country that we of BERSIH keep to our promises and disperse at 4pm. Agreed?"
The crowd roared their approval, cheers and applause erupted again. It was then I started to make my way towards the Kuala Lumpur KTM station. Another atrocious event happened at that venue. People dispersing and making their way home after the rally were fired upon with tear gas by the riot police. The riot police are evidently trigger happy gangsters in uniform. Nothing more.
As all can see, this was a peaceful march. It wasn't BERSIH who made the roads close. It wasn't BERSIH who provoked attacks. This wasn't an uprising. BERSIH is, was and will be the citizens of this country exercising our constitutional right to assemble and ask for FAIR ELECTIONS. Why is the ruling party so paranoid? If they truly have nothing to lose then why not submit to demands of fair elections instead of resulting to police brutality and spreading lies on the local media? 15 years ago ignorant or ill informed citizens would have believed these lies. This day, the internet is wide spread and information, pictures and videos are easily obtained. The rakyat can see and judge for themselves now.
Unity.
907 will be the day I always remember. Not because of the police brutality. That is just a small stain on a bigger picture. But because 50 000 over Malaysians regardless of race, religion, language and beliefs gathered together in solidarity for a common cause. We marched together, joined hands, helped each other out when attacked, giving each other hearty slaps on the backs and shaking hands with each other. And despite unprovoked attacks from the police we did not retaliate. I'm proud to have walked beside all of you and sang the National Anthem with all of you. As I have said at the beginning of this post, my initial aim is the just get an insight into life as a photojournalist. But the ensuing events thereafter and witnessing many acts of unity amongst the people has cemented my resolve to be a part of BERSIH. In its own way BERSIH is so much more effective than 1Malaysia.
This post is typed in yellow in tribute to all those who I've stood beside, those who endured the brutality of the police and especially to the late great Baharuddin Ahmad. A true hero of BERSIH 2.0. You will not be forgotten. Justice for your untimely demise will be demanded.
Hidup Rakyat!
-Kent
