Here is first-hand experience from what I saw,
heard, tasted, touched and smelt at Bersih 3.0… in no way am I accusing you of
lying or will accept any accusations if my post does not serve your ideal political
purpose.
1100h;
Seri Kembangan
Still at home, I contemplated on whether I
should go for the rally or stay home since I don’t really like the approach of
the rally as I’ve felt that the cause is good but the rally is somewhat
tainted.
At the same time, I was actively texting
and reading on Twitter about on-site updates.
I decided to put on a purple T-shirt just
to say I’m not an active protester and if cameras were to catch a group photo,
I’d be able to stand out.
The guy in purple here is not me, of course :)
1230h;
Kelana Jaya LRT Station
Arrived at KJ Station; the drive was pleasant.
No roadblocks or traffic but I am coming from one corner of the world.
Surrounding the station, the amount of cars
parked everywhere were massive. I had to park near a nearby college while
another friend, Sandesh, parked at the church.
Tonnes of people were in yellow and every
other colour. No harm or ruckus but they see you holding a bottle of water and
have a scarf in the other hand, they give you that slight nod, either they’ve
identified another supporter or I was supposed to know the master plan or something.
1320h;
Pasar Seni
We got down and things were still calm. There
were people praying in a group. Some joined in, others walked on.
 |
| Praying in a group at Pasar Seni LRT Station |
Then, further down, A. Samad Said was
praying with a fellow telling people that they can join in or not disturb.
 |
| A. Samad Said |
At the entrance of Central Market, the
rally was gaining in numbers. The Unit Amal were omnipresent to help out.
Before long, the Unit Amal guys started
forming a human shield and made everyone march behind them. We found ourselves
in between Ambiga and a yellow zeppelin. They had a green anti-Lynas one.
They had shit for hailers, but I’m pretty
sure Ambiga said something like to march as far as we can then we sit.
1345h;
Moving from Central Market
Firstly, I am shit in KL roads. So, on we
marched. I was still at the front of the parade. Some say we moved in a
roundabout way. I only recognised a Reggae Hotel and we turned left towards
Jalan Tun Razak (I think).
 |
| With fire in their bellies, hope in their hearts and conviction in their words |
Many people applauded and cheered from the
streets and the marching voices grew louder with chants that were consistent to
the cause. Then, it all changed.
Chants started to sound rather weird: BN Hancur, Kami tak nak pembunuh, Najib
sial, UMNO hancur, Reformasi, etc were going on loud and strong.
I wasn’t too happy with this. I might be a
little stupid and not able to comprehend well but, wasn’t this rally apolitical?
Wasn’t this about clean and fair elections?
1425h;
Standstill at Masjid Jamek
At about this time, the march came to a
halt.
The leading vehicle was stationed at the
entrance to Dataran Merdeka while I was at the Burger King near the Masjid
Jamek LRT Station.
Orders to start a sitting protest worked
well for about 30 seconds till the Unit Amal came barging in, escorting Anwar
Ibrahim, Lim Kit Siang and a few others to the front.
 |
| Duduk Bantah |
People had to stand to make way and there
was a lot of pushing and shoving around. I realised that this was my chance to
move forward.
I locked my arms in between two Unit Amal
personnel and pushed my free ticket to the front. When asked: Are you in Unit Amal?
I replied: Does that matter? I thought we are brothers…
I got within a few meters from the pick-up.
 |
| Anwar announcing the success of Bersih 3.0 |
However, their arrival caused chaos and a
heightened sense of demonstrating, despite the heat. Ambiga and Anwar spoke
citing the rally a success and thanked the 250,000 people who came out, before
announcing the end of the rally and asked everyone to go home.
1455h;
Moving towards razor wires
Shortly after thanking the crowd for coming
and asking them to go home; the pick-up started moving towards Dataran Merdeka.
 |
| Ambiga urging everyone to go home |
Mixed messages? Reversed psychology?
The crowd started moving vigorously as the cheers
grew louder, the chants grew weirder and I got stuck near the Bar Council.
I can’t disclose how I got there but I did,
I was again about 5 meters from Ambiga, Anwar, Kit Siang, Izzah (she is pretty)
and so on.
At about this time, tensions were rising
with one group singing Negaraku while more were chanting: Dataran! Dataran! and Buka!
Buka!
The police personnel were standing firm and
quietly behind the road barricades, behind the razor wires. They were generally
unarmed – no shields, no helmets, no batons, no guns!
 |
| Razor wires after being flattened |
Behind them, however, there were about four
trucks and more Federal Reserve Unit cops on standby. They moved into formation
but were in no way showing signs of being aggressors, at that point.
15XXh;
Hell breaking loose
I was paying attention to the chants from a
person on the pick-up.
I’m not sure what he said things were just getting
restless.
I turn to see the unarmed cops running for
their lives! They were chased by some 100 people who have crossed the razor
wires!
The aggressors this time were the
demonstrators whom have breached the razor fences. I too crossed to get a
closer look.
The protestors kept hurling all sorts of
stuff at the police, bottles, road barricades and traffic cones were among the
favourites!
 |
| Water cannons against road signs and stuff |
The FRU started moving forward followed by
the trucks that began spraying water. I tried to stand my ground until I hear
this weird boom and I see a grenade-like object heading my way.
Tear gas!
 |
| The gassing has begun |
I fucking ran from the place.
There was a bottleneck at the razor wires.
I put on my swimming goggles and covered my mouth and nose with a bandana. I saw
a guy falling down onto the razor wires and people tried to help, some were
pushed. I got a few cuts on my legs.
The gas crept in slowly.
The back of my neck felt it first. The smoke
was too thick to see. I hear people shouting: Pegang baju gua… Lari! Lari!
By this time, my nose and throat started to
burn as well as any part of my body that was uncovered! My eyes hurt as hell!
People were running and offering salt and
water all around.
Before I could recover, another wave of
tear gas struck; this time from high up. I couldn't tell if it came from the railway lines or from the top of the buildings.
They waited for the wind. Sneaky bastards!
Some people rushed into the Bar Council; others ran; even
non-participating people bailed. No one stood still!
This repeated itself for quite some time.
15XXh,
Hope for humanity?
As I’ve stated earlier, I’ll call it as I
see it and by no means does this mean whatever you have experienced and saw is
less important or true.
Retreating from the razor wires to
somewhere much safer was a little hard to do as a lot of people still refused
to move back quickly.
People were rubbing salt on each other and
themselves while finding water to drink. A 500ml bottle was shared with 8
people.
By the time I got to the Reggae Hotel,
things seemed to ease up a little. I sat on the floor and people came to my
aid, offering all kinds of remedies. One Malaysian Chinese gave me tissues and
another Malaysian Malay offered me her towel to wipe my face.
They were unharmed.
A man pulled up with two bags of ice to
help manage the burns.
 |
| A friend indeed |
Suddenly, that weird sound went off again
and canisters were launched our way. I didn’t understand. It was a relatively
long way from Dataran Merdeka and everyone there we only seeking refuge.
The cops with their tear gasses and water
cannons made sure that the only retreat was to head towards Plaza Rakyat and
Menara Maybank.
 |
| Just before the cops bombarded the side streets |
I rested and took a long ride home!
