But I’m glad for the people who did do all that. And I'm glad for
the crowds and crowds of people who turned up, whether they were making their
support known quietly or vocally. I was beginning to worry that cynicism and disillusionment
were wearing away at the rakyat, and that only a small group would attend the
rally. But boy was I proven wrong. The city was practically crawling with
yellow-shirted Bersih supporters. And not counting the portion of rally-goers
who weren’t decked out in yellow.
But before we pat ourselves on the back with the 200,000+ people
who turned up, there were certain instances during the rally that niggled at me
uncomfortably. I was making my way along the street to the gathering point when
I hear a field commander giving orders in Mandarin. I thought to myself, how
would our non-Chinese-speaking friends understand? And sure enough, there were certain
rally-goers who were looking lost, not understanding the instructions being
given. Why can’t the field commanders speak in BM, our national language
instead? And if the FC really does want to speak in Mandarin, can’t he
supplement it with BM too?
The stigma that Bersih is another Chinese-dominated, pro-Opposition
rally is still there, and to be honest, we’re not doing a great job
at eradicating it. So many people are unhappy with the way things are run, but because
of this perception that Bersih is just a means of pushing the political agenda
of the Opposition, people have chosen instead to disengage from it.
Bersih is supposed to be organised by an independent organisation,
i.e. the gathering is not supposed to be skewed towards any political party. But
yet we have speakers criticising Barisan Nasional, Opposition leaders making
speeches to the crowd, and a PKR flag carried around in the march.
So I'm left wondering - what is the purpose of Bersih? Is it just
supposed to be another Opposition-engineered propaganda-filled event, or is it
genuinely an avenue in which Malaysians can express their displeasure and
dissatisfaction at the current state of the country? (or more specifically, at
a certain someone responsible for the current state of the country).
And as this article points out, we’re not garnering enough support from our Malay brothers and
sisters. I will be wrong if I said I didn’t see any; for instance, I saw a
Malay man who, out of courtesy, tucked himself away in a corner to pray. On the
whole, however, the event is still largely Chinese-dominated.
I’m not saying this to put the Bersih organizers
down or to say that the rally won’t make a difference. But I believe that we
need to address the wrongs and be brutally frank about them, if we genuinely
want change. Because despite the flaws and cracks, I still see hope for a
better, stronger, more united Malaysia. And I want us, Malaysians, to see that
too.
I will say this. It was a peaceful rally.
No one (at least not anyone I can see) was provoking others or trying to stir
up trouble, some even brought flowers to help defuse some of the potential
tension the situation might cause. The traffic police helped direct the
rally-goers on their march, and generally left them alone. And a mega shout-out
to the eco warriors who were picking up rubbish from the street and
distributing garbage bags, and also the volunteers giving out water bottles to
the participants.
And like I said before. The city was crawling with Bersih
supports. There was such energy, such spirit, such camaraderie as the people
gathered to call for justice. And it is hard – in fact, impossible - to ignore
such an uplifting atmosphere. Really at that moment, you can feel Malaysia
being Malaysia, and you cannot feel prouder of being her rakyat.
I'm not expecting a sudden great change, I'm not expecting Malaysia
to be made better overnight. I went there with the purpose of standing in
solidarity with my fellow countrymen who love their tanah air and are fighting for it. And I’m glad I did. #HidupRakyat
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