9.30am Drove to meeting point in SS2. My buddy Zech comes by and we head to Sea Park to join up with two more comrades, Dennis and Ong, both 'veterans' of Bersih 2.0
10.28am After a light breakfast (big mistake as we did not manage to have lunch later) we walked 1km to the Paramount Light Rail Transit (LRT) station.
10.39am Surprise, surprise! Ong explained last July they were frisked by cops at the station and that protesters were a dozen or so. This morning we had about hundred plus filing past the 'gate'. Along the eight stops more people jumped in and it was sardines.
11.00am We alight at Pasar Seni (Central Market) and saw the first icon, A. Samad Said (pic).
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+Datuk+Seri+Ir.+Mohammad+Nizar+Jamaluddin.JPG)
11.15am Now we wait! Target is to march at 1.30pm. Two more chaps joined us, Adrian and Khalid.
1.30pm After over two hours of singing and chanting we were ready to march! Well as we were in the mid section of the congregation we only got moving at 1.40pm. Such was the size of the rally.
3.22pm It has been almost 60 minutes and we only reached HSBC bank in Lebuh Ampang as the front-liners were stopped at the Tun Perak/Masjid Jamek junction. Khalid decided to call it a day and left. Zech turns to me and said the same to which I replied, "I didn't wait over three hours for this. Let's go to the front!" He nodded in agreement and both of us squeezed our way to the front line, a mere 200 meters.
3.25pm We are now at the entrance of Menara OCBC (Jalan Melayu) 6 meters away from the regular cops and riot cops. I could sense a fight and seconds later the first volleys of plastic water bottles were launched at the cops. The plain clothed cops could have simply arrested the few 'bottle-throwers' but they allowed it to happen thus giving them the excuse to launch their assault. Cops replied with a few tear gas canisters that landed 200 meters away and the cops charged at their prey. I say so cos they were already eying their quarry minutes before and a young man just 4 meters from me who was cursing the cops was bundled to the ground and subdued by two cops. A third cop promptly kicked him and a fourth sent a well aimed elbow in his face. By now I was running into Jalan Melayu and a kind soul was hosing us with water from the upper floor of a building.
3.27pm I took this video after my first gas attack. It stings! First your eyes hurt like hell and tears start oozing. Then my throat feels on fire. Coughing and spitting and rinsing with water and I'm okay within a couple of minutes. Note the debris (below) after the first charge - personal effects like shoes, towels litter the street.
3.33pm The people are regrouping and I make my way to the front again. The crowd keeps chanting and we know it is a matter of time before they fire another salvo at us. Pop! Pop! Pop! More gas! (Below) I have retreated into Jalan Melayu and you can see the gas on Jalan Tun Perak. Riot police are on the right and a canister can be seen hurled back by a protester from the left.
4.03pm I got separated from Zech after the first charge and by now he has had enough and was on the train heading home. I said I'd hang around a bit and will meet him in PJ. I just could not walk away from this - we need to hold the line. This video (below) shows the group in total defiance and chanting 'Bersih Bersih!' We press on.
4.33pm Damn! My watch stopped! I hate wearing one so this is like a once a year affair for me. My old Swatch can't take water. By now my left sole was starting to cramp - time to retreat. I got gassed two or three more times before I walked along Jalan Melaka into Tun H.S. Lee. There a cool looking Caucasian dude was holding a large plastic bag and handing out mineral water. I promptly asked for one and thanked him. I walked towards Lebuh Ampang/Tun Perak for my finale. This video shows the riot cops charging and I figure I'd better get a head start running on one good leg. You can hear the scum banging their shields for psychological effect - like watching Mel Gibson's Braveheart.
4.55pm The cops had by now taken back a few blocks of the city and I had to take the scenic path to the LRT station. I boarded the train at 5.00pm
5.22pm Got off the train and still a kilometer to walk to our meeting spot. Four of us sat down for drinks and we all agreed that Bersih 4.0 will happen and this time the cops will e in for a rude surprise.
The mainstream media paints the rally as violent but having spent six hours on the ground and at one of the 'hot' spots I have to say the cops with their undercover personnel could have apprehended the few troublemakers at the start. The fact that they did not makes everyone suspect that they were more likely agent provocateurs. Well the police sure took the opportunity to belasah (bash) up news crew and citizens.
In conclusion, I am encouraged by the better than expected turnout. I think we hoped for 100,000 but we got over twice that number. For me, seeing so many youths out there is heartwarming. I'd say over 50% were teens and under 30s. Sure there were a few old folks (like me) - I saw this frail old man walking alone with the aid of a quad walking cane. HIDUP BERSIH!
1.30pm After over two hours of singing and chanting we were ready to march! Well as we were in the mid section of the congregation we only got moving at 1.40pm. Such was the size of the rally.
3.22pm It has been almost 60 minutes and we only reached HSBC bank in Lebuh Ampang as the front-liners were stopped at the Tun Perak/Masjid Jamek junction. Khalid decided to call it a day and left. Zech turns to me and said the same to which I replied, "I didn't wait over three hours for this. Let's go to the front!" He nodded in agreement and both of us squeezed our way to the front line, a mere 200 meters.
3.25pm We are now at the entrance of Menara OCBC (Jalan Melayu) 6 meters away from the regular cops and riot cops. I could sense a fight and seconds later the first volleys of plastic water bottles were launched at the cops. The plain clothed cops could have simply arrested the few 'bottle-throwers' but they allowed it to happen thus giving them the excuse to launch their assault. Cops replied with a few tear gas canisters that landed 200 meters away and the cops charged at their prey. I say so cos they were already eying their quarry minutes before and a young man just 4 meters from me who was cursing the cops was bundled to the ground and subdued by two cops. A third cop promptly kicked him and a fourth sent a well aimed elbow in his face. By now I was running into Jalan Melayu and a kind soul was hosing us with water from the upper floor of a building.
3.27pm I took this video after my first gas attack. It stings! First your eyes hurt like hell and tears start oozing. Then my throat feels on fire. Coughing and spitting and rinsing with water and I'm okay within a couple of minutes. Note the debris (below) after the first charge - personal effects like shoes, towels litter the street.
3.33pm The people are regrouping and I make my way to the front again. The crowd keeps chanting and we know it is a matter of time before they fire another salvo at us. Pop! Pop! Pop! More gas! (Below) I have retreated into Jalan Melayu and you can see the gas on Jalan Tun Perak. Riot police are on the right and a canister can be seen hurled back by a protester from the left.
4.03pm I got separated from Zech after the first charge and by now he has had enough and was on the train heading home. I said I'd hang around a bit and will meet him in PJ. I just could not walk away from this - we need to hold the line. This video (below) shows the group in total defiance and chanting 'Bersih Bersih!' We press on.
4.33pm Damn! My watch stopped! I hate wearing one so this is like a once a year affair for me. My old Swatch can't take water. By now my left sole was starting to cramp - time to retreat. I got gassed two or three more times before I walked along Jalan Melaka into Tun H.S. Lee. There a cool looking Caucasian dude was holding a large plastic bag and handing out mineral water. I promptly asked for one and thanked him. I walked towards Lebuh Ampang/Tun Perak for my finale. This video shows the riot cops charging and I figure I'd better get a head start running on one good leg. You can hear the scum banging their shields for psychological effect - like watching Mel Gibson's Braveheart.
4.55pm The cops had by now taken back a few blocks of the city and I had to take the scenic path to the LRT station. I boarded the train at 5.00pm
5.22pm Got off the train and still a kilometer to walk to our meeting spot. Four of us sat down for drinks and we all agreed that Bersih 4.0 will happen and this time the cops will e in for a rude surprise.
The mainstream media paints the rally as violent but having spent six hours on the ground and at one of the 'hot' spots I have to say the cops with their undercover personnel could have apprehended the few troublemakers at the start. The fact that they did not makes everyone suspect that they were more likely agent provocateurs. Well the police sure took the opportunity to belasah (bash) up news crew and citizens.
In conclusion, I am encouraged by the better than expected turnout. I think we hoped for 100,000 but we got over twice that number. For me, seeing so many youths out there is heartwarming. I'd say over 50% were teens and under 30s. Sure there were a few old folks (like me) - I saw this frail old man walking alone with the aid of a quad walking cane. HIDUP BERSIH!
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