#KL112 March to Stadium Merdeka

Update: Jan 19, 2013
After attending DAP's Fundraising Dinner last night - attendance for KL112 although claimed to be as low as 45,000 by the ruling regime was in fact close to 700,000. Most of the people congregated in the fringes of the stadium as shown in this photo which of course skeptics will claim was doctored.

I met Zech at the usual place for breakfast before walking to the train station. Upon reaching the station around 11.30 am we could see the absence of a crowd that we saw at last year's Bersih 3.0 rally.

(above) Parti Islam Se-Malaysia aka PAS Amal youths are a disciplined lot.

As the train stopped at the following stations more people got on but still not the size we witnessed last April. We arrived at Pasar Seni (Central Market) station and waited for link up with Mosses. From here we walked to the Jalan Sultan staging area. Yep, definitely less people turning up. Why? One reason is the fear of a repeat of the police tear-gassing protesters especially if it happened in a packed stadium. But I guess it is just excuses as friends I spoke to say it does not concern them. I suppose they are a contented lot.

Police presence was minimal this time and we arrived at the Jalan Sultan/Hang Jebat junction watching and cheering as more citizens filed onto the narrow street. After spending an hour or so we headed up towards the stadium. Check out the crowd (above).

Conclusion is the rally was peaceful as the riot police did not assemble and suspected agent provocateurs were absent thus the chaos of April 2012 did not recur. So just over 100,000 people participated but the ruling regime would be foolish to think the cause has run out of steam. This is likely the last rally before the much anticipated elections. I hope the people have the courage to vote the opposition into power. Bangkit Rakyat!