BERSIH RALLY

I attended the BERSIH rally on November 10th 2007 in the city of Kuala Lumpur. A peaceful rally by Malaysian citizens turned ugly in some parts of town when the police fired their water cannons and tear gas canisters and men, women and children. While the objective was met it was not without struggle. The people at Masjid Jamek (myself included) suffered the brunt of the force of the police and 20 people have so far been arrested. Despite the chaos there are those moments that are going to stay with me forever.

1. Whatever you believe in be it God, Gods, Mother Nature, the cosmos or pure coincidence, when the heavens broke and the rain fell it was a blessing. The water cannons were rendered obsolete, the chemicals were washed from bodies, people got wet so they could cover their faces with their wet clothes and the tear gas particles fell to the ground, preventing more pain being inflicted. It only stopped raining when everything was over.

2. When the police fired the tear gas at the people I was caught behind a crowd. To my right my brother Faheem was spared inhaling the gas by a stranger who pulled him up a ledge and into safety.

3. As I could not see through the smoke and as the smoke burns the eyes, to move I had to rely on the people around me. We banded together and moved as one. I wasn't allowed to panic because being squashed between people gives you a sense of security.

4. The second time we got caught in the tear gas we escaped into a building where and old pak cik (Malay for uncle) was going around passing out rock salt. "TELAN, TELAN! (swallow)" he said forcefully and so we did. Almost immediately the pain disappeared and the throat was clear.

5. Scattered amongst the crowd were lawyers from the Bar Council who were there to provide legal assistance if things got out of hand and to act as official observers. Dressed in suits and with their hair immaculately combed they were the towering figures, the beacons of safety.

6. I ran into 3 people I knew - Vira my senior from school, Petra the sister of a college mate and Mr. Raj my favourite high school teacher. Just seeing them calmed me down.

7. Dejected and making our way out of the city we ended up at the Istana (palace) as it was on the way back. As we walked up towards the crowd I saw the swell of people. Joining the 40,000 strong crowd to pass on a memo to the King made the entire day worth it.