REFELECTIONS

ON BERSIH 3.0

Answering Serious Questions

I went to the BERSIH 3.0 Duduk & Bantah with 4 other people.  We parked somewhere near Kampung Atap and then walked towards Petaling Street.  Eventually the five of us (3 ladies and 2 guys) had to stop at a junction near Jalan Tun Perak, because the crowd could not proceed further.

The crowd at BERSIH 3.0 was so much bigger than BERSIH 2.0 last year.  But the composition of the people was the same… Malays, Chinese, Indians, “dan lain lain”, as well as a handful of orang putih.  There young people and older people, and some children.

There was an air of festivity at Bersih 3.0, which many people concurred in their FB postings and blogs.  Small balloons and big ones…  Yellow flowers and fanciful umbrellas…  Headgears and cartoon masks…  And a notable flock of yellow “angry birds” which were not angry at all.

By about 3pm, it appeared to us that the rally was coming to an end.  People were leaving slowly, and so my friends and I follow suit.  By about 3:15pm we will already walking pass the Traffic Police Station to get to our car.  By about 3:30pm we were sipping coconut juice at a mamak shop along Jalan Gasing.

In our group, three of us (including myself) were at BERSIH 2.0.  We are talking and comparing the two rallies.  Maybe some of us were expecting “more actions and dramas” from BERSIH 3.0.  It was about then that the twitters and FB postings came in with news about the mayhem.  Ah… we missed the actions?!

Eventually I came back home.  News about breaking through the barricades, attacking the police and overturning a police car really disturbed me.  More news and accusations over the next few days, though within my expectations, perplexed me further…

I did not know what to say about BERSIH 3.0 on FB, except to post these 4 questions:

Q1    Who or what started the violence?

Q2    Should BERSIH Organizers be held responsible?

Q3    Were there police brutality?

Q4    Will I attend BERSIH 4.0, if there will be one?

Over the next few days, I read various reports and articles.  I posted these articles on my FB.  I prayed through and I thought through.  Here are my personal convictions and answers to my own questions:

Q1    Who or what started the violence?

Maybe there were agent provocateurs planted by people from the other side.  Maybe these planted agents started the violence.  Maybe some political people within the BERSIH group had plans to provoke the police for their own personal agenda.  Maybe…  There were accusations and denials.  There will be counter-accusations and counter-denials.  The sad thing is that often we will never know the truth.

But I am quite sure that 99% of the people who were at BERSIH 3.0 had no intention to provoke and attack the police.  All we wanted were reformations in the electoral processes.

Q2    Should BERSIH Organizers be held responsible?

One of the first things BERSIH said to the newspapers was an admission that they lost control of the crowd.  They said that the dismissal was announced, but not all heard it and/or followed the instructions.

I respect BERSIH for saying the above.  To me, this is honesty and integrity.  I wish more people were like this.

Having said the above, I do not think BERSIH should be held accountable for what people did at the rally.  I was there at the rally.  I went there on my own accord.  I am not a member of BERSIH.  I have not made any application, nor signed any forms, nor paid any subscriptions.  If I had littered the streets, damaged public properties, or hurt anyone during the rally; could I pass the buck to BERSIH?!

This was a gathering of at least 80,000 people.  Literally, anything could have happened.  Had BERSIH been given the permission to use the Dataran, maybe the chaos and violence could have been avoided.  Maybe…  Just maybe…

Q3    Were there police brutality?

This is a non-question.  While protesters have been arrested, and some charged rightfully; I wonder what will happen to the policemen and FRU personnel who threatened, and kicked, and punched, and fired tear gas indiscriminately, and damaged cameras…

Q4    Will I attend BERSIH 4.0, if there will be one?

God willing, I will!!!

IMPORTANT NOTES:

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