# KL 112

File pic - crowd in and around Stadium Merdeka

My daughter was surprised to find me still in the house on Saturday morning. I should have long gone for my usual Saturday golf game. I told her that her mom and I were going to the rally.

“Wah, what a sacrifice,” she said with a hint of sarcasm.

“Well, just a small sacrifice for the bigger picture,” I retorted. “We are rallying for a new Malaysia, for you and the future generations.”

Although she did not reply I could detect she rolled her eyes.

“You want to come with us?”

“No lah, I got so much homework to do.”

Crowd marching from Petaling Street to Stadium Merdeka

Heeding the organizer’s advice to take public transport and avoid congesting up the city, we had various options. It was either by KTM, LRT, bus or even taxi since there were no police roadblocks this time around. A quick Goggle revealed that there was actually a bus service from Subang to Central Market, which was our destination. It seemed an attractive option given our bad experience with the packed KTM that we took for Bersih 3.0. The bus service was surprisingly efficient and comfortable. At least from my limited exposure in travelling on a public bus and my last trip was some 30 years ago.

The city was already flooded with people when we reached KL around noon. There was a riot of colors signaling the festive atmosphere. People were wearing bright colored t-shirts em-blazed with slogans of their respective causes, holding banners and waving flags. The air was filled with excited chatters, chanting of slogans and blaring horns. There were no razor barbed wire barricades on every street junction like the other time. The contingents of intimidating FRU armed to the teeth were also conspicuously absent. Without any sabotage or provocations the rally was as expected incident free, orderly and peaceful.

After a quick lunch in Petaling Street, we joined and merged into the mass of people that was making its way towards the Merdeka Stadium. There was a massive human traffic jam at the entrances but eventually we managed to inch forward into the stadium. By 2:00 PM the stadium was already overflowing but columns of people were still streaming in.

It was a very hot and humid day and 2-5 PM was the hottest part of the day. The sun beat down mercilessly without any respite in the open stadium. It was not the best time to listen to long speeches but the 100,000 strong crowd was in such a boisterous mood that they cheered, clapped and sounded their horns at every given opportunity. And then there were the endless rounds of Mexican waves.

Panoramic view of crowd inside the stadium

Despite the exhilaration it was a very long and tiring day. The walking, the heat, jostling with the mass of human bodies, I was exhausted and ached all over. I had wanted to complain and gripe about it but when I heard the anecdote from HP and KC about the young Malay lady who sat through the rally under the blazing sun with a baby in her arms and a toddler by her side, my discomfort pales in comparison. This is real Commitment for you.

January 12th 2013 marked the beginning of a new chapter for our nation. This historical event will be recorded in the new syllabus of our revised History textbooks and archived in “Hari ini dalam Sejarah”. So come rain or shine, like the 100,000 person that turned up I had to be there on this historical occasion to make up the numbers. Numbers are very important as it reflects on the success or otherwise of an event. Just like in an election, every single vote counts and is significant. 

For the last 30 years I have religiously gone to every single GE to exercise my right. It did not matter whether the candidates contesting in Subang were from PAS, DAP, Semangat 46, PSRM, PKR or independent, they all got my X. Even if it was a monkey contesting, as long as it was a vote against BN, I would have voted for it. All my votes cast in the past may be futile and in vain as Subang had long been a BN stronghold until the tsunami hit in 2008. However, the point is and had always been to register our voice of dissent no matter how small it is if we feel the corrupt and divisive regime of the day has to go.

simon 15 Jan 2013