Bersih 4.0 Reflections
So in another 2 days I will again participate in a Bersih rally. As the 19th of November draws closer die hard Bersih supporters are posting updates about where and when the rally will begin, what to bring and what to expect during the rally, and even more videos of the antics of the 'Red Shirts' and their leader.
I used to be one of them, especially during Bersih 3.0 and Bersih 4.0 I would change all my profile pictures on all my social media to reflect my support of the rally, I would share news and information about the rally in the days leading up to it, I would get all pumped up and excited for the day to come, because I had that naive thought in my mind, that change would really happen.
Call me cynical or jaded, but to simply put it, I'm tired. And I think I'm reflecting the sentiments of many Malaysians out there who are simply tired. We are tired of the stupid antics of our Members of Parliament, We are tired of hearing the same news about the stupidity of our ministers everyday. We are tired of putting up a fight when we see nothing comes out of it.
However, I must say that, even though we may feel tired and irritated and simply upset that nothing seems to be changing for the better in this country, I know we cannot give up. For if we do, then there will be zero chance for change to happen at all.
It is us, the young people, to take charge and make a difference because the future belongs to us. These same old pompous fools who sit up there in Putrajaya will be stepping down someday and we will be the ones to replace them. We should ask ourselves, are we ready? Are we ready to take on the responsibility, to govern this country and to make it a better place? Are we ready to make a change so that the future generation will be able to live in a better world we envisioned?
I for one, personally envision a world where human development coexists side by side natural environments, where people of different races and religions can walk down the same streets without fear, where education and knowledge and learning is prioritized and we will live in a world free from pollution and stress and worries.
During Bersih 4.0 I caught a glimpse of what Malaysia can actually achieve if all Malaysians can simply just put aside our differences and come towards a common goal of peace, love, prosperity and understanding.
The statistics of Bersih 4.0 was wildly publicized by both the organizers, rally goers, as well as the government. On one hand, the government protested firmly that probably only 30.000 people went for the rally, many pictures and other external calculations show otherwise. It is estimated that nearly 80,000 people attended the Bersih 4.0 rally.
People from all walks of life, of various ages, and of different races and religions, put aside their differences for once in light of a common goal, to fight for clean and fair elections in Malaysia. I for one, was extra proud because my dad not only supported me to join in the rally, but decided to join my friends and I as well. That was definitely one of the highlights of my Bersih 4.0 experience as I have not really heard of any of my other friends' parents who have ever gone for rallies with them.
At night, as those who wanted to stay the night at Dataran Merdeka made up their sleeping areas for the night ahead, I saw many wondrous sights that are slowly starting to fade into the recesses of my memory if I do not put them down in writing as I am doing now.
I remember that my friends and I, young and wild and carefree as we were then, decided on the spur of the moment to spend the night out on the streets with the rest of the rally supporters despite not having made any preparations for a night out on the streets. (Dad decided that he'd enough excitement for the day and went home for a well deserved meal and hot shower)
I remember us following the crowd as we started to settle down for the night. Each of us had a backpack with a water bottle and the usual necessities such as some biscuits, protein bars, a pinch of salt, a towel, even power-banks, but we lacked any proper form of bedding or padding to spare us from lying bareback on the tarmac.
As I glanced around, a group of people nearby who caught our ever growing signs of anxiety on our faces, handed us an extra mat which they had brought as well as a few cardboard boxes. We accepted these gratefully and happily started to prepare our bedding for the night despite the thinness of the materials, It was better than having no padding whatsoever between our bodies and the hard, stony tarmac.
When we were finally satisfied with our sleeping area, two things hit us, the first of which was the urgency of using the toilet and the second was the desire of a taking a decent shower. We were all stinky and sweaty after being out under the sun the whole day pressed amongst a sea of people yelling til our throats were parched and dry. Sure at that point of time, with the adrenaline rush and the excitement and the powerful feeling of being part of one community, one voice, the effects of the rally was not felt until much later when we were sitting on our thin makeshift mattress, trying to sleep after a day of exertions.
My friend and I decided to take a walk about to see if we could find a public restroom nearby. We were lucky enough to find a hotel which kindly threw open their doors to the rally goers as a place to use the toilet and even to charge their phones. Some participants who chose to stay in the hotel with its many comforts also threw open their bathrooms for fellow rally goers to take a quick shower.
We queued up patiently for our turn at the toilet then hurried back to inform our other two friends so they could freshen up a bit too. Then, being as restless as we were then, we decided to take a walk down the street to see how many (idiots like us) had decided to sleep out on the streets too.
I was shocked. I had never seen anything like that before.
The whole road was entirely covered in yellow. People of different races were sleeping (or lying) side by side, sitting up talking, eating. It was a sight to behold.
It was then that I felt the closest to all Malaysians no matter what race, religion, skin color or where they were from. I felt something stirring deep inside me that night, a bond of kinship which connected all of us who spent that night outside on the street. That feeling is indescribable, and I've only ever felt the similar stirrings during international badminton tournaments or during the Olympic Games when the whole nation seems to turn up at the same mamak to cheer for our country's athletes.
After witnessing such a humbling scene, my friend and I walked quietly but thoughtfully back to our other friends and related our experiences. Another friend decided that she too wanted to see it for herself and went off. She came back with a bowlful of instant noodles and told us that it was given to her free by some kind people who knew that a bowlful of hot noodles would cheer anyone up who had been trying to sleep on the hard tarmac for the past few hours.
Malaysians being Malaysians, food is definitely the most important for all of us. The range of free food which was being distributed throughout the night was amazing. We had instant noodles, bread, biscuits, chips, and even asam laksa. There were no worries that anybody would starve spending the night at Dataran Merdeka.
With a full belly, we finally settled down to sleep, but what with the noise of other people talking, with the heat of other warm bodies packed closely together, with the smell of hundreds of unwashed bodies after a full day of sweating it out under the sun, and with the sharp rocks digging into our backs throughout the night, I doubt any of us got much sleep at all.
As we painfully counted the hours til daylight, we picked our battered and bruised bodies up around 6.30am and decided to reward ourselves with a hearty McDonald's breakfast before taking the train back to our respective homes for a much needed shower then sleep.
As I am recalling these memories at this moment in the middle of the night and thinking about the utter exhaustion we all felt the next morning, I am very glad to say that I have done it once and will never do it again, so I'm very happy to know that for the coming Bersih 5.0 rally it is only a one day event. I am quite certain that the previous rally made everyone realize that we only had that one moment of connection, of oneness with our fellow Malaysians at that one point in the night, but waking up bruised on the hard surface of the road the following day ensured that the Bersih organizers and the rally goers ourselves made a silent promise to ourselves to not do it again in the future.
As I make the closing remarks to this post before I sleep, I would just like to dedicate this post to firstly, my father, for always standing by my side, even through rallies and whatnot, and for Lina, Ron and Hoay Ying for being my Bersih Buddies and for spending that one night out on the streets together.
As a final note, I would like to state clearly that this post is in no way an attempt to intentionally discourage people from joining the Bersih rally, on the contrary, I do urge everyone and anyone who still holds some hope for the fate of our nation to come forward and join in our peaceful assembly on the 19th of November 2016 for Bersih 5.0 because only we can make a change.
I used to be one of them, especially during Bersih 3.0 and Bersih 4.0 I would change all my profile pictures on all my social media to reflect my support of the rally, I would share news and information about the rally in the days leading up to it, I would get all pumped up and excited for the day to come, because I had that naive thought in my mind, that change would really happen.
Call me cynical or jaded, but to simply put it, I'm tired. And I think I'm reflecting the sentiments of many Malaysians out there who are simply tired. We are tired of the stupid antics of our Members of Parliament, We are tired of hearing the same news about the stupidity of our ministers everyday. We are tired of putting up a fight when we see nothing comes out of it.
However, I must say that, even though we may feel tired and irritated and simply upset that nothing seems to be changing for the better in this country, I know we cannot give up. For if we do, then there will be zero chance for change to happen at all.
It is us, the young people, to take charge and make a difference because the future belongs to us. These same old pompous fools who sit up there in Putrajaya will be stepping down someday and we will be the ones to replace them. We should ask ourselves, are we ready? Are we ready to take on the responsibility, to govern this country and to make it a better place? Are we ready to make a change so that the future generation will be able to live in a better world we envisioned?
I for one, personally envision a world where human development coexists side by side natural environments, where people of different races and religions can walk down the same streets without fear, where education and knowledge and learning is prioritized and we will live in a world free from pollution and stress and worries.
During Bersih 4.0 I caught a glimpse of what Malaysia can actually achieve if all Malaysians can simply just put aside our differences and come towards a common goal of peace, love, prosperity and understanding.
The statistics of Bersih 4.0 was wildly publicized by both the organizers, rally goers, as well as the government. On one hand, the government protested firmly that probably only 30.000 people went for the rally, many pictures and other external calculations show otherwise. It is estimated that nearly 80,000 people attended the Bersih 4.0 rally.
People from all walks of life, of various ages, and of different races and religions, put aside their differences for once in light of a common goal, to fight for clean and fair elections in Malaysia. I for one, was extra proud because my dad not only supported me to join in the rally, but decided to join my friends and I as well. That was definitely one of the highlights of my Bersih 4.0 experience as I have not really heard of any of my other friends' parents who have ever gone for rallies with them.
At night, as those who wanted to stay the night at Dataran Merdeka made up their sleeping areas for the night ahead, I saw many wondrous sights that are slowly starting to fade into the recesses of my memory if I do not put them down in writing as I am doing now.
I remember that my friends and I, young and wild and carefree as we were then, decided on the spur of the moment to spend the night out on the streets with the rest of the rally supporters despite not having made any preparations for a night out on the streets. (Dad decided that he'd enough excitement for the day and went home for a well deserved meal and hot shower)
I remember us following the crowd as we started to settle down for the night. Each of us had a backpack with a water bottle and the usual necessities such as some biscuits, protein bars, a pinch of salt, a towel, even power-banks, but we lacked any proper form of bedding or padding to spare us from lying bareback on the tarmac.
As I glanced around, a group of people nearby who caught our ever growing signs of anxiety on our faces, handed us an extra mat which they had brought as well as a few cardboard boxes. We accepted these gratefully and happily started to prepare our bedding for the night despite the thinness of the materials, It was better than having no padding whatsoever between our bodies and the hard, stony tarmac.
When we were finally satisfied with our sleeping area, two things hit us, the first of which was the urgency of using the toilet and the second was the desire of a taking a decent shower. We were all stinky and sweaty after being out under the sun the whole day pressed amongst a sea of people yelling til our throats were parched and dry. Sure at that point of time, with the adrenaline rush and the excitement and the powerful feeling of being part of one community, one voice, the effects of the rally was not felt until much later when we were sitting on our thin makeshift mattress, trying to sleep after a day of exertions.
My friend and I decided to take a walk about to see if we could find a public restroom nearby. We were lucky enough to find a hotel which kindly threw open their doors to the rally goers as a place to use the toilet and even to charge their phones. Some participants who chose to stay in the hotel with its many comforts also threw open their bathrooms for fellow rally goers to take a quick shower.
We queued up patiently for our turn at the toilet then hurried back to inform our other two friends so they could freshen up a bit too. Then, being as restless as we were then, we decided to take a walk down the street to see how many (idiots like us) had decided to sleep out on the streets too.
I was shocked. I had never seen anything like that before.
The whole road was entirely covered in yellow. People of different races were sleeping (or lying) side by side, sitting up talking, eating. It was a sight to behold.
It was then that I felt the closest to all Malaysians no matter what race, religion, skin color or where they were from. I felt something stirring deep inside me that night, a bond of kinship which connected all of us who spent that night outside on the street. That feeling is indescribable, and I've only ever felt the similar stirrings during international badminton tournaments or during the Olympic Games when the whole nation seems to turn up at the same mamak to cheer for our country's athletes.
After witnessing such a humbling scene, my friend and I walked quietly but thoughtfully back to our other friends and related our experiences. Another friend decided that she too wanted to see it for herself and went off. She came back with a bowlful of instant noodles and told us that it was given to her free by some kind people who knew that a bowlful of hot noodles would cheer anyone up who had been trying to sleep on the hard tarmac for the past few hours.
Malaysians being Malaysians, food is definitely the most important for all of us. The range of free food which was being distributed throughout the night was amazing. We had instant noodles, bread, biscuits, chips, and even asam laksa. There were no worries that anybody would starve spending the night at Dataran Merdeka.
With a full belly, we finally settled down to sleep, but what with the noise of other people talking, with the heat of other warm bodies packed closely together, with the smell of hundreds of unwashed bodies after a full day of sweating it out under the sun, and with the sharp rocks digging into our backs throughout the night, I doubt any of us got much sleep at all.
As we painfully counted the hours til daylight, we picked our battered and bruised bodies up around 6.30am and decided to reward ourselves with a hearty McDonald's breakfast before taking the train back to our respective homes for a much needed shower then sleep.
As I am recalling these memories at this moment in the middle of the night and thinking about the utter exhaustion we all felt the next morning, I am very glad to say that I have done it once and will never do it again, so I'm very happy to know that for the coming Bersih 5.0 rally it is only a one day event. I am quite certain that the previous rally made everyone realize that we only had that one moment of connection, of oneness with our fellow Malaysians at that one point in the night, but waking up bruised on the hard surface of the road the following day ensured that the Bersih organizers and the rally goers ourselves made a silent promise to ourselves to not do it again in the future.
As I make the closing remarks to this post before I sleep, I would just like to dedicate this post to firstly, my father, for always standing by my side, even through rallies and whatnot, and for Lina, Ron and Hoay Ying for being my Bersih Buddies and for spending that one night out on the streets together.
As a final note, I would like to state clearly that this post is in no way an attempt to intentionally discourage people from joining the Bersih rally, on the contrary, I do urge everyone and anyone who still holds some hope for the fate of our nation to come forward and join in our peaceful assembly on the 19th of November 2016 for Bersih 5.0 because only we can make a change.
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