I consider myself a veteran Bersih kaki. It is not that I had involved myself organising all those events in the past. Not too bad, I helped organise the Bersih London 1.0 and Bersih Berlin 3.0, participated the Bersih Paris 2.0. This time it is surely different. 8 years have passed, now comes Bersih 4.0, and I will be there joining the Bersih rally for the first time in my homeland, stepping on my home soil demanding for CHANGE together with hundred thousands of people.
Few days ago, Dr Toh asked me for technical help on the powerpoint, and I saw a historic picture he put in his slides… the Bersih London 1.0 rally. I was so excited and pointed to him that I was in the picture. Dr Toh also did not realise. 8 years ago, if you ask me if Bersih movement has changed the nation, I would say, very significantly.
You probably do not know what was the political climate back then. Even I was in the free land such as United Kingdom, I can still feel the spells casted by our mighty government to our own citizens abroad. I remember so vividly distributing flyers in front of the Malaysian Hall and at the entrance of Malaysian Night event venue in Imperial College London. Back in those days, very few people would dare to accept the yellow flyers from us. They tried to avoid us at best that they could when we approached them, like they saw ghost or any awful thing you could imagine. Some of them kept murmuring the spell: 'No politics, no politics...' hoping that would repel (the ghost of) us. Some took the flyers, scanned through just few seconds then chucked it away in the nearest bin. Even the organiser of that Malaysian Night event came down and threatened me that he would call the security guys, but I told him to go ahead because I have the freedom and right of giving flyers in public places such as (my own) university.
Clearly, I could see the fear and apathy when fellow Malaysians at overseas talking about politics, let alone those still living in the homeland. Back in those days Global Bersih was not yet established, not many cities around the world involved in the rally. The turnout for the rally in London was moderate (not more than 30) but I felt encouraged. This is because it shows that there were still people who care and bold enough to make a stand and express their thoughts.
If Bersih 1.0 was not a breakthrough, then we would not see the political tsunami in 2008 after GE12. The empowerment of the public by the civil movements is the foundation for better Malaysia. It always is. Opposition political parties were doing well because they rode on the waves of enlightenment and uprising sparked by many social movements back then. If not for Bersih, we would not see more capable, professional and/or idealistic members of society joined the opposition political parties, because they see fit to contribute, aspire to get their hands dirty to make a change to our nation. The 5 states which fell to the opposition coalition (now the defunct Pakatan Rakyat), were the training ground for these new politicians into governance.
In Bersih 2.0, we witnessed a new nation born, where people crossed the boundaries of ethnicity, religion, age and gender, gathered for the rally in KL and around the world. Love replaced fear and discrimination. 'Ketuanan Rakyat' was cemented; we people fear no government and authorities. the countless threats hurled by the authorities against us Malaysians gone in vain; physical assaults by the police such as tear gas, water cannon, batton beating and arrests, did not break people's determination for change; the lines that used to divide and segregate us according to skin colours and creeds, worked no more. The brother-sisterhood bonding was formed, that was when a new nation was found.
Bersih 3.0 was pushed to a new height, when the number of turnout was historic. That was the biggest street rally ever, the people's power was once again showcased. This cultivated the hope that people could see a change of government, because they think the current administration was losing the credibility to govern, simultaneously also losing the people's confidence and support. Many ordinary people from all walks of life took part in various civil movements and activities, bidding the hope to 'Ubah'.
It is true that the authorities did not seem to heed the calls for 8 demands and obviously turned their deaf ear to the collective voices of Bersih supporters and reform-minded citizens. They carried on their pretence and hollow promises to 'tranform' the country, into the GE13. Despite effort in massive vote-buying, they lost the share of popular votes, and conceded more parliament seats. They hung on to the power by sheer majority number of seats they won. Of course, the 51% rakyat were deeply disappointed and that depressed the civil movements for quite some period of time. But now no more.
This is clear by now that the UMNO president and Prime Minister Najib Razak embezzled fund amounting to RM2.6billion to his own personal account, and used that to fund the political survival campaign for his party. Thanks to WSJ, Sarawak Report and other whistleblowers, now we know what they did. That amount of the illegal funding perhaps had made all the difference to the final outcome in the last GE. That was the 'stolen General Election'.
All to the frustration of our people, none of the 8 demands were met. That is why we have to march once more, and take our new demands to the streets. Not many we demand this time, just five. We want: 1) clean elections, 2) clean governance, 3) saving the economy, 4) right to dissent, and 5) strengthening the parliamentary democracy system. We want this rally to be massive so that stronger message can be delivered directly to Mr Najib. We want real institutional reforms and not your wishy-washy promises on reform! …and can you please step down, because we know that you are one of the biggest obstacles for reform. Your Transformasi is not only useless, but makes the country worse!
The last Bersih 3.0 in Berlin, I helped organise the rally. It was attended by some 30-40 participants, including several members from international support for the Bersih cause.
Now I am no more in Germany, still impressed by the fact that there are 3 german cities appeared on the Global Bersih 4.0 map. What is more awesome, is that they have even printed their own rally t-shirts, and arranged transportation for people coming from Stuttgart to Köln.
Now back to my homeland, there is no reason that I do not make myself present on the KL streets this Saturday. This has become my civil duty and obligation. Just like what Joshua Wong, the prominent student activist from Hong Kong, famously said: “It is not because of the hope we persist, but we persist to find hope”. Please do not despair. The time is now, we have to make a stand. Only when we all go out to streets this weekend, the government can no longer say ‘the silent majority’ are still with them. That is exactly why we should NOT stay silent, and be counted. We people are the majority, and we want this country Bersih!
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