Malaysian govt fears Bersih movt will make Merdeka Sq its 'Tahrir'

This is a story from one family perspective........ From the slightly higher vintage point by the Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur fountain pool, we had a panoramic view of Dataran Merdeka when we arrived via LRT to Masjid Jamek by 10:30 am on 28th. April 2012. Lines of policemen were standing behind the water-filled traffic barriers with razor-wires coiled in front of them. Later in the afternoon, two sections of these barricades were breached – one nearer to the fountain of Dataran where we had delivered biscuits and water to the Students’ Occupied Dataran site late last week, the other in Jalan Raja. By noon, the crowd was getting bigger as more participants swept in from Jalan Tun Perak from the left-hand side, and Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman (TAR) behind us. It was also around this time that the red-trucks of FRUs began to rumble into the Dataran via the Royal Selangor Club side road, and parked themselves in tandem-formation facing Jalan Raja Laut. At times, accompanying them were more truckloads of police; the impression then was that authority had underestimated the size of the enlarging crowd where insurgence of more people was coming towards the Dataran from Jalans TAR, Perak and Raja Laut, besides those walking from Jalan Sultan-Jalan Petaling-Jalan H.S. Lee. An hour later, the Polis Air Squadron was hovering above in their helicopters, with cameramen on its cargo-bays. There was even a paraglider who would descend to much lower altitude in surveillance; each time it flew overhead, there were shouts of defiant. On the other, as each LRT train rolled by just overhead, there would be cheers from us to the passengers inside who would waved with yellow or green scarves. The camaraderie atmosphere continued – with elderly folks and veiled lasses who had came from Johore, Kedah, Penang and Trengganu. Yellow balloons with “Bersih”-stenciled were bounced from one crowd to another; and whenever the green-shirted Lynas groups drifted by with their tall panel-posters there were cheers to “hold them high”. Around 1pm some police trucks attempted to drive in from Jalan Tun Perak, and were delayed by swamping jeering crowds besides being met with thrown water-bottles. In each truck, the police personnel on the starboard would video-cam the maddening scene as they drove by. After Anwar had given his speech, we noted movements along the front rank of the participating crowd. The "big push" was on. Shouts of "tolak, tolak" were encouraged by elderly men among our rank; some women by the pool were chanting Islamic verses. CS was on high wanting to cross the road and rush forth, but the reluctance of fellow family members held back – and it was just as well. Less than twenty seconds after the big push from the two breached barricades, the water canon sprayed, followed almost instantly by canister pops of tear gas. However, from our standing position, we had yet to feel the impact of these treacherous machined devices thrown at us, but the crowd in front of us, and across the road dividing the edge of Dataran, was scrambling to the pool! Later, it transpired that the barbed wires surrounding the perimeters of the padang could had been sniped. When the barricades came down, the sight of the rush to Dataran was exhilarating. Upon recollection, the initial momentum of the surge had a surrealistic pace. For one thing, unlike a typical control of a crowd, there should be strong movements by the police to prevent the mass entry. Instead, what cs saw was that the front rank was running - indeed scattering and retreating - as if under one direction to allow the entrance of the inflowing crowd. Later, upon reflection, this was a ruse – the trap. By the time the first batch of demonstrators had reached the front of the FRU water-canon trucks, the mace-laced sprays were sprouting forth. Moments later, one estimated less than 10 seconds, gas canisters were flunked into Jalan Raja Laut, and towards the Dewan Bandaraya fountain-pool where we were standing and watching. People was rushing to the fountain-pool to wipe their faces - we were pushed towards the water-fall side; many people fell headlong into the pool. Youngest daughter Y ended up in tears and tear-gassed, crunching her spectacles and mobile, facing the splashing fountain. She was - as later recollected - like children in Palestine facing The Wall waiting to be executed. We lost her there in those moments of disarrays; we later contacted her in the Bangunan Abdul Samad Medical Base Operation with other casualties. As for K, before she could get the salt and wet towel from her bag, she was already coughing violently and within seconds, lost the ability to breathe. Her air way has shut down, "What a way to die! I haven't said good-bye yet". The crowds were pushing their ways to get near the fountain-pool to wash their faces. Each time K tried to get back on her feet, she got pushed down again. She was beginning to loose consciousness when someone push some salts into her mouth, and a Malay woman shouting "jaga Auntie ini! ". Rapidly, Koon’s air-way opened up and got back the ability to breathe. With the help of CS, K managed to stand on her feet and walked away from the pool. CS told K to wipe her face as tears, saliva and nasal secretions were all over the face but she could not feel nor sense it. It was quite a sight - like that of an opium addict on "cold turkey". But the burning sensation on the skins was intense, and K was still coughing and choking. At least, now she could BREATHE! The firing of the tear gas did not stop and we continually got sprayed and splashed by the chemical-laced water from the cannons. Finally, we managed to scramble and ran towards Jalan Raja Laut’s back lanes. Some people were sitting and resting and trying to get back their breaths in the open space .Once K have had regained her breaths, instinctively and by training, she was offering salts to those who were still coughing violently; and offered them some comforting words of reassurance. K was especially touched by a young Malay boy of 7 or 8 who has calmly answered her that he was OK; and he threw a caring glance to his father. She was so much wanted to hug him and to tell him he is the bravest boy had ever seen. They looked shaken and were badly affected by the tear gas. Who wasn't? There were many of us especially the wargamas, sitting there, trying to get back our breaths. Before we can become just a little comfortable, we have to get up and ran again because the next salvos of canisters busted in, drifting into the narrow back lanes. K was only half-worried for her 2 daughters as she have faith in the "tolong menolong" spirits of all BERSIH supporters. Only when CS told her that we still could not locate Y at about 4pm that then panic and fear began to sink in. Y has asthma and the thought that she may have a respiratory arrest really jittered me. CS had contacted elder daughter X in Coliseum who was vomiting along the way rather distraught in losing her sister. The three of us eventually managed to regroup near Sogo; CS intended to go down Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman to look for Y, but the incessant toasting of tear-gas canisters prevented this mission; a couple of canisters just spiraled along with the running legs as he fled. CS meant to pick up one as a souvenir when another just swirled into the verandah, with gas still sprouting; my, my, are they shooting low! We were at least half-a-kilometre from Dataran, and yet these animals were still relentlessly chasing us. Three of us were, by now, frantically trying to call Y, and K also asked Pa where our medical team people could be based. All the routes and lanes leading to Dataran Merdeka were blocked or we have to turn back as people were retreating from that direction. Firing of tear gas continued but the effect was milder now due to the distance somewhere near to the Sogo underbridge. We attempted to go back to Dataran via Raja Laut, but tear-gas was stilling being fired. Just when we thought of using the Jalan Kuching main road to Dataran, the first salvo was released onto the highway. Eventually, we managed to go on a long and tortuous route through the Masjid India alleys to reach Jalan Ampang while tear-gas was still being discharged along Masjid Jamek LRT and former Bank Bumi-CIMB Bank complex. Later, when we double-back on the way home, many youths on bikes were cruising and ramming around this vicinity to taunt the authority. Finally, we did managed to find and negotiated with a St. John's Ambulance to take us to the debris-slew Bangunan Abdul Samad Medical Base Operation Centre to meet Y. The ambulance in Jalan Tun Perak reversed, turned into Dataran which frankly looked like a surrealistic war-game after-scene with tossed barricades, barb-wires mangled around, and upturned pavement slabs besides the pools of wet surface. Inside the ambulance, the nurses were saying that this time, there seemed to be more casualties than Bersih 2.0. We had to walk out of the Centre by ourselves, together with a 70-year old Pakcik [Malay for "uncle" - used as a term of respect for older man] from Muar. He was separated from his family when people started to run helter-skelter away from the menace. Along the way, policemen were resting by the river bank. One thing that CS noticed was that the majority of the policemen were NOT peninsular Malays, but looked more like those from Sarawak. It's a tactics as employed in the Tianmen Square 1989 incident where every PLA units of the Military Regions were deployed except Beijing. We eventually managed to locate Pakcik’s family as his phone was not functioning well and we were really concerned about his physical well-being. Again, all the roads that we intend to trek through to reach his family near a mosque in Masjid India were inaccessible again. We waited and rested for a while by the Masjid Jamek embankment as it was really tiring for our dear Pakcik. While resting, we met CS old university mate, CM who asked Y how she felt about all these happenings. Being a true-blood politician, he offered this piece of wisdom: “Through feeling shaken, you will learn courage”. After almost an hour, we managed to meet up with Pakcik'’s son. We parted and we wished them to have a safe journey home. We trekked to the Dang Wangi station to go home, and were dying to wash off the debris and toxins from our bodies. While enjoying this luxury of having a good shower, we thought of all the pakciks, makciks, kakak, abang and adiks who have traveled all the way from Kedah, Kelantan, Trengganu, Pahang, Johor, Penang and Ipoh who were still on the roads to reach their homes ! Amongst three of us were teasing each other that we could jolly well suffer from PTDS because of this near-death experience, while CS were seemingly unscathed by the tear gas. Don't know what kind of genes he has; and don't know why my two daughters do not inherit them?? !! Ha Ha Ha !! From Y, she is looking for her savior by the Bandaraya fountain pool where after the initial salvos, the police charged in and hand-mangled stranded male participants one of whom she later saw lying on a bed in the Medical Base. She is looking forward to meet the Al-Jeezera/Al Hijrah reporter who led her to a safer place from the surrounding mayhems in Dataran Merdeka on that day. He had advised her that if any police whom they ever met, he would do the talking to say she’s his personal assistant, and she is to keep quiet as they walked to safety. While X was sorry for not being able to help mum and dad during the pandemonium, she is silently thanking someone for giving her a lift up when she fell into the pool; thank you for offering me a place to hide (in the mamak restaurant in Jalan Raja Laut); thank you for someone who offered the salt that helped with her breathing; thank for those messages from friends when she was shaken by this terrible happening; thank you every Malaysian for caring; and THANK YOU BERSIH FOR WAKING ME UP. K asked "Why so cruel? Why so high-handed? Such potent and deadly / lethal tear gas and chemical-laced water!" and we also asked will we join BERSIH 4.0 if there is one? Until and unless this recalcitrant and insincere government relent and we have a clean and fair election, the answer is YES for BERSIH 4.0, 5.0…………here is a formidable force emerging as Malaysians gain heightened level of political consciousness. With this and mounting international pressure, the change is inevitable and imminent. This momentous movement had recharged cs thoughts on more than anything one would expect - tear-gassed in one’s own country - on the eve of an oldie 67-year birthday, too! “Is it worth it?” A free-lance photographer took a picture of two disheveled old folks, and had asked that question. Before anyone of us can reply, an siren ambulance separated us across the road, and when it had passed by, the cameraman had gone……. But our answer, if asked again, if we meet again, if anyone were ever to ask again - would be that Bersih 3.0 definitely is redefining the moments and movement of our generations.