Went for the Bersih march today; and it was all good. For most part. Getting tear-gassed was a painful experience, but an experience indeed. Now that the pain is gone, it's turned somewhat amusing, like I've just gained a war story, or street cred.
Anyways, we walked lot, a bit aimless if you ask me. Weather was mostly good, there was an occassional breeze, but it got really warm towards the later part. Also it was heartening to know that the rally was happening around the world in 30 countries and more than 80 locations. Nais, really.
But what I really wanna write about is the most distressing memory is that of the police car losing control and hitting a fellow marcher. It was everyone's and nobody's fault. I just wished everyone had kept their calm, police and protestors alike.
The particular car has been assaulted prior, as seen in the dents on the car. Nothing is scarier than a rowdy crowd on the verge of violence. Those cops looked young, they probably were already peeing in their pants. I don't know, I'm just concuding what I see from youtube videos.
Whatever it is, someone's dead. I don't know if anyone's gonna make a martyr out of the person, cos with all due respect, it would be misappropriated.
I just felt very bad that it happened. Why did the police need to have the stand off, merely 30mins to the end of the walk? We would have gladly dispersed. Did they not get the notice that the show was going to end soon? And why did some of the protestors have to be so provocative? Just sit down quietly and show some restraint. Was it too much to ask?
I had a good first couple of hours, but the ending left a bad taste in my mouth. And a lingering sadness for the loss of life. And the thought that in some war-torn countries, this is just another day.
Did the rally achieve its objectives? Only time will tell. If the government chooses to ignore our demands, they are signing away control when the next election comes. They just wait.
God save Malaysia!
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