Story of mine from NYC
On the 9th of July, the alarm clock went off at 5:15am. Though my body was exhausted, my mind was fresh. I put on my yellow T-shirt and packed my yellow hair accessories. While waiting for Mr Chia's Murano to go to Bersih 2.0 in NYC, I checked the Bersih 2.0 rally progress to see if any one person had made it to the Stadium Merdeka after I went to bed at 2am. As my expectation, no one made it, except the police force. I was not disappointed by a bit, especially when I saw a photo of my friends at Bersih 2.0 in Melbourne. Neither pictures nor articles from Kuala Lumpur were widely available at 6 o'clock Malaysia Evening Time, but I could visualize the obstacles to suppress the Malaysians in Kuala Lumpur by reading the simplified version of Malaysia Kini.
At around 6:45am, Mr Chia came to fetch Donkoi and I together with his housemates, Mr and Mrs Wong. After 3 hours, we arrived at the Manhattan city. When we were looking for a street parking near to the General Consulate of Malaysia, we saw one or two people in yellow walking quietly towards the end of East 43rd Street. "Were they going there as well?". We discussed inside the car. We started to imagine how many people are going to attend the event.
After 25 minutes of guessing game inside the car, we finally found a spot and parked our car safely. When we reached the destination, we were welcomed by our fellow Malaysians. There were Malays, Chinese and Indians among us. There were senior citizens and young kids among us. There were all walks of professions among us. However, the differences were invisible that day because all of us assembled for a more important cause - a fair and clean election system for Malaysia. Though the majority of the attendees were Malaysians, there were a few non-Malaysian friends coming in to support our cause too. One person, one vote - the idea is just not too difficult to grasp, right?
We started our peaceful rally right at the opposite of the General Consulate of Malaysia under the observation of detective Frank, the free-lance reporters, the East 43rd Street pedestrians and the assigned spies from the government/UMNO. By 11:30am, some motivated individuals carried the large horizontal banner, which was prepared by the organizing committee, started to march to Ralph Bunche Park. Besides the big banner, everyone displayed their own posters. There was one poster expressing exactly why I was there - We love, hence, we care. There was no complicated motive, such as money, power or political reason, as some might claimed that I had as a rally participant.
Once we were at Ralph Bunche Park, we were just right opposite of the United Nations with Detective Frank observing us from afar, allowing us the liberty to do our peaceful rally. We stood along the 1st Avenue with our banner and posters, facing to the United Nations as well as the passing traffics. "Malaysians for fair and clean elections" was a simple message attracting supports from the people. At least a dozen buses of tourists said hello to us. The well-known yellow taxis and cars gave us honks to support our cause, thanks to Donkoi's spontaneous idea to write a poster of "Honk if you support". The cyclists rang their bells as a sign of support too. In addition to the overwhelmed supports from the vehicles, the walking tourists and pedestrians stopped to take photo with us or take our brochures to understand our pledge. At the same time, the attended Malaysians took the opportunities to communicate out their wishes for our country on the freedom of speech platform provided in the Ralph Bunche Park.
We walked back to the General Consulate of Malaysia after an hour of sunbathing. In front of the Malaysia oversea office, we sang our National Anthem again with all of our heart, wishing for the long live of our king and our country. Before a press interview, we ended our peaceful rally with a 30-second of silence for all the Bersih 2.0 Kuala Lumpur detainees. Majority of us then traveled to the Chinatown for a lunch together using the subway from the Grand Central. What a good way to put a perfect full stop to the event. :)
After thought from the event
This would be my third time repeating myself. I am doubtful that any of the demands from the Bersih 2.0 are going to happen with our present government. Even with the high turnout of Malaysians at Kuala Lumpur and the other 30 cities in the world, the government is still stubbornly rejecting the reality publicly. But, they are more likely having nightmares every nights now. It is my pleasure to contribute to the statistic to instill the fear in them. The ridiculously panic statements in the press are the best daily laughing stock. I feel the exhilaration of toying the men older than me, richer than me and more powerful than me. High 5, all the Bersih 2.0 members!
Though the Bersih 2.0 demands are yet to be fulfilled in the future, when thousands of people believe in the same ideology, the emotional joy is beyond the word descriptions. The togetherness with the fellow Malaysians from the rally assured me that the Malaysians had broken free from the imaginary enemy, which was constantly plotted as part of the government tactics in dividing the Malaysians. The politicians could insist on emphasizing our differences, but we are well aware that all of us share the same root.
After seeing the violent oppression against the peaceful rally, many of us can't wait to topple this feudalistic government, who clings on the power to deny our basic human rights. The Bersih 2.0 effect is gradually subsiding. But, we must not forget how the Malaysians are being treated on 9th of July. In the incoming election, we shall use the one vote in our hand wisely. Let's us vote to elect our own government! Let's us show them what the new generation really wants!