JULY 10 — Even if it is the voice of one man, you listen.
That man does not live alone in this world.
He has family, he has friends and he has colleagues.
His friends have family, friends and colleagues of their own and his colleagues have family and friends of their own.
The point here is: The thousands that gathered at the capital city yesterday, whether 5,000 or 50,000, did not mean that only 5,000 or 50,000 Malaysians are aware of or support Bersih 2.0’s purpose and demands.
In all likelihood, many of the 5,000 or 50,000 had left behind like-minded family members, friends, friends of friends, colleagues and so on, to join this “illegal” street rally.
The 5,000 or 50,000 who thronged the streets and traversed the stretch of the city centre, fleeing through plumes of tear gas and finding themselves itching from chemical-laced water, would have returned home on the night of July 9 with horror stories to tell.
To their friends, family and colleagues, the 5,000 or 50,000 will tell the story of a bald man seen with a bloody gash on his head being carted away by blue-uniformed men, stories of people locking themselves together in a tight knot on the ground as policemen try to tear them apart, dragging them away in arrest and beating some who resisted, stories of men in red helmets backed by fire-red trucks standing in lines and firing gas canisters at close range and without tilting their guns.
They will relate stories of the thousands of other protestors who stood together in groups, linking arms and marching on, daring to defy those who have defied them. They will describe tales of strangers becoming fast friends with one another, helping those who could not run as fast from the shower of chemical water, offering salt and wet pieces of cloth to those whose eyes were badly stung by the tear gas.
They will tell the story of an elderly lady, garbed in a yellow T-shirt, holding a long-stemmed flower and bravely marching along with protestors despite the rowdiness and chaos that surrounded her.
Above all, they will tell the tale of the 5,000 or 50,000 Malaysians who left the comfort of their homes on a rainy Saturday afternoon, to get gassed out and sprayed at in their own capital city, people who risked the possibility of violence, injury and arrest, just to march for one simple goal — free and fair elections.
If each of the 5,000 or 50,000 who gathered had told these stories to at least 10 others, whether their family members, friends or colleagues, then 50,000 or 500,000 Malaysians would now know the truth of what transpired between 1pm and 5pm on July 9, 2011.
And if each of these 50,000 or 500,000 Malaysians, in turn, repeated these stories to at least 10 others, then 500,000 or five million Malaysians would now also know what happened.
No one could ever say for certain what these people would think of these stories, whether they would condemn the protestors or the cops.
But if you were a family member of Baharuddin Ahmad, who died yesterday when he collapsed while running away from the bombardment of tear gas and water cannons, what would you have said?
Would you have said he deserved it because he participated in an illegal rally? Or would you have condemned the police for firing at civilians?
Today, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak turned his nose up at yesterday’s turnout on the streets. He praised those who did not turn up and said they were the “silent majority”.
Has he forgotten what happened when the government turned its nose up at the thousands who attended Bersih’s first rally in 2007?
On March 8, 2008, Barisan Nasional (BN) nearly lost to the opposition in terms of popular vote, garnering only 51.5 per cent compared to 64 per cent in 2004.
Whether or not Bersih 2.0 was wrong to hold the street march, whether or not its demand for free and fair elections is unreasonable, is no longer the only arguments here. The fact is, thousands have spoken against the government and they want an answer.
So Najib would do well not to mock the 5,000 or 50,000 people who turned up yesterday.
He has to remember that, like the voice of one man reaching 10 others, the voices of the thousands yesterday has likely reached the millions who make up this “silent majority”.
* Clara Chooi is a reporter with The Malaysian Insider.
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