My teenager Nadia ‘grew up’ on 428.
by Joyce Ho
My
younger teenager went into Bersih 3.0 as an innocent teenager in human
rights matters. She was only interested in her teens pop groups,
fashion and tweeting with her friends, but on 28thApril 2012 at Bersih
3.0 she grew up.
On
28th April 2012 we could not get into Brickfields but managed to get
into Lake Club and parked our vehicle there. In the club’s lift, we met
up with a senior civil servant and his family who encouraged and
congratulated us on our courage to take part in Bersih 3.0. We asked
him why weren’t he and his family joining us he replied that as a civil
servant he was not allowed to take part, but he and his family fully
supported Bersih 3.0.
That
was the first of many experiences for my teenager on that day – on how
we just made friends with strangers who had the common understanding of
Bersih 3.0, how we bonded regardless of race, religion and age.
She
saw a group of elders walking out of Lake Club who were also going to
Bersih 3.0. She heard how they had never been to any rallies before but
this time, they felt strongly they had to make a stand.
She
saw, as we were walking towards Masjid Negara, policemen on motorbikes
who passed us honked in support and gave us the thumbs up!
She
then saw huge number of policemen and their vehicles as we neared
Masjid Negara. Instead of feeling safe in the presence of policemen, my
younger teenager instinctively was fearful. It was her gut feeling
then! I had to reassure her there was nothing to be afraid of. She
then mingled with the crowd in Masjid Negara and it was here that she
witnessed for the very first time in her life scores of water cannon and
FRU trucks passing us to go on to Dataran Merdeka. Very innocently she
asked what were they for? Sadly I had to tell her it would possibly be
used against us. It was then that I sensed, like all mothers, a
semblance of fear in Nadia.
We
made our way towards Dataran Merdeka. In front of the former British
Council, she met up with familiar faces. Then she came face to face
with a barricade of razor wires and plastic barriers. Behind these were
policemen who were relaxed and friendly. They had asked her to be
careful as the razor wires were very sharp. My younger teenager felt
better with these policemen who smiled and talked to her. We sat down
briefly for a photo shoot of our small version of “duduk bantah” then.
We
then made our way to the railway station trying to get to Central
Market. At the railway station she met the “No to Lynas” group, chatted
with them for a while and continued her way. Inside the railway
station, she met up with this group of tired looking ‘pakcik-pakcik’ who
had just arrived from Ipoh. My younger teenager was amazed to see how
these pakcik-pakcik identified themselves with us just because we were
wearing the same Bersih 3.0 t-shirts. They came not knowing the way to
Masjid Negara and we showed them the way. Before we parted ways, they
had asked us to be careful and take care of ourselves. My younger
teenager was so touched that this group of elderly men who came all the
way from Ipoh were concerned about her safety and having just met her.
We
then continued our way to Central Market. The crowd there was festive
and cheerful. She then saw her mother screaming out in delight! My
younger teenager saw me hugging my friends from Bersih 2.0 in pure joy.
It was such a great moment to meet up with my friends again. We then
parted ways, onward to Petaling Street to meet up with her uncle and
aunt who were taking part in a rally for the first time in their lives.
I refer to them as rally neophytes.
My
younger teenager turned to me and said that I was wrong, earlier, to
tell her could be dangerous for her to come along. She said it was fun,
like going to a great big concert. I was happy for her that she was
enjoying herself.
We
then got onto Jalan Tun Perak and the crowd got really dense but even
more carnival-like. At this point in time, we got separated from her
father. We continued to make our way past Masjid Jamek. The crowd was
enjoying themselves in the afternoon heat. We were all singing “Bersih,
Bersih, Bersih, Bersih, Bersih” to drum beats. She turned to me
smiling and said again, “It’s really like going to a great big concert. This is fun.”
Less
than 5 minutes after she said that, without any warning, we heard the
first tear gas canister being fired. Being her first time hearing it,
my younger teenager had no idea what it was. I told her it was the tear
gas and get ready for torment. She asked innocently how bad can it be?
I saw the smoke of the tear gas in front of us and we all turned to
walk calmly back towards Masjid Jamek. With the gas behind us, I had
thought it would not be so bad after all and started to distribute salt,
water and wet wipes. But how wrong I was. Less than three minutes
later, I saw and heard the 2nd tear gas cannister being fired right into
the crowd in front of us! We had no choice but to walk right into the
cloud of the tear gas.
We
had no choice but to walk into the enveloping tear gas. It affected us
both at the same time. My younger teenager got hit real bad. She was
gagging, vomiting, retching – it broke my heart. But I was also glad to
see her determined to soldier on. Trying to help others whilst she was
also retching, she dropped our packet of salt. She wanted to pick it
up but the crowd pressing forward did not allow her to do so. She
collapsed and I picked her up. Again, she collapsed and I barely
managed to pick her up the second time. The third time she collapsed,
out of nowhere strong arms were at hand to help her along the way. Arms
of angels, I am convinced!
We made our way to the junction of Leboh Ampang, still gagging and throwing up. Then she screamed “What did we do wrong!?! We did nothing but sing and they attacked us!”
No sooner were these words uttered, a second onslaught of tear gas
shrouded us. We ran into the side alley to escape but we came upon
another group of FRU who fired tear gas again at us!
It
was like we were in a war zone - ambushed from all sides with nowhere
to run. Finally we decided to just stay put and bear the tear gas
showered upon us. The police definitely did not want to disperse the
crowd. They had wanted to box us in to torment and torture us with tear
gas!
My
younger teenager could not believe her eyes. Could not believe that
policemen whom her mother had just told her hours ago not to be afraid
of, were attacking her and her fellow Malaysians.
Yes,
for the first time, she felt really united with her fellow Malaysia who
suffered the effects of tear gas like her. No need for slogans of
1Malaysia – it was in Bersih 3.0 that she experienced the truly united
Malaysian feeling. No race, religion nor age mattered. We were just
fellow Malaysians in this together.
Then
her survival instincts kicked in. She was up and running, helping
those who were badly affected by tear gas, giving them water, salt,
patting their backs to provide relief to them. She was on her way in to
help those in the alley behind Masjid Jamek. She was frozen to the
ground at the scene that greeted her. She saw policemen beating up
people who were gagging from the effects of tear gas. People who went
to help were also beaten up. Mercifully shortly after, the bullies
left and we helped those affected in however we could.
Her
point – to show them she was harmless! To her great delight she then
met her schoolmates who were also there in support of Bersih 3.0!
We
tried to get out many times but everywhere we turned, the roads leading
to Lake Club were blocked off! Finally much later at about 6pm we
turned into Petaling Street. Stalls had already opened for business.
People were out shopping, Bersih 3.0 supporters were tiredly making
their way home, or should I say finding their way home. We sighted our
favourite soya bean stall. Just as we reached the soya bean stall, those
bullies fired off another volley of tear gas ! Those morons with no
grey matters between their ears actually fired a tear gas canister into
Petaling Street without any reason, without any provocation!
The
soya bean stall owner and his customers scrambled for cover. We
witnessed a Malay family with very young kids – they too were not spared
the fury of the police.
My
Nadia could not believe the stupidity of our policemen! We had to take
refuge in one of the motels and wait for the gas to subside. Her
father finally made contact and we reunited to walk towards Lake Club.
It had been a long day.
Came
Sunday morning, my younger teenager eagerly picked up the newspapers.
On reading the headlines, my younger teenager, a mere seventeen year old
could decipher the truth from the lies. She could not believe the lies
that were already spewing from our local dailies. She has indeed grown
up as she witnessed and experienced firsthand the blatant brutality
inflicted on the Bersih participants by none other than those pledged to
protect us. But most significantly, she witnessed the true spirit of
Malaysian united in the struggle for their fundamental rights. She
witnessed with her very own eyes that race, religion and age do not
matter. She witnessed and knew the Rakyat never wanted war, only peace.
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