EYEWITNESS Initially I did not have any intention to write about my experience in the Bersih 2.0 rally. But after the government's stand against the movement, I can no longer be silent.

I am a 39-year-old Indian Malaysian doctor living in Kajang. In 2007, I had wanted to attend the first Bersih rally in Kuala Lumpur, but was stopped from going by my mother and wife who was pregnant with my second son. Now my boys are three and five years old.

When talk of the Bersih 2.0 rally started a little over a month ago, I first informed my parents that I would be participating, so that they could get used to the idea. My mother asked why I was so hell-bent on attending the rally when the government was issuing threats to deploy the police, Perkasa and Umno Youth all in sync.

INONE replied that Bersih 2.0 head Ambiga Sreenevasan (left) would be walking for us and not for herself, and that I would be walking for the future of my boys. I am Malaysian, I have nowhere to go, this is my country.

My mother reminded me about May 13, 1969. I simply said I would trust my life to the thousands of PAS supporters who were to come and that I would walk with all races as equals with one cause.

As July 9 came closer, a buddy from school days said he would also be going. We decided to meet at KL Sentral at noon. I packed a bag with a towel soaked in vinegar, swimming goggles, drinking water and a small pack of rock salt, and left for the Putrajaya Sentral train station to take the ERL to KL Sentral.

When I got into KL Sentral, I shocked by the number of police personnel questioning fellow- travellers waiting there, looking at their Mykad, asking questions, and checking their bags. I wondered if all this was necessary and legal. They seemed to be targeting the Malay community.

I met up with my friend and we walked towards Brickfields. While having lunch we discussed which route we would take to Stadium Merdeka. We decided to walk to Central Market first.

NONEOn the way, we saw Malaysians of different races walking in twos and threes. When we reached Central Market, we came across FRU personnel.

As we waited, we saw them fire tear gas into a chanting crowd coming from the vicinity of Dayabumi, preventing them from reaching Central Market. We had our first whiff of tear gas.

We continued walking towards Petaling Street through back alleys. As we got closer, chants of “Hidup, Hidup, Hidup Rakyat” grew louder. As we turned the corner we saw a multiracial crowd, chanting and singing.

Pride in being Malaysian

We joined them and there I was - a born-again Malaysian. For the first time, I was proud to be Malaysian. We sang the National Anthem with such pride. That was the very first time I felt a belonging with fellow-Malaysians, we were one as Malaysians coming together regardless of race, religion or profession.

NONEWe marched while chanting to Puduraya where the FRU aggressors attacked us with no warning, with chemical-laced water canon and round after round of tear gas.

Chocking on the fumes, we were trapped in Jalan Pudu and bombarded with tear gas from both ends, with nowhere to go. We were helped by fellow-Malaysians who handed us salt and water to counter the effects of the tear gas.

We had to take shelter behind a building in Jalan Pudu, climbing up a small hill, helped by others, or crawling under fences to get to safety.

It was a day I will never forget. I'll narrate this story to my grandchildren with pride, that I was part of a movement by ordinary men and women who went against all odds to make a statement and stand our ground.

We, the ordinary rakyat won that day. We were united, we were one!

Related stories:

March towards justice

Kid gloves? Najib, were you there?

Bersih births unity out of pain

Bersih 2.0: Arrested and sent to Pulapol

'Dataran Maybank has become my Tahrir Square'

Merdeka when I was six, true democracy at 60?

The standoff at Puduraya and Tung Shin Hospital

Bersih KL Sentral chronicle: The group that got away


The writer is a doctor who lives in Kajang, Selangor.

This series relates eyewitness accounts of the Bersih 2.0 July 9 rally in Kuala Lumpur for clean and fair elections. If you were there and have an interesting story to share, email us at editor@malaysiakini.com by Friday, July 22.