I don’t usually head to Kuala Lumpur on the weekends. It’s hot, sticky and filled with people walking all over and getting in the way. This weekend it was different. It was compounded. Kuala Lumpur was going into overdrive. More people, more sweat and more pushing and shoving.

I wasn’t exactly looking forward to it but duty calls. I had to once again don the media tag and vest and head to the heart of the action. I had so many other things to do - I was supposed to perform in a choir at a recital and I even had a booth I had already paid for at the Animangaki convention in Sunway Pyramid.

Thirty-four hours I thought. Thirty-four hours in the city. There is no way this will be able to last. It won’t be long before the FRU rolls in and breaks up the spirit. After all, they did that at the previous three Bersih rallies, what’s gonna change?

Little did I know that change was about to unfold right before my eyes. Not the change that Bersih demanded but a change of my mind and the way I thought. I had little hope for Malaysia over the past months. With a failing ringgit, multiplying scandals and so many people being silenced I thought we were done for. The patriotic spirit in me was dwindling. I was running out of things to love about Malaysia.

The clock ticked hour after hour. As events began to unfold it began to hit me like a sandstorm. Images began to surface in the newsroom and on social media. It was like a drop of ink in a glass of water. Kuala Lumpur turned from asphalt grey to a bright citrine yellow in just a couple of hours. Corners and alleyways from the Burger King to the noodle shops in the lorongs came alive with sunshine.

Even though I had attended two previous Bersih rallies, I was still amazed at not just the turnout but how quickly it came to be. Despite being through the teargas and having the acid sting of the modified water cannons lingering on in our minds, people still took to the streets.

The chanting, the placards and the activities held had a different vibe from what i had mind. It was the polar opposite of those company events that some of us are forced to be present at. No one felt bad or forced to be there. No one was grumpy or with a frown. Everyone was united in spirit and happiness. It was a dream come true for any event organiser and a second-to-none experience for everyone.

I’m not much of a fan of our national anthem, but for the first time in my life, as the clock struck 12 on the 58th independence day of Malaysia, I stood tall with 100,000 Malaysians united at the gates of Dataran Merdeka and sang it with pride. Never before had I felt more patriotic. As the curtain closed on Bersih, it dawned on me that these people who were called ‘poor in patriotism’ were the ones who brought back the patriotism in me - someone who was on the verge of throwing in the towel.

I could only imagine the response of the government. As usual it was played down. Like every past Bersih rally, the media is censored and the story is left hanging, as if the writer walked off without finishing it.

But I am glad I was there. I had a responsibility to bring the events on the ground to the world as it happened. This was a story that needs to be told, finished or not and I was not about to run away from it.

And there was no running, for there was no longer anything to be afraid of.

I was on the Last Train to Sentral. Today, the same train goes to a new Kuala Lumpur. A conscious, empowered Kuala Lumpur that’s ready for change. A capital of a nation that walks the talk and is no longer afraid to demand for what really belongs to them.

Welcome to a reborn Malaysia.

DANIEL J ANTHONY is a member of the Malaysiakini team.