COMMENT The presence of the police force at Saturday’s first day of the 34-hour marathon Bersih 4 street demonstration was definitely a stark contrast from the previous Bersih rallies where the people were brutalised and as a result turned more cynical towards the government.

At least, up to midnight yesterday, there had been not a single arrest by the Royal Malaysian Police, despite over 100,000 rally goers had come and gone within the first few hours.

In fact, it was an overcast afternoon, with a slight breeze to cool down the rally-goers. There was also a joke amongst rally goers that we have our own local version of demonstrations in Malaysia - where Bersih supporters in yellow T-shirts filled up every seat in the restaurants.

Overall, it was a positive mood which would hopefully build up towards that moment when Malaysians of all races and religions once again shout, “Merdeka!”

Patience may be wearing thin at times, but I hope good sense will always prevail. In the past, the cat-and-mouse chase was because Malaysians were deemed to be “immature” as alleged by Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Mansor, but politicians had over-reacted to a mammoth rally like this simply because they did not know how to handle such street rallies.

They only viewed street rallies from the eyes of 1969 or at a time when the country was facing a threat from the communists. We have to remind our politicians that we are now in the 21st century.

‘Don’t make a fool of yourselves’

Sometimes, they make themselves a laughing stock by banning yellow Bersih T-shirts at their whims and fancies, but they never seem to learn.

For example, it must have peeved Comedy Court so much that they decided to work on a satire about former home minister Hishammuddin Hussein who banned the yellow T-shirt during a previous Bersih rally, but he, despite being a lawyer himself, did not mention under which law it was banned. This audio clip has since gone viral and I received it again last night.

This is partly because, as a result of Hishammuddin’s directive, many activists were arrested for wearing yellow Bersih T-shirts, but later, these same activists were discharged by the courts - a sheer waste of everyone’s time and money.

When the international community looked at the way our politicians reacted, I sometimes wonder what came on their minds, for example, the queen of England, known for her directness when she wore yellow on an occasion when Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and Rosmah Mansor paid her a visit.

Both Najib and Rosmah had been embarrassed by Malaysians living in United Kingdom during their official visit. This happened after Bersih 3 when some 400 people were arrested and ordinary peace-loving citizens were assailed with chemical-laced water and tear gas.

Observers who were sympathetic towards Bersih 3 were of course quick at picking this up and the photograph showing the queen was wearing yellow went viral.

Now, Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi repeated the same mistake, only for a former judge to point out that wearing Bersih T-shirts cannot be considered illegal. Zahid, too, was ridiculed by the rakyat who immediately asked since when T-shirts have become a ‘publication’.

And, did I hear that Bersih 2.0 is not registered with the Registrar of Societies; therefore, it is an illegal organisation, and the Bersih 4 rally that it organises is deemed to be illegal.

Hello, I am sure former Bersih co-chairperson Ambiga Sreeneevasan would have explained that Bersih was never an organisation in the first place, but a movement supported by a number of organisations.

Go down to the ground

In his speech last night, Najib said that he wants leaders who are likeable and adaptable . My question is: How can he attract such leaders when he himself is not one?

At least, one nonagenarian experienced what Bersih 4 was like on the ground. He found himself an overnight celebrity once again when he turned up at the rally with Dr Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali.

Their visit was not even given any form of police protection. In fact, he was accompanied by one of his biggest critics, Tian Chua himself. What did the people do to Dr Mahathir Mohamad? Did they throw him into the river nearby?

No, instead, they shouted, “Hidup, hidup, Tun!”

Now, unless Najib has something to hide, he, too, should come down to the ground with his deputy, Zahid and his wife, Rosmah to shake hands with the people. I am sure Bersih ladies will be happy to give Rosmah some lovely chrysanthemum flowers or the yellow plastic flowers that they took so much time to create. You can see them in Bandar Utama.

This is how a leader can turn into a hero, when he is willing to be with the people, instead of ‘going to war’ with the people ending up with a cold war between the people and the government of the day.

It is said that America is what it is today because it has always been a country (quoting Abraham Lincoln) which is governed by “a government of the people, by the people, for the people”.

At the end of the day, it is the people’s will that will prevail.

Ordinary Malaysians

Judging from yesterday’s turnout, there is really no need to beef up the police presence at every nook and corner, except to facilitate the traffic flow and ensure safety of the rally-goers, in case there are agents provocateurs or anarchists who create problem.

Arrest anyone who creates trouble, but help to facilitate the entire rally until it comes to and end. The organisers themselves are very reasonable people, even urging the participants to reduce the noise levels by a certain time of the night.

Most of the rally-goers that I know are professionals and even chief executive officers of major companies. In fact, a big majority of the people whom I saw at the rally are senior citizens who are in their seventies. University students also made up the bulk of the people who came. These are the future leaders.

Not many people are aware of it, that even Group of 25 eminent civil servants, Noor Farida Ariffin ( photo ) was there at Bersih, too. Equally concerned about the country’s woes, the former Malaysian ambassador to the Netherlands was featured on YouTube, which hit 5,400 views within just one day after it was posted.

It is disappointing for Najib to say that we are not patriotic citizens of this country. The group I was with were in fact holding a Malaysian flag and at the time of writing, a church member of mine who was with our group yesterday told a Whatsapp group that he and his family are planning to go tomorrow night and sing Negaraku when the clock strikes 12 midnight.

Many of the rally-goers have children and grandchildren. If any mishap happens to them due to the failure of the police to ensure safety of the people, do you think their children or grandchildren will forgive the Barisan Nasional government for many years to come even though it may be the failure of the police themselves?

Therefore, for Umno and BN to continue to play an important role in the country’s democratic processes, Najib, Zahid and the entire cabinet should return to the drawing board and start with a clean slate.

Times have changed and even Dr Mahathir read the signs of the times and reacted accordingly.

STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.