My eyes burnt, my skin burnt, my throat burnt
By Adam Tan, a Bersih 3.0 participant, Free Malaysia Today
Before telling my story, I would first like to clarify where I stand. I stand as a Malaysian, I stand as an individual, who believes that Malaysia is a beautiful place, and deserves good governance.
I joined Bersih 3.0 rally, not only to champion free and fair elections. I joined the rally to lend support to many fellow countrymen who believes Malaysia deserves good governance. I joined the rally because I believe that as an individual, I can make a difference. I joined the rally because I am Malaysian.
There, I joined the rally. Should any of you find it offensive, go read something else.
By now, you should have already read the news and will most likely be talking about it over the coming weeks, and have your stories to tell. Glad to have walked with you along Jalan Tun Perak, and glad to have ran with you along Jalan Raja Laut.
This is my story.
Almost at every turn, you can see the colour yellow. Yellow from Kelana Jaya LRT station, all the way to where I started walking, Pasar Seni LRT station. You can feel the carnival-like atmosphere and the odd feeling of the streets of Kuala Lumpur void of any cars, or motorcycles.
The streets were painted yellow, with many colours in between. There were police personnel standing, watching from a distance under the scorching sun, and there were the rakyat, walking together as strangers united albeit temporarily. Many roads were barricaded, forcing the public to walk at controlled zones.
The FRU was not around.
I soon made my way to Jalan Tun Perak where I believe most of the demonstrators were. The crowd was unbelievable. It was deafening, and chants were immediately overheard. I walked pass the Kuala Lumpur High Court, and finally saw Dataran Merdeka. There, the FRU trucks parked. It was a very colourful sight.
There was the yellow, blue and red from afar and all seems peaceful.
Trying to get message across
I managed to find a comfortable spot at Jalan Raja, and stood a comfortable 50m away from the barricade, with enough space for people to walk. There I sat.
The sun was burning away my skin as I drank from the bottle I had with me. Every passing cloud was such a relief, and any wind that blew felt like air-conditioning. It was 2pm and everything went fine and peaceful.
There were chants, speeches and shouts which one will expect from a demonstration. There were no violent pushing around, only people trying to get through the crowd. There were no taunts, provocation or arguments, only people trying to get the message across. Please know the difference.
I stood to look around, because quite frankly, the tarmac was too hot to have a seat for too long.
Suddenly, it all went chaotic.
I was standing quite close to the barricade, and I can see the police running back. As if by a signal, all of them fell back to the FRU units ready with their riot shield, tear gas and water cannons. The people broke the barricades and charged. I stood there still shocked and worried because I can start seeing the water cannons in action. I was pushed to the front and as I walked closer, smoke started to rise in front of me. The wind was working against the FRU, so the people marched on.
The water cannons then moved, and pushed the crowd back. We the people ran back to Jalan Raja and as I was running back, three canisters of tear gas flew above my head, and landed in front of me. While the wind direction did not change, it now blew towards the crowd, and I was not spared. I took a deep breath, and made a run. I had to run past the tear gas, because hot on my trail is the FRU with the water cannons.
My eyes burnt, my skin burnt, my nose and throat burnt. The sharp and stinging sensation was very difficult to bear, but it wasn’t the time to think about it. With my eyes half open, I ran to the side and had to jump over a fence. Throughout the entire run, I had to force myself to breathe; as difficult as it was, I needed to breathe.
This is what I saw. I saw people falling all over the place with some falling behind the fence. I saw faces of people gasping for air. I saw the faces of people drench with their own tears. I saw the noses, flowing like a tap.
I saw strangers helping each other out. I saw strangers offering water and salt. As I ran to a small lane, I took a rest, and helped others as they ran into the lane, seeking refuge. There were people coughing, choking and some even passing out. It was chaotic, but at the same time it was inspiring to see complete strangers, quickly becoming friends.
Lane a temporary refuge
The lane was a refuge only for a little while. More demonstraters poured into the little lane, and then it was gassed. We made a run, careful not to tire ourselves too quickly.
I made it out to Jalan Raja Laut, right in front of DBKL. In the building, behind the glass doors were DBKL personnel, standing and watching as the demonstrators stuggled to keep up. Salt and water was still being offered. Some of the barricade were toppled over to spill precious water out. It was overwhelming to see how help was freely given at such a time like this.
Being quite far from Dataran Merdeka, I thought I was safe. I was wrong. We were being hunted down, and then I was gassed for the third time. I sought refuge in a small ATM room, which honestly smelt like vomit. It’s a choice I have to make, and I held my breath for as long as I could. I can’t stand the smell anymore and made it out, and immediately felt the stinging sensation from the tear gas. It was slight, but I do not want to risk it anymore.
I ran past to the back of DBKL and saw a bunch of policemen running towards me. I then made my way to Jalan Parlimen with some help from my friends, walking alongside the police. I believe they won’t get gassed, so I felt relatively safe. They were friendly, and were not provocative.
Nothing much happened to me after that as I sat down on a bridge over Sungai Gombak, munching down on some biscuits that I brought with me. I could still hear tear gas being fired along Jalan Tun Perak.
