As provocateurs paint towns yellow, Bersih 4 organiser believes it’s doing the ‘right thing’

(Malay Mail Online) – Although acts of provocation appear to be more brazen ahead Bersih 4 compared to previous demonstrations, rally organiser Bersih 2.0 has chosen to take it in its stride, believing the attention, no matter how negative, only indicates it is on the right path.

The polls reform watchdog’s chief Maria Chin Abdullah labelled the provocation an act of desperation by those opposed to the rally scheduled for this weekend, and urged people not to vandalise public property.

“We see this as an affirmation that what we are doing is the right thing,” Chin told Malay Mail Online.

She added that about 250,000 people are estimated to attend the Bersih 4 rally in the city centre here and that Bersih 2.0 has recruited 2,000 to engage in crowd control.

Outdoor murals in Penang, including the popular painting of two children on a bicycle installation by Lithuanian street artist Ernest Zacharevic, were recently defaced with the word “#4.0” spray-painted in bright yellow, Bersih 2.0’s official colour.

Several cars and shophouses in George Town were similarly vandalised with the bright yellow “#4.0” too.

A poster titled “Planet of the Beruk 4” with a yellow background and an image of a character from the movie “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” has emerged on Facebook, showing images of people attacking and overturning a car, an incident which occurred at the Bersih 3.0 rally in 2012 that saw the use of tear gas and alleged police brutality. “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”, a sci-fi film released last year, shows scenes of a city under attack by gun-toting apes.

A doctored photograph of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has also appeared online, showing the former prime minister holding up books with a Bersih 4 cover.

Local daily The Sun reported that the actual photograph shows Dr Mahathir holding copies of his book titled “Dr Mahathir’s Selected Letters to World Leaders (Volume 2)”.

News portal Malaysiakini reported several pro-establishment groups, such as the Malaysian Armed Forces Veterans Association, protesting recently against Bersih 4, with the protesters wearing yellow shirts showing the Bersih 4 logo and the words “Cintakan Keamanan, Menyokong Kepimpinan DS Najib, Menolak Bersih 4 Jahat Ambiga Untuk Menjatuhkan Perdana Menteri Malaysia” (Love Peace, Support DS Najib’s Leadership, Reject Ambiga’s Evil Bersih 4 that Aims to Topple the Malaysian Prime Minister). Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, however, has already resigned as co-chair of Bersih 2.0.

News portal The Rakyat Post reported yesterday an anti-Bersih group, dressed in red, who smashed wood and roof tiles on their heads as preparations for “self-defence” in the event of violence at the Bersih 4 rally.

Chin has said that the overnight Bersih 4 rallies to go on simultaneously here in the national city centre, Kuching in Sarawak and Kota Kinabalu in Sabah, aims to press for institutional reforms, as well as to demand Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s resignation over his handling of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) controversy.

Officially, however, Bersih 4 has five demands: Clean elections; clean government; right to dissent; strengthening parliamentary democracy and saving the economy.

City police have banned the Bersih 4 rally on grounds that the electoral watchdog did not get permission from Kuala Lumpur City Hall to hold the demonstration at Dataran Merdeka, which the police dubbed as the “owner” of the venue.

Likewise in Sabah, after the Kota Kinabalu City Hall denied permission to the state’s Bersih 4 rally organisers to hold their demonstration at the Tanjung Lipat park near the waterfront.

Only in Sarawak have state police agreed to the Bersih 4 rally, after its state organiser agreed to switch their choice of venue from the centrally-located Padang Merdeka in Kuching to the Song Kheng Hai rugby field, which was also the site for two other state demonstrations last month.

Sarawak Bersih said yesterday it is still waiting for word from the field’s owner, the Kuching South City Council, to give its greenlight.

The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia, however, has said that the police and other enforcement authorities do not have the power to ban peaceful gatherings and told the authorities to protect rally participants instead.