Accidental Blogger: Anti-ISA Candle Light Vigil

This is a long awaited post indeed as I had to wait for the right mood to post this because I did not want to be stumped for words. So here goes. I will relate my share of the story on that blessed day.

The vigil was scheduled to begin at 8:00PM on Saturday the 27th of September. But being the people (Murali, Sriganesh and I) we are we only started driving to the Bukit Jalil LRT stadium at 7:30PM and reached there at about 7:50PM. By the time we parked and got onto the LRT it was already 8 and reached Dataran at about 8:20PM to find the field cordoned off by rolls of "police line, do not cross" tape around the who vicinity of the field.

Before we got off the LRT we saw patrol cars and a lot of people gathered near 7-11 opposite Puduraya. Therefore when we saw no people in dataran we figured that the crowd could have moved there since the field was cordoned off. Just to be sure Murali flipped out his "more canggih than my" phone and checked MalaysiaKini. It had been reported that the crowd had marched to the "Court Malai (Hill)" Vinayagar Temple to perform prayers and have a small gathering.

As we walked back from Dataran to the temple, droves of people were heading in the opposite direction i.e. towards dataran. We asked one guy and he mentioned that it was over and they were heading home. Sad but not that sad because I managed to bump into Haris Ibrahim who is one of my favourites in the field of blogging. It was an honour to meet him. We had a small chat and asked him if there was anything there near the temple. He said it was almost done but it was worth having a look and bid us to "keep the fire burning" and we followed the crowd. We kept the fire burning indeed as there were still people at the 7-11 holding candles.

There were many Hindraf supporters with their shirts reading "keep walking" and a silhouette of Mahatma Gandhi. There were also people with yellow shirts that read quotes such as Daulat Tuanku and Justice for Altantuya with a picture of Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) on it. They were still holding their half melted candles and standing there with the crowd from Hindraf.

We decided to light our candles too. Yes, we brought our own. As we were lighting it, along came YB Ronnie Liu and YB Chong Eng (DAP BM). They shook hands with the crowd and mingled with them like how friends would. I was impressed how the two MPs were very down to earth. Even we spoke to YB Ronnie Liu and YB Chong Eng. We managed to take pictures too. I had a lengthy conversation with YB Chong Eng as she is from my home state of Penang.

After conversing with the MPs we stood around for awhile and sang happy birthday to RPK with the crowd, chanted a few slogans such as "Hapuskan ISA" and "Free Raja Petra". After that the Police walked over to YB Ronnie Liu and advised him to advice us to disperse. The Police were indeed very co-operative and stood there without bothering the participants and were making sure that nothing got out of hand. They even shook hands with the "opposition MPs" and showed them utmost respect. KUDOS to the police.

YB Ronnie then advised us to disperse and to adjourn to the stalls at Petaling Street. He was willing to treat the small crowd that were gathered there.

Through the whole account and the crowd we saw, we estimated about no more than 500 people. When we read other news reports, they mentioned 2000. To our disbelief we saw the pictures by the press and clips on youtube, I would indeed have to agree that the crowd was equal to or more than 2000.

I would also like to comment here about the t-shirt i wore for the vigil. I was wearing a Bone Thugs n Harmony t-shirt. The first reason why i wore it was because when they had a gathering at the Masjid Jamek LRT station a few days before the vigil, to explain about the anti-ISA campaign, they advised supporters to spot a red and black dress code. I assumed that it would be the same for the vigil and the only red and black shirt i had was the Bone Thugs N Harmony t-shirt (I did not have a black pants but i had a red shirt....but that would defeat the purpose) The second reason I was wearing the shirt was because Bone Thugs N Harmony (BTNH) is my favourite rap group and they have presented a number of songs with positive messages (albeit their songs about drugs and street life, gangsterism, etc.) I really care a damn about what BTNH have said about the usage of drugs and all as I have a mind of my own and I am mature enough to distinguish the good vs. the bad. The third reason why BTNH came to mind was because they have this song called change the world. I have included the video for this song below and i hope you enjoy it. I have included an excerpt of the lyrics sung by Krayzie Bone in this song which roughly depicts the current status of our beloved country's political situation:

"Sometimes I sit and think about if I could change the world
Get in the mind of the little boys and girls
Show 'em that it is a better way
Satan got you trippin' don't listen to what the devil say
'Cause he can deceive ya
Play with your brain and mislead ya
But it won't be long
'Til the angels come
There's no where to hide but he'll run
Babylon the great has fallen
God is callin'
We all in y'all in
Souljahs go marchin' in bombin' 'em
But this time we ain't talkin'
We are tryin' to hit the target we launchin'
Police brutality got to cease
But I see the NYPD don't want peace
And the LAPD don't weant peace
So we'll never be free
So come on

We only got 'til the end of time (we got to the end of time)
To change the world (we shall overcome) change the world the world [x2]
It's a crazy mixed up world
It's the end of the world
It's a crazy mixed up world
'Cause it's the end of the world [x2]
"

Here's a video of the song (Krayzie's verse is at 3mins:55sec ) as well as other photos from the vigil...ENJOY :)
Till then it's your Boy VixStaRR (the Accidental Blogger)