2015; It was a dare
challenge. Indeed it was a boring weekend, and Bersih4 hype up my
friend. He was really into meeting politician and I am not that kind
of person. We gone through the cold night to Dataran Merdeka and
witnessed the big crowd, I can’t count even mainstream media gave a
ridiculously small figure. And there was one policeman, totally my
type, how I wish I was brave enough to at least gave him an intro.
Too bad I forgot his name already.
The next day, it’s our second
trip to Dataran Merdeka, for a better much understanding on what
really happen over there during Bersih event. I read through my
Facebook that there gonna be a gathering spot for LGBT, I founded it
and I was that guy standing not too far from them and just looked the
group waving the rainbow flag. There were few people there wearing
tag “Free hug” - remind me of those love campaign somewhere out
of here. I only managed to capture the pictures of the rainbow flag
and make it as my Whatsapp profile photo – not until my mum told me
to change it since there’s obvious yellow shirts everywhere – the
Bersih official shirt colour.
Fast forward to
2016, I was so excited for Bersih5 and we planned well. There were
precautions we need to always keep in our mind. I would say it was my
first time getting into such organising group for such bold act.
19th
November 2016, a bit late to the venue – grabbed my own Bersih5
shirt, too late to grab it from the official store since the police
raid. Quickly find the rainbow flag, get into the right mode and yes,
we gone through the hot weather. It’s been awhile since I did
physical activity, the experience, totally worth it. From Bangsar we
headed to Dataran Merdeka, stopped by the police. It was a moment I
kinda scared of what might happen, but again we were totally prepared
for everything.
Reroute; Then we headed to KLCC, much better place to show our
banner. The reaction? From the beginning till the end of Bersih5,
despite some misunderstood among the committee of Bersih, we got
positive feedback from the participants. Obviously the mainstream
media gonna put us as the black sheep of democracy. It’s
“surprising” to get negative reactions from “conservative LGBT”
- as they believe being in the closet as the ultimate solution. The
positive responses make me believe that there are hopes for a better
Malaysia. Despite on continuous attacks we received, are we just
gonna stop because of their hatred? Or this hatred is a sign of a
good beginning?
Response articles;
(MalaysiaKini) LGBT Malaysians uphold democracy because we are citizens
(themalaymailonline) Labelled ‘militant’, LGBT community says joined Bersih 5 to uphold democracy
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| From Bangsar LRT heading to Dataran Merdeka |
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| Too hot thus need a break |
