– Thomas Jefferson

COMMENT Yesterday, I wrote of why I chose to wear yellow. This time it was not because of free and fair elections or about prime minister Najib stepping down or about any one of the numerous reasons why Bersih decided to hold this march. I wore yellow because of the people this regime attempts to destroy, past and present.

Last year in my article on the dangerous ideas of Bersih rallies I wrote – “Lastly, going out to the streets and protesting is a risky endeavour especially when the Umno establishment has hinted that violence is always possible. It is a risk that every citizen accepts for whatever reason he or she decided to show contempt for how this political party is running this country.”

While people were concerned of the red shirts, they were by no means intimidated by them. The young people for instance had a kind of recklessness that was infectious. I spoke to many young people about why they were here and this only confirmed my belief that what Bersih actually does is create a situation where people with diverse objectives come together and show their displeasure at how the system works.

Many young people I talked to believed that it was time they took matters into their own hands. They were not exactly sure how to do this but getting used to showing their dissatisfaction on the streets seemed like a good way to remind the political elites that there was something seriously wrong with how the country was run.

One young woman said, “The government tells me to study hard and not get involved in politics. Then they steal our money and when we finish our studies nobody wants to hire us.” A quiet youth from some sort of settlement told me in Malay how bad things were in the rural heartlands. He said normally PAS organises these marches but this time he came with his friends. They also took the opportunity to visit friends and sightsee.

When I asked them what they hoped to achieve by attending this march, they said they hoped people would not forget them and that prices were getting expensive where they came from. A group of students told me how they had missed all “those other rallies” and that they were worried about this country.

“Most young people are told to move overseas and make a life in another country but not all of us can afford to move away.” said a young man who was there with his girlfriend. “And uncle, we do not want to move, we love this country,” his girlfriend added.

I met many folks from the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community who had read a piece of mine some time back, and were worried that the intolerance of this regime would make their lives even more difficult. It was harder for them because mainstream political parties were always lukewarm about championing their cause because the issue of religion always popped up.

“When it comes to Asian values, we will always be in trouble,” said a young man who identifies as female (Now you will forgive me, if I do not use the proper terminology). “There is so much hypocrisy in this country and people will use God to justify their bigotry,” said a young teacher from a small town. “And I am not only talking about Islam,” she added.

However, the most unusual discussion I had was with a young man who answered, why he was here with, “To punctuate the dreariness.” When I informed him that I liked ‘In the line of Fire’ too, we got into a long conversation about Clint Eastwood movies.

Civil servants

Jamal ‘red-shirt’ Md Yunos would be unhappy to discover that nearly none of the senior citizens I talked to took him seriously. They knew that he was capable of violence but they would not be intimidated by “state-sponsored” aggression as one retired civil servant told me.

I was amazed at how many civil servants, retired and still serving participate in Bersih marches. A former high-ranking officer of the Kementrian Dalam Negri (Home Ministry) greeted me and we had a long discussion about the state of the country. Although he had been retired for many years, he was still invited for informal talks with the higher ups about the numerous problems facing this country.

As a former civil servant, he was appalled by the application of draconian laws on the enemies of the Umno state. He was worried that the police are too busy handling cases such as these instead of going after the real terrorists and criminals.

He was shocked at the sycophancy of intelligence officers who only seemed concerned to pandering to the expectations of the various potentates than ran riot in the corridors of power. He also told me that the schisms within Umno were more pronounced than what was reported in the mainstream and alternative media. All these provocations by the red shirts only made Bersih case more acceptable to the general public, he said.

One of things I despise about consumers of the alternative media is how they condemn anyone who works for the government. This meme that anyone who works for the government is some kind of collaborator is why many people in the civil service, retreat into communalism and a kind of siege mentality persists.

This is another reason why Bersih is far more conducive to propagating national unity than all the government-sponsored initiatives, when people of different backgrounds choose to engage it is far better than forcing people to “tolerate” differences of culture under the guise of unity.

Of course, I was on the lookout for familiar faces from the armed forces and this Bersih rally did not disappoint. When surprised me was besides the retired personnel who attended with their families they were many still serving personnel who took the trouble to come down and join the rally.

Mind you, they wore their yellow T-shirts openly and nearly all of them told me it was time they stepped up and exercised their democratic right to free speech and assembly. As one officer told me, is this not what we are serving the country for?

In the coming days, there will be many people who question what these rallies achieve? They will mock those who attended and claim that nothing will change. They will say that the Umno establishment will always eventually win. They will claim that these rallies are nothing more than a feel-good enterprise for bored urbanites.

Maybe all of what they say is true. Or maybe it was rallies like this that finally got a majority of Malaysians thinking that we can change the Umno system. Maybe Umno is terrified that these rallies are the shape of things to come. Maybe what these rallies really prove is that we are far more mature than what the Umno state would have us believe.

Maybe what these rallies prove is that some Malaysians have outgrown Umno and this terrifies the hegemon.

Part 1: Wearing yellow and making our democracy great again

S THAYAPARAN is commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy.