RAKYAT PENGAYUH PERUBAHAN BERMULA 7/12/2012

It was the final day. It would finally determine if the organizers and cyclist end up in Parliament or end up in some police lock-up. We have arranged lunch at Selangor Chinese Assemble Hall but again we were just unsure and we decided that maybe we should just organize lunch boxes.

 By 8am, our buses started to come to the capital Kuala Lumpur. Here we were initially misguided by the police. The Police had started its maneuver. One bus was stopped and told that they will be taken to Brickfield police station, another bus was stopped and told to wait, yet another bus was diverted and later told that it will be escorted out of Kuala Lumpur. At this time, we had decided that if the buses are stopped, then the participants will just walk out and walk towards Parliament. The police were equally confused. They did not get clear instruction and this resulted in all our buses carrying cyclist managed  to reach Lake Garden- the destination pre-determined by us.

 Now we had 2 strategies. We slowly got our cyclist as well as supporters to slowly walk up to the Parliament gates. The police did not stop them because their instruction is to ensure the cycles do not reach Parliament. Once our cyclist and supporters reached Parliament gates and as the Parliament guards were making arrangements for 120 cyclist to move into the multi-purpose hall in Parliament, we embarked on plan B. Under plan B, we had 30 cyclists to cycle one by one to Parliament. The first cyclist was Simon. He managed to start cycling but was stopped by the police. He then started to push his cycle, this was also stopped by the police. At this time there was a stand-off with police. Police could not give any legal argument why the cyclist was stopped except that he has orders. The police wanted to declare the cycling as illegal procession but we did not have any cyclist following the first one. This was our tactical move which baffled the police. Amer Hamzar the lawyer team was also there. The poor police held on to the bicycle as if it was the most dangerous weapon heading towards Parliament.

 Soon police manning the Parliament were getting restless. We then argued with the ground command Tuan Hamid. He was trying to be reasonable but again he said he cannot allow any cycling as this was his orders. Once again, he has got nothing legally to stop the cyclist. By this time, Dr. Jeyakumar led a number of Opposition MPs to come down to negotiate with police. Sivarasa, Gobind, Tian Chua, Dr. Hatta, Manogar, Manikam and a few others came by. 

The police now started to panic. They argued on how can the police stop those invited to parliament? Now the police chief said that we will allow one cyclist. He then agreed to allow five. The lorry carrying the cycles then appeared in front of the road leading to Parliament. Bicycles were unloaded. Then the police got worried and tried stopping the bicycles. Then some of the MPs started to ride the bicycles inside. The police was dumb-founded. 12 bicycles managed to go in. At this time, the police created a big havoc and arrested one supporter and tried to arrest a few more. A fight broke out. By now, we know that we have won as 12 cycles did manage to go into Parliament. The orders of the Deputy IGP had been defeated. Three police District manned by the CPO of Kuala Lumpur failed to stop bicycles from entering Parliament. It was a victory and we stopped here as we did not want more arrest to take place.

The cyclist which managed to enter Parliament got tremendous support as they rode by. The police look defeated at all counts. The program  inside Parliament went on without any incident. Speeches, lunch and Press conference were held. Outside the remaining crowd dispersed to Chinese Assemble hall awaiting a victory celebration.

A victory celebration then commenced at 3pm when the cyclist returned. They were given certificate and medals. Speeches and victory slogan thundered the hall. It was a well fought 2 weeks and it ended in the Parliament. Many cyclists were in tears. The organizers proud that they have accomplished a historical victory. One MP observed, with just one Socialist MP, so much in-roads had been met referring to the 130 people allowed to enter Parliament

 The police tried everything – arrest, intimidation, media and sabotage. It failed to dampen the spirit. Each day, a battle erupted but on the final count, it was a resounding victory for JERIT