When Darkness Fears the Light
Police breathe down heavily over an anti-ISA candlelight vigil
by our correspondent
Outside the Lake Garden entrance to the Bukit Aman police headquarters
We first sat on the flower-bed ledge on the corner kerb facing the main gate. Some friends came from work and brought their packed dinner. Most people seem to know each other. There were several conversations going on - which just tells you - people are comfortable with the company we keep!
Several plainclothes police personnel took their places in the crowd. They stood out in their leather ‘tough guy’ jackets. Some tried making small conversation, “Kenapa lilin kuning?” (“Why the yellow candles?”) or some lame thing.
At about 8.15 pm. a guy with a yellow jacket bearing the initials “DSI” came to the peaceful crowd. I wished him good evening and asked him if he had had his dinner. Why? Because we are all model, polite and civilised vigil-ers lah.
“Datang mahu bakar ke?” (You’ve come here to burn something?”) he said.
“Ini bukan bakar, ini menyalakan lilin untuk vigil,” (“Not to burn something but to light candles for a vigil,”) someone patiently explained. “Kita dah tahu awak nak buat joke ini, jadi tak funny lagi..sorry.” (“We knew you were going to make this wisecrack, so it’s not funny anymore …sorry.”)
He appeared to be more interested in my friend X who was clicking away and spoke in a Chinese dialect to him. X is very friendly and both of them appeared engrossed in some intelligent conversation for a time.
Two people sat at one end to draft a quick speech. Some reporters interviewed several other people. “How come no banners?”
Well, because the notice said only candles and we have to respect the understanding that brought people together.
“How about some songs?”
Nobody remembered much. Two of us knew the first two lines of “Suara Rakyat” (the People’s Voice). I guess it has been a long while for the non-reformasi vigil-ers. Someone said that Jonah had all the songs.
Some FRU police were lined up in front of the gate facing the crowd. They advanced, beating their sticks on their shields. There were about seven to ten of them.
It was most heartening to see that the lyrics of the Suara Rakyat song were known to several of the camera crew/news people who led the singing of the whole song among the crowd! I had tears in my eyes. This was so amazing. Jonah would have been absolutely thrilled.
We then stood in a line with candles held high facing the gate.
The DSI fellow came with another police chap with some pips on his shoulder. This chap, his finger pointing to the crowd, walked up and down pronouncing, “This is an illegal assembly!” There were the usual threats about arrest and dispersal.
….ZzzZzZZzzz….
Plainclothes police lined up silently behind the line. They stood very close. Excuse me, we were not even related!
The chap with pips and beret separated the line by telling reporters, their crews and vigil-ers to stand away if they did not want to be arrested. He was also very camera shy and shouted that pictures should not be taken.
The DSI then said we had 5 minutes.
“Thirty minutes” I said.
“No, five” he said. “Are you speaking for these people?”
“Ya sure, why not? But hey, why is that other guy harassing us when you said we have five minutes? Who is in charge here? You or him? If you said five, tell him to stop harassing us.”
Plainclothes police now stood at the side and at the back of the line. I think there were about five to seven friends in that line. I cannot remember if there were other friends with candles at the back of us.
All this police shouting tires you. It’s so uncool because you have to shout to be heard as well. A friend in line ‘shouted’ politely (we had no choice but to shout, but we shouted politely) that we had every right to stay and that the assembly was not illegal. He repeated this.
The cameras went clicking. The chip (I mean pips) and beret guy pointed fingers everywhere.
“If we have five minutes, are you going to whack us when we are dispersing or are you going to give us time to disperse?”
The DSI didn’t answer.
Was that incomprehensible? Okay, let us try again. The question was repeated.
Finally he said that he would give us time to disperse.
“Okay, how much time are you going to give for dispersal? You have to give us time and you cannot go after us when we are dispersing and whack us because there are just too many news people and its going to be bad publicity for the police.”
“Don’t challenge me and ask me questions,” he fumed. “This is an illegal assembly.”
“Well you are standing here with us; you are in an illegal assembly as well.”
He shouted, “I am in uniform and performing my duty..blah.. blah...blah. Arrest this one first if they don’t leave. You have three minutes left.”
X had been taking pics all the time. When our time was up according to the police, the guy with the pips and beret said to X, “I want to question you. Who are you?”
Someone shouted, “Bebaskan (free) Jonah! Bebaskan Fuad!”
We came around X and our friends refused to allow X to go with the guy. I could have sworn X said ‘Never mind’ (meaning he would go with the police). I held onto his T-shirt sleeve while a friend decided that the police should know that we knew our rights and proceeded to say so. I can’t remember if she quoted sections of the Criminal Procedure Code. That was so impressive.
This went on for some time. “Matikan lilin! (extinguish the candles!) Matikan lilin!” the DSI said.
But to no avail - because we had to first sort out this matter involving X with the pips and beret police fellow. The plainclothes police stood so close behind us that we could have collided into them as we turned or could have easily tripped over their shoes and broken a hip, man!
So X came away with us unscathed. We got into our modes of transport, with the police close on our heels. The cars then left, some hooting “Re-For-Ma-Si”. I looked at my watch. It was 8.55 pm.
Thank you to all friends and supporters who came with us for Jonah and to all mahasiswa yang digugat oleh ISA dan UUCA (university students threatened by the ISA and the Universities and University Colleges Act).
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It was a clear evening when the first candle was lit at about 8.10 pm just outside the Lake Garden entrance to the Bukit Aman police headquarters. About 15 to 20 people were there.
A friend gave a short speech in Bahasa explaining to the crowd, which had doubled (mostly news people and their camera crew), why the vigil was being held - for a friend, Khairul Anuar Ahmad Zainuddin, or Jonah as he is known to many. It was very sad that Jonah was not with us in the crowd. Someone began the song, “Suara Rakyat” after the speech.