squeak. speak. roar!

I think pictures of me taking shelter from the rain under a banner shall be surfacing soon.

*eyes Xes and Tony* Send me the pictures please! :)

So the march came and went but I think the message that was sent out by the protesters would stick for a while :)

I was in bus WMD 5255 when we departed from Merdeka Square at around 9:40pm. SB’s were there and one even asked me about my colleagues. Man, they are good. Interviewed Amer quickly and Mr SB was quick to film him talking. Amer being the smartypants that he is said blithely that SB and Umno people were welcome to join the march :) We were the second bus to arrive at the first Putrajaya turn off leading towards Precinct 1 and we were stopped.

The leading bus was halted and I saw a few lawyers and council members coming down and talking to the police officers. I got down and turned my video camera on and filmed what was taking place. The police officer had in his hand a list of seven buses red-flagged from entering Putrajaya and the reason? Security. I kept filming and spoke to the police officer who refused to look me in the eye. I guess he is just following orders, can’t blame him. Who ever got hold of the list was bloody efficient though. After several failed attempts by the lawyers to contact some police chief who gave the orders, we decided to walk.

Led by Amer, Chee Wee and Edmund, it was pretty fun at first when Amer was playing tour guide.

“On your left is the istana,” he yelled into the loud-hailer.

I laughed cos he was wrong and I knew he was kidding. It was Shangri-La Hotel. lol. They of course proceeded to practice their slogan-yelling and chanting. It was not bad. Opposition party rallies are still a lot more coordinated. But it was a good start, nonetheless.

We kept walking and the crowd dwindled because some hitched ride from oncoming cars. I saw Nat drive past but decided not to take a ride cos express instructions from office was to ‘walk with them’. So I did. And I have blisters!!!! Even my Crocs couldn’t save me as I started developing blisters when I was about one kilometre away from the Palace of Justice. I also got sunburnt during the five kilometre walk. I am strangely chuffed with that though :)

So we reached the POJ and I was warmed by the applause that the lawyers got (which I’d like to leech off cos I did walk for five kilometres too!). When I got closer, I was greeted by the sight of thousands (there were A LOT of people) of black and white-clad people. I soon bumped into several college mates and reporters who were commenting on my slack dressing. It’s a protest people! I wore jeans in case I get shoved and fall down. Gotta protect the knees, yo.

The march began at noon and I was trailing behind trying to MMS pictures to office. As I tried to catch up with the those in front on my blistered feet, I bumped into several friends. It was really great to see Hui Yin and Shook Yee. Bless ‘em. I miss them :) Saw the DAP clan and caught up a little with Tony. Then I saw Nat and we made our way to the front lines. I was taking pictures and noting down little things. The lawyers and public were on the roundabout in front of the Prime Minister’s office and the Putrajaya Mosque while four Malaysian Bar council members made their way to see PM’s rep. The area was well guarded under the watchful eyes of about 30 FRU officers. There were more, I believe, in two police trucks and about 6 other red FRU trucks parked near the PM’s office.

Then I felt a few droplets on my arm. Then heavier droplets fell on my specs. Next thing I know, it was a heavy drizzle and I quickly took shelter under a banner with Weng San, Tony and Kay Peng. lol. First I thought it was funny then it started pouring and it didn’t stop. Of course by then I was like, “Crap, I think office will need more photos of the crowd and police etc” so I whipped my camera out and went trigger happy. My lens were wet and I was getting drenched. I managed to pause for a while to say hello to RPK and introduced myself. lol. Saw some bloggers too and said hello before bounding off to take more pictures.

The rain was relentless and neither were the people. Amer and a few other lawyers whose names I don’t know were doing an excellent job in keeping the crowd going. Among my favorites slogans were “Right, right, right … correct, correct, correct!” and “We want justice”. Such solidarity, such unity and such spirit. It’s amazing. I snapped out of my little moment of bliss when the rain got heavier. My camera and phone were wet and I was of course soaked to the bone. I was near the FRU officer when I rolled up my jeans and figured I’d screw it with formalities. The weight of water in my soaked jeans were really annoying me out of my mind.

I stood under various umbrellas hosted by different people. I had a good laugh under each one of them. I then received a text that Ambiga was coming out and I rushed to grab my camera and time was wasted when I couldn’t decide to use my notepad in the rain or my digital recorder. I opted for the latter. So there Ambiga was all smiles and the crowd was cheering with such a fervour that I was almost envious that I did not pursue law further. But now in my room after a hot shower and my first meal of the day, I’m much happier being a journalist and I feel I can affect change better in this profession :)

Anyway, so I hitched a ride back to KL with Nat at first and Shuf later. Got back to office all sore and tired. Wrote my story. Waited for it to be edited and I headed back home. I’m so proud that the lawyers decided to step up and make some noise about this rot plaguing the judiciary. I’m so proud members of the public are concerned about this matter. I’m just beaming that not everybody kena tipu by the government and not everybody is so easily scared of the authorities. Hidup rakyat!

So less talk and more pictures eh? I didn’t get to take much. Some were on film and others were taken when the rain was already pouring. lol. I also have some in mobile but my laptop’s not with me. Anyway, here goes:

He told me, this is the only time lawyers get to be cool.

All aboard!

Buses.

Cops were still around after the roadblock. Two SBs with their video camera kept filming us on and off all the way to POJ. I felt so um, glamourous. Got paparazzi wor. lol.

The front line in the rain.

Crowd + helicopter. It was hilarious how Amer told us to wave at the helicopter, so we did.

Malaysians. Bless ‘em.

I took this the very moment I heard the Zohor prayers.

FRU. Poor dudes had to stand in the rain as well. Bless ‘em too.

Trucks at PMO.

PMO. Helicopter. Lamp post that benefitted some bumi contractor.

Edmund in action.

This was what I meant by pouring rain. You can see Ambiga’s raised arm behind the police. Also in picture, PKR Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar.

Ambiga expresses how proud she is of the Malaysian Bar …

… but now let’s get back to work! :)

Now I need some rest. lol. Congrats to the Bar and congrats to all those who walked with them. You were all part of change for the betterment of the country. Polytikus salutes all of you! :)

All the reports at malaysiakini! Go go go!