— Foong Wai Fong
The Malaysian Insider
May 12, 2013

MAY 12 — My brother and his friend picked me up from Saujana and we proceeded slowly over to the Kelana Jaya Museum. None of us were speaking much as it was a solemn and sad occasion; it is like we are going

for a wake… to mourn the death of democracy.

I truly felt how the family of Tan Beng Hock felt when they were told that their son “committed suicide.”

On the morning of May 6th even pass midnight of May 5th, that was how we felt, “ PR Lost.” The whole process of announcing the result make you feel that they forced it down your throat, “ I said you lose, so you lose.”

How different is this from the way they treated the death of Tan Beng Hock.

My brother and I, and some of our other friends felt we just have to be at the Kelana Jaya Rally.

PR fought so hard to try to change the status quo for us; how can we not be there to show our support.

Yes, there is nothing much we can do now except the legal route, but showing up in strength is to send a message for those who worked hard that the people appreciated it; and that we are together in this struggle for a better Malaysia for all. That was the motivation for us to be there. It is very much like attending a wake, you want to be with the family of the bereaved to show them that you care.

This is my first attendance to a big rally. I was shocked at the size of the crowd and the orderliness. Mostly young people; by the time we got in, there was only some room on the field, we sat down, and we were lucky in a section wihere the loud speakers were clear so the messages were audible and powerful. It was a sorrowful night.

My heart went out to the PR leaders who worked so hard trying to bring about change. Everyone knew the Malaysian election system is unfair, and like the BERSIH rallies, which I went to the last two; the solidarity is very strong.

It is the Rakyat versus the election commission; our victory was stolen by a system skewed to protect UMNO and BN.

The MC led very powerful renditions of “Kita Anak Malaysia,” the crowd responded with strong echo of that, it felt like tens of thousands of people calling out to the Gods for justice!

It was an amazing night, and an experience that I will never forget. After the emotional “Negara Ku” the crowd slowly dispersed, but it was impossible to get my brother’s car.

So I left them and started to walk home to my place in Saujana along Lapangan Terbang Subang.

It took me well over 90 minutes to make the journey; and I reached home passed midnight.

Malaysia, you deserve more; let’s not let all these energy and effort end in vain; let’s pull ourselves together and stand up firm against injustice; the Electoral system must be reformed before any new election can be meaningful.

BN or PR, let’s do this for our children. Malaysia deserves respect in the international place. We have gone so far, the BN government has to give credit to the PR leadership and Malaysians for their strong discipline and their commitment to change by peaceful means.