Bersih’s (Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections) rally will be back soon. Bersih’s first rally are held on 10th November 2007 where around 40,000 Malaysians gathered together in Kuala Lumpur. On 9th July 2011, Malaysian citizens gathered again in Kuala Lumpur, other local’s big cities and all over the globe marching for Bersih 2.0. The numbers of people joining the Bersih 2.0 rally was better than Bersih 1.0.

With help from social media such as twitter and facebook, also the improvement of technology such as camera and video recorder, the news about Bersih 2.0 spread faster than before. There’s thousands of tweets, status, pictures and videos posted to the internet regarding the rally and all of us are able to get the unbiased news from time to time.

As the general election’s coming soon while most Malaysian’s citizens still think that Malaysia’s election systems and politics aren’t improving yet, Bersih rally will be held again this month. The following are some information regarding Bersih 3.0 rally;

• Date : 28th April 2012
• Time : 2.00 p.m
• Venue : Dataran Merdeka
• Organizer : Bersih

Now, I you ask me what is my political stand, I can’t answer your question because I don’t even have any. Why? because I think that politics are just a crap. Fighting for people’s manifesto by all the politicians are nothing more than a crap. I do believe that all politicians have their own agenda and joining politics for their own benefit. They will only fight for people during the election’s campaign and we can’t see them anymore after they’ve won. This is a true story and the same goes to both oppositions and also government parties.

Somehow, I do like the idea of Bersih. As we all know, the BN government have ruled for such a long time and many of their politicians feels very comfortable with that. This leads to corruption (the same goes to the opposition) such as bribery, using people’s money for own use and many more cases that you guys might know better.

Bersih’s rally however can shake the government’s balls sack. It reminds them about the people’s power. It makes them to be concern again about the citizens. All in all, we can see some changes to our political environment and Malaysians will gain some benefits from that. Yes there is some pain during the rally but hey, if there is no pain, there is no gain, right?

Regardless your political stand, there’s effect before, during and after the rally. I’ve ruled out 10 things that you guys should be prepared for upcoming Bersih 3.0 rally. It doesn’t matter if you’re joining or not, you’ll suffer for a while especially if you resides in or somewhere near Kuala Lumpur.

Police’s road block

Local policeman will be busy. There will be police’s road block everywhere especially near Kuala Lumpur. They will prevent people from entering Kuala Lumpur to join the march. There’s also a random inspection where you need to open your car’s trunk if you’re suspicious.

Some tips;

• Do not bring weapon
• Avoid wearing yellow
• Find an alternative road
• Prepare to be late
• Be patient

Roads closing and diversion

This is annoying. The will be a lot of diversion. You can’t enter this road, that and that too. Make a U turn and go back to where you belong.

Some tips;

• Find an alternative road
• Prepare to be late
• Be patient

Massive traffic jam

This is the result of road blocks or road diversion. Normally, during road blocks there’s only one lane are open for traffic while the rest are temporarily close. It doesn’t matter how many lanes there is, two, three or four, you will only allowed to use one.

Meanwhile, there’s also an impatient driver or a reckless driver that may create accidents. More traffic jam in addition to the above two causes.

Some tips;

• Bring foods and beverages
• Avoid travel with babies and kids
• Plan your trip wisely
• Find an alternative road
• Prepare to be late
• Be patient

Shops closing

This is bad. Business are not running during the march. Every shop owner are afraid if anything went wrong. They can’t really afford to get mug. Even if they want to open their shops, it will be almost impossible when there’s no raw materials supply. Worst, the shop owner will be stuck in the traffic jam.

Some tips;

• Buy everything needed earlier
• During rally, bring your own foods
• Cancel your shopping’s dream

FRU’s tear gas

Sometimes, the protesters turn to be aggressive. Sometimes the authorities turn to be aggressive. When this happen, tear gas will be all over the places.

The followings are symptoms of tear gas exposure;

• stinging and burning of the eyes, nose, mouth, and skin
• excessive tearing
• blurred vision
• runny nose
• salivation (drooling)
• exposed tissue may develop a rash and a chemical burn
• coughing and difficulty breathing, including a feeling of choking
• disorientation and confusion, which may lead to panic
• intense anger

Some tips;

• Don’t panic
• Run away from the gas
• Use gas mask
• Cover mouth and nose with clean shirt
• Use goggles
• Bring water (for your eyes)
• Go to higher places
• Don’t rub your eyes
• Try not to swallow
• First aid kit

FRU’s water gun

To avoid protesters from entering some area, FRU’s will shoot a water gun. You’ll not only get wet but you might get hurt as well.

Some tips;

• Spare cloth
• Rain coat
• Don’t panic
• Run away
• Find shelter
• First aid kit
• Cover your electronics device with plastics

Accident & get hurt

There might be road accident. The might be somebody injured after falling because of the water gun. The might be crowd pushing. At this moment, it’s hard to get help from paramedics with an ambulance.

Some tips;

• Don’t panic
• Find shelter
• Bring you meds (inhaler or pain killer etc)
• First aid kit
• Ask for help
• Call somebody you know (near)
• Let others know you’re going so that they can find you later
• Go with friends/group

Get arrested

Never have this kind of mindset “I didn’t do anything, just going in peace and nobody will arrest me” because you are so wrong. There might be a radical protesters messing with the authority. You should not stand there and watching because they might catch and arrest you as well. When they get you, never beg because everything is “balai cerita“.

Some tips;

• Don’t panic
• Run away
• Bring sufficient meds stock (inhaler or pain killer etc)
• Let others know you’re going so that they can find you later
• Go with friends/group
• Prepare a lawyer
• Prepare a bail out money

Camera and video recorder

In this modern world, you should have this with you. Not for enjoying the photography moment but for evidence matters.

Some tips;

• Sufficient battery
• Waterproof cover
• Bag to keep it and run easily
• Avoid using in crowd
• Be careful
• Only snap at a safe place

Mobile phone and coins

In case of emergency, you have to let somebody know. You should have a few coins in your pocket so that you could use the public phone.

 

Don’t forget to sleep, eat, and drink lots of water. No matter how well rested and prepared we are and how tight our plan of action is with our affinity group, we can never really predict what will happen in an action, how the police will (over)react to our demonstration, no matter how peaceful we may be.

Got some more tips? Voice out in the comments section below and don’t forget to share this tips.

Poster 1 source

Poster 2 source