Jan was picked from her house on Wednesday at around 4pm by a group of seven police personnel from the Karamunsing Police Station.
She was only released on police bail with two guarantors, at about 6.30pm, after her statement was recorded by a police officer.
When contacted for comment, Jan said even though this was the first time that she has been detained, she was nonetheless calm and was not really worried of what’s going to happened to her.
“This was despite the fact that one of the policeman was “rude and unprofessional”, simply shouting for her to come out from her house,” she told The Borneo Insider.
“I was trained and prepared for such an eventuality; this was not the first time I have participated in such activity,” she said, adding that she was involved in Bersih 2.0 and 3.0.
Jan also disclosed that during her brief ‘detention’ by the police, she was allowed to call her lawyer who immediately rushed to the police station to ensure her rights are protected.
“But, he was not allowed to accompany me during the ‘interview’ and was told to wait outside the room,” she related.
However, Jan categorically denied she is the leader for the Silent Walk, claiming that the event was organized a group of ragtag civil activists and she was just lending them her support.
She also said she was happy to see so many new faces, the young people especially, during the silent protest, signifying that there’s still hope for a real democracy in the county.
A group of 60 people, youths between 20 – 30 wearing black shirts, had on Monday gathered at the Suria Sabah shopping complex here to take part in the said walk, from where they gathered to the nearby Wawasan Shopping Complex.
A trainer for Polling and Counting Agents (PACABA) from Tindak Malaysia, Jan also expressed concern over her observation made at the Sri Gaya polling station, that most of the clerks deployed by the Election Commission (EC) were not properly-trained.
“I had to teach them what to do,” said Jan who was the Polling cum Counting Agent for the SAPP candidate for Luyang.
However, to a question, she replied that she didn’t t see any ‘hanky-panky’ during the counting of votes.
Tindak Malaysia is an electoral movement made up of Malaysian volunteers whose main objective is to advocate a fair and clean election in Malaysia, by educating and training of the volunteers to become Polling and Counting Agents.
Jan, 35, who studied Animation and Digital Effects at University of Wolverhampton and Bournemouth University, in United Kingdom, is the youngest and only girl in the family. She has two elder brothers.
She is also a member of Bersih Sabah chapter.
By Victor Ma
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Below is an account of rude experience narrated by Jan Chow
“JAN Chow! Where are you?”
At 3pm on the 8th of May, I received 2 phone calls “JAN Chow! Where are you?” requesting me to submit to the police station for a statement. They didn’t introduce themselves, and they didn’t tell me the purpose of the call. After discussions with my lawyer, I asked the unknown voice on the phone if I could come in the next day morning. He agreed at first, but then changed his mind.
At 4:30pm, A police van appeared in front of my house. 5 un-uniformed men and 2 women repeatedly shouted my name from the street, asking me to come out. I requested to see some documentation. One man replied simply, “we are police”. Unwilling to show me their documentation, one officer flashed me an ID card and pulled it back so quickly that I never had a chance to see it. He threatened to cuff me if I refuse to enter the van.
I was sent to the criminal section of Karamunsing Police station. They made me sit beside someone who was cuffed and kneeling on the floor. My lawyer arrived who understood. He told me I didn’t have to answer any of their questions. But when I was asked to give a statement, my lawyer was not allowed in the room. Despite a few blackouts that slowed the process down, the officer questioning me did his job well and asked me all the procedural questions. When we finished, he asked me to get 2 of my friends to bail me out. Two of my friends rushed over and Dr Chong Eng Leong generously came prepared to bail me out. But they did not charge me any fee. I merely have to report myself on 22nd May to the police station.
It was not a scary experience at all. I am writing this to reassure my friends and family and everyone who cares about me. Please do not worry. I was overwhelmed by all the love I received after the incident. I would say we did achieve some kind of “Change” in our nation, may be not the same change the politicians have been shouting about, but a social change nonetheless I do not support any political party, hence I will not respond to Anwar’s call for a gathering. But I do think that SPR and the new government must investigate the election results and resolve any irregularities through the proper legal processes. If they refuse to do their job, I think you will see young people forcing their voice into your comfort zone.
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