Support for Bersih by Malaysians in Australia

More than 500 Malaysians and local Australians gather in Melbourne support of Bersih over the weekend.

PETALING JAYA: Hundreds of Malaysians attended the July 9 Bersih 2.0 (Coalition for Free and Fair Elections) rally in Melbourne, Australia.

Gathering in Melbourne’s Federation Square, the crowd numbered more than 500 people, including Malaysians and local Australians.

Australia’s Bersih 2.0 coordinator David Teoh, 27, said that he was happy with the turnout in the city that day.

“I am very proud of young Malaysians leading Bersih in Australia,” he told John Wee, a Malaysian student reporting on behalf of FMT.

He said that a few Australians were also involved in the Bersih movement there, adding that he would have joined the Kuala Lumpur rally if he was in Malaysia.

“I would have marched (there) and got all my friends to march. We don’t want a Bersih 3. We want this to be the last Bersih,” he said.

Wee told FMT that Bersih Melbourne rally-goers were treated to speeches on electoral reforms. The crowd also chanted “Hidup Malaysia”, “Bersih” and “Hidup Rakyat” slogans during the event.

He also said that many Malaysian restaurants in the city were packed with patrons wearing yellow-T-shirts.

Weekend rallies

The rally started at 1.30pm (11.30am Malaysian time) before ending peacefully one-and-a-half-hours later.

Melbourne’s rally was one of many international Bersih-related events that took place in Australia over the weekend, including Brisbane and Perth.

Events were also held across the world, including New Zealand, South Korea, England and the US.

Themed “Walk for Democracy”, the rallies demand that the Malaysian government reform the country’s electoral system, which many have accused of favouring Barisan Nasional.

Attempts by Bersih to negotiate with the Election Commission on electoral reforms, however, have hit a dead-end. Heavy-handed police action and intimidation against Bersih’s supporters have also occurred in the run-up to the KL rally.

Teoh condemned these crackdowns, saying that Malaysians were guaranteed the right to peaceful assembly under the Federal Constitution.

“I think it is unconstitutional. I think people have the freedom of speech and the right to peaceful assembly,” he said.

“In 2007, Bersih assembled peacefully. Based on that precedent alone, the government should have just given them a permit.”

‘Government not fair’

Australia-Clayton MP Hong Lim, who was there to give his support to the rally, denounced the arrests and political pressure put on Malaysian activists.

“(The crackdown) is not only not justified or ridiculous, they (Malaysia) are also asking for trouble, because people are not going to sit down and roll over to be kicked around anymore,” he said.

Speaking in favour of Malaysians, Hong said that electoral reforms should have taken place “a long time ago”.

“Malaysians are not less than any other people in the world. They are a very proud people… the powers-that-be cannot be taking their vote for granted.”

“All those people in power should be ashamed and should realise that the world is not in the 17th or 18th century anymore.”

A Malaysian student known only as Shafiq agreed with the MP’s sentiments.

“As a Malaysian and as a Malay, I feel that our current government is not fair. If the government is clean and fair, we would not have all these arrests,” he said.

Believing in Bersih’s demands, he said that Malaysia needed to put an end to its “dirty politics”.

“As a young Malaysian, I would fight for what I want, for what a Malaysian wants… what I’m fighting for is something real,” Shafiq said.

Despite a city lockdown and heavy police presence, KL’s Bersih rally still attracted more than 15,000 people. The march, which took place in several parts of the city, saw 1,667 people arrested. One person succumbed to heart complications and died later that day.

(Photos of the Melbourne rally courtesy of John Wee.)