There was a vigil at Bukit Aman just now, in response to the arrest of 3 individuals under the anti-liberty Internal Security Act.
And like any internet-savvy people, I got my invitation through Facebook. Heh!
I came alone and it was intimidating initially. I was not very confident about the whole idea. A friend described the idea of having the vigil at Bukit Aman’s beautifully: protesting at the lion’s den. I do not know how others would act in front of a lion but I would certainly nervous.
I did not relish the idea of going to the headquarters of the police and I did not want to come initially. However, I thought the vigil is important in a sense that it shows that the civil society is not easily intimidated. Where else to best demonstrate this other than at the lion’s den?
Besides, it would be another great opportunity to practice night photography.
Police officers everywhere and definitely in large number compared to the vigil participants.
Parking space was another issue because the police was manning the place religiously. And I did not want to park so closely to the gathering because if anything unfortunate to happen, I would not want anything to happen to the car, especially when it is not mine to start with. In the end, I decided to park so far away that I met my quota of physical exercise for the whole week tonight alone.
As I walked toward the planned gathering spot, I was stopped by an officer. He prevented me from walking toward the entrance of the police HQ. I was clearly unhappy but I did not force my way through. It would have been stupid to do so.
Since there are two ways to the entrance, I wanted to try my luck at the second entrance. The officer, probably realizing what I had in mind said loudly that the way was shut too. I waved him off, refusing to listen.
I got passed the barricade and joined the group for the event. We did not get to the entrance but this was close enough. There was strength in numbers and it did not feel so bad after that.
After that, it was a game of cat and mouse with the police. Each time the police told us to disperse, we just walked to another place to gather. The process was repeated a number of times and it definitely annoyed the officers.
The police made threats about arresting us and frankly, I did feel scare (but definitely not as bad as the one at Dataran Merdeka a couple of months back) but I realized in the end, neither sides were prepared to escalate the tension to, perhaps, the logical end in any country unconscious of individual liberty. It is somewhat similar to the classic case of why a strike is an irrational solution to a dispute.
So, all ended well and peacefully. For tonight.
p/s — More photos will be made available at Metblogs KL soon.
pp/s — I have posted more photos at Metblogs KL.
