Maria not ready to hang up Bersih T-shirt until reforms achieved

Maria Chin Abdullah, the prime mover of last weekend's Bersih 4 rally, was initially not convinced that the event would be a success despite the huge crowd that turned up on Saturday. This was supposed to be the country's first 34-hour, overnight protest and until Saturday midnight, she had lingering doubts if the crowd would stay on. And then they did. "The turning point came after midnight when I saw them sleeping on nothing more than cardboards and newspapers, everywhere on Jalan Tun Perak and near Dataran, some just slept on the grass and on the pavements. "That was very touching for me," Maria, who heads electoral reforms coalition Bersih 2.0, told The Malaysian Insider. She had brought along her own sleeping bag and slept close to the Dataran Merdeka barricade, for fear that some overzealous rally-goer, or agent provocateur, would breach the barricade and turn the rally into a disaster. Maria said the sight of thousands sleeping on the ground told her that the first overnight protest in the country was a success. She said she also cherished the moment when the roads leading to the heart of the rally were filled to the brim with people who took out their lights and lit up the night sky on Saturday. Earlier on Saturday, tens of thousands of people thronged the roads leading to Dataran Merdeka from noon under the scorching sun, calling for institutional reforms. "I was worried that we would not be able to bring out the people." The seasoned activist was also concerned something could happen when people were deep asleep. "We expected them at night, when we were really deep in sleep, but we were there at the barrier and we were quite fine," she said. Maria would not say if this Bersih rally was the best so far despite the fact that it recorded the highest turnout. Organisers claim some 500,000 attended the two-day event. Instead, she said Bersih 4 had "additional impact", mainly because of the success of the three previous rallies. "There was impact in the past rallies, otherwise the people would not have taken part this time. "We've had reforms as we moved along, the first rally, it brought in a two-party system. The second one, we had a parliamentary select committee on electoral reforms, and after Bersih 3, they allowed overseas Malaysians to vote," said Maria, who has been an activist since her student days in London in the 1970s. She credited the previous rallies for bringing the races together, saying that rally goers did not distinguish themselves by race anymore, but were united as Bangsa Malaysia. "By the time we arrived at Bersih 4, you ask participants what race they are, and they would all say they are Malaysians, we closed the race and religious gap. "All the different faiths held their prayers at the rally, and that was important to me as I was particular that everyone's religious needs were catered for, and so the message was we can rally together although we belong to different religions," she added. When asked what kept her going after weeks and days of planning for the overnight rally, Maria laughed and said she was actually "half-dead" and wished she could take a break. But she quickly credited her team as the force behind her. "All of them worked so hard, " she said, pointing at her team members, her eyes brimming with tears. "And so you just go on, you just go on. "And the expectation from the people makes you move," she added, composing herself. What's next for Bersih? Maria is realistic that reforms would not come easily and there was much hard work ahead. "We are very practical in that we can call for reforms, but we are not elected, so we can't initiate the action. "The only ones who can are the MPs, to stand up for what is right, to stop corruption and abuse of power. "Who is there left to save this country if they don't do their part," she added. In the meantime, Maria will not hang up her Bersih 4 T-shirt just yet, saying that she still had media interviews scheduled. "I am not ready to wind down yet. "And I will not hang up my Bersih T-shirt until we get the reforms," said Maria, who will turn 60 next year. The Bersih 4 rally demanded free and fair elections and a corrupt-free government. They also demanded that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak step down in the wake of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) financial scandal. – September 1, 2015.