While we had Gin and Tonics, they rallied

So this weekend was a strange one - to say the least.  The Bersih 2.0 rallies (Bersih is self described as a "Joint Action Committee for Electoral Reform") did cause quite a stir, though the authorities did everything in their power to stamp it out.  It caused such a stir in fact that it interrupted our gin and tonics.

Some back story is due. Jamie attended an Algae (yes, algae - how to grow it, eat it, make it into beer and work paid for it) conference in Chiang Mai, Thailand (link to posts about that trip),  which resulted in us befriending an Aussie bloke named Cameron.  This weekend Cameron and his girlfriend Lee had a one night layover on their way to Europe. We (I maybe?) partied pretty hard on Friday night.  We spent the afternoon on Saturday - the day of the Bersih rallies - searching for cures for our alcohol induced malaise.  We ended up spending some time at a couple of bars around the park having some hair of the dog.



Hazy and lazy day in the park - or so we thought



The view on the other side of the building, opposite us.



After things had calmed down at KLCC the mounted polis stood watch. Note the ratan pole.  I didn't see any blood on it.



While swizzling our drinks, it wasn't too long until we knew that something was off.  We knew full well that there were protests going on, but I didn't know that they'd be right next to us. Our first tip should have been that KLCC Suria mall was garrisoned like Gitmo. Then there were persistent hovering helicopters.  Then, on round number two of our gin and tonics, the massive crowd concentrated just on the other side of the towers was dispersed (not sure from water cannons or tear gas or what) which sent hundreds of people scattering into the park and into the restaurants we were sitting in.  Staff quickly scurried to shutter the doors.  When offered a chance to come in and get locked in we passed thinking it was a little alarmist.  These folks, the protesters, were just getting away from overreacting polis and security forces.   It was a peaceful group and we weren't scared, but what a strange day. 

At the same time we were having our gin and tonics, we were trying to follow Twitter to see what was going on. I kept seeing posts about water canons as well as tear gas.  Once we got home, we confirmed the tear gas by viewing some pretty clear footage on YouTube that was shot near little India as well as at KL Sentral station.  Decent videos so far seem hard to come by on YouTube.  Here is one that shows the peacful demonstrators being gassed and hosed.





Another with some guy thinking it's smart to rush the cops.

 
Lastly, this video aired on Aljazeera the night of the riots which shows some live footage (5 minutes duration) - sorry for the quality but we don't have TiVo.

Anyway, we're safe and sound - no worries on that front!

Note: KLCC crowd image from http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Bersih-crowd-at-KLCC.jpg