8am - The morning began with a rushed sense of excitement mixed with a tinge of fear for the things to come. What if I got arrested? What if this.. what if that... oh mum is going to kill me if she finds out.., but it was all drowned out by the fact that I was running slightly late to the meet up point.
9am - As we made our way through the Federal, I was quite astonished at the lack of traffic. I was expecting massive delays due to the predicted roadblocks and it really didn't help with the fact that almost all of us (except me) were dressed in our yellow bersih T. Brandon even made a little bet that there wouldn't be any jams at all.
10am - Plan changed. We needed to move out from Sentral. We thought it'd be better to walk from Sentral to Kota Raya (one of the meet up points)
10.20am - A large group of policemen formed a human line in which we were nonchalantly ask to go back where we came from. As we were figuring out a way to make it to through the barricade, the crowd grew. The people were clueless, as if waiting for someone to lead them out of their confusion.
10.30am - Our little troupe's number began to grow steadily. As we were leading the way to an alternative route (through Brandon's gps), the numbers that followed us grew, it was at this point of time that I looked back and saw an endless stream of people with yellow shirts following from the back. I thought to myself, our little group made a difference today. Thank God for gps and guidance to clear routes!
11am - Loud and deafening cheers of "Bersih, Bersih, Hidup Bersih" greeted our eyes as we arrived at Petaling Street. It was a sight to behold, the people were united, regardless of race, religion or culture. My heart swelled with the pride of being a Malaysian.
12pm - Irritation set in as we were baked under the scorching hot weather in Central market. Multitudes began to gather in Central market which were one of the main meeting points. But.. I didn't want to stay there, I wanted to go to Dataran Merdeka! Isn't it the whole point?
12.15pm - We barely avoided a barricade of policemen who were barring the gathering crowd from entering the vicinity of Masjid Jamek.
12.30pm - Our chances were not good. The police sealed off all roads leading to Dataran Merdeka with barbed wire. We sat and cheered under the hot scorching weather.
2.50pm - The first few rounds of tear gas were fired. It was the end of the march. The crowds steadily pulled back to avoid being in the midst of the countless cannisters of tear gas fired at us.
3pm - We were cornered. Tear gas all around us and a truck with dual water canons signalling impending doom. We had no choice, we braved through the road with the least tear gas. The burns to the face were painful. My eyes caught some of the tear gas and obviously as the name of the weapon suggested, most of us were choking, coughing with tears of pain running down our faces. I cried but it was manly tears alright.
3.45pm - We managed to escape the barrage of tear gas canisters as we sought refuge in the nearby Church. Truly God is good, He provided a way of escape for us.
4pm - It was the end of the rally for us, we decided to call it a day but the rally was still ongoing with sound of the people chanting "Bersih Bersih" and also.. the sound of tear gas being fired upon them. We took a detour around petaling street to avoid the FRU.
5pm - We arrived back in Sentral and the bunch of us went back to our respective homes.
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