Olympic Torch Relay Kuala Lumpur

I could not cover the Olympic torch relay from its inception at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur and kept my focus on the final leg that would end at KLCC. Even around lunchtime, just before the start of the relay several kilometers away, the cops were out in force. These boys in blue obliged me for a pose. Wonder what would have happened if I had worn a Free Tibet T-shirt instead? (Yeah, you'll would love it, wouldn't you?)

Chinese nationals, most probably students, gathering around KLCC during lunchtime with the PRC flag. Note the T-Shirts: 'China Boleh!' (That's it. I'm getting one with Dr. M's face on it and emblazoned with the word "Malaysia Boleh!' Yeah, you Malaysian folks know what I'm talkin' about!)

One World. One Dream. We Are Ready. A Chinese national alongside his compatriots proudly displays a signage with the 2008 Olympic mascots.

This is one of those moments that really makes yours truly regret that he did not put in the effort to learn Mandarin. Somebody get me a copy of the Little Red Book pronto!

I dashed out of office just in time to catch Nurul Huda Abdullah bearing the torch on the end run at KLCC. (Judging by those heavies running alongside her, you would think she was carrying a solid gold torch with encrusted diamonds.) The last time I saw something like this, it was on television when John McCain took a stroll in downtown Baghdad.

Chinese nationals taking turns to pose with Nurul Huda Abdullah, a former Malaysian national athlete, after her run. The torch was slated to arrive at KLCC by 6:15pm, and with all that heavy rain, I was actually expecting it to arrive much, much later. Turns out it arrived at KLCC short of 6:00pm. I was unable to get any good or clear shots of the final run, save the one before, and some cop in a rainproof overall kept shooing me away from the runner and her entourage. (I'm not gettin' any respect here...)

"This turned out better than the BERSIH rally last year, ya know what I mean, huh?" The cops start to wind down their presence in front of KLCC after the end of the relay. However, their presence at the other end of KLCC was not, as a ceremony took place to mark the handover of the Olympic flame to the Jakarta relay.

"The heavy security; that's OK. Having the torch snuffed out by the heavy rain; that's NOT OK!"

As the ceremony for the handing over of the Olympic flame goes on in the background, a FRU (Malaysia's mobile riot and crowd control police) officer looks on at the crowd that has gathered around the tent where the handover ceremony was being held.

A crowd watching the handover ceremony of the Olympic flame to the Jakarta relay. Note the FRU boys in red berets and helmets keeping a close eye on things. I spotted one of the officers keeping up a surveillance of the crowd with a videocam which I believe was later relayed to a FRU truck, full of heavies, located just outside. A Chinese national's attempt to display a poster with Chinese characters was quickly stopped and the said poster seized.

And now the crux behind the heavy security and the show of patriotism by Chinese nationals in many countries where the Olympic torch relay took place. With China hosting the coming 2008 Olympics and the troubles at Tibet in the background, many Chinese nationals and even Overseas Chinese, are reacting to the pro-Tibet demonstrations that have dogged the Olympic relay run since its commencement at Athens, Greece. The phrase "Don't be too CNN!" is now taking a life of its own in Chinese websites and blogspheres. Ostensibly the term refers to the perceived one-sided reporting by Western media agencies such as CNN and BBC.

Demonstrations are continuing and is expected to be continued by both sides of the political divide throughout the Olympic torch relay. With the pro-Tibet camp, the reach and seeming objectiveness of mainstream media such as CNN and BBC has become a potent propaganda tool. On the pro-China side, unbridled nationalism and a sense of pride stemming from China's coming of age, fuels the anger and frustration. As Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of Singapore said, "...these displays of contempt for China and things Chinese will have consequences in their lifetime, well beyond the Olympic Games."

Black 14 Gathering

I arrived at Sultan Sulaiman Club in Kampung Baru around half an hour past seven in the evening of April 14, 2008. There were stalls hawking PKR paraphernalia within the grounds of the Club and several Muslims performing their evening prayers. My first impression was that turnout would just barely reach around four figures, at most. As seen from the first picture I took, it looked more like a placid scenery from a picnic; but I would soon be proven wrong.

As time passed, the size of crowd began to take an appearance of respectability. You could definitely feel the electricity building up in the air. At this point, several cameramen and photographers had already set up their gear and tripods in a sort of a semi-circle somewhat about eight to ten meters away from the clubhouse entrance.

The folks in blue at the clubhouse entrance. There was a heavy police presence outside of the Club grounds even as I made my way there from the Kampung Baru LRT station. However, their presence within the grounds of the Club itself was minimal. In his opening remarks, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim thanked them for their 'cooperation' and assured them that in the event Pakatan Rakyat assumes power, there would be an increase in their allowances!

A sizable number of Chinese Malaysians attended the gathering as well despite the overwhelming number of Malays in attendance. Very few Malaysian politicians can pull off this sort 'Muhibbah' gathering on a voluntary basis; and most do it with an enticement of a free buffet. And Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim merely promised everyone a speech!

Chegu Bard wants the crowd to Shock and Awe the fields of Sultan Sulaiman Club with cries of RE-FOR-MA-SI. Suffice to say, the crowd needed little prompting and did it with much gusto. I am embarrassed to say that I too was caught up in the heat of the moment, and ended up joining the rest in yelling my head off! (Yeah, I know, call me Lallang...) Chegu Bard is the PKR candidate who had lost to Khairy Jamaludin at the Rembau Parliamentary seat in the recent general elections.

Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) information head Tian Chua, and also Member of Parliament for Batu. He is probably relieved, that for once, he does not have to sit down in the path of an incoming heavy vehicle during a gathering. (Hey, buddy, ya might want to move over for that five tonne truck in red there, ya know what I'm sayin'?) Just kidding, Yang Berhormat! And I definitely would not have half the courage you displayed during the past few years of your political activism in fighting for the rights of those who were downtrodden and forgotten.

The moment of arrival of Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim himself! Today marked the eve of a five year ban imposed on Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim from participating in the civic and political arena. Cries of RE-FOR-MA-SI reverberates through the whole of Kampung Baru as thousands demonstrate to the Americans the vigorous application of the concept of Shock and Awe by Malaysians themselves.

Recital of the Muslim prayer of Al-Fatehah.

Yang Berhormat Azmin Ali, Vice President of PKR and Member of Parliament for Gombak, was the first to speak. My impression of him that night (it was the first time I have actually heard him talk) is that if my life depended on him speaking with inspiration and eloquence, I am not so sure if I would want him to represent me before a sentencing. But then again, he could prove to be otherwise in Parliament...

Datin Seri Wan Azizah Ismail was next on the podium after Azmin Ali. Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim would later state that it was not necessary for him to be the next Prime Minister-in-waiting when Pakatan Rakyat still had his wife who is leading PKR and currently the Member of Parliament for Permatang Pauh. Another ominous hint for Barisan Nasional or merely the firing of empty cannons of rhetoric by an over-confident politician? Time will tell.

"Ya mooks should be thankin' me for this! Now where's the doofus who told me to let 'em in for free?!" Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, Member of Parliament for Bandar Tun Razak, Menteri Besar of Selangor, and a former CEO. By the virtue of his post as Selangor's MB, he also has the locks and keys to Sultan Sulaiman Club in his hands, so to speak. Hope the cops lay off you for this. Not. In the meantime, about the muddy field and my soiled trousers...

"Hey, we ain't here for cockamamie poetry! We's here for Anwar! Someone call the cops and get that guy outta here!" A slightly restless crowd waiting for the main event as Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim recites poetry recounting the plight of an eagle ("Rajawali") trapped in an iron cage. A clear allusion to the star of the event, who himself was sentenced to six and nine years in prison for two charges and ultimately served only six years before being released in 2004.

Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Looking good and exhibiting supreme confidence befitting a man whose hour has come. His arrival earlier in the evening was greeted with thunderous applause and repeated cries of REFORMASI. There was seeming euphoria that swept the crowd, as if knowing they were witness to history in making.

Reporters and photographers from various news agencies scrummed around the podium where Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim was delivering his speech. I was told earlier, by word of ear, that the mainstream media did not send any of their staff down to Kampung Baru to cover this event.

Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim reminding a particular vernacular pro-establishment newspaper that the elections was held weeks ago on the March 8, 2008 and that the said newspaper should cease and desist from further election campaigning. The delivery was truly funny and got the crowd laughing as well.

The crowd reacting to a joke by Dato' Seri Anwar. Well, at least no one can accuse the former protégé of Tun Dr. Mahathir of lacking a sense of humor.

"Pantang Anak Melayu dicabar!" At some point of time during his speech, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim addressed the issue of him being a so-called Zionist lackey by reminding the folks that it was not he who had paid US$1.2 million to an American political lobbyist, Jack Abramoff, in order to secure half an hour with the Dubya.

"Suffice to say, the number of frogs willing to jump over to our side of the pond warrants our continuing interest in them..." Nah, he did not say that quite literally! But nonetheless, he might as well. An unmistakable warning shot across Barisan Nasional's bow, or an attempt at psychological warfare by a master orator?

This picture was taken around half an hour into Dato' Seri Anwar's speech, and the sea of humanity at the Sultan Sulaiman Club is approximately 10,000 strong, perhaps even more. The only representatives of Malaysian mainstream media there that night, as far as I could tell, was a crew from BERNAMA and some fellows from theSun newspaper.

A truly 'Muhibbah' crowd despite the large number of Malays attending. Note the Indian Malaysians in the foreground listening intently to Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim's pronouncements. But still, a question lingers in my head, and probably in the heads of a few others that night as well: will he revert to UMNO under any circumstances? That night, if anything, proved that Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim is the Comeback Kid and may prove to be the most influential man in Malaysian politics for years to come. One can only wonder on the true feelings of the man who made Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim what he is today. As a matter of note, I stumbled across this shortcut link to BBC regarding Minister Mentor Lee of Singapore, who eight years ago said that, "I think Dr. Mahathir paid a very heavy price, and I feel sorry for him..."

I left just before the cops moved in and demanded that Dato' Seri Anwar cut his speech short. As I made my way back home via the LRT, I met a couple (Hi, David and Catherine! Hope you are reading this!) whom also attended the Black 14 Gathering and we came to some mutual conclusions regarding the general political scenario in Malaysia (Yeah, we are all political analysts these days, right?). It also took me some time to post all of this up in Blogger as yours truly is still holding on to a day job while fantasizing about being part of a National Geographic crew mucking about in the Amazons! (Yeah, yeah, right...)