By Haris Ibrahim,
Ee Chia, Arul and I got into Bagan Pinang late last night. Zorro, Gus and the others had gotten in earlier.
This morning, we were to assemble at the meeting point at 8am.
Traffic on the road, however, was horrendous, so we parked and joined the others to walk some 5km in the rain to the nomination centre.
The state of the traffic en route to the nomination centre
Some of the many who legged it to the nomination centre
We got to the vicinity of the nomination centre a little before 9.20am and found that it was going to be impossible to get anywhere close to the centre as the BN supporters had taken up position close to it
BN supporters up on a hillslope taunting the Pakatan supporters below
BN supporters closer to the ground level where the Pakatan supporters were
and police appeared to have created a buffer zone between the BN supporters and the Pakatan supporters
FRU facing off the Pakatan supporters. Behind them was the buffer zone and then the BN supporters
and were not allowing anyone other than the politicians through the buffer zone to get to the centre.
The Pakatan supporters just below the hillslope where the BN supporters were
Just before 10am, BN supporters up on the hillslope started to pelt the Pakatan supporters below with mineral water bottles. Police reacted to issue warnings to the BN supporters.
The Pakatan supporters, in turn responded with a chorus of ‘Altantuya! Altantuya! Altantuya’, ‘Isa rasuah’ and ‘Hancur BN’.
I had difficulty estimating the crowd size of both the BN and Pakatan contingent of supporters.
Sunny reckons that Pakatan supporters numbered in excess of 35,000 whilst the BN supporters numbered around 15,000.
I think the numbers were much smaller.
I’d put it at 15,000, at best, for Pakatan, and around 5,000 for BN.
Kelab Penyokong PAS (KPP) members were there in large numbers, both from within the newly formed Bagan Pinang branch and elsewhere.
Was told they came from all over the country
Siva, extreme right, told me that the kelab in Bagan Pinang had just been formed but membership was slowly growing. He couldn't give me numbers, though
At about 10.30am, members of the Kelab Penyokong BN (KPBN), replete with T-shirts and a flags, attempted to march in the direction of the nomination centre, but through the end where the Pakatan supporters were.
The Pakatan supporters weren’t about to put up with this and blocked their passage.
The KPBN boys finally backed off.
Which brings me to the point that Arul made last night.
One can understand the sense of the KPP, given that membership of the party is presently only open to Muslims, so that setting up a club for non-Muslims to support PAS was a stroke of genius.
But a club for BN supporters?
I mean, if you support BN, just join one of the component parties, no?
Wonder whose no-brainer this was?
After the KPBN fellas gave up, some Puteri UMNO members made their way through the Pakatan side.
Pakatan supporters let them through, but not without first dangling rinngit notes before them in an obvious reference to vote-buying.
Go, on take the money
Ambillah. Jangan malu
Just before 11am, there was a bit of a commotion as police stopped a group of KPP boys from playing their musical instruments, gendang and all.
KPP boys banging away at drums and all. They were asked by the cops to stop. They did, but resumed a little further away
Cop explaining to the KPP boys why they could not play the gendang and all. The crowd responded with expletives that I cannot reproduce here
Later, PAS supporters and the KPP boys got together for a group photographs.
11.30am, and we were going to head out. Dreaded the thought of having to walk another 5km.
Alan came along and saved the day with the offer of a lift.
Am back in KL for the FreedomFilmFest 2009.
Will be back in Bagan Pinang over the next couple of days.
Posted by Haris Ibrahim
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