Historic day as Pokok Demokrasi is officially recognised - by Anilnetto

The morning sunlight filters through the branches, lending an enchanted and mystical appearance to the fabled tree

It’s official: The marble plaque beneath the Democracy Tree (Click to enlarge) Photos by Kinta Kid

Kinta Kid reports from the Democracy Tree, Ipoh:

Perak leaders gathered at the base of the ‘Democracy Tree’ this morning to officiate a plaque highlighting what transpired on 3 March 2009.

The black marble plaque with gold-plated inscription explains the events of the morning of 3 March:

…when 27 state assemblymen were locked out undemocratically from the house by the police and the FRU under instructions of the State Secretary… At 10.00am the Speaker of the House YB V Sivakumar then instructed the assembly to adjourn to the tree to deliberate the motions of the agenda… By 10.35am all motions were passed following full traditional procedures….

Another five raintrees were planted this morning and each sapling had a title, Amanah (Accountable/Trustworthy), Adil (Justice), Telus (Transparency), Kebajikan (Welfare) and Wibawa (Competence).

“On 3 March, history was made. Five days later. on 8 March ada lima anak (it has five ‘children’),” Nizar quipped, to the laughter of all present.

One for the album: Pokok demokrasi and its five saplings are already inspiring Malaysians

The ceremony was also attended by MP Lim Kit Siang and Sg Siput MP Jeyakumar Devaraj. All in, there would have been 300 people, mostly press and assembly members that turned up. After the ceremony though, families were already taking photos with the tree and saplings in the background.