Malaysia: 'Cyclists for change' beat police repression

Oppressed People’s Movement (Jaringan Rakyat Tertindas, Jerit), December 18, 2008: People's power has spoken once again! With the roars from a strong crowd of 500 people, the young militant cyclists, who from December 3 conducted their "Cycle for Change" campaign throughout Malaysia, pedalled bravely into the grounds of the parlaiment, which definitely belongs to them, "THE PEOPLE". After almost 16 days' journey through the states of Malaysia, they brought the people's demands to the ears of their representatives!
The six demands were: 1. Legislate a Minimum Wage Act; 2. Abolish draconian laws; 3. Adequate housing for the people; 4. Control prices; 5. Stop the privatisation of public services; 6. Revive local municipal council elections. The was one of the Jerit's ways of raising awareness about issues like food shortages, global food shortage, environmental problems, draconian laws and the financial crisis -- in an eco-friendly way to boot.

The cyclists, who had split into two teams travelling to different parts of Malaysia, faced constant harrassment and intimidation from police, including roadblocks, arrests, mistreatment and assault. Defying the attacks, the mostly young people insisted on the right to freedom of expression.
The attacks continued until the very end of the journey. On December 15, the chief police officer (CPO) of Selangor state, Khalid Abdul Bakar, announced he was launching a police mission to "rescue'' the "children'' particpating in the bike ride from the "bad'' Jerit (the Jaringan Rakyat Tertindas, Oppressed Peoples Movement, which organised the protest ride).
In his noble mission, he used a massive police force in Rawang and Kajang to arrest all the participants of the cycle for change campaign. He declared that this was necessary to reunite the "terrified children'' with their parents.
In Rawang, 56 people were arrested including 27 below the age of 18. The arrests did not result in 27 pairs of parents knocking on the police doors -- instead, more than 500 people demonstrated in the rain calling for everyone to be released. The CPO was shouted at for his actions, which created more anger than relief from the young people's parents.
In Bangi estate [plantation] near Kajang, there was a five-hour stand-off with the police. Around two dozen plainclothes police, two police trucks and many uniformed police offciers waited at the entrance of the estate, intending to arrest all those who were cycled there, and to determine their ages. A huge group of police also followed the team. The commanding officer admitted that police wanted to arrest all those below the age of 18 under the Malaysia's childrens act. They wanted to put them in trucks and take them to the police station. Later the deputy police commander made the more stupid confession that police would arrest them first and then only investigate. This cowboy-style of policing means the police were acting unlawfully.
The cyclists' leaders objected and offered to surrender the young people to the police. The police were very reluctant to go into the privately owned planation to make the arrests, as a huge group of people were waiting to defend the participants. The police were worried and agreed to our proposal that we surrender them ourselves. We asked for lunch to be served first, and then we would get them to the station by bus. More negotiations took place, the police were now very secretive but would have had a tough time making arrests. There was a stand-off and the supporters were growing in numbers.
Finally, the police backed off and the people were allowed to move out of the estate. We used the bus though the police wanted us to cycle. They had their plan but we had ours. By now, we had learned of the arrests in Rawang and were sure that this was a directive from the top. We moved next to West Country Dewan. Once again there was a huge police presence and once again it made a lot of people come out and observe what was happening. The police truly gave us the publicity we needed!
That night, we followed closely the developments in Rawang. The arrests in Rawang made us rethink our route because we still had another three days to go.

The police 'mission' fails

On December 16, the police "rescue mission" fell flat. The parents who came nearly broke down the Rawang police station gate. The were really upset with the police for arresting their children. The police and the welfare officers all got a blasting from angry family members. When the kids and their parents came out, they were very much intact. They received huge applause. The children and their parents agreed that they would cycle on. They want to sue the CPO.
In Kajang, the team ended the day being greeted by huge numbers of supporters, while the parents of those below 18 lodged a complaint against the police and also furnished them with consent letterd to allow their kids to continue.
It was a slap on both cheeks for the CPO. Both the northern and southern teams survived these ordeals and were determined to complete their mission.
Source: PSM