KUALA LUMPUR, Thurs (May 1): A request was made by the organisers of the
“Workers’ Day Celebrations” for the Bar Council to send a team of observers to
monitor the events scheduled to take place this morning.
The celebrations were to start with a gathering at Dataran
Merdeka followed by a march to the Confucian Private Secondary School and for
activities and events in commemoration of workers’ day to continue there until 1
pm. The celebrations were organised by Jawatankuasa 1 Mei, a loose coalition of
civil society groups, non–governmental organisations and political parties.
A monitoring team consisting of members of the Human Rights Committee – Amer
Hamzah Arshad, Chin Oy Sim (Executive Officer), Andrew Khoo, Puspawati Rosman,
Saha Deva, Brendan Siva, Soosai Raj, Andy Yong, Seira Sascha and Siti Kassim –
were present this morning to observe the events that unfolded at Dataran Merdeka.
We were greeted with the now familiar sight of a heavy Police and FRU presence.
By 9.10 am, it was observed that there was no gathering of people at Dataran
Merdeka. A delegation of three representatives from the organisers of the May
Day celebrations walked past the barricades to speak to the police officers in
charge.
While these discussions were taking place, people could be seen gathering on
Lebuh Pasar Besar, more specifically on the bridge adjacent to the Bar Council
building.
At about 9.40 am, the FRU and Police personnel began moving from Dataran Merdeka
towards the crowd, which now numbered between 100 – 200 people. Although the
delegation representing the organisers of the march were still in negotiations
at Dataran Merdeka, the authorities immediately asked the crowd to disperse. The
crowd did not do so and waited for clarification from their delegation.
A minor incident broke out when several people tried to join the crowd by
walking through the line of police and FRU personnel. The police and FRU refused
to allow them through. Any further tension or incident was avoided when the
people decided to walk the long way around to reach their fellow participants.
Word was then received from the delegation that the crowd would be allowed to
walk but they were not allowed to march and display banners. They were also
allowed to wait at their present location until the delegation returned and
other participants from Ipoh arrived.
At about 9.55 am, the delegation returned and confirmed that the crowd could
proceed with the walk. They organised the crowd to walk in pairs or in threes to
the Confucian Private Secondary School. The walk was peaceful and orderly. There
were no untoward incidents during the walk. The walk ended at the school at
about 10.45 am and proceedings started at the school hall. Several state
assemblyman and members of Parliament from Pakatan Rakyat including Dr Nasir
Hashim, Elizabeth Wong and Zuraida Kamarudin attended the events at the school
hall. Some of them had earlier taken part in the walk.