Retired teacher Anne Ooi knew that by joining the Bersih 2.0 rally on July 9 involved risking arrest but somehow, despite encountering the police numerous times on that day, she was let through.

Ooi, better known to netizens as ‘Auntie Bersih’, was at the very heart of the protest and passed through four police checkpoints before entering Kuala Lumpur, dressed in bright yellow, which is Bersih 2.0's official colour.

NONE Looking back, the scrawny 65-year-old said she felt somewhat “insulted” that she had been treated to no more than mere police advice to stay away from the rally, while almost 1,700 others were arrested.

"That day, I was prepared to be arrested, but these people (police) looked at me as if I was too old. When I went home, I told my daughter, it’s very insulting you know, they don't want to arrest me,” she quipped in an interview with Malaysiakini .

"When I came out from Tung Shin Hospital, I was asked by police to go, they said, ‘Auntie, just go’."

Ooi, like thousands of protestors, was trapped in Jalan Pudu when police surrounded them from both ends in front of the hospital.

When police began to move in to disperse the crowd with tear gas and water cannon, the crowd was forced to flee to the only opening left, which was Tung Shin Hospital’s compound.

It was at this moment when the iconic image of Ooi was captured by freelance photographer Hugo Teng.

'We were cheated by the cops'

Recounting her experience of the rally, Ooi said that word of mouth had spread that the police were willing to negotiate for the group to move from Jalan Pudu to Jalan Sultan about 1km away, which is closer to the intended destination - Stadium Merdeka.

bersih rally july 9 crowd face-off with police 1 Pleased with the prospect, Subang MP R Sivarasa led the crowd to within ‘handshake distance’ of a phalanx of police in riot gear.

However, negotiations quickly went south, leading to claims to deception and the crowd’s emotions began to boil.

“They (police) wanted to take Sivarasa, and when they had done that, we were all like fools still waiting for some kind of negotiation for us to go through, all we wanted was to walk to Stadium Merdeka,” she said.

“(And then) bang! The shot hit us, we were unprepared. I couldn’t see, (there were) shouts of Tipu! Tipu! (Lies! Lies!) You ask us to come for negotiations and you cheated us!” Ooi exclaimed with both fists raised.

While everyone else scrambled at the sight of police tear gas and water cannon jet streams, Ooi said that she did not want to run or push other protestors so she walked slowly away.

NONE “My back stung, everything was warm, I felt like I was burning,” she related.

Despite aching all over, Ooi clutched tightly to the long stem of a flower a stranger had given her earlier and a bottle of water she found on the street.

“I was screaming, when people came towards me – help is so fast – I suppose when they (police) cleared the area, some came back (to help me),” she explained.

Several people had gone up to Ooi and one poured water on her to relieve the stinging pain.

“I don’t know what it was. I have never been attacked before. I really don’t know what is tear gas, acid water or water cannon. Only after the rally did I see those little things,” she said, referring to used tear gas canisters littering the vicinity.

Ooi had participated in the first Bersih rally back in 2007 and a number of candlelight vigils. However, she said that the police’s handling of the crowd was worse this time around.

“They were prepared to hit us, they blocked so much of Kuala Lumpur... It became a dead city, it was so chronic, so silent.”

Senior citizens should speak out too

Asked what the former teacher of 35 years would do if she had a chance to give Prime Minister Najib Razak a motherly advice, she merely had two words for him.

“Step down,” she said curtly.

“Just step down, it is to your advantage - to anyone’s advantage - if you have made a mistake you admit it. He is using the police to turn this place into a police state,” she added.    

Ooi also urged fellow senior citizens to play their role in seeking change and not just rely on the younger generation.

“I was surprised to see so many young people (during the rally). I want to see the old people marching in the future.

“I know it is a young people’s fight, but the old people have suffered for such a long time, they have remained quiet, they should come out too,” she said.

As for herself, there is no time to rest as six Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) members are still detained without trial under the Emergency Ordinance (EO) since July 2.

NONE The six detainees are Sungai Siput MP Jeyakumar Devaraj, PSM deputy chairperson M Saraswathy, PSM central committee members Choo Chon Kai, M Sukumaran, Sungai Siput PSM branch secretary A Letchumanan and PSM Youth leader, Sarat Babu.

“The Dr Jeyakumar vigil, I haven’t gone yet. They say Bukit Aman is very hard to get to, I suppose I will have to walk again,” she said.    

But Ooi did make it to Duta court complex yesterday where there was a habeas corpus application for the PSM 6.

She again showed her steely defiance by donning a pullover in Bersih's golden yellow ( photo ).

    

The interview was jointly conducted with KOW GAH CHIE.

 

THE ANNE OOI INTERVIEW

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Auntie Anne - the making of an iconic image