The national May Day rally organised by the May Day coalition comprising non-governmental organisations, labour groups and opposition parties in Penang today went without a hitch.

Held in the island state for the first time, May Day had never been more fun as more than 1,000 people gathered with multi-coloured banners and placards carrying pro-worker slogans at Padang Kota Lama without being 'interrupted' by the police.

In 2002, 20 people were arrested at the May Day rally in Kuala Lumpur for "illegal assembly" when the police moved in to disperse the crowd. Checkpoints had also been placed along several toll stations, to prevent workers from gathering.

Last year, the May Day gathering at Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur proceeded smoothly after the police granted a permit for the event.

Speeches and performances

At the Esplanade in Penang today, only several policemen - in uniform and plain clothes - were present. They merely stood watch and two even joined in the singing and clapping with the crowd to the rythmn of "Blowing in the Wind", a protest song performed by Penang social reform movement Aliran.

Other events include speeches by several NGO representatives, two short skits on the history of May Day and farmers uprising performed by student group Democratic Action Movement and estate workers Community Development Centre.

The participants, represented by factory and estate workers, farmers, NGO groups and members of opposition parties, came by busloads from Perak, Selangor, Kedah and Johor.

A total of 73 groups later endorsed the 16-point May Day 2004 Declaration, which covers demands in four broad areas - abolish employment laws and practices that discriminate on the basis of gender and age; introduce a minimum wage and union rights for workers; provide fair treatment to foreign workers; and conduct local government elections.

Met later at the rally, event co-coordinator M Saraswathy said the gathering intended to send a clear message to the Barisan Nasional government that after 47 years of Independence, nothing much has changed where workers' rights are concerned.

"We still face difficulties in organising unions, we still have low wages, estate workers and farmers still get evicted and we still have repressive laws like the Internal Security Act," she said.

"We want pure democracy, we are asking for nothing more than what is within our rights, we are asking that the government listens to the people," she added.

Farmers' plight

At the rally, a farmer from Perak lamented that his peers were being sidelined by the state government, and some were even 'forced' to leave their farms.

"We are often labelled as illegal farmers though we have worked the land for generations. Our land is always taken over for development," Waikram said.

"Although some of us receive compensation, it is not enough. Some of us get temporary licenses, but that is also not enough.

"All we want is to continue our work as we do not have enough knowledge or skill to do anything else," Waikram added.

The organisers, who have informed the police about the rally, expressed the hope yesterday that the authorities would co-operate on the event.

Today, all's well that ends well. Both the organisers and the police left the rally very happy and contented people that everything went on smoothly - as deserving of such an auspicious day for workers.