Occupy Padang Merbok campers settling in

As night sets in for a second day for the Occupy Padang Merbok campers, the group numbering about a hundred appears to have settled in comfortably at their temporary home.

For one camper Joyce Lim, she said her only concern is being arrested because she is due to start her new job on Tuesday.

 

“It was alright. For social activist, it doesn’t matter where we sleep. Whether it is a long march, a rally, or campaign, it is fine as long as we don’t soaked in the rain or anything like that,” she said, when asked how roughing it out on the field last night was.

 

“The happiest thing here is that there is always people sending us food. Even past midnight last night there was food coming in,” the 28-year-old from Pahang ( right ) said.

 

The group had been occupying the field since the ‘Black 505’ rally there yesterday, and a decision will be reached on the duration of their stay in a meeting tonight.

 

They are there to protest against alleged electoral fraud in the recent general election and demand the resignation of the Election Commission’s (EC) five commissioners.

 

According to Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (Samm) propaganda director Edy Noor Reduan, a member of the public also lent the campers a generator, wiring, compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) and supplied them with fuel.

 

This is used to set up a lighting system running through the centre of the camp, with wires propped up by sticks and flagpoles.

 

Some participants are also using it to charge their phones, while Samm - a key organiser of the campaign - uses it to set up a WiFi hotspot and power electronics to send updates regarding the campsite.

DBKL looks on warily

Thus far, the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has posted summonses on the 90-odd tents for ‘erecting structures’ without authorisation and instructed them to be dismantled by noon.

 

The group responded by dismantling the tents and leaving it in place, only to erect them again at about 6.15pm.

 

Scores of DBKL enforcement officers were seen at the periphery of the field, but no further action has thus far been taken.

 

Meanwhile, another camper Muhammad Iqbal Yusof ( right ) said that he hopes to stay until the EC commissioners resign, but will follow any instructions from organisers to leave.

 

Overall, he said his stay was comfortable, but lamented that the nearest available toilet was several hundred metres away at the Masjid Negara and at the Bukit Aman Mosque.

 

“(But) we can still reach there in time. It is do-able,” he said when asked.

 

He added that this throat felt uncomfortable due to the haze when he woke up this morning, but felt better after drinking some water.

Volunteer medics standby

At the sidelines, a group of 12 medical volunteers and two ambulances are on standby to respond to any medical emergency that may arise.

 

“Today we have about 12 (campers) who reported they are not feeling well because of the haze, with complaints like headaches and irregular breathing,” said the team’s coordinator who only wished to be identified as ‘Gengta’.

 

He added that one of the campers was asked to go home due to her medical problems.

 

He said his group, simply known as the ‘Medical Team’, had 55 doctors, nurses, paramedics and first-aiders working during the rally yesterday, evacuating one heart attack patient and treating two sprained ankles from the rally.

 

“We are from various hospitals and doctors, who formed this team since Bersih 2.0. So we have been in activities and rallies all around Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.

 

“Even for the hunger strikes and Stop Lynas campaigns, we were there to support them,” he said.

 

Gengta said the team will stand down at 6pm today, and another team of doctors will look after the campers until tomorrow morning.

 

If the campout were to drag on, he said the Medical Team was ready be there to provide medical support.