COMMENT | I have been to every single Bersih demonstration that has ever been organised (except for 2015 when I had a baby).

Even though I am a journalist and carried a media pass at these demonstrations, I was also present as a citizen who believes that the right to peaceful assembly by the people is an important element of democracy and human rights in this day and age.

From my observations throughout the years, I can see how demonstrations in Malaysia happen (well, at least from the late 1990s anyway). In the beginning, these demonstrations would have allegations of police brutality (and in many instances, protestors were pretty violent too).

There was one Bersih demonstration in 2011 where more than 1,000 people were arrested.

As the years went by, these demonstrations also started to...