It was a quiet and peaceful affair, as far as Bersih 4 in Kuching was concerned. Just like every other Bersih destination, ours kicked off at 2pm on Aug 29, 2015, on a hot and sunny Saturday afternoon.

There were four main gathering points in town for people to gather, and we would then march to Song Kheng Hai rugby field thereafter. I chose the Jubilee Ground gathering point, which brought back primary school memories as we often ate kolo mee or ABC (ice kacang) after class as school was just next door.

As it was my first Bersih experience, I did not know what to expect. Many advised me to go in long pants and sports shoes, and not in contact lenses (for fear of tear gas). If you ask me today, I would advise you to dress your best Kuching attire the next round - yellow, in shorts, sunglasses and slippers.

It was a typical Kuching sight, where everyone was hogging the hawker table with his favourite ‘white lady’ and ‘metahorn’, just that everyone happened to be in yellow. While waiting for more people to arrive, we were handing out leaflets with information on Bersih and what to do if we got arrested.

At about 3pm, after a short introduction by Ann, we marched to our destination carrying our placards, flags and umbrellas. Under the hot sun, we waved at cars who shouted “Bersih” from their window screens, and we also tried doing some “Hidup Bersih” chants - though not as convincing as our Kuala Lumpur counterparts.

There were about five thousand people gathered at the rugby field, which was an achievement on its own, considering that there was only a thousand who turned up for Bersih 2. I heard that out of the five thousand people present, there were 15 bus loads of people who came from other districts like Sibu, Miri, Kapit, Simunjan and Sri Aman.

There were speeches from 12 different speakers, of which I only stayed for four and then excused myself to carry out my volunteering duties. Yes, to top my Bersih4 experience, I had the chance to volunteer under Rise of Sarawakian Efforts (Rose) to help with registering first-time voters.

We staged a huge ‘Daftar Undi’ banner and a portable photocopier next to the famous coconut tebu stall, which was having a windfall. Many young people above the age of 21 came waving their identity cards at us, and there were also a few older rural folks who needed us to help fill out their Suruhanjaya Pilihanraya (SPR) forms.

If you were to ask me, voter registration is just the elementary step of the whole process. Step 0: Register as a voter. Step 1: Come out and vote. To the delight of all, we managed to register more than a hundred voters. Besides registering new voters, some of us were also campaigning to get people to volunteer as polling and counting agents (Pacas).

Being a first-Bersih-timer, I realised that I have not been as politically awake as I am today. And I believe that there are many young ones out there who are also going through this ‘awakening process’. Better late than never.

Shifting the power back to the people

Bersih has inevitably charged up the political atmosphere and has made its mark in empowering the rakyat. I mean, following the drone pictures and videos of the sea of yellow in Kuala Lumpur, how can one not be moved? We need to know the extent of the power the people carry. We need to shift the power back to the people and make demands for our generation. In simple action terms, we need to register as voters, and VOTE.

I am convinced that this awakening process has started in Sarawak, yet at the same time, we know that we need to take this awareness to the rural folks. There is a lot of work to be done, and there is a lot of work to be done in Sarawak. Sarawak is crucial in bringing change to the nation. Bersih is just the beginning.

On a personal note, I look forward to my first Paca training and also heading into the interiors of Sarawak to spread this awareness. If this resonates with you, come on board with us! The best is yet to come, Malaysia.

LI ERN PHANG is a volunteer with Rise of Sarawak Efforts (Rose).