MALAYSIANSKINI With noticeable facial scars and a chipped tooth, Bersih secretariat member Mandeep Singh’s rugged façade screams activist.

Anyone in the sea of yellow during the Bersih 4 rally looking up at Mandeep pumping his fist on the makeshift stage on Jalan Tun Perak, would be forgiven to think that the scars came from roughing it out in rallies or detention.

In fact, they come from less glamourous circumstances – he fell off his bike.

Just three short years ago, the firebrand Mandeep, 29, was your typical white collar worker clocking in and out at his job at Citibank.

Three years ago, Mandeep’s pockets were also deeper, and yet the cavities of his chest remained hollow. He was unfulfilled.

“I have no regrets, leaving the corporate world. Although when I joined Bersih my salary was reduced by 40 percent, I am 99.9 percent sure that I will not go back to the corporate world.”

Deep within the skinny, bespectacled man is a fire. The ember sparked in 1998 – the incarceration of former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim.

The Reformasi years were an awakening of the nation, and inside the twelve-year-old Kalumpang boy awoke a thirst to know more. His first point of call: the now outlawed magazine, Detik .

Speaking to Malaysiakini at his office in Petaling Jaya, it is evident that his reading tastes have not changed. Littered on his desk are books by the late Indonesian philosopher Tan Malaka.

He often looks across the South China Sea for inspiration in the fight for clean and fair elections.

Like the Indonesian people’s victory against the New Order, Mandeep believes Malaysia too will see a change if there is unity against injustice.

This is Mandeep's story, in his own words:

I COME FROM AN MIC FAMILY . Although my father has left MIC, my mother is still an active member. We may have differences in politics, but she’s still my mum. And she supports me totally now.

I WILL NEVER JOIN MIC. Never in my mind, even when I was a child had I thought that I would join MIC.

MY FRIENDS’ DETENTION under the Internal Security Act pushed me towards defending human rights. After that incident in 2007, I started getting involved in activism. I assisted my friends’ families to meet with Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) and Gerakan Mansuhkan ISA (GMI) to work towards their release.

I GRADUATED FROM UNIVERSITI INDUSTRI SELANGOR and joined Citibank after graduating in 2009. I joined Bersih in March 2012. I left (the corporate world) to do what I've always wanted to do.

I DON'T COME FROM A RICH FAMILY. I needed money at the time. And as you know, corporate (world) pays good money. When I was stable financially, I decided to make the move to join activism full time. It was hard initially. I even had to sell my car to my younger brother.

I HAVE BEEN DETAINED FOUR TIMES. I was first detained in 2012 after I went to Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris Shah to be in solidarity with the students there.

And that was the day I met my friend Adam Adli Abdul Halim.

I spent five days during my latest arrest in July this year when I shouldn’t even be there for a single minute. I did not commit any crime, it’s clear that it was politically motivated.

ACTIVISM IS NOT ABOUT BEING A HERO . It’s about how you educate the people. It doesn’t matter if people don’t know you.

But I have learned a lot from being detained and it has made me become stronger as a person.

I LOOK UP TO THE LATE KARPAL SINGH . I would definitely buy all of his books. I have admired him since my younger days. I like how Karpal ( photo ) presented himself, the way he fought for justice and how he stood by his principles.

I DO HAVE POLITICAL AMBITIONS . But I believe I don’t need to be in a political party to bring change. I’m happy doing what I’m doing now. If the day comes and I decide to join politics, then I will.

What I want to do first is to change the system and turn Malaysia to how it is supposed to be. I can do this with or without a political party.

I will never join BN, after all that they have done for 58 years… They even locked me up.


MARIA CHIN ABDULLAH IS MY MENTOR . What I am today is based on her guidance and teachings. She has taught me a lot, from organising things, to dealing with people, even introducing me to people.

From day one of my job with Bersih, she has always been my boss.

I WAS TOTALLY INVOLVED IN BERSIH 4 . From going to the ground to mobilising people and liaising with the police.

It was really a victory when I saw the sea of yellow.

THE HAPPIEST MOMENT FOR ME was when all my family members came for the rally. I didn’t know my mother was coming but she came on the second day of the rally.

It was also more meaningful when my sister tied a rakhi (sacred thread) on my wrist (Raksha Bandhan fell on August 29 this year. (Tying the rakhi symbolises a sister’s love for her brother)

YOUTHS WILL BRING THE BIGGEST CHANGE . Because youths don’t really have much to lose, they are able to do anything, many radical things. In the end, I am confident that it will be the young who will bring total victory to a particular struggle.

I believe the young people can do a lot. Whenever young people rise, in any part of the world, no dictatorship survives.

I believe it can happen here. The regime is scared of young people because young people have lots of ideas.

The young is the deciding factor in Malaysia. And I believe it will happen one day and not too long in the future.

BERSIH 5 SHOULD BE A DAY OF CELEBRATION . It should be a day where we do not simply demand this and that, but a day for celebration. It is the day when the people win.

And victory, I believe, is not so far away from now.

 

 

 

 

 

MALAYSIANS KINI is a series on Malaysians you should know.

 

Previously featured:

Malaysia's accidental Bob Dylan says he's no guitar warrior

Razlan Rafii - Umno 'thug' or misunderstood modern man?

Saving Pekan Ampang, the small town in a big city

How the indie publishing mafia sparked a reading renaissance

Subversive book club thrives in Shah Alam and beyond

Meet Syed Saddiq, your freedom of speech crusader

‘It’s not punk rock, it's punk ideology’

Paramedic goes ‘white to black’ to lead medic team at Bersih 4