SPECIAL REPORT | It was not an ordinary Sunday on Nov 25, 2007. Something happened in Kuala Lumpur that morning.

After hearing about the incident, a youngster browsed through the recently-launched YouTube, where some low-resolution videos caught his eyes.

The video showed Jalan Ampang barricaded by the police and well-equipped Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) personnel descending, squadron after squadron.

A continuous volley of tear gas followed and the city became a battlefield.

Tens of thousands of ethnic Indians, carrying posters of Mahatma Gandhi and chanting "Makkal Sakti" (people's power), were seen scrambling in all directions.

Some fled to KLCC after suffering from tear gas, batons and water cannons. There was much anger and panic.

"People are not able to demand their rights, is this democracy?" said a protester who was captured on camera, looking clearly outraged.

After watching the videos, the youngster felt an unexplainable excitement. It was a different kind of experience that he could not fully comprehend.

He felt that he was in the middle of something historic and spectacular. He heard voices crying for change.

The youngster was this author and the historic protest was the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) rally.

It took place a year before the global financial crisis and Malaysia's political tsunami in 2008.

It was a year highlighted by three major events, which helped define the changes that the country would undergo.

Two weeks before the Hindraf rally, on Nov 10, 2007, some 40,000 protesters gathered in Kuala Lumpur for the first Bersih rally, demanding for free and fair elections.

Dataran Merdeka was put under lockdown with a heavy police presence.

It was a cat-and-mouse game as police deployed water cannons near Masjid Jamek to disperse the "yellow wave".

Despite the chaos, PAS' Unit Amal formed human shields and help guide the crowds from Central Market, Sogo shopping centre and the National Mosque to submit a memorandum at the national palace, which was situated along Jalan Istana at that time.

Described as the largest rally since Reformasi in 1998, the Bersih gathering also served as a common platform for the opposition parties.

Apart from the Hindraf and Bersih rallies, 2007 was also known for the "Walk for Justice".

On Sept 26 that year, 2,000 lawyers marched from the Palace of Justice to the Prime Minister's Office to hand over the Malaysian Bar's memorandum.

They called on the government to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to investigate allegations of judicial fixing and to establish a judicial appointments and promotion commission.

"Lawyers don't walk every day. Not even every month. But when they walk, then something must be very wrong," the then Malaysian Bar president Ambiga Sreenevasan had said during the protest.

It was only the third time in history the lawyers had marched. It was large and unprecedented.

Examining the three defining movements

The three social movements in the second half of 2007 can be described as a defining period that bridged the Reformasi era in 1998 and what was to follow after the 2008 general election.

With hindsight, the three social movements in the second half of 2007 can be described as a historical crux that bridges the past and the future, which inherited and transformed the decade-long strength accumulated since Reformasi in 1998, followed by another decade-long journey of political reforms after the 2008 general election.

It was a time that helped set the country on the path of democratisation.

"Why was there an emergence of social uprising? Because authoritarianism was decaying," said Penang Institute fellow Wong Chin Huat.

"The three movements must be examined independently. The Malaysian Bar was upset that (former prime minister) Abdullah (Ahmad Badawi) did not punish the judicial abuses during the Mahathir era.

"Bersih rally was the collaboration between the opposition and civil society to fix the electoral system after going through a low ebb in 2004.

"Hindraf came about after the government turned a blind eye to the right wing and little Napoleans demolishing the Hindu temples, causing the wrath of the ethnic Indians.

“Abdullah was incapable of solving the social issues and the people were upset. In 2007, he was facing pressure from both sides. Reformers thought his reforms were insufficient and conservatives such as Mahathir thought he was too soft and bowed to dissidents,” Wong told Malaysiakini...