CYCLING FOR CHANGE - by Rani Rasiah
It was 11.30 am on 18 December 2008. The 500 km stretch of road leading to Parliament was lined on both sides with the red-shirted teenage heroes of the Cycle for Change campaign and supporters. They waited in anticipation as one kilometer away, the 'Prepared to be arrested' team (Skuad berani kena tahan) of 30 adult cyclists got ready. Tense negotiations were taking place between the police and our organizers at the point the road forked. The police stand for the day was absolutely no bicycles, whether cycled, pushed or carried, would be allowed. The order came from the Deputy Inspector Genral of Police and three police district were mobilised to ensure his instructions are met. For the Jerit organizers not cycling to parliament to hand over the memorandum was inconceivable.
Suddenly the knot of negotiating policemen and organizers broke up to allow through a stream of 12 cyclists pedaling towards parliament. Wild applause filled the air as the waiting cyclists and supporters rejoiced.
To the cyclists and organizers a historic 16-day adventure of struggle and fun had come to a successful end. To the police and their masters, it seemed as if the biggest threat to the nation had ceased.
Is it a crime to cycle?
Throughout the course of the cycle for change campaign the police have tried to criminalize the entire program by randomly accusing us of breaking all kinds of laws. First they wanted us to stop cycling, warning otherwise that we would be guilty of illegal assembly and holding a procession. When initially they could not justify that, they said our leaflets were in contravention of the laws on printing and publications Act, as truly we had failed to print the source of the leaflet. After we had rectified that, they were still not happy and kept pouncing on our pamphleteering teams. A number of people got arrested for this.When we took a break from pamphleteering, they arrested us for obstructing the police from carrying out their duties, in this case, clambering up our bus to intimidate our cyclists. Earlier, they had detained our bicycles that were being transported by a lorry to our next stop and I guess the only illegal thing about that was that it belonged to the campaign. In all the states the northern team had been to earlier – Kedah, Penang and Perak – we had been constantly harassed, assaulted, intimidated and wrongfully arrested by the police. Our camera had been snatched from us, an organiser molested etc. But the Selangor CPO and the Rawang police take the cake. Especially the CPO, Khalid Abu Bakar. He ordered for all the cyclists and organizers who were then seated in a restaurant having tea hosted by YB Gan Pei Nei, to be arrested for illegal assembly. Later he announced to the media that the organisers would be charged under the Child Act for forcing unwilling under-18s to cycle impossible distances and without consent from their parents. He unleashed the FRU on angry Malaysians holding candles outside the police station to press for the immediate release of all detained.
50 people aged 15 to 50 cycling single file through the peninsular, wearing t-shirts outlining the main issues affecting our working people – could that be a crime?
Can't the poor demand change?
The red t-shirts worn by the cyclists carry 6 demands, all of which are discussed in a memorandum that was handed over to the prime minister on 18/12/08 at Parliament. The campaign highlighted six main issues:
A minimum wage act
Adequate housing
Repeal of draconian laws such as the ISA
Control of prices
No privatization of basic amenities and services
Local Council elections
Are these demands irksome? Could be a thorn in the flesh to some. But they are not the result of the creative antics of some bored activists. They are born out of the real day-to-day hardship faced by 60% of the population who are victims of the low and no minimum wage policy of the government. The recession and ensuing job losses coupled with the high prices of staple food items such as rice have actually forced poor people to cut down on overall food intake. The price of milk powder has resulted in children drinking kopi-o and teh-o. What is so wrong in asking for a change to this situation?
Who will save our children?
Suddenly the police and their masters want to save the children!
They wanted to save our under-18s from being exploited and abused to further the aims of certain groups. So the police ordered the children into the station, barked orders at them, called them in for documentation one by one, separated them from the abusers (organisers), lectured them separately about the illegality of the whole campaign, the likely effect on their future etc. Then they roped in the welfare officers supposedly to protect and hand over the children to their parents when they arrived but who instead began writing intelligence reports on them. All the while the children they wanted to save were left drying in their shirts that had got drenched earlier while walking into the police station. There were sneaky attempts to record statements from the children, and those who refused to cooperate were called devils and yelled at. Some were asked to remove the offensive red shirt. One who said she would not leave the police station until all her co-cyclists and organisers were released was screamed at and threatened. Finally after 3am, they were given mats and pillows to sleep on. In so many ways the police tried to save the children from us.
When the parents arrived the next day, the police got a rude awakening, with all of them demanding reasons for detaining their children.
Who are the police trying to fool? It's not the children they are trying to save but their political masters and cronies whose policies are the cause of the hardship faced by people, and this campaign is obviously causing them a great deal of discomfort and damage. What a sham to say children should not be involved in or exposed to the issues of the campaign! As a member of a low-income household, every injustice affecting the parents translates into some form of material and emotional deprivation for the child. When a parent is unable to put 3 square meals on the table, there are no saviours to intervene and save the children. Children in a low-income home have to become adults quickly to understand their reality, and in many cases to start working to add to family income. Remember the children of plantation workers carrying oversized pails, and walking from tree to tree collecting scrap? They don't have the luxury of growing up as children. Their parents' plight is their plight. Their parents' struggle theirs.
What about children pining for loved ones in detention in Kamunting? If they were sincere, the government could save the children by abolishing the ISA!
Use resources to fight crime!
The entire police force of the country over the 16 days seems to have been mobilized to monitor and halt the campaign. At least 15 roadblocks in various districts from Alor Setar to Rawang, more than half led by OCPDs or their deputies were mounted. Many roadblocks were manned by up to 30 policemen. In Bagan Serai the Light Strike Force was waiting for the cyclists. The Special Branch followed the whole campaign in cars with photographers clicking away day and night, never losing sight of us. Patrol cars and unmarked cars hovered around the places where we stayed the night (though this round-the-clock vigil by the police failed to stop the real criminals, such as the arsonists who burnt 6 of our bicycles in Permatang Pauh).
The police worked with great zeal, even beyond the call of duty. In Kanthan Baru, they produced a form used on suspects of secret societies with questions on gang membership to be filled up for every cyclist!
Why spend so much time, money and energy trying to obstruct and stop a peaceful, healthy activity by people exercising their democratic rights in a non-violent manner?
The parents waiting outside the Rawang police station spoke for all Malaysians when they gave the police an earful on how precious resources could be used to fight the many crimes plaguing the nation instead of hounding us
The great German socialist Rosa Luxemburg, famously remarked that those who do not move do not notice their chains. The cyclists of the Cycle for Change campaign stand testimony to that reality. We are glad we moved. We are glad we cycled. As we cycled for change we found the chains that shackle us, and are determined to break them.--
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