Book review: Bersih’s first rally 15 years ago is food for thought on where Malaysia is today

AS Malaysia waits to vote in the 15th general election (GE15), comes freelance journalist Danny Lim’s book on the origins of Bersih, the movement started more than 15 years ago that emboldened Malaysians with each subsequent street rally to eventually vote in a new government in 2018.

Not insignificant, too, is the fact that today, November 10, marks 15 years since the first Bersih rally on the streets of Kuala Lumpur. Read now, in our 15th election cycle, the book gives pause to reflect on how far Malaysia’s democracy has come, even if politics has regressed.

‘We Are Marching Now: The Inside Story of Bersih 1.0’ starts with the gloomy days for the opposition after Barisan Nasional’s (BN) supermajority win in the 2004 general election. “Peak BN”, as Lim calls the outcome.

The book, 10 years in the making and based on 77 interviews by Lim with various personalities from political parties and civil society, looks at those pivotal to Bersih’s formation.

It traces how motley people are drawn together – down-and-out mid-level leaders from PKR, DAP and PAS, as well as activists – to unite around the common agenda of electoral reform.

Some of the names in the book are of well-known politicians. To recognise that they are no longer with Pakatan Harapan today, or that they have been dropped as GE15 candidates, shows the impermanence of politics.

Bersih’s genesis came about at a time when opposition parties were fractured, and civil society activists championed individual causes but had no clue on how to unite the masses.

Electoral reform was the only agenda all could agree on. Lim writes of the individuals whose decisions at the time, unaware of the outcomes and consequences, would give birth to arguably the largest mass movement in Malaysia’s recent history.

The thread of destiny is one that Lim weaves frequently into his narrative, telling of past events, chances and coincidences, that made the time ripe for Bersih to be born.

In this regard, We Are Marching Now is an important supplement to more scholarly works and scratch-the-surface journalism on Malaysia’s recent political history. In particular, how it came to be that the Malaysian masses, used to authoritarian rule for so long, could vote out a regime that governed for six decades.

In Lim’s account, we find the seeds for the first Bersih in 1998, almost a decade earlier, when the Reformasi began over the sacking of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim from the BN government.

In this tracing of lines between Bersih 1.0 and other events, Lim reminds us that in the ever-forward march of history, seeds are germinating all the time. Their outcomes can depend on the players who water and nurture them, as well as the political circumstances of the times.

The first rally itself, on November 10, 2007, is noted as a precedent to the 13th general election four months later, on March 8, 2008, when the chipping away at BN rule began.

In that election, the coalition retained federal power but lost its two-thirds majority in Parliament, while opposition parties took over five state governments.

The book deals only with the first iteration of Bersih and its maiden rally, but those who’ve keenly followed political developments in Malaysia will recognise its role in bringing about regime change a decade after its inception.

A breezy and exciting read that can be finished in two sittings or even one, Lim’s book reminds the jaded that politics is messy, and democratic progress is wrought with one step back for every two steps forward.

Towards the end, the reader can feel the nail-biting tension as Lim describes the rally's twists and turns and protestors' face-off with water canons and FRU batons, or relive the excitement if one had been there 15 years ago.

And for those just coming of age and who may vote for the first time in GE15, We Are Marching Now can be an inspirational guide not to be disillusioned over the adults failing the country, as change has always come from the people. As unchartered as the future might be, it really is up to you. – The Vibes, November 10, 2022

We Are Marching Now: The Inside Story of Bersih 1.0 is on sale now at Kedai Fixi, Gerakbudaya, Lit Books and Riwayat Bookstore as well as on Shopee.