Remember Bersih demonstrations of yesteryear?

Remember Bersih demonstrations of yesteryear?

Zan Azlee
Published: Jul 5, 2025 3:16 PM
Updated: 5:16 PM



COMMENT | Never would I have thought that I would become that older guy who would tell stories to the younger people about how things were back in the day. I’m 47 years old and, as cliche as it sounds, I do feel like I was in my 20s just yesterday.

Just last week, as I was teaching a journalism course to undergraduates at a local university, I mentioned how protests and demonstrations used to be quite a regular thing in Malaysia before the 2018 general election.

The students stared at me blankly, but I was unperturbed and continued. I talked about how the Bersih demonstrations, which started in 2007 and continued five more times till 2016, played a big role in creating political and democratic awareness.

I told them about how tens of thousands of people would descend onto the streets of Kuala Lumpur calling for clean elections, more political and individual freedoms, better human rights, and more from the then-government.

I gave them the lowdown on how a few of the earlier Bersih demonstrations saw the number of protesters arrested reaching even more than a thousand, and there was even violent brutality happening, with many ending up injured.

Of course, I followed up with how the later editions became less aggressive and more of celebrations, but the size of the crowd never diminished because many Malaysians at that time were pretty united in what they were fighting for.

They continued to look surprised but a bit more intrigued, so they started googling about Bersih, and when they saw it on the Internet, all the information that I was relaying to them just became more legit.

So, in an exasperated attempt to salvage my credibility as a journalist and as their lecturer, I showed them my past Bersih coverage. Some of them looked in awe, but most of them gave me a look that said, “You’re old, sir!”.

Then we continued to discuss how important the latest unanimous decision by the Federal Court declaring Section 9(5) of the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) unconstitutional was for the democratic progression of the country.

The clause criminalises the act of not giving notice of assemblies to the authorities because it stipulates that an organiser can be slapped with a fine of not more than RM10,000 for failure to provide a notice to the police, five days before a planned gathering.

Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat (in her last sitting) said that Section 9(5) imposes a punishment that exceeds the limits permitted under Article 10(1)(b) of the Federal Constitution, which guarantees the freedom of speech, assembly, and association.

She added that the section is a disproportionate intervention that amounts to a prohibition rather than a restriction on the guaranteed rights. All this was in response to a challenge brought by former Muda secretary-general Amir Abdul Hadi, whose ongoing criminal proceeding will now be remitted to the High Court and disposed of.

From Bersih to the ballot

We talked about how the right to assembly and freedom of speech are important for a democracy to work, and that the people are the ones with the most authority to determine who will administer their country and how it is to be administered.

I asked the class how many of them voted in the last election, and they all said no. I got a little bit upset at this and started a ramble about how important it is for every citizen to vote, especially the young people.

I started on about Undi18 and asked if they were aware. They all said yes, but they haven’t voted because they were all between the ages of 18 and 20 and so were not yet eligible to vote in 2022, but they will in the next one. Oh, I see. They laughed at me.

The discussion then naturally went on about how the media and journalism are the fourth estate of a democratic system. Once they all graduate, and if they do become journalists, it would be their responsibility to uphold this.

This is a good decision made by the judiciary. It shows that our country is possibly moving towards a better and more progressive democracy. Of course, more can be done because there are still a lot more oppressive and repressive laws out there.

All this is well and good, but for some reason, I’m still caught up thinking how fast time has gone by since I went to the first Bersih demonstration in 2007. I was 29 years old then, and in the blink of an eye, I’m already 47 today.

Time does fly, and my students take great joy in reminding me of that every opportunity they get! Oh well, the time will come when they will be more active members of our democratic society, and hopefully, they can do better and greater things.

ZAN AZLEE is a writer, documentary filmmaker, journalist and academic. Visit fatbidin.com to view his work.