TO LISTEN to the dire pronouncements from Malaysia's authorities, you might have expected a riot. But the big rally which took place in Kuala Lumpur this weekend, organised by Bersih—an electoral reform group angered by allegations of corruption in government—was a calm and joyful affair. Bersih (which means "clean" in Malay) reckoned that 200,000 marched to the capital's central square on Saturday afternoon to demand the resignation of the prime minister, Najib Razak; the police pegged the crowd at 30,000. Almost everyone wore Bersih's signature yellow T-shirts—despite the government's claim, at the eleventh hour, that they were illegal. One yellow-swathed campaigner waved a sunshine-yellow placard: "You can ban a T-shirt", it read, "but you can't ban an idea".
The rally began at 2pm on Saturday and continued overnight. Parents came with teenage and grown-up children (infants were discouraged). Supporters on Twitter quoted lines from "Les Miserables", and at least one rally chief tried to lead crowds in some of its tunes. A few campaigners sported bags that read "I am embarrassed by my prime minister"; one handy protestor had carved a...Continue reading
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