Scheduled to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu starting at 2pm on 29 August 2015, the Bersih 4.0 rally has been the focal point of much controversy, legal debate and political drama. The rally organizers intend to continue the event until Sunday midnight, 30 August 2015.
Various rallies were also held worldwide on August 29 spanning different time zones around the world. Following are images of the global rallies compiled from global media reports as well as the @GlobalBersihTwitter post of rallies taking place in Sydney, Australia, Ontario, Canada, Suzhou, China and Taipei, Taiwan. Other places reported to have held the rally include far flung corners of the world like Ulaanbatur in Mongolia, and Christchurch, New Zealand.
Pic: @GlobalBersih
SUNDAY (AUGUST 30, 2015)
12:00AM The crowd sings Negaraku to conclude the rally. The 34 hours BERSIH 4.0 officially comes to an end with the Chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah leading the countdown to Merdeka.
11:24PM BERSIH chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah has approached the police to negotiate for extending the rally hours from 12 midnight to 1am to allow for cleaning and inspection of the rally venue.
11:12PM DAP adviser LIm Kit Siang asserts that over 300,000 have turned out to support BERSIH 4.0. He declared those present tonight as coming to welcome 'Merdeka'. In his speech, Kit Siang expressed his gratitude to Tun M for showing his support for the rally.
11:00PM One more hour left to go as PKR President Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail takes to the stage to address the crowd.
10:00PM While bands continue to entertain and renditions of 'Sejahtera Malaysia' and 'Standing In The Eye Of The World' can be heard from the makeshift stage, some rally participants seem overcome by boredom and are waiting on the sidelines for the countdown to conclude.
9:40PM The crowd at the rally remains in high spirits. Music entertainment returns to liven the atmosphere further. According to official observers of the Bersih rally present, there is an estimated 20,000 strong turnout at the moment with the numbers likely to increase further as the night progresses. Besides the police, these impartial observers are also doing their part to ensure people's rights are observed and the law observed.
9:00PM With 3 hours left before midnight, the atmosphere at the rally has turned lively with chants and shouting of slogans. Thousands of protesters have turned on their lights in unison while shouting 'Bersih'.
8:50PM Rafizi Ramli then takes the stage to deliver his speech that is widely expected to be provocative. He claims he will disclose new information about a new warship deal being planned by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak
8:40PM One of the participant, Hasmah, 56 claims that she joins the rally to show her discontent towards the government. She went on to share her worries that the younger generation were unhappy with the PM's wife and the need for the government to regain the people's trust.
Meanwhile the chairman of Gerakan Harapan Baru (GHB) Mohamad Sabu has arrived at the rally location.
8:30PM While waiting for the Opposition leaders to show up for tonight's highlight at 9pm, participants are still blowing the vuvuzela, while others are taking shelter due to rain.
8:05PM A kuliah Maghrib is being delivered by an ustaz in front of the Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad.
8:00PM Thousands of protesters have regrouped and returned to reoccupy the areas around Masjid Jamek and outside Dataran Merdeka, PAS vice-president Datuk Husam Musa has also been sighted among the crowd.
7:30PM An Indian man believed to be a civilian in an intoxicated state caused a stir but the police manage to deter any untoward incident and the situation is now under control.
6:50PM Dang Wangi Police Chief ASP Zainol Samah has announced that the rumour that the Merdeka Eve concert scheduled to be held at Dataran Merdeka has ben rescheduled to another location is untrue because the concert had from the beginning been planned for the Bukit Jalil Stadium. He also estimates that there are about 15,000 rally participants present at the moment.
6:15PM In the final lap of 6 remaining hours of the Bersih 4.0 rally, Rafizi Ramli gives a rousing speech, declaring that no one can deter the protesters' right to see the rally to its penultimate ending tonight.
6:00PM We can see policemen are in control of situation around Dataran Merdeka by manning blockades. Participants are milling around the viciniity of Dataran Merdeka. According to the police on duty at the location, they do not foresee any escalation in security for the moment until 8pm tonight.
5:40PM Until now, the situation is still under control. Participants are entertained with acrobatic acts by representatives of Bersih.
5:25PM About an hour ago, Tun M had made a visit to the rally site at Central Market. According to information shared at the #Bersih4 Twitter post, Tun M took the KTM public transport to get to the venue.
He spoke to the crowd present, explaining that he had to address the protesters directly as other sources of getting his views across have been controlled by the ruling authorities. He spoke critically about his successor PM Najib, again declaring that he no longer supports him and reaffirming his disapproval of the much disputed RM2.6 billion donation used as election funding in GE13. His speech was punctuated by shouts of 'Bersih' and 'Reformasi'.
Pic: #Bersih4
5:08PM Media are now preparing because former PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is expected to make another visit to the rally again. In the meantime, the situation is still under control where participants are still lingering around the Dataran Merdeka area.
Malaysian Digest
Malaysian Digest
