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A volunteer distributes leaflets to promote the Bersih 4 rally at Donggongon market in Penampang, Sabah. The event in Sabah is expected to be more relaxed and festive unlike in Kuala Lumpur. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Hasnoor Hussain, August 27, 2015.Organisers of the Bersih 4 gathering in Sabah, which had promised more of a "democracy festival" than a rally such as in Kuala Lumpur, have always faced a paradox.
On one hand, Sabah, out of all the regions in Malaysia, is in most need of the reforms electoral reforms coalition Bersih 2.0 is fighting for: cleaning up the electoral rolls and enforcing campaigning laws.
Yet the majority of Sabahans don't know this. Even those who do, and support Bersih, are afraid to turn up at the gathering planned this weekend.
But that was before Sabah police and the Kota Kinabalu City Council (DBKK) refused to approve the rally at Tanjung Lipat.
The police's hardline stance, however, had the opposite effect, and organisers are now optimistic about getting more people to turn up.
"People are more excited now and we have sold out all T-shirts after Sabahans read the police statement," said Sabah Bersih chairman Jannie Lasimbang, referring to police's announcement that there will be no rally this weekend.
Fear and intimidation
Lasimbang (pic, left) told The Malaysian Insider on Monday that she and Sabah Bersih committee member Matthew Yong planned for a rally that was more an "educational fair" than a boisterous show of protest.
Unlike the Bersih 4 rally in Kuala Lumpur, the planned gathering in Kota Kinbalu is in Tanjung Lipat, a popular waterfront spot outside the city centre better known for picnics and fairs.
"All the activities at the gathering are santai (leisurely) in nature," said Lasimbang.
This would be more attractive to Sabahans compared to the defiant, confrontational approach of the KL rally.
"People here are still scared of attending these things. They believe that if you go, the police will catch you," said Lasimbang, explaining the prevailing mentality of Sabahans about political rallies.
This is not just a problem among Sabah's vast rural populace but even urbanites who are more politically-conscious and who voted for the opposition in the last general election.
Many in Kota Kinabalu, Penampang and its surrounding suburbs are civil servants, said Lasimbang, and being caught attending a rally could mean losing a secure job.
Tanjung Lipat, the popular waterfront spot outside Kota Kinabalu where Sabah's Bersih 4 gathering will take place this weekend. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Hasnoor Hussain, August 27, 2015.Although the two biggest opposition parties DAP and PKR have pledged to mobilise all their members, there is a worry that their ordinary supporters would not turn up, said Yong.
"Leaders and office holders will turn up.
"But it's the ordinary grassroots people. They tell us to go on the frontline and they will be in the back supporting us," said Yong.
"That's why Barisan Nasional (BN) always calls Sabah the fixed deposit. Because the people are easily intimidated".
Educate, not incite
It is this fear and timidity that the organisers were hoping to shed with their "Pesta Demokrasi", complete with art exhibitions, candle-making programmes and talks.
Lasimbang said the aim was to educate Sabahans on democracy, citizens' rights and the importance of having clean institutions to serve the people and allow them to exercise those rights.
When it comes to electoral fraud, said Yong, Sabah has suffered more compared to the rest of Malaysia.
Testimonies in a 2014 royal commission of inquiry showed a concerted effort which goes back to the 70s to dish out citizenship to thousands of migrants from Indonesia and the Philippines.
Books have been written claiming that the scheme was to create a pliable voter base for certain BN parties. Much of this is known to Sabahans and a majority realise that Sabah has a foreign migrant problem.
A Malaysian Insider straw poll among Sabahans showed that 52% of them said its illegal migrant population was Sabah's biggest problem.
The Bersih rally in Sabah was to be a platform to connect the dots between these issues and energise Sabahans to speak up, said Yong (pic, left).
Yesterday, it seemed the mood among Sabahans about a possible confrontation with the police had changed. Bersih 4.0 T-shirts were sold out within three days after the police statement.
Lasimbang was surprised that the police ban has got more people fired up about the rally, and she admits that the gathering might not be a "leisurely festival" anymore.
But there is still a worry that T-shirt sales will not be matched by actual bodies at Tanjung Lipat on Saturday.
"So we tell these people, don't just buy the T-shirts. You must come down on Saturday to support us." – August 27, 2015.
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