By Bersih Los Angeles
Bersih Los Angeles had our Bersih event on November 19, 2016, 11:30am – 2pm local time.
It was held at Vincent Lugo Park, San Gabriel, California. The weather was perfect, with some overcast and temperature was just right without the scorching sun. We were able to secure about 10 picnic tables in the public park for our participants to sit .
The event was potluck-style gathering, so everyone brought some food or snacks to share with others.
Participants arrived, signed in and consented to signing the overseas voting petition, while picking up their custom-designed Bersih 5.0 LA t-shirts with their appropriate donation amount. After having lunch and mingling, we started with a few short speeches by the co-coordinators, then we proceeded to the activities.
We started by having everyone introducing themselves with their Bersih word of the day and body sign of that word. For the next game, participants moved around and made human sculptures by mixing up all the body signs. It ended with everyone shouting their word multiple times. It was a fun activity and allowed participants to interact and think about what Bersih means to them in 1 word.
After that, we opened the floor for participants to come up and share their feelings. We had a lawyer who emotionally shared about the pain she goes through every time she finds out about any of her ex-colleagues in Malaysia being arrested or goes to jail. Many lawyers have the choice to emigrate, but many chose to stay back and fight the tough fight.
Other participants shared about their thoughts on situation in Malaysia, hope for Bersih to bring change, appreciation of younger generation for keeping the Bersih fire burning, and how we can do more.
We ended the event with singing Negaraku, taking group pictures and chanting “Bersih” and “Hidup Rakyat”.
