Anti ISA Protestors At Batu Road

With all the roadblocks set up, we figured we'd be spending more time trying to navigate out of a traffic jam caused by multiple detours.

So Shar, Kallie and I took a train into town and got off at the Dang Wangi station. On the way, we noticed the unusual traffic congestion.

But nothing prepared me for the crowd at Batu Road. It was phenomenal - Batu Road is generally a busy road, but there was a crowd thronging in every direction that I turned.


The protestors chanted slogans like "Reformasi" and "Demokrasi" as they marched down the road, heading towards Masjid Jamek.


They attracted a lot of curious onlookers.


But their march didn't last for very long and they didn't get very far as the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) or what others refer to as the "anti-riot squad" stepped in to try and disperse them.


The FRU had batons in their hands and even at that point, before 2.30pm, a few arrests had already been made.

We later discovered Sivarasa Rasiah, MP for Subang was one of them.


The crowd dispersed when the arrests were made, but quickly regrouped again behind Masjid India.

Some protestors were spluttering and had tears streaming down their eyes - an unpleasant encounter with tear gas.


The speed at which they regrouped was pretty impressive, especially how everything was planned and communicated between the people at HQ and those at ground.

Unit Amal PAS and Gerakan Mansuh ISA did an excellent job at coordinating the rally.