Bravery

These days, it’s not always easy to find Malaysians being willing to step up for a better Malaysia.

Over this weekend, many did.

I participated in one media training and two informal gatherings to discuss the problems facing Malaysia, and in each event I encountered brave Malaysians who were willing to renounce apathy and go above and beyond.

Those stories for later perhaps.

Today, I would like to highlight the story of another brave man, who participated in the Great Eastern 30km run on Sunday morning.

He set out on a simple quest to do his part to help bring awareness and to a nation that is sadly too often surrounded by deceit and shadows.

For his simple, honest, non-partisan effort, he was prosecuted and intimidated.

Luckily, being a wise and savvy gentleman, he was quick to put into practice a principle that is as simple as it is difficult to uphold: when you know you are right, do not give in.

Those who try living this ideal find that more often than not, it is a path to victory. The same principle helped me keep my chin up when I was locked up, and I hope the story below will inspire many more Malaysians to see that if we only refuse to give in to unjust intimidation, we can reclaim what is ours, and take the first step to making Malaysia all it can be.

Here is Pratamad’s story (highlights are my own) -

Semua naik, apa lagi!? – A runner’s journal
by Pratamad

I have been running long distance events for a number of years. As a runner, never have I felt so concerned with the state of Malaysia that I had decided to use my running to spread messages of deep concerns to rakyat. So I picked Great Eastern 30km Run 2008 , which was held on Jan 20, 2008. Its start and finish lines were at Taman Tasek Perdana, near our Parlimen. How appropriate. The plan was for me to run carrying a Malaysian flag and hang two posters printed with messages in front and behind (see photos).

I arrived at the start line about 10 minutes before the official flag-off time of 6am. I had to hide my flag and posters lest early intervention by the authority and abort my plan. I started my run from far behind the crowd of a few hundred as I would dash through to the front, along the process attracting the attention of the runners. It went on quite well that way for about 5 minutes until I reached Jalan Parlimen.

Under the bright street light, the police got attention of my messages. In two occasions, attempts were made to stop me. First, a junior officer riding his motorbike caught up with me and demanded me to take down my posters. By then a fellow runner called Jeffrey caught up with me too and both of us confronted the officer while running. Jeffrey told him this was a peaceful act. And I insisted I was running in the event as all the rest. The officer was trying to use intimidation for my compliance. I did not render and he then sped away.

Apparently he called his superior. Within a short moment, an apparently more senior officer caught up with us with his motorbike too. Similarly, he tried to intimidate me into submitting to his demand. I asked him a simple question “Apa salah?” (“What’s wrong?”). That seemed to make him unhappy and he responded angrily, “Mana saya ada cakap salah?” (“I never said it’s wrong”). But this is the irony. If there is nothing wrong, he should get lost. Indeed, he did that almost immediately. The lesson is that, do not give in to intimidation, especially if you know you are right.

And even more ironical is that such attempts to infringe on my basic rights as a rakyat happened at Jalan Parlimen. We expected more trouble ahead and that made my run the worst experience in my running life. I could not focus on my run and felt difficult to run my usual pace. Fortunately, the trouble stopped at Jalan Parlimen.

Throughout the run, many runners gave me either sign of approval or morale support. There was no one being negative towards my messages. Jeffrey accompanied for a good distance until his strength left me behind him. He was a good Malaysian, giving me good company in anticipation of more trouble ahead. Thank you. And there was one senior runner, at least 55 years of age, offering to hold my flag for a few minutes as a relief. I politely thanked him for his kindness as I could not expect a retiree to carry this struggle for me. There was one lady asking me whether I was carrying the messages on behalf of any political parties. I responded to her clearly that those were messages of a simple rakyat. Period.

About 500m to the finish line, I dashed forward with my remaining energy, Malaysian flag flying proudly in my hand. The crowd gave me a warm welcome applause. They were great and I felt so proud to be Malaysian. I did not see any Special Branch officers waiting at the finish line. Thank goodness.

Afterwards I learned from a member of the organising committee that he received a call from the police regarding my run. I must commend him for not giving in and for maintaining equal right of participation.

I hope that fellow runners realise that it is very okay to run carrying meaningful messages. It is basically an exercise of your basic rights in this democratic country. Stay upright and stern when confronted with intimidation of authority without justification.

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With Malaysians like Pratamad, there is hope for us yet!