#Bersih5: Maria Chin's Children Pens A Letter To Malaysians After Their Mother's Arrest
"When we were younger, we did not understand what our parents were fighting for.."
By Sadho Ram — 19 Nov 2016, 10:07 AM
Yesterday, 18 November, on the eve of Bersih 5, police arrested Bersih Chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah along with its Secretariat Secretary Mandeep Singh. However, the Bersih 5 rally is still on.
According to Malaysiakini, Bersih Deputy Chairperson Shahrul Aman Mohd Saari has vowed that the rally will go on despite the arrest of its leader Maria.
Following Maria's arrest, her three children - Azumin, Aziman and Azemi - have penned an open letter to fellow Malaysians:
In the open letter, they urge Malaysians who are attending the Bersih 5 rally today or are watching it at home, to listen to the speakers and to understand what Bersih is trying to achieve. Below is the letter posted in its entirety, courtesy Malaysiakini:
"It is the eve of the Bersih rally.
We are sure that everybody is preparing for the rally, for what seems to be the next step to achieving a free and fair election for Malaysia.
It was around 6pm, we were at home preparing dinner when we received a call from a family friend asking if we were okay and if we heard about the news.
Confused about what was going on, we asked her what happened.
She explained to us that our mother has been arrested and was brought to a police station for further processing. Within the next hour we were at the police station and as we arrived we had to wait for one of our mother’s lawyers to bring us in to see our mother. While we were in the processing room, our mother explained to us that she was being charged for destabilising the government."
They write further:
"Both Mandeep Singh and our mother were reassuring us that everything is going to be fine in a calm and collective state. We hope that the charges would be dropped and that she would be released soon.
After everything that has transpired, it is disappointing that people who fight for a fair and clean election have been branded as a threat to the country.
Is this the type of country that we Malaysians want to live in, where corruption runs amok, elections are rigged and innocents are placed behind bars?"
"When we were younger, we did not understand what our parents were fighting for or why our father was protesting strongly against the Internal Security Act. He is gone now.
We are old enough to understand the importance and sacrifice of the work that people like them do. People like our parents, who are willing to speak up against corruption do not do it for their own sake, but for the sake of the future generations.
As we are writing this, we as Malaysians, are hours away from an opportunity to voice out to make a change in Malaysia."
"It is why it is so important for us, as Malaysians, to show that we will not tolerate the injustice that government officials have got away with.
We implore to our fellow Malaysians that are attending the rally, or are watching it at home, to listen to the speakers and to understand what Bersih is trying to achieve.
We hope that the rally will be peaceful and to see you there."
Sincerely,
Azumin, Aziman, Azemi.
People have started gathering for Bersih 5 rally today.
Get all your latest LIVE updates on Bersih 5 rally from SAYS.
