Vuvuzela cacophony at Dataran Merdeka

The Merdeka Day eve countdown this year at Dataran Merdeka will see two activist groups join revellers, but the police are adamant they be kept at bay.

Gabungan Janji, a coalition of 47 NGOs, wants to converge at the northern-most point of Dataran Merdeka in yellow to pressure the government to fulfil its promises of electoral reform.



Another group aims to hold a short demonstration along Jalan Sultan to pressure the government to preserve heritage buildings earmarked to make way for the MRT project.

The crowd at Jalan Sultan are expected to join Gabungan Janji at about 10pm.

LIVE REPORTS

9pm - Dataran Merdeka - People is begin to trickle in, gathering in front of the iconic Sultan Abdul Samad building. There is a slight drizzle, possibly keeping others at bay.

Ironically, a Kuala Lumpur City Hall sign at both ends ofthe Sultan Abdul Samad building reads: "This area is closed to all activity".

9.05pm - Jalan Sultan - A crowd is building up near the Gospel Hall Church. Speakers advocating for the preservation of buildings along Jalan Sultan are addressing supporters.

9.15pm - Jalan Sultan - The procession along Jalan Sultan has kicked off and there appears to be no attempts by the police to stop them.

9.30pm - Shah Alam - Some 500 people are trickling into Dataran Kemerdekaan for the Selangor state government Merdeka Day eve event.

9.40pm - Dataran Merdeka - The number of revellers are swelling at Dataran Merdeka. Another group is seen near the Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman-Jalan Tun Perak junction trumpeting away on their vuvuzelas.

9.45pm - Jalan Sultan - The crowd has now swelled to about 1,000 people. They chanted “Save Jalan Sultan” along the procession and formed a 500m human chain in single file from Lok Ann Hotel to the site of the former Klang Bus Station which was recently demolished.

10.30pm - Dataran Merdeka - There are easily a few thousand people on or near the field now. The Gabungan Janji crowd is estimated to be about 1,000 people with more coming in from Jalan Sultan.
More Vuvuzelas are seen among the pro-Bersih crowd.

10.45pm - Dataran Merdeka - An estimated 5,000 people are in Dataran Merdeka for the Federal Government organised countdown.

Thousands more in yellow shirts are gathered near the northern-most police cordon and are trumpeting away on their vuvuzelas.

11.05pm - Shah Alam - Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim recites Osman Awang’s poetry titled Merdeka to a crowd of 2,000 at Dataran Kemerdekaan.

He then shouts “Merdeka” three times and the crowd reciprocates. 

11.30pm - Dataran Merdeka -  The yellow shirt, led by Bersih 2.0 co-chairperson A Samad Said and Bersih secretariat member Maria Chin Abdullah, move away from Dataran Merdeka.

They regroup at an open area south of Kuala Lumpur City Hall headquarters to hear A Samad recite a poem.


[More to follow]