E Contrario

I am not sure tank belongs to which category of vehicle when it uses toll. We have new participants to our anti toll hike protest today (14 January 2007). Two police tanks joined the rally this afternoon. I guess their motive was the same as others who came, i.e. to protest against toll. Toll rate must be getting quite high to bear for tanks nowadays.

Gabungan Protes Kenaikan Tol organized a second demonstration today. We gathered at the ProJet petrol station, about 1 km away from Gombak Toll Plaza. Compared to the gathering at Sunway Pyramid last Sunday (7 January), the crowd today was much smaller. At about 16:00hr, some 500 people assembled at the roadside towards Karak Highway and started chanting. Badrul Hisham or more popularly known as Che’gubard was the MC today. I gave the first speech to officiate the rally.

The police got agitated immediately. Before I could finish, the officer came and warned that we have only 5 more minutes. Of course the enthusiastic crowd dismissed it without fear. We continued chanting and several other leaders from parties and NGOs spoke.

At about 17:00hr, the angry police looked like running out of patience. A few of them approached and demanded our dispersal. I was impressed with the hundreds of participants who were undeterred. We went on for another few speakers and Syed Shahir，our coalition chairperson and MTUC President concluded the rally at about 17:30hr.

Although we had a smaller pool of participants, we can see people were energetic and keen for more action. Before we dispersed, the people demanded us to organize another follow-up action. We promised we would announce once we decide on the next target.

Next week, members of the anti toll hike coalition will meet and plan our future course of action.