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To go or not to go, that was the question on my mind during the day. I was hesitant not because of fear of being arrested (since the police started the arresting spree last Sunday), but due to me not knowing how to get to the Dewan Sivik! I googled for a location map to the place. Still I got lost on the way there!
I arrived at five minutes to eight. Zorro was there to give me a bear hug welcome! Haris Ibrahim and Richard (a local councilor) were already addressing a crowd of about thirty people. They were reading out a long list of don’ts that came with the police permit for the gathering. Some of the prohibitions are ‘cannot wear t-shirts with anti-ISA message’, ‘cannot light candles’, ‘cannot make political speech’ etc.
The group later moved to an adjoining open space and started to light candles. By then the crowd grew to about 200 people (my estimate not so accurate). Bloggers, MPs, and some from the crowd took turns to address the people. Of the personalities I recognized were Raja Petra, Teresa Kok and Din Merican.
The crowd was a mix of young and old, from all walks of life. I can see in their faces that they were there because they want to stand up and be counted. I met a pretty young lady (although she claimed to be not too young) who is back from London for a holiday. She said that she has been following the events on the internet. She step out front to say a few word to the people. Then there was this petite doctor, an eye specialist who came. I was informed that she will soon start a blog to campaign for her ADUN. I also met, for the first time other bloggers like Haris and The Whisperer. And I was happy to see Sunil, the kind blogsphere friend whom I met at the Kamunting outing during Hari Raya.
Isn’t it amazing to see people passionate about the good of their nation? But how many more are there who are sitting at home with their arms folded and not doing anything. Anything means not even bothering to read the alternative news to find out the truth of matters. Not even wanting to analyze the news and differentiate between fact and fiction. These are the ones who, not only do not bother but will also criticize those who sacrifice their time and safety to do so.
Sorry I got carried away with my ranting. Let’s get back to the vigil.
I left at 8.55pm, got to hurry home for dinner and to finish some assignment. I got lost again on the way home! 
Pat Lu sent me this video link of tonight;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGNU3sWKCGI.
Here are some photos I took of tonight’s vigil. The quality isn’t that good because I used my mobile phone for the purpose.
(Pretty young lady who works in London at her 1st candlelight vigil)
(The crowd)
(Raja Petra, view from the back)
(Teresa Kok addressing the crowd)
No I was not at the Penang candlelight vigil tonight. I had to attend to an assignment which involved watching a play at KL Pac, titled ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ by the Footstool Players. What an irony indeed. Here I was watching a play themed around love, and in Penang we have people who love their nation enough to sacrifice their own safety and freedom just to show they care, are being threatened with police arrest!
Jong, my blogsphere buddy from Ipoh kept me updated of the night’s events via the telephone and sms. She called me at 10.10pm, while I was still sitting through the 2nd act scene 1 of the play. My mobile was put on silent mode, but the vibrations alerted me. I could not answer and I had to ignore it. Jong, sorry about that. I knew something was up. Seconds later she smsed me , ‘Paula got arrested. Only one hauled in.’ (Note: Paula is the organiser of the night’s vigil). The rest of the 5 scenes were lost to me. I could not concentrate and hated myself for not being to call Jong back!
It was almost 50 minutes later when I managed to call her. She gave me an update of the event. Jong reported that when the event started, she noticed only 2 mata-mata in uniform. There were also some plainclothes burly-looking guys lurking around. It seems that the FRU came in a truckload when the event was about to end. Jong left thinking that all has ended well and without event. Only later she received a call from Ong that Paula was taken in.
At the time of writing, Jong informed me that Paula was released at 1am on a verbal bail (?) and that she was told to report to the police station on 28 nov. Her arrest is made under section 143 (?).
Before the photos of the night’s event are posted, let me call on all of you to please pray for Paula. Pray that she will be strong. That God will give her courage to face her persecutors. That she will have peace in her heart knowing that God is in control of the situation. That she will have the wisdom to speak under the circumstances. That she will know that we are with her in prayers and in spirit.
Now, let’s be encouraged by these… (photos courtesy of Jong and Omar Khayyam, thanks buddies!)
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