All's well ends well for Jan 12 rally

It turned out to be a win-win situation for the authorities and the participants of ‘Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat’ as the rally ended without any untoward incidents.

The atmosphere was more of a Malaysia Cup final match when the blaring sounds of horns and whistles where heard around Jalan Sultan and Stadium Merdeka.

As of 5pm (Saturday), there were no reports of any arrests made by the police and the participants immediately left the stadium after the gathering ended.

Dang Wangi district police chief ACP Zainuddin Ahmad said it is estimated that 40,000 to 50,000 attended the gathering that started at 2pm at Merdeka Stadium.

“There’s no report of any ugly incident occurred but we are monitoring the situation from time to time,” said Zainuddin.

However, the gathering was marred with the pressences of some underage children as they were dragged to the gathering by their parents.

Such an action goes against the Peaceful Gathering Act 2012 that forbids children under the age of 15 to take part in such rallies.

A policeman who only wanted to be known as Constable Husni said that there was peace and order throughout the day.

The police officer in his 20s from Taman Tun Dr Ismail said he and several of his colleagues were manning Jalan Sultan since 7am.

“We have experienced rallies in the past so we just do what we have to do and we hope that they will be no ugly incidents,” said Husni.

It also appears to be a smooth coverage for members of the media as the newly-formed ‘Media Marshall’ helped journalists, cameramen and photographers to carry out their duties effectively.