“儿子，你可以带我一起去 Bersih 3.0 吗？”

"Son, can you bring me along with you to Bersih 3.0?"
That's what my 71 years old mother asked after I told her of my wife and I and a group of friends will be attending Bersih 3.0 sit in protest at Dataran Merdeka, this coming Saturday, 28th April, 2012.

I am of course more than happy to bring her along, after all if Auntie Bersih can do it, I think my mother should do fine. My wife is against the idea, she argued that this is not a carnival, what if there are crackdowns again? Tear gas, water cannon etc. We can barely take care of ourself, even more so with my elderly mother coming along.

I text-ed a number of Bersih going friends about bringing my mother along, only one share my wife's opposing view out of concerned, the rest are overwhelmingly supportive, and offer to help taking care of my mother. Thank you, Friends.

But there's still doubts lingering in my mind. Is she doing this because she understand what is Bersih all about, or she merely want to be an onlooker there. Am I naively forsaking her safety just because my ego want her to emulate what Auntie Anne did in Bersih 2.0?

Not leaving it to chance, I went over to my mother's place and asked if she know what is Bersih 3.0 all about. All she knew was it was something to do with electoral fraud, phantom voters, double voting etc, barely scratching on the surface, so I spent some time explaining to her what are the problems with our electoral system, Bersih's demands on cleaning the electoral rolls, postal votes reforms, fair access to media etc before the next general election, answering some of her questions to making sure she has a good understanding why Bersih 3.0 is important to the country.

Now come the Q & A with my mother:
Q: So, do you still want to come to Bersih 3.0?
A: Yes of course!

Q: Are you not afraid of the crackdowns? Tear gas, water cannon?
A: Sure I'm afraid, but I still want to go.

Q: Why are you so adamant about going to Bersih 3.0?
A: At my age, if I still do not do something now, I do not think I'll be able to do it when the next call come.

So you have it, rain or shine, tear gas or not, my 71 years old mother is coming to Bersih 3.0 with me for sure.

And for those who has not decided to come along, be it, young, not so young, old, not so old, as long as you are able and willing, I hope my mother's story can inspire you to come out and join us in something that will bring about electoral reforms and making our beloved country a much better place for everyone.

For those friends who understand and support the Bersih struggles, I salute you, spread your understandings and believes to as many as you can, for you never know, there are many like minded people around us.

A proud son.