Citizen group educates public on peaceful protests at KLCC

By Susanna Khoo

The Peaceful Assembly Act may have already been passed in Parliament, but those who are not in favour of it have not stopped making their point.

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Each weekend, a group of determined citizens who call themselves KillTheBill, don yellow shirts, carry balloons bearing messages of goodwill for the country, and sing Negaraku amidst crowds of shoppers and tourists at Suria KLCC and its surrounding areas.

All of this is to prove a point: public protests can be carried out in a perfectly peaceful way without the need for restrictive legislation, which is precisely how the group perceives the Act -- which was passed in November last year -- to be.

“If there’s a group of citizens unhappy with what the government is doing, as long as they don’t disrupt the daily flow of people’s lives, they are not destructive and not causing any danger to the public. I don’t see why they cannot do that (hold a public protest),” said Jasmine Ng, 38, a member of KillTheBill.

She had previously helped to organise one of KillTheBill’s protests, entitled Malaysians can Draw Cartoons at KLCC without Police Permit, which took place on January 7.

At this protest, cartoonists such as Zunar and Johnny Ong drew messages on participants’ umbrellas, with the aim of highlighting the need for academic freedom and the abolishment of legislations such as the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 and the Biro Tata Negara (Malay for National Civics Bureau).

“The people (who participated in the gathering) were very courteous and well mannered. They are just an ordinary bunch of Malaysians who are just really upset with the Act. We had representations from all races,” Ng said.

Although KillTheBill is out to make a public statement in response to the Act, Wong Chin Huat, 38, who is one of KillTheBill’s pioneers, said that the group was not out to promote anarchy.

“We believe that we need to have a system and therefore, we respect law. But out of respect for law, we believe bad laws must be challenged,” he said. “The only thing we oppose is violence. You will never see us doing anything violent,” he added.

With the Act already passed, KillTheBill believes that there is a great need to educate and empower the general public in terms of how this new legislation would impact their lives.

“To us, Peaceful Assembly Act is a very big, overarching Act. We’re highlighting the different assemblies that will be affected by this Act,” said Looi Vien Na, 21, another pioneer of KillTheBill.

Assemblies such as Himpunan Hijau 2.0 (a public rally calling for the termination of the Lynas Advance Materials Plant), protests against restrictive legislations such as the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 and many others would be affected by the contents of this Act.

For instance, the Act is seen to be restrictive towards organisers and participants of peaceful assemblies, because it stipulates that the police must be informed 30 days prior to the assembly. Thus, there is no room for spontaneous protests.

Street protests are clearly prohibited under the Act and certain groups of people, such as non-citizens and children or youth below the age of 21 years, are not allowed to participate in peaceful assemblies.

Furthermore, the police are given a wide range of powers, whereby they can place restrictions or conditions on a particular assembly. The Act also permits them to make arrests without a need for a warrant and allows them to issue an order to disperse an assembly.

However, Looi said KillTheBill is more focused on creating awareness among ordinary citizens, rather than going all out to disgrace the government or solicit a certain reaction from it. The reason for this, she said, is because the group believes that the government is essentially a reflection of the people.

“If the mentality of the people is that they don’t care and they only talk, that’s what the government is going to do as well,” she said.

Wong stresses the need for all Malaysians to play a proactive role in shaping the nation. This involves questioning local practices wherever necessary and not just blindly adopting civil obedience.

“We’re in so much of problems as a country because too many citizens have evaded their responsibilities. They complain about everybody else except themselves. If system is wrong, you have to speak up against it, otherwise you’re also a guilty party,” he explained.

On the whole, Looi says that KillTheBill hopes to help Malaysians change their mind set towards politics -- a field which many view as taboo or evil.

“This (politics) is something that should be everyone’s concern; it’s just that people don’t see the implication of this in their daily lives,” Looi explained.

Wong shared a similar view.

“Your life is affected by politics all the time. We are proudly political. Politics affects our life and we want to affect politics in return. We are only non-partisan,” he explained.

So far, KillTheBill has organised seven peaceful protests within the KLCC area involving activities such as walks, photography, picnics and taking a ride on the LRT.

Others have also begun to pick up on this trend and similar gatherings have been organised in many different locations throughout the country.

Wong observes that the public has been responding positively to KillTheBill’s activities.

“People are learning to appreciate protests now. In the past, people didn’t know how to do that without getting into trouble,” he said.

Looi explained that the name KillTheBill got its inspiration from the Quentin Tarantino movie, Kill Bill. One of the members, Leonard Lee, had begun posting pictures on Facebook to promote the cause, using images of a character from that movie.

“It’s a catchy phrase, so we took it as our name. We wanted to attract people who follow the trends,” she said.

On why participants wear yellow at KillTheBill’s protests, Looi says: “It’s a symbol of solidarity. It is a colour in Malaysia that gives the context that you do not agree with corruption, injustice and that you will fight for your constitutional rights and freedom against authorities that are unjust.”

“This colour choice admittedly has its roots in the BERSIH 2.0 rally which was held on 9 July last year,” she said.

The KLCC vicinity was also deliberately selected as the venue for KillTheBill gatherings due to its symbolism as a prominent Malaysian landmark. Since it is a popular tourist attraction, KillTheBill hopes to gain the attention of foreign media so that these issues can be highlighted to a wider audience.

KillTheBill also seeks to debunk the myth that protests are detrimental to the economy.

Looi shared that participants at KillTheBill’s protests have been encouraged to shop at KLCC prior to the event and to keep their receipts as proof.

So far, KillTheBill has contributed around RM5000 or more to KLCC businesses, as a result of their protests being held there.

Slogans such as, “Think of protests, think of KLCC, shop there,” and “Protests can be peaceful, fun and business friendly,” have also been adopted by the group to foster this concept.

“We want to popularise a new norm for protests in Malaysia,” Looi added.

At time of writing, KillTheBill had 1062 members listed on its Facebook page.

For more information about KillTheBill, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit www.killthebill.org.