Light Overcoming Darkness

Donald Trump kisses his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland on July 20, 2016. © Christopher Morris / VII.

On November 10, 2007, Malaysian police in Kuala Lumpur used water cannon and fired tear gas on protesters, led by opposition icon Anwar Ibrahim. Demanding changes to the country’s electoral system, some 30,000 young protesters marched in heavy rain while chanting “Allahu akbar” (God is greatest) and “Reformasi”, a reform demand that was the war chant of 1998 opposition protests. They wore yellow T-shirts with the slogan “Bersih”, or “Clean” in Malay and their banners read “Save Malaysia” and “Election Commission, stop your tricks”. “I think this is a major success in the expression of public sentiment against fraudulent practices in the elections,” Anwar told Reuters in a telephone interview. “We will have to persist in this campaign to send a message to the government that people are tired of this kind of fraud.”