Jeniri Amir of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak said the 7,000 police on duty in the capital and steps taken by both side to control the crowd had ensured that there were no outbursts.
“In a rally like this people need to remain rational and not allow their emotions to take control,” he said. “We should learn from similar rallies in Thailand where violence paints a negative image of the movement.”
He hoped the day would pass peacefully, and prove that people could hold rallies without violence.
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Faisal S Hazis said that Malaysians were mostly peaceful towards each other, despite political differences, as long as they were not provoked by political elites.
He believed the peace will continue through the day as the Red Shirts movement, which he holds to be more provocative of the two groups, would not want to bring the Bersih 5 rally to public attention.
“I think that the Red Shirts’ leaders have came to the realisation that bringing tension and aggression to the Bersih rally might just make it more visible.”
The tension caused by the Red Shirts movement had only served to give it more attention.
Universiti Malaya associate professor Awang Azman Pawi believes that there are other reasons for why the Red Shirts have not started any ruckus.
Not only were the police keeping their eyes on them, politicians of Barisan Nasional component parties were also not fond of the Red Shirts
He cited the recent case where Wanita MCA chief Heng Seai Kie had urged police to take a tougher stand on the Red Shirts and its leader Jamal Yunos.
She said that while the party did not agree with the Bersih 5 rally, she and her fellow wing members were alarmed by Jamal’s reported threats against supporters of PKR Wanita chief Zuraida Kamaruddin.
Awang also pointed out the bigger Bersih crowd compared to the Red Shirts. “Bersih participants are more dominant and they are made of Malaysians from all races,” he said.
National Human Rights Society head Ambiga Sreenevasan was earlier quoted as saying she believed there were 100,000 Bersih 5 participants at Dataran Maybank. FMT reporters estimated the number of Red Shirts supporters present at around 3,000.