When I read this, I feel as if I’m there.
Tonight, the Democratic Action Party, or the DAP as it is known, introduced its line-up for the five federal seats it holds in Kuala Lumpur.
But that wasn't really the main point of the assembly that met at the PJ Civic Centre.
The issue at play was the reason that made the party set aside its iconic Rocket logo for PKR's "Black Eye" logo in the general elections which the Election Commission will set this Tuesday.
The party that was founded in 1966 had always used that logo since the 1969 polls. Any other logo would have been sacrilegious to the party faithful.
Even from the days of Gagasan Rakyat in the 1990 polls to the Barisan Alternatif days in 1999 and Pakatan Rakyat in 2013.
But in GE14, the DAP had decided to use the PKR logo, as a common symbol for all the parties in Pakatan Harapan.
As the DAP's Gobind Singh Deo explained it, it became clear that the entire party leadership knew this was the bugbear that had to be solved and accepted by the party rank-and-file.
The mood was serious. The tone was sombre. Hands were clasped, ears were cocked attentively, eyes set straight at each other across the hall.
Smiles were as rare at the hall as good news for the opposition pact that has decided the man it fought against for 22 years would now be its candidate for Prime Minister - Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
The reason was simple. Dr Mahathir's party had been temporarily deregistered on the last day of parliament. With that, the Pakatan Harapan coalition could not be registered and its Star Trek-like logo couldn't be used.
It was already a miracle that the pact of four - PKR, DAP, Bersatu and the Islamist PAS splinter group, Amanah, had agreed to register a coalition and nominate Dr Mahathir as its leader.
But the law of the land worked in mysterious ways and their plans went awry. And thus, a decision was made to put the PKR logo as the common symbol.
DAP founding member Dr Chen Man Hin, himself 93 and a year older than Dr Mahathir, had expressed reservations.
But tonight he stood up, raised his hands and pumped his fists as he shouted Ubah! (Change) to signal his agreement to the common logo.
The assembled crowd rose to their feet and cheered. The party leadership clapped and smiled widely. And one bugbear appeared to have vanished.
After all, what's in a logo? A lot. A badge, a symbol, an aspiration, an expression and a cipher for the party.
"Kita rehatkan Roket sementara, bukan padamkan nya!" was the quote of the night. "Kita selamatkan Malaysia dulu!"
That is their battle ahead of them. Thirteen elections have come and gone and the Alliance /Barisan Nasional has won all - 5 under Dr Mahathir.
But Dr Mahathir is on their side now.
And in Kuala Lumpur, it is Tan Kok Wai still in Cheras, Fong Kui Lun in Bukit Bintang, Teresa Kok in Seputeh, Lim Lip Eng moving to Kepong replacing Dr Tan Seng Giaw while his old Segambut seat is for Hannah Yeoh to win.
A small switch in a night of big changes.
But the real change and next chapter for Malaysia is for all Malaysians to write. Not just the politicians.
#malaysia #politics #GE14
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