Indonesia: Falun Gong Practitioners' Parade in Medan

On March 26, 2005, more than 300 practitioners from Jakarta, Surabaya, Bali Island, Semarang, Pasaruan, Batam, Tanjung Pinang, Sidoarjo and Pasuruan, Indonesia; San Francisco, USA; Taiwan; Singapore and Malaysia formed a procession about one kilometre long and held a parade from East Golden Cloud Square. The parade lasted one and a half hours, traversing about four kilometres and concluding at Independence Square.

At the forefront was a large banner with the words "Falun Dafa," followed by a troupe of waist-drummers. Practitioners proceeded in the rain, but they looked not the least bit discouraged by it, and were even invigorated by it. A group of practitioners held up a lotus flower in both hands, and a model of Zhuan Falun [the main text of Falun Dafa] was placed at the centre of the flower. A float was decorated with colourful lights, and practitioners demonstrated the exercises on the float and reenacted torture methods being used in China to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. Under police escort, the procession moved along East Golden Cloud Street, where many Chinese people lived. People in the vehicles across the street were curious and surprised at the appearance of traditional Chinese costumes in Medan for the first time. Some residents said, "This is the most splendid thing we've seen here in Medan."