No trading for the day for safety reasons
because of plans for Red Shirt rally
Petaling Street will be closed for business on September 16, out of safety concerns because of plans announced for a rally by Red Shirt protesters that day.
About 500 shopkeepers and
773 small traders in Petaling Street, a shopping and tourist destination,
decided not do do business on the September 16 Malaysia Day public holiday
because of the proposed rally.
Kuala Lumpur Hawkers and
Petty Traders Association chairman Ang Say Tee said the decision was made after
a discussion with several non-government organisations last week, Bernama
reported.
“Ninety per cent of the
traders here have decided to close their business on the day in question to
ensure their safety and to prevent any untoward incident,” he told reporters at
a walkabout community programme in Petaling Street today.
He hoped that those
responsible for organising the September 16 rally would cancel the gathering
because many businesses in the area would be affected as they would be forced
to close for the whole day. Ang said the gathering, which was racist in nature,
was not suitable to be held on Malaysia Day, which should be celebrated with a
patriotic spirit in a plural society.
More than 50 representatives
of 20 NGOs took part in the programme to socialise with traders and Chinese
residents in the area to show friendly relations between the Chinese and Malay
communities.
Among those who attended
were Pro-Rakyat president Khairul Anwar Othman, Bukit Bintang MP Fong Kui Lun
and several NGOs including Otai Reformis, Bernama reported.
Khairul said 2,000 members
of Pro-Rakyat and 500 members of Otai Reformis would camp in several areas of
central Kuala Lumpur, including Petaling Street and Bukit Bintang, from morning
to midnight on September 16. “As Muslims, also Malays and Malaysians, we wish
to give our assurance that we will not allow the people of Malaysia, regardless
of race, to be harmed,” he said.
Anonymous groups have
called for a street rally called Kebangkitan Maruah Melayu (or Malay Pride
Uprising) or Himpunan Maruah Melayu (Malay Pride Rally) to be held in the
Petaling Street and Bukit Bintang areas to show support for the government of
prime minister Najib Razak.
Promotional materials for
the rally, containing messages of racial incitement, have also declared the
rally to be a counter-demonstration to the Bersih 4 rally of August 29-30 in
support of political reform and calling for Najib’s resignation as prime
minister.
However, former Malacca chief
minister Mohd Ali Rustam said yesterday that the only rally to be held on
September 16 was the Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu, or people’s unity gathering, to
be held at Padang Merbok, for which permission from City Hall was awaited.
He has repudiated any link
with Kebangkitan Maruah Melayu or Himpunan Maruah Melayu, saying that that the
unity gathering was being organised by the national silat federation Pesaka,
which he heads, and was open to all Malaysians. He has warned racial extremists
to stay away and denied any link to the use of red shirts at the gathering.
