Former Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya has urged Malaysians not to bring racial issues to street rallies, warning that it could mean disaster not only for Malaysia but also the Asean region.

While jokingly saying that he felt at home when he heard of the ‘yellow shirt’ Bersih 4 rally and the ‘red shirt’ Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu, he said bringing such issues to the streets could lead Malaysia to the fate of war-torn countries like Syria and Iraq.

“But don’t turn the rallies into an ethnic question. That would be dangerous.

"We’ve seen this in Iraq and Syria. Please I beg all of you my dear Malaysian friends,” he said in a keynote speech in Kuala Lumpur today.

While describing Malaysia as his second home, he said Malaysia is already being bogged down by many domestic issues although it is the chair of the Asean Summit.

He said if any untoward incidents were to happen in Malaysia, its impact would reverberate throughout the region.

The Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu rally was held on Sept 16 as a counter-demonstration to the Bersih 4 rally on Aug 29 and 30.

The red shirt rally, so-called for the colour of the T-shirts worn by the demonstrators, saw racially charged speeches and banners being bandied about.

Clashes between a small group of Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu protesters and the police also took place, when the former attempted to storm into the Petaling Street area, known as Chinatown.

Incidentally in Thailand, as part of a long-running political crisis, opposing groups have taken up yellow shirts and red shirts as symbols of their respective movements, albeit for a radically different causes from their Malaysian counterparts.

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