After being haunted by the racial ‘red shirts’ rally for almost half a year, the Chinese New Year wish of the Petaling Street traders for this Year of the Monkey is that they don't want to see the red shirts any more.

Instead, they would welcome a visit by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

"We do not want the red shirts or their spokesperson Jamal Md Yunos," Kuala Lumpur Hawkers and Petty Traders Association chairperson Ang Say Tee said after prayers to the God of Heaven, with Deputy Education Minister Chong Sin Woon among those present.

Citing a Chinese saying, "clean away the dirt and old past and welcome the year", Ang also expressed the hope of the hawkers and traders that the racial conflict incident could be left behind this year,

"We wish for national prosperity, racial harmony, booming businesses and good health and well-being. We also hope that the red shirts rally, the unpleasant event last year, can be forgotten.

"We use the lion dance (today) to welcome the deputy minister (Chong), but we don't want them (red shirts) here to protest."

"For sure, Jamal (the red shirts’ spokesperson) is not welcome here, but we welcome deputy ministers, Malay ministers, Umno ministers.

“Even the prime minister has visited here three times. I hope he can visit one more time (this year), to give us encouragement and acknowledge our contribution," Ang said.

Petaling Street belongs to Malaysia, rather than to the Chinese only, he said.

'Dignity not for sale'

"In the eyes of our other ethnic friends, Petaling Street has a paramount status, symbolising the Chinese. If they (the red shirts) want to come and take away our dignity, I'm sorry, we don't sell our dignity," Ang said.

The red shirts’ rally was led by Jamal - who is also Sungai Besar Umno division chief - who previously said that the demonstration had been held to defend Malay pride .

It was also a counter-reaction to the Bersih 4 rally, which he claimed had been dominated by the Chinese community.

Meanwhile Ang lamented that businesses around Petaling Street had been severely hit by the red shirts' rally, and warned that if another May13 riot-like racial conflict happened again, Malaysia's economy would face a serious downturn.

"Malaysia's economy could move backwards for (another) ten years. We cannot take such losses. We need to solve this kind of unnecessary conflicts," he stressed.

He also recalled that back in Sept 16 last year - the day the red shirts had gathered at Petaling Street - the traders in the area were forced to close their shops .

Traders planned to close shops the next day as well, Ang added, but only after receiving a call from Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor did he himself changed his mind.

"Tengku Adnan called me and asked me to open shops, otherwise I wouldn’t have done so," he claimed.