An angry crowd of about 2,000 people today gave the government an 'ultimatum' to reduce fuel prices in a week, failing which they will bring their frying pans and cooking pots to the streets next week.

The one-hour protest outside the headquarters of state-owned oil company Petronas - the iconic 88-storey Twin Towers - this afternoon was held under the heavy presence of hundreds of police officers and close to 200 federal reserve unit (FRU) personnel.

However, no arrest was reported as the protestors proceeded with a 30-minute march from the Twin Towers to Jalan Sultan Ismail led by the opposition PAS leaders.

The demonstration - organised by a number of opposition political parties and non-governmental organisations - was held to protest the hefty increase of fuel prices of between 18.5 percent and 23 percent.

The Tuesday's price hike was the latest round of increases over the past two years where the cost of petrol has since went up by 40 percent and diesel by102 percent.

2 water cannons, 11 police trucks

The protest today was originally scheduled to be held outside the Twin Towers compound adjacent to Jalan Ampang.

However, by 2pm, at least two water-cannon trucks and 11 police trucks were stationed in the compound to deter the protestors. The police later sealed off the whole area with onlookers told to remain inside the Twin Towers building. Cops were also posted at almost all the main gates of the building.

The demonstration began at about 2.30pm when some 2,000 protestors marched from Jalan Ampang to the Twin Towers - most of them after performing the Muslim Friday's prayer at a nearby mosque - and they were joined by others who had gathered there along the roadside.

The protestors were armed with colourful banners and placards.

Among others, the placards read 'Another Barisan Nasional project - Petrol hike, electricity hike and inflation hike', ' Dulu, kini, selamanya minyak naik' (Now and forever, petrol hike) and 'Congratulations to BN voters, petrol hike again!'.

They also chanted slogan such as 'Hidup rakyat, BN turun, Pak Lah turun' and demanded that Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who is also finance minister, to step down.

At this juncture, a police helicopter suddenly hovered at dangerously low levels over the protestors but the crowd remained unfazed.

Representatives from the opposition and NGOs addressed the crowd, among them PAS' Mohammad Sabu, Dr Hatta Ramli, Idris Ahmad, Parti Keadilan Rakyat Youth's Shamsul Iskandar Akin, DAP's Ronnie Liu, the yet-to-be registered Parti Sosialis Malaysia's S Arutchelvan and former Umno leader Ibrahim Ali.

Pots and pans

Mohammad - who is popularly-known as Mat Sabu - brandished a cooking pot and described the government's decision to increase fuel prices as akin to "putting sand into the people's rice bowl".

Hatta later said that if the government failed to reverse its decision within a week, the protestors would stage another demonstration next Friday, and this time they would bring along their cooking pots and frying pans.

The crowd responded with a thunderous 'Yes'.

Idris, who led the demonstrators to recite a prayer, asked God to give "strength to the oppressed people to continue the struggle" and "destroy the hand which torture the people".

The crowd later marched to Jalan Sultan Ismail and dispersed in front of a hotel. They distributed leaflets to motorists along the way and in return, the cars - especially taxi drivers - honked to show their support.

PAS deputy president Nasharuddin Mat Isa told malaysiakini after the demonstration that today's protest was a great success.

"This is clear sign of the people's outrage. We could see in the two, three days immediately after the government's decision to hike fuel prices, the cost of many goods and services has also gone up," he said.

He nevertheless thanked the police for not taking action against the protestors for participating in what was essentially an illegal demonstration.

"I think this was because they know this is a people's issue and they would not want to take action against them," Nasharuddin explained.

Apart from the pressure groups and political parties, the demonstration also attracted ordinary people concerned over the implications of the fifth fuel price hike since May 2004.

"This is an important issue to me. The price hike is totally unacceptable," Rosnani Ahmad, 40, a mother of seven who runs a small bakery business, told AFP.

"The petrol is from our own country and it's not even imported - why should the government raise the price of petrol? It affects me and my business badly."

Meanwhile, marketing manager Chie Hong Yuen ( photo, left ) told malaysiakini that he decided to attend the demonstration with his wife to protest against the country's biggest-ever fuel price hike.

"It's too ridiculous (for the government) to increase (fuel prices) by 30 sen in one go," he said.