In a move that will very likely anger the Pakatan Rakyat assemblypersons, the Ipoh City Council this morning demolished the marble plaque that was put up to commemorate the controversial state assembly emergency sitting on March 3.

perak democracy tree plague demolished 150309 process The Perak Local Government Committee chairman Mah Hang Soon told Bernama that the marble slab structure was removed as it contravened the Road, Drainage and Building Act 1974 and it was deemed an obstruction in a public area.

"I do not treat this as a special case as appropriate actions will be taken according to the laws if any structure is erected in the capital without the council's permission," he said when commenting on the demolition of the plaque.

The Ipoh council ordered the demolition of the plaque under a raintree dubbed as the "Tree of Democracy" by Pakatan on Friday by pasting a notice on the raintree.

It gave the owner of the plaque beneath the raintree, which was unveiled by former Perak menteri besar Seri Mohamad Nizar Jamaluddin near the state secretariat on March 8, 24 hours to demolish it.

Plaque vandalised two days ago

On Friday, vandals had smashed the plaque and poured road tar over it to deface the inscriptions.

Also removed today are the signposts of five other saplings which were planted a week ago.

In a ceremony last weekend, the five new trees of the same species, representing Justice, Integrity, Welfare, Transparency and Trustworthiness, were planted near the 'democracy three' by Pakatan Rakyat leaders.

perak tree of democracy - the plaque The tree-planting ceremony was attended by DAP stalwart and Ipoh Timur assemblyperson Lim Kit Siang, ousted Perak menteri besar Nizar Jamaluddin, state assembly speaker V Sivakumar, Perak DAP chief Ngeh Koo Ham and other Perak PR state assemblypersons.

“Just as Umno has killed the constitution of democracy, we hope that these trees will remind us that we are capable of breathing new life into it,” said Nizar during the ceremony.