Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said today the opposition-backed gathering scheduled for the weekend can go ahead, but at any one of the four venues offered as the location.

He said the so-called peaceful demonstration, to be organised by a non-governmental organisation, could be held at the Titiwangsa Stadium, the Kuala Lumpur Football Stadium in Cheras, the Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium in Cheras or the Bukit Jalil National Stadium.   

These venues had been offered after the organiser’s application to hold the gathering at Dataran Merdeka was rejected by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) because it was not a national-level gathering, he said.

He said the police were also against the use of Dataran Merdeka for security reasons.  

“I have stated that the gathering can be held. That is not an issue. The issue is the venue. Four venues have been offered,” he said when approached at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) following the launch of Talent Roadmap 2020.

Hishammuddin said the organiser had attempted to confuse the people by accusing DBKL, the police and the minister of having conflicting views over the staging of the gathering.

The organiser has been given a choice of four venues and there is no reason for them to insist on gathering at Dataran Merdeka, he said.

Meanwhile, in a statement issued at the event, Hishammuddin said the Home Ministry today signed a memorandum of understanding with Talent Corporation Malaysia Bhd to streamline policy issues and implementation initiatives pertaining to expatriates.

The MoU provides for both sides to study, improve, streamline policies pertaining to expatriates and identify current issues for implementation by the relevant agencies, both public and private.

He said the two sides would identify and recommend measures for improvement and streamline implementation of facilities for expatriates, for example study passes, resident-talent passes, entry permits and related mechanisms and facilities.

Hishammuddin said that up to March 31, the Immigration Department, with the cooperation of TalentCorp, had approved 636 resident passes for highly skilled individuals from various sectors of the National Key Economic Areas (NKEAs).

“The issuing of resident passes to this group of talented people gives a positive impact to economic development by way of transfer of expertise and knowledge to local citizens, particularly in the critical sectors, and can raise the economic competitiveness of the country,” he said.

- Bernama