A group representing farmers and fishermen from Perlis, Kedah, Penang and Perak held a protest in Kuala Lumpur today against Malaysia's participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA).

 

The group, Solidariti Utara Untuk Kedaulatan Makanan Negara (Sukma), gathered at noon at Central Market warning the government that they will suffer if the deal is stitched.

 

About 30 people took part in the 45-minute protest which saw the group performing a sketch and reciting poems about how the TPPA was a threat to national sovereignty and who it would lead to an influx of cheaper food.

 

Some protesters also donned masks representing US President Barack Obama, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to symbolise colonisation through the TPPA.

 

"If (import) taxes and subsidies are abolished, we predict that the market will be flooded by goods from countries like Japan, United States and Australia which will eventually 'kill' the local agricultural industry," the group said in a press release distributed at the event.

 

The group's spokesperson Dr Michael D Jeyakumar, who is also the Sungai Siput MP, said the government hasn't made enough efforts to source feedback from the public on the subject.

 

"If the TPPA crosses the 'red line', which comprise 10 impeding clauses, then the government should abstain from signing," he told reporters.

 

A coalition of civil society groups known as Bantah TPPA have established 10 areas which Putrajaya should not agree with when negotiating the terms of the TPPA, which they have termed as the "red line".

 

Although the protest had garnered significant media attention, passers-by at the busy Central Market appeared mostly nonchalant about the subject.