On Sunday, Kluang Umno Youth chief Khairul Anwar Rahmat and DAP MP Liew Chin Tong distributed porridge and dates together at a Ramadan bazaar.

But an incident this morning signaled that political hostility is still simmering in the Johor town of Kluang.

Liew's aide Sheikh Omar Ali found his car, which was parked at his house in Taman Indah Jaya, splashed with red paint.

There was a plastic bag with traces of the paint found at the scene.

Speaking to Malaysiakini , Sheikh Omar ( far left ) said the attack could be linked to the adverse reception which greeted Liew, who is also Kluang MP, and his staff at the Ramadan bazaar on June 30.

"I don't want to accuse anyone, especially since we are in the month of Ramadan, but after what happened last week, this is why I think it may be related to it.

"I have stayed here for 30 years and I have never experienced such things," he added.

Abused after making peace

On June 30, Liew's entourage was barred from giving out dates at the Ramadan bazaar by workers there, some of whom sported jackets emblazoned with the Umno logo.

One of the workers insisted that the group needed a letter to be at the bazaar. Liew's group relented and left after five minutes of fruitless negotiations.

However, Khairul ( in blue ) on Sunday invited Liew ( extreme left ) back to the bazaar, where the pair distributed porridge and dates together.

Sheikh Omar said Liew and Khairul's entourages later went their separate ways.

It was then that Liew's entourage came across a group of motorcyclists, who allegedly hurled abuses at them.

"I was with Liew's driver, who is also a Malay, and I heard them referring to us as 'that Malay guy with spectacles and the big-sized Malay; they are Melayu celaka'," he said.

As such, he believes that the invitation to distribute food together was mere damage control, to protect Kluang Umno's image after the earlier incident was publicised.

Meanwhile, Sheikh Omar has filed a report on the paint attack with the Kluang police station.

Separately, Kluang Municipal Council in a letter replying DAP's Mengkibol assemblyperson Tan Hong Pin said it did not appoint any workers to guard the bazaar.

Council president Adib Azhari Daud also said that the bazaar is a public area and no one can be barred from entering the area.