Umno Youth exco member Fathul Bari Mat Jahaya has ticked off Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng for pitting him against the Chinese community.

Lim had allegedly done so when responding to Fathul Bari’s tweet over the closure of famous nasi kandar restaurant Line Clear.

Fathul Bari, a Penangite, asked Lim if it is true that the Penang Municipal Council (MPPP) will shut down the George Town favourite on Jan 1, 2015.

Complete with a sad face emoticon, Umno Young Ulama Secretariat (Ilmu) pointed out that Line Clear had been in business for 65 years.

Lim however responded by saying that Fathul Bari was trying to create slander against him because he is Chinese.

"Umno leader Fathul Bari is trying very hard to create slander against me because I am Chinese, to the extent of using Line Clear’s family problem to say I'm closing it down," Lim tweeted.

Fathul Bari replied that he has no problems with the Chinese, and that he has many Chinese friends.

"My Chinese friends and I practice mutual respect. So don’t try to pit me against the Chinese," he said.

A dispute over the rotation of management at Line Clear had forced the MPPP to issue an ultimatum to the four partners, in June this year.

MPPP instructed Line Clear them resolve the dispute in two weeks or face eviction as three of the partners had set up stalls in a back lane near the restaurant in Jalan Penang, causing clutter and unhygienic conditions.

He said MPPP was told that one of the four partners refused to abide by a 1950s arrangement, whereby the partners would take turns annually to operate the outlet.

The Star in October reported that council had agreed to issue a rotation licence to the four cousins who had been engaged in a tug of war over the ownership of Line Clear.

The licence will be issued annually to the cousins on a rotational basis for 12 years starting next year.