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Racial rhetoric will only worsen investor sentiment

KINIBIZ Fresh off his Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu rally on Malaysia Day, Sungai Besar Umno division chief and self-proclaimed intermediary between a group of Malay non-governmental organisations and just about everyone else, Jamal Md Yunos, seems to have acquired a taste for rallies.

On Wednesday Sept 23, he said there would likely be a rally in Petaling Street - an area well known as being Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown - that coming Saturday. He went further to warn that it might turn into a riot.

At the original Sept 16 rally, a group of protesters had demanded they be allowed to rally through Petaling Street, but the police held their ground and refused their request.

After a lengthy stand-off the protesters decided they would channel their complaints to the relevant government ministries. They demanded the relevant authorities take action against the Petaling Street traders for selling fake goods, they urged that the traders start sharing the spoils with the other races and for an end to what they said is a Chinese monopoly on the area.

Foolish as those demands are, Jamal’s rhetoric was enough to scare many traders into considering closing their shops even though the authorities repeatedly said the group was not allowed to proceed. His ridiculous statements were also enough to get him landed in jail for one night and draw the Chinese ambassador Huang Huikang to visit Petaling Street.

Visiting the traders there apparently in conjunction with the Mid-Autumn Festival, Huang in response to questions said his country would not be idle if there were to be any “infringement on China’s national interests, violations of legal rights and interests of Chinese citizens and businesses which may damage the friendly relationship between China and the host country”.

For the full story go to KINIBIZ .

This article was written by Stephanie Jacob.

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