YOURSAY | ‘It seems like racism and thuggery have been outsourced.’

Trouble again at Kota Raya, two injured

Vijay47: This is the fourth act of violence in recent weeks. First, we had the attack on the church (for putting up a cross), the robbery in Low Yat, the fracas at Petaling Street, and now mob violence at Kota Raya.

And to all these, we see uniform response by the police - they took no action against those responsible. On the contrary, the thugs and hooligans were actually praised for the defence of Malay rights and ‘maruah’ (dignity).

Mohd Ali Baharom (aka Ali Tinju) could even announce that he was going to attack Kota Raya and inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar did nothing about it.

The game plan is quite easy to read - keep on allowing these acts with the perpetrators confident that they are a protected race, push the victims further and further against the wall until someone finally takes out a parang and creates havoc.

Then an emergency can be declared. North Korea, here we come.

Tan Kim Keong: What would one expect? There was silent acquiescence by those in power to the Low Yat rioting and the racist behaviour of Ali Tinju is condoned.

He was given carte blanche to do as he pleases with impunity. It seems like racism and thuggery have been outsourced.

Oh Ya: During the Reformasi era, the opposition was scorned at for their peaceful demonstrations, which was pretty new in kangkung land's political scene then.

Tear gas were fired at the crowd, some were beaten and many were arrested and charged. The opposition was blamed for perceived loss of business and profit.

Now, the ruling elite is resorting to violence, not only threatening and making seditious slurs, but also damaging properties in the bid to incite racial and religious clashes to serve its selfish political ends.

Of course, the IGP and attorney-general (AG) Mohamed Apandi Ali would exonerate them for lack of legislation or evidence.

A regime that needs to resort to violent to sustain its power has lost all morality to rule. It is no different from the many dictatorial regimes, such as Indonesia and the Philippines during the Suharto/Marcos era.

They should either resign or be booted out by people's power.

Anticonmen: There is a trader who sold me an imitation Samsung. His stall is right next to the ground floor lift in Kota Raya.

He refused to refund me my money and instead gave me the run-around. His co-workers played along with him. Such conmen deserve to be whacked.

I will support Ali Tinju here because even when I complained, there was no action. I lost RM2,000 on a fake Samsung Note 5 and a telco card supposedly worth RM500 but found not containing such value in data time.

Wg321: Anticonmen, when you buy a handphone like Samsung or any brand, it is under warranty for a certain period.

If the phone is defective or it turns out to be a fake phone during the warranty period, the customer has the right to return the phone to the seller and ask for a genuine replacement. If the seller refused, the customer has the right to complain to the relevant authorities.

Sometimes a customer must use some common sense, too. If a new phone is sold at a giveaway price, it must be a fake or stolen. He should not buy it. He should not be greedy.

Sali Tambap: I am against dishonesty and abhor it. Perhaps the government should look into this matter seriously and formulate laws that ensure consumers would be protected. Too often we see dishonest traders.

Debater: If I knew or think that a shop is involved in scams, I would not patronise it. Market forces at play.

I will not organise a group to confront the errant trader, smash his property and grab the phones. This is an act of robbery.

Not Convinced: Apandi, hopefully this time you will not let Ali Tinju off the hook because of “ lack of evidence ”.

Vijay47: The trouble at Kota Raya, just like at Low Yat, has no racial tinge to it.

It was just a case of Mohd Ali and concerned citizens acting to protect consumers who had been cheated by DAP members and anyway, as explained now by Dang Wangi CID chief M Gunalan, "only one table was smashed and a few handphones are missing" - hardly something to make a big song and dance about.

And without evidence, nobody can be charged. As a matter of fact, the group that went to Kota Raya armed with sticks to defend themselves should be complimented for assisting the police in enforcing law and order.

There is nothing in the law that says the police cannot allow any group to act against commercial crime.

In addition, the gang had the noble intention of educating and warning Muslim shoppers about tricks being adopted by cunning businessmen to convert Muslims to Christianity through sales and special offers.

Anonymous 29051438068738: The plan is a new and improved version of that which was rolled out in 1969.

Send a fellow to steal, then organise a racial rampage when he gets caught. Get the 'law keepers' to stand by to make sure the instigators are unharmed… and to ensure nothing incriminating is handed to Pandi Inc.

To teach them a lesson, charge and fine the fellows who dared to defend themselves from the marauding thugs.

Wait for a while and organise a sequel with the same bunch of thugs and repeat until the situation calls for the creation of a "security zone".

Hibiscus: Will the National Security Council (NSC) Act be used on these types of incidents, which among other things would give the PM the power to shut down the area, say, the whole of Kuala Lumpur, and give the police the power to confiscate property and detain everybody, even the shop owners?

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