Malay pride rally in KL to proceed despite Asean road closures

Summary

• The “Melayu Berdaulat” rally in Kuala Lumpur this Saturday will go on as scheduled despite road closures for the Asean Summit.

• Organising chairperson Syed Hassan Syed Ali says they don't plan to cause chaos and are hopeful to get police cooperation.

The organisers of the "Melayu Berdaulat" rally are planning to proceed with their protest in downtown Kuala Lumpur this Saturday.

This is despite major road closures in conjunction with the Asean summit affecting roads connecting to the rally venue.

Organising chairperson Syed Hassan Syed Ali said they were confident that the road closures would not hinder a large turnout.

Previously, on May 13, the group touted that they expect 20,000 people to turn up for the afternoon rally.

The group plans to gather at four locations - Masjid Jamek Kuala Lumpur, Masjid Jamek Kampung Baru, the Sultan Sulaiman Club in Kampung Baru, and Jalan Raja Laut - before converging at Sogo.

While those roads are not closed, they will likely be affected by closures at Jalan Sultan Ismail, Jalan Parlimen, and Jalan Kuching, among others.

Police notified

Speaking at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today, Syed Hassan said the group has no intention of disrupting the Asean summit, and that the clashing dates were just a coincidence.

"We don't like to cause chaos, we just want to express our worries as regular citizens who observed that the interests of Malays and Islam are declining under the current government," he said.

Among their grouses are the Urban Renewal Act (URA), which they said can undermine Malay land ownership, and issues surrounding land acquisition at Kampung Sungai Baru in Kuala Lumpur.

Syed Hassan further said the group has notified the police of the rally and hopes to get their cooperation.

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