Palestine flags only, no 'sticks' - youths claim Suria KLCC still stopped them

Several representatives from youth-led organisation Mandiri have alleged that Suria KLCC management had further attempted to stop individuals from displaying the Palestinian flag inside the mall.

Mandiri coordinator Hamdin Nordin said their group of 10 youths had gone to KLCC last night and walked in with Palestinian flags - without sticks or flag poles - in an attempt to verify an earlier statement the mall had issued in response to an altercation with former Batu MP Tian Chua.

“Because of that, a few of us tried to go to KLCC without bringing sticks, only carrying flags.

“But we were also stopped and asked to put down the (Palestinian) flags,” Hamdin told Malaysiakini today.

The initial altercation on Saturday followed a pro-Palestine protest held outside KLCC to oppose US President Donald Trump’s upcoming visit to Malaysia for the Asean Summit.

The management of Suria KLCC on Sunday defended its security team’s actions, saying that it was not based on any political stance, but existing safety measures prohibiting visitors from bringing items such as a “long wooden stick” - used as a flag pole.

“So we believe actually what KLCC’s management was trying to enforce is that the flags cannot be brought in, not just the stick,” Hamdin added.

In a video of the incident Mandiri shared last night, the group was seen entering the mall and walking across several floors, with the Palestinian flag around their shoulders.

The video also showed several men in suits, believed to be staff of Suria KLCC, taking their photos from a distance.

Confronted by guards

While at the ground floor, the video showed they were approached by a uniformed security personnel who had allegedly requested they put the flags away.

Another Mandiri representative, Wong Kueng Hui, said their group had entered the mall at around 8.30pm and left about 30 minutes later following the brief verbal altercation.

“I told the security, ‘I understand you’re only doing your job, but if what we’re doing is wrong, you can call the management’.

“But the management never came. We were asked by the KLCC auxiliary police, ‘Is this a gathering?’ We said no.

“In the end, we were not chased away but were instructed to take down the flags,” he added.

Hamdin and Wong were met outside the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, today where Mandiri led a small group to submit a memorandum to Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s administration.

They were demanding the release of activists detained in connection with the recent series of anti-government rallies in Indonesia.

Other demands include for the Indonesian government to end the use of repressive laws and uphold democratic principles, particularly in areas of freedom of speech and assembly.

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