KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian government will inject 20-billion ringgit ($4.6bn) into a state equity investment firm to shore up the stock market, Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Monday, in a bid to boost confidence in a country reeling from a political scandal.
The rally is seen by some as a challenge to the country’s Chinese- and Indian-origin residents, who participated in large numbers in an anti-Najib rally on August 29 and 30.
Malaysian police have stepped up security ahead of a planned rally by Malay rights NGOs on Wednesday (Sep 16).
Riot police stand guard during the demonstration, before they used water cannons to disperse the crowd.
The Malaysian government warned the organizers to avoid racial slurs and slogans that could raise tensions.
“My advice to the “Red Shirts” is not to provoke the other races. All we want is to enter Jalan Petaling [Chinatown] and we will stay until we get to occupy our land”, a rallygoer – who did not wish to be named – told Anadolu Agency.
However, he said the rally would be a platform for participants to demand respect for the Muslim ethnic Malay majority and rail against a Chinese-based party in the opposition.
Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said no banners or posters containing “sensitive words” should be displayed during the rally.
Najib Razak said the measures were early initiatives for the short-term and medium-term for Malaysia to achieve its projected economic growth this year and in the future.
Mr Najib said before Wednesday’s rally that people were free to attend as long as they did not break the law.
This will be through a public-private partnerships from 2016 with a facilitation fund of 220 million ringgit.
The prime minister has denied any wrongdoing, saying he has never taken funds for personal gain, but has not explained where the money came from. He is also saddled with allegations of mismanagement at 1MDB.
Malaysia’s education ministry ordered schools closed in Kuala Lumpur, three adjacent states and the nearby administrative capital of Putrajaya, where air pollution indices were in the upper range of “unhealthy” and nearing “very unhealthy”.
On 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), Najib said the government is committed in ensuring investigations relating to 1MDB investments are done in a transparent manner.
Megat Zulkarmain Omardin, general secretary of one of the organizers, the National Silat Federation, said the protest was in response to antigovernment rallies that he said disrespected and threatened Malay leaders from the streets. The last major violent clashes occurred on May 13, 1969 following national elections. It won in 2013, but lost the popular vote for the first time to an opposition alliance.