Rally-goers marched from Sogo to Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur on December 8 (Photo: www.malaymail.com) Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Over 50,000 Malaysians gathered in KualaLumpur's Dataran Merdeka on December 8 afternoon in a rally.
The rally was backed by the two largest Malay opposition parties, United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) andParti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS). Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak andhis spouse also attended the rally.
The rally was backed by the two largest Malay opposition parties, United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) andParti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS). Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak andhis spouse also attended the rally.
According to police, thenumber of protestors taking to the streets for the rally is six times less thanthe figure the organisers estimated previously.
It wasoriginally intended as a protest against a plan by the government to ratify theUnited Nations International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of RacialDiscrimination (ICERD).
In late November, the MalaysianGovernment announced not to ratify the convention. However,Muslim groups pushed ahead with the demonstration, which alongside theconvention has become about the bigger issue of defending Malays' position insociety and Islam.
Regarding to the protest, the Vietnamese Embassy to Malaysia earlier issued anemergency warning to Vietnamese football fans, who will come to Malaysia tocheer on their side in the final first leg of the tournament scheduled onDecember 11.
Accordingly,they are advised to reduce traveling to Dataran Merdeka. Besides bearing passports with validity of at leastsix months, they should protect their personal documents and belongings andmust respect Malaysia’s legal regulations as well as customs and practices ofthe country, including no smoking and drinking alcohol at public andwine-banned restaurants.
In case of emergency, they should contact theembassy’s hotline of +60 321 484 534, 06 321 410 709 or the citizen protectionhotline of +84 981848484. -VNA
It wasoriginally intended as a protest against a plan by the government to ratify theUnited Nations International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of RacialDiscrimination (ICERD).
In late November, the MalaysianGovernment announced not to ratify the convention. However,Muslim groups pushed ahead with the demonstration, which alongside theconvention has become about the bigger issue of defending Malays' position insociety and Islam.
Regarding to the protest, the Vietnamese Embassy to Malaysia earlier issued anemergency warning to Vietnamese football fans, who will come to Malaysia tocheer on their side in the final first leg of the tournament scheduled onDecember 11.
Accordingly,they are advised to reduce traveling to Dataran Merdeka. Besides bearing passports with validity of at leastsix months, they should protect their personal documents and belongings andmust respect Malaysia’s legal regulations as well as customs and practices ofthe country, including no smoking and drinking alcohol at public andwine-banned restaurants.
In case of emergency, they should contact theembassy’s hotline of +60 321 484 534, 06 321 410 709 or the citizen protectionhotline of +84 981848484. -VNA
VNA
