What the Devil Is Going On In Prai?

From a report in The Sun.

A series of violent incidents between two ethnic groups has occurred in the last 48 hours following a misunderstanding over a road accident in Prai on New Year's eve.

Police said it all started when a drunk motorcyclist, in his 40s, was involved in a minor accident with another motorcycle ridden by two youths, in their 20s at about 10.30pm on New Year's eve.

The accident, in front of a place of worship in Kampung Manis, Prai, was witnessed by two groups of people and a fight broke out between them. The fight resulted in two people being hospitalised for injuries and two others receiving outpatient treatment. The two men who were hospitalised are reported to be in stable condition.

Penang police chief Datuk Koh Hong Sun told a press conference today 16 people, aged between 16 and 30, had been arrested for being directly involved in the fight.They have been remanded until next week while police are still tracking down others involved in the fight, he said.

Several vehicles along Jalan Utama in Prai were also damaged during the incident.

However, the misunderstanding was far from over as more "violent incidents" occurred between 12.30am and 2.30am today, said Koh. However, he declined to divulge details of the incidents, saying only that cars and motorcycles were damaged in the incidents in several places in central Seberang Perai and in one location in north Seberang Perai near Kepala Batas.

"One person was injured in one of the incidents but he is in a stable condition," Koh said.

"We have determined that the main cause of these incidents was the misunderstanding between the parties involved and also because of the influence of alcohol during the New Year celebration."

He stressed that it had nothing to do with any racial or religious dispute and that it did not involve any organisation.

"All these incidents are being investigated and we will take appropriate actions according to the law," Koh said.

"We urge the public to avoid speculating on the incidences and spreading rumours through the SMS or other methods."

He said such rumours may be misconstrued and threaten the peace of the country. "It is an offence to spread such rumours, so we will not hesitate to take action against those found committing the offence," he said.

Koh urged the public to remain calm and to avoid taking any drastic action which may worsen the situation.

He said police had contacted political and religious representatives in the areas to mediate and calm the situation.

***** What contradictory statements from the Penang police chief. At first he claims that the 'misunderstanding' had nothing to do with any racial or religious dispute, but then he quickly adds that political and religious representatives have been asked to mediate and calm the situation!

This was the same bullshit that was given during the Kampung Medan massacre. With an almost homogeneous police force can they be expected to exercise reasonable neutrality in handling inter-ethnic strife?

I hope that the Umno-led government is very happy at the brittleness of our 'stability' as a result of their strategy of divide-and-rule and playing off one race against another by indirectly encouraging religio-racist feelings and animosity from their 'target' group. Let's hope that at least the CPO Datuk Koh Hong Sun can bring a quick end to the explosive situation there.
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