Why no action against Ali Tinju, asks Guan Eng

DAP today said it was unjustifiable that no action had been taken against the controversial Umno grassroots leader Ali Tinju, who led a protest outside Kota Raya shopping complex in Kuala Lumpur last Friday. DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng questioned why Ali Tinju, whose real name is Mohd Ali Baharom, had not faced action for what he had done which was based on mere allegations. “He is an Umno grassroots leader. Why has there been no action taken against him? “The fact that he could organise racist and anti-minority rallies all on baseless allegations, no action (by the authorities) is unjustifiable,” he told reporters today in Penang. On Friday, Ali Tinju gathered outside Kota Raya with some 20 supporters and called for a boycott of the mall for a year “to teach traders there a lesson”. He called for a protest outside the mall over an incident where a customer had allegedly been locked up in a room by a retailer in the complex for refusing to buy handphones after making enquiries. Ali said the customer was a Malay and that the trader had tried to cheat the person. “I hope patrons of all races will boycott Kota Raya. We will unite on WhatsApp and social media in calling for this boycott. They must be taught to respect consumers,” he said. Ali Tinju, a former soldier, gained notoriety in July this year when he allegedly made inflammatory remarks outside Low Yat Plaza during a riot that sparked from an earlier incident where a Malay youth was apprehended for stealing a mobile phone. The youth then alleged that he was cheated by the mobile phone seller and the incident escalated into a racially-charged protest. He was initially charged with sedition but it was later dropped. In an interview with The Malaysian Insider in November, Attorney-General (A-G) Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali had said the sedition charge was dropped because the police could not come up with the audio recording of the alleged inflammatory remarks the ex-soldier made. Following the latest incident outside Kota Raya, MCA vice-president Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun also blamed the A-G for failing to prosecute Ali Tinju. Lim, who is also Penang chief minister, questioned MCA for attacking the government when it was also part of it. “If MCA is angry, they should withdraw from Barisan Nasional (BN). It can do nothing about this Ali Tinju incident and the PAS-Umno collaboration. “There is no meaning to be in BN,” he said, taking a swipe at the BN component party that has blamed DAP over Umno’s proposal to work with PAS. – December 20, 2015.