Malaysian minister forced to climb fence to escape “gangster” group that gatecrashed Johor event

Johor Baru – Malaysia’s Youth and Sports Minister had to climb a fence to escape a large group of men who gatecrashed an event organise by his political party on Friday (Jan 31).

According to The Star Online, Mr Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman was at that time having a meeting in Ulu Tiram, Johor, with his Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s (PPBM or Bersatu) Armada youth wing and Srikandi women’s wing. Bersatu Chairman is Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

However, the peaceful meeting descended into chaos when a group of about 200 uninvited men dressed in black gatecrashed the event.

Mr Syed Saddiq shared his experience on his Facebook profile. “They screamed rude remarks, insults and foul words,” he posted. “Their actions were aggressive and threatening.”

The group, who looked and acted like “gangsters”, demanded that the Youth and Sports Minister apologise to the Johor Crown Prince. Mr Syed Saddiq, who at 27 is the youngest-ever Cabinet minister, said he could not comprehend the reason for such a demand.

The aggressive behaviour of the group forced the minister to escape from the premises. He added in his post that he, together with a Melaka Executive Councillor and the Johor Bersatu party chief, were “forced to escape the scene through a backdoor route and climb over a fence – like criminals”.

Mr Syed Saddiq expressed concern for the safety of the women and children at the event.

Armada lodged a police report on Friday evening.

On Saturday (Feb 1), Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador released a statement that two individuals suspected to be the “masterminds” of the incident had been arrested.

“We view this provocation and threats against the minister seriously,” he said. “The incident was committed by certain irresponsible parties who failed to respect the laws of Malaysia.”

The Inspector-General added that a special task force had been established to investigate the incident.

Video footage of the event, including those who were involved in the commotion, has been shared by the minister on Twitter. The recordings will be provided to the police to help the investigation, he said.

Apa punya gangster melayu ni? @SyedSaddiq buat program untuk dia dan org2 dia. Kau tetamu yg tak diundang, dtg buat kacau. jerit2 tutup muka halau suruh org punya program balik? Boleh la stop perangai2 mcm kerajaan dulu ni. Stupid. pic.twitter.com/ur43VtZvxM

— Muhammad HafizRayyan (@HafizRayyan) February 1, 2020

Mr Syed Saddiq’s Facebook post quickly garnered more than 13,000 comments. Many wanted action to be taken against the men who disrupted the event, while some criticised the minister for fleeing and for not facing up to the group. /TISG