Flashmob organisers vow to throng KLCC despite legal threat

By Yow Hong Chieh

December 08, 2011

A flashmob in action in Los Angeles, from file pic.

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 8 — Organisers of this Saturday’s flashmob to protest the Peaceful Assembly Act have refused to call off the event at KLCC despite being threatened with a court injunction.

Instead, Kill The Bill, a member of the Freedom to Assemble Campaign, said it will go on with the event under another name as public gatherings, including political ones, can be “peaceful, fun and business-friendly”.

This weekend’s event, originally known as “Flashmob: 1,000 M’sians Appreciate Xmas Tree w/o Police Permit - Human Rights Day”, will now be known as “Malaysians Can Go Shopping and Pose with Xmas Trees without Police Permit”.

“We gladly remove the words ‘flashmob’ and ‘human rights’ in the understanding that these two common words for all civilised countries in the 21st century may cause unnecessary distress to the KLCC management or affiliated parties in Malaysia,” Kill The Bill said in a statement today.

The group had earlier received a letter from law firm Zul Rafique and Partners notifying them of Kuala Lumpur City Park Bhd, KLCC Urusharta Sdn Bhd and Suria KLCC Sdn Bhd’s intention to apply for an injunction to stop the flashmob.

KLCC’s management alleged that similar gatherings over the past two weekends had “eroded and impeded the regular shoppers and visitors and members of the public to the premises and thereby disrupted the business operations of our... tenants”.

The letter also stated that organisers of Saturday’s gathering, held in conjunction with Human Rights Day, would be held liable for all loss and damage suffered as a result of the event.

Kill The Bill added that it would continue to organise creative public gatherings to drive home the point that the need to apply for a police permit or inform the police in advance for any meeting of three or more people was “ridiculous”.