‘Chingay organisers being autocratic’

Johor DAP chief Boo Cheng Hau urges the organisers in JB to stay apolitical

PETALING JAYA: Johor DAP chief Boo Cheng Hau today hit out at the organisers of the JB Chingay parade for banning participants from wearing yellow or green t-shirts at the rally.

“How can you deny the people’s right to express themselves in a peaceful and colourful manner? This is autocratic,” he said.

Boo said the ban again shows that the Johor Bahru Chinese Association, which manages the JB Ancient Temple that is organising the parade, is becoming increasingly pro-government.

“The association chief Lim Ik Kim was a former MCA assemblyman in the 1980s. He is a nice guy, but I don’t think he should infuse political elements into the association,” he said.

The temple committee chairman Lim Kang Yong on Thursday declared the ban, saying that he  did not wish to see the huge processions sabotaged for political purposes.

“If anyone is found wearing shirts that do not belong to the Chingay team, we will ask them to leave. If they don’t we will seek help from the police,” Lim reportedly said.

He said though the dress guideline is only for the parade team members, the spectators are also encouraged to observe the rules.

Netizens vent their frustration

The annual Chingay procession, or procession of deities, is a unique cultural tradition of the JB Chinese community held on the 21st day of the lunar Chinese New Year.

The event draws thousands of spectators each year to downtown JB. Deities on parade will be propitiated mainly by the Teochew, Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka and Hainanese.

This year’s parade falls on March 2.

Boo said his party would not intentionally defy the ban, but supporters might as they had been urged to don T-shirts of various civil movements until the next general election.

The Skudai assemblyman also has no plans to attend the parade.

Meanwhile, the move has also angered netizens, with the administrator of facebook page ‘Jingbao Jingbao’ saying: “The organiser might as well ask all of us not to come.”

“The procession was first founded by the people. Now the people are not given freedom to wear what they want.

“If the organising committees think they are superior, they might as well carry out the procession themselves,” said the adminintrator.