Undergrads 'threatened with machete' in Pekan

Four university students have claimed that they were threatened by a group of youths at Felda Chini 4 in Pekan about 11am today, while distributing copies of a letter from undergraduates to the residents.

They said five youths on motorcycles surrounded them, and that one pointed a machete at them.

Universiti Malaya Academy of Islamic Studies student Safwan Shamsudin claimed that the group, believed to be residents of the Felda scheme, had yelled at them and told them to leave.

“When we saw the machete, we said that we would leave. One of them confiscated the letters that we had brought,” he said when contacted.

Safwan said that they did not fight back as they were concerned for the safety of the two women students. 

Just before this, they had seen a male youth in a white car taking photographs of them. He allegedly warned them to leave the area “before something happens”. 

“We initially thought it was the usual attempt at intimidation, so we continued distributing the letters,” he said.

The students lodged a report at the Chini police station some 50 minutes later.

Felda Chini 4, which lies within the Chini state assembly, is located within Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's parliamentary constituency of Pekan in Pahang.

Yesterday, a student activist had claimed he had been assaulted by an unknown man while delivering copies of the letter to Kampung Datuk Keramat, Ganchong, also in Pekan.

In the letter, the students indicated their intention to make the upcoming general election an opportunity for “BN to reflect on its actions”. 

“There is nothing wrong in trying out a new government .... If the new leadership does not perform to the people's expectations, then the people can choose BN,” the letter reads.