Lam Thye: Malay traders didn’t last in Petaling Street

Former KL Bandar MP tells of allocations to Malay and Indian traders in the 1970s

KUALA LUMPUR: A former MP for Kuala Lumpur has revealed that Malay and Indian petty traders were allocated trading lots in Petaling Street in the 1970s but pulled out on their own.

Lee Lam Thye, then with the DAP, was an adviser to the Kuala Lumpur Hawkers and Petty Traders Association at the time.

He said he was there when the trading lots were handed out, and Malays and Indians were among those allocated lots when the Petaling Street night bazaar began in the area, which has been regarded as Chinatown.

As MP for Kuala Lumpur Bandar, he witnessed Kuala Lumpur City Hall officers calling out names of people who were allotted spots in Petaling Street. “The traders were chosen by ballot and Dewan Bandaraya allocated lots to the Malays and Indians,” he told Star Online on Friday.

Petaling Street was the subject of a threatened protest demonstration by the so-called Red Shirts movement of Malay rights groups, whose leader Jamal Mohd Yunos had said a riot might break out if the authorities did not meet their demands to provide trading space for Malay traders.

Sungei Besar Umno leader Jamal demanded that the authorities stop the monopoly of Chinese traders, and that half the stalls should be allocated to Malay traders.

Lee said many Malays later moved out on their own, after they did not find the place conducive or were not able to make enough money. “If the Malay traders moved away voluntarily, it is not fair to say it is monopolised by the Chinese,” he was quoted as saying.