No racial element in Muar signage incident, says Johor govt

KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 6): The Johor administration has denied there were racial issues revolving around the Muar shop signage removal incident.

"The issue is supposedly that the Pakatan Harapan government is acting cruelly towards a certain race. Firstly, I hope this does not become a racial issue whereas it actually involves enforcement officers in a rush to carry out their duties, without any ill intent," said state executive councillor Tan Hong Pin, reported the Malaysiakini news portal today.

Tan explained to the media that the Muar Municipal Council officers had to adhere to a 12-year-old BN-era regulation controlling the size of non-national language shop signages and fonts.

As a result of the incident, the news portal reported that the Johor government would soon be issuing a fresh circular and new guidelines for local councils about advertising signs and their enforcement

They will take into account “the position of the national language as well as historical and heritage factors”.

Meanwhile, Muar Municipal Council president Mustaffa Kamal Shamsudin said that problems arised when shop operators displayed more signages than what they had applied for from the local council, reported the news portal.

As a result, the council carried out a more stringent enforcement of the rule to avoid any discrepancies “during the audit process”.

Chinese daily Sin Chew reported yesterday, that local council officers had visited the shop operators on Tuesday, with instructions to remove their signage. 

Some of the shop owners had been operating their businesses for decades. 

According to the report by the Chinese daily, officers said the signs violated local advertising laws, and carried fines of a maximum of RM2,000 or a jail-term of two years, or both. 

The violation could also carry a fine of RM200 for each day the signage is not removed.

It was also reported today that Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman expressed an objection towards the "forceful removal" of local retailers’ trademark signage by the local council.