Jonker Street Closures

Tourism Minister Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz has denied that the Jonker Walk night market has been closed down in order to punish Chinese hawkers who did not support MCA and the government in the May 5 general election.

"It's just an accusation that is not true. I don't think we want to punish (the Chinese). I am an Umno minister and I have nothing personal against the Chinese," he said.
Yesterday, the opposition had accused that the closing down of Jonker Street was a form of political retaliation .
Nazri ( left ) also said that he had appealed to Malacca Chief Minister Idris Haron not to close down the Jonker Walk night market.
Nazri told reporters outside of the Dewan Rakyat today that the night market is an essential part of Malacca's tourism sector and should not be closed.
"I spoke to the CM today, and he told me that it will be closed for four weeks as a trial to see if closing down the market alleviates traffic problems there."
Nazri added that he hoped the CM "would think" about the closure of the night market again at the conclusion of four weeks.
"Malacca is not the only place for tourism (in Malaysia), so I hope the CM would think about this properly," he said.
"I appealed to him, saying that Jonker Street has been around for 13 years; and I said Malaccans should have known better after 13 years to adapt to this (the road's closure for the night market)."
"After 13 years, I'm sure you can adapt to this by having a system," Nazri added.
"Don't do things that can hurt tourism. If there's no tourism, then there's nothing in Malacca," he stressed.

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Flash Flood in Klang (Part II)

Heavy rain lasting several hours caused flash floods in major roads in the Klang Valley yesterday.
In Kapar, more than 200 families in Kampung Sungai Pinang Bandar, had to cancel their Hari Raya open house as their homes were flooded.
A downpour on Sunday, combined with two hours of rain yesterday, dampened residents' festive mood.
They were forced to clean up and wash household appliances, which were damaged by the floodwater.
The condition of several houses in the area was unknown as their owners had gone back to their hometowns. A few residents could not be contacted.
According to resident, Kartini @ Hawa Kamarudin, 59, the last time the village was flooded was 18 years ago.

Read more: Flood havoc in Klang Valley - New Straits Times