By
Ho Kit Yen. Published by FMT News on 5 April 2017.
A
youth who was found guilty of stealing a RM800 smartphone at Low Yat Plaza two
years ago, failed in his appeal to set aside his conviction for theft. High
Court Judicial Commissioner Ab Karim Ab Rahman ruled that the Magistrate’s
Court did not make any error in finding Shahrul Anuar Abdul Aziz guilty of
stealing the phone. “The accused had failed to raise a reasonable doubt to the
prosecution’s case. “Therefore, the court finds him guilty under Section 379 of
the Penal Code for theft instead of Section 380, which was the original
charge,” he said.
Shahrul
initially claimed trial on July 14, 2015, under Section 380 for phone theft. Section
380 relates to any theft committed inside a building premise. Karim also
dismissed the prosecution’s appeal to increase Shahrul’s 4-month jail sentence.
“The Magistrate’s decision to impose a jail term of four months is sufficient,”
he added…
Last
year, he was jailed four months and fined RM1,000 by the Magistrate’s Court for
stealing a Lenovo smartphone at Low Yat Plaza. Shahrul paid his RM1,000 fine. His
alleged actions had resulted in a much-publicised racial riot outside the mall,
with Malay NGOs claiming discrimination and cheating by traders.
Published
by Today Online on 11 August 2015.
Minister
Ismail Sabri Yaakob became the latest to moot a Malay-only gadget mall similar
to Low Yat Plaza today (Aug 11), suggesting that the MARA building in Jalan
Raja Laut be converted for the purpose.
In
a report by news portal Astro Awani, the rural and regional development
minister suggested for the third floor of the building to be opened for Malay
gadget traders before the whole building is renovated for what he dubbed “Low
Yat 2”.
“We
will develop the floor as soon as possible and we will give space especially to
Malay traders,” Mr Ismail told reporters after an event with Majlis Amanah
Rakyat (MARA). “We will make it as ‘Low Yat 2’ and we will gather as many as
possible major distributors (sic) in this building.”
The
minister said the existence of an alternative technology mall at the other side
of the city will be able to fulfil public demand that has been concentrated in
Low Yat Plaza in Bukit Bintang.
“We
target for 100 per cent of the traders to be from Malays. There has never been
any distributor from the Malays, so we have to give them some leeway,” he
added.
Last
month, United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) Youth information chief
Jamawi Jaafar urged Putrajaya to create an information technology and digital
industry hub for bumiputeras in order to reduce dependency and check monopoly
of “certain parties” in the telecommunications products business.
The
suggestion came following a riot which erupted outside Low Yat Plaza earlier in
July, after a 22-year-old man was reportedly handed to the police for allegedly
stealing a mobile phone, after which his accomplice contacted their friends who
then assaulted workers from a mobile phone store and caused an estimated
RM70,000 (S$24,574) in damage.
Rumours
had spread on social media after the alleged theft that the Chinese trader had
sold the Malay man a counterfeit phone, leading to calls for boycotts of
“cheating” Chinese traders and the complex itself.
Editors
of UMNO-owned newspaper Utusan Malaysia then claimed that Low Yat Plaza is a
“bomb waiting to explode” if authorities do not tackle the purported
counterfeiting, gangsterism and corruption that is associated with the traders
there.
In
February, Mr Ismail Sabri had courted controversy by calling for Malays to
boycott Chinese traders whom he claimed were profiteering.
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