KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 — A preliminary analysis of Twitter remarks on the recent violence at Low Yat Plaza has revealed that many Malays had believed claims that Chinese traders at the tech mall cheat their customers, although the allegation had not been proven true.
According to the study by social media research firm Politweet, some 12,500 users who tweeted on the issue specifically claimed that Low Yat traders cheat and that Malays are being cheated or sold counterfeit phones.
Some even criticised the Malays for shopping at Low Yat, despite knowing that traders there are “well-known” for cheating.
Politweet researcher Ahmad Kamal Nava said most of the 12,500 users who made such remarks were Malays.
“It (the issue) triggered a large number of Malay users who believe (Chinese) traders (in Low Yat) cheat, but whether that is true or not we don’t know,” he told Malay Mail Online when contacted.
“It appears there is a mindset among the (Malay) population (on Twitter) that this is how they (Low Yat traders) behave,” he added.
Politweet also found a strong negative reaction to the decision by the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry (KPDNKK) to publicly announce a raid on Low Yat on Monday, hardly a month after a raid on Malay traders in Uptown Shah Alam for selling counterfeit goods.
Ahmad Kamal noted that some of the most popular retweets were those of posts promoting Malay IT businesses to divert traffic away from Low Yat.
“The general sentiment is not so much cheering for racial conflict, but acceptance that we are divided in some way.
“Racial sentiments were widely expressed but not in a direct way. They were not so much saying Chinese traders everywhere cheat, but were specific to Low Yat,” he said.
The riot which broke out at night on July 12 at Low Yat Plaza left five people injured, including several journalists.
The riot reportedly started after 22-year-old Shahrul Anuar Abdul Aziz was handed over on the day before to the police for allegedly stealing a RM800 phone from a store at the popular tech mall.
Police have said that Shahrul’s friend, who was also nabbed but later released, had contacted their other friends and the group returned to the mobile phone store, smashed up the place and assaulted its workers resulting in damages estimated at RM70,000.
The spread of the counterfeit phone rumours then led to calls for retribution against “cheating” Chinese traders and the popular gadget complex.
The incident ended in a mob descending on the mall Sunday night.
– See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/low-yat-brawl-tweets-exposed-malay-distrust-of-chinese-traders-research-fin#sthash.QQgPlLjq.dpuf