KUALA LUMPUR: The prime minister’s brother Datuk Seri Nazir Razak proposed making racism illegal as a way to have a more united Malaysia, following attempts to turn the brawl at the Low Yat Plaza in Kuala Lumpur over the weekend into a racial issue.

Posting on photo sharing site Instagram, the prominent banker uploaded a picture of children of various races in their respective traditional clothes waving together.

“When a silly handphone theft results in racial brawls, I fear for their future. Let’s define & make racism illegal to bring us closer together,” he said on his Instagram account.

This is not the first time the CIMB Group chairman has taken to his Instagram account to comment on issues affecting the country. He has also been vocal against troubled 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), of which his brother, Prime Minister and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak chairs the advisory board.

The drama at Low Yat Plaza began on Saturday when two youths visited a shop to buy a Lenovo S860 phone worth RM799. The salesman who attended to them later told police that the youths ran off with the phone as he turned away to get a free gift. A chase ensued and mobile phone dealers in another shop caught the suspects and assaulted them before handing them over to the plaza’s security guards who called in the police.

One of the suspects was later released by police, and it is believed that he returned to the plaza with his friends and attacked the store where the employees had helped detain the suspects. On Sunday evening, some 200 people congregated at the plaza, forcing authorities to order businesses at the premises to close early. Police cordoned off the area, but a crowd gathered again after midnight and fights broke out, where helmets and other items were thrown between rival groups. At least five people, including media personnel, were reportedly injured in the incident.

So far, 25 people have been detained to facilitate investigations.

The incident was condemned by both the opposition and ministers, with Najib saying that it should not be seen through a racial lens.

Malaysians also took to social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter to condemn the brawl, saying that the incident should not be viewed along racial lines. — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on July 16, 2015.