KL police tussle with ethnic Chinese

KL police tussle with ethnic Chinese

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): Police scuffled with ethnic Chinese
protesters who confronted the education minister on Monday over
his order to close a Chinese school, a controversy that has
triggered deeper fears over the minority group's future in
Malaysia.

Minister Musa Mohamad shook his head and silently pushed
through a crowd of nearly 150 parents and opposition activists
who gathered outside his ministry's building for nearly four
hours to force a meeting.

Lee Sung, 71, attempted to hand Musa a bag filled with
Mandarin oranges as a peace offering for Chinese New Year,
celebrated last week. But a security official shoved him to the
ground and flung the fruit away.

Police then shunted aside parents who tried to block Musa's
car as he was chauffeured away.

The parents insisted that Musa ordered the school permanently
closed last week without discussing his decision with them.