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.