Red Shirt march in KL generally peaceful

Kuala Lumpur

RACIAL tensions were briefly raised on Wednesday after a march by tens of thousands of Malays to assert their dominance and their support of Prime Minister Najib Razak turned nasty when a section of the demonstrators demanded to enter Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown but were thwarted by the riot police who used chemical-laced water to disperse the crowd.

The ruckus - about one kilometre from where the main event was being held at a field - and overt racial taunting of the Chinese by more right-wing elements marred what was otherwise a relatively peaceful march of Malays, many of whom were bussed in from other states and reportedly from Umno branches.