GEORGE TOWN, Feb 25 ― Despite numbering only 20, a Malay group calling itself Gerakan Merah is demonstrating outside the Bayview Beach Resort in Penang’s touristy Ferringhi belt, demanding the cancellation of an international Freemason conference that is underway inside.
Dressed in red T-shirts, the demonstrators have been shouting “Allahu Akhbar” as they gathered in front of the hotel entrance under watch from several policemen on duty.
“They are Jews and anti-Islam, they must respect us and stop this conference,” several members of the group shouted, referring to the Freemasons.
They were earlier barred from entering the hotel by the police, but insisted they would not disperse until the conference is called off.
They also demanded a meeting with the hotel manager to make clear why the Freemason conference must not go on.
Freemasons from 15 countries are currently attending the four-day Scottish Masonic, which kicked off today and is scheduled to run until February 27.
One of the protesters, president Jaringan Melayu Malaysia Azwanddin Hamzah, accused Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng of sponsoring the event.
“We want the Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng to explain if the DAP state government is the one sponsoring this event,” he said.
Azwanddin labelled the Freemasons as Jews, anti-Islam and the group that started wars against Muslims.
“They are also the ones supportive of the LGBT,” he claimed, referring to the lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders,” he added.
Officers from the police anti-riot unit, the Light Strike Force, soon arrived, armed with batons to stand guard outside the hotel entrance after it looked as if the protesters might storm inside.
At about 3.45pm, northeast district police chief Assistant Commissioner of Police Mior Faridalatrash Wahid accompanied Azwanddin and three others from the group into the hotel.
The group returned five minutes later and told the others waiting outside that the conference was cancelled.
“We were shown the hall, it was emptied, the delegates have all been told to go back to their rooms, the event was cancelled because of our protest,” Azwanddin said.
He promised that the Malay group will protest again against any other Freemason event if they were held in the country.
The group dispersed after that without further incident.
Freemasonry is a collection of diverse worldwide fraternities that started out as local groups for stonemasons and has been linked to the Illuminati in a conspiracy theory of a secret group of masterminds.
The Illuminati allegedly controlled world affairs and tried to establish a New World Order, although there is no evidence suggesting such a group exists.
