PETALING JAYA: Petaling Jaya mayor Zahri Samingon received brickbats from netizens following an incident in which he shushed resident representatives trying to hand over a memorandum to the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ).
In a video posted on X by Petaling Jaya Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM), he was seen asking representatives to take away their protest banners.
He also shushed them as they were answering questions.
"Shhhh.. Close first" he told them, in reference to the protest at the MBPJ building foyer.
He continued to shush the representatives when they asked why the banners needed to be removed.
"No, please don't shush us. We've been waiting here for hours," a frustrated representative responded.
The residents were present to handover a memorandum requesting the council to take over maintenance of their apartment, blocks C and D of Pangsapuri Taman Petaling Utama.
The situation eventually calmed down, with the representatives agreeing to meet Zahri indoors. However, Zahri and his bodyguards faced heavy criticism from netizens.
Zahri later said he was not being rude but merely asking the group to remove the banners and lower their voices.
"Some say I was rude for shushing them, but I explained that as mayor, I needed them to remove the banner before discussing their issue," Zahri added.
Netizens took Zahri and bodyguards to task for their treatment of the residents.
"You handle this badly. Why did you shush people," said user @freetheworlddd.
"Even a king doesn't act this way," said another user @0906nivar.
Another netizen, @Simple_Peasant1, highlighted that the residents were also concerned about flash floods caused by faulty drains near their apartment.
"They've been seeking help for this issue for a long time but haven't received any response from the city. They followed the proper channels, but no one addressed their concerns!"
The New Straits Times has reached out to MBPJ for comment.