Don't follow herd mentality, Najib says of Low Yat brawl

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians are urged not to follow the mob mentality and remain calm in the aftermath of the brawl by some 100 people at Low Yat Plaza on Sunday.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said he had ordered the Inspector-General of Police to take actions to stop any more incidents from taking place.

"Don't give in to the mob pyschology. If something happens, we tend to follow blindly without knowing the full facts and act using our emotions," he told a press conference after distributing food packs to some 300 homeless people at Jalan Sultan Ismail on Monday.

On Sunday, five people including two journalists, were injured in a mob attack at a shopping plaza in Bukit Bintang which was sparked by what police said was a theft incident at the plaza.

Najib said the matter should be viewed as a criminal act rather than a racially-charged incident.

"The matter should be investigated by the police and action will be taken against the culprits," he said.

Najib urged the public not to misuse the social media to spread misinformation on the incident which could further "heat up" the situation.

"Certain irresponsible quarters have uploaded pictures which had nothing to do with the incident.

"Please do not easily believe everything that is posted online.

"We hope that everyone will remain calm as I am confident that the authorities will be able to maintain the situation," he said.

Asked the if situation worsened due to slow action by the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), Najib said "perhaps there is a need to study whether there is too much freedom on the social media."

"Right now, we have freedom on the social media. Perhaps the problem is when we have too much freedom.

"It is something that we should study in detail," he said.