Reconsider liquor restrictions, DBKL urged

Compiled by C. ARUNO, SIRA HABIBU and R. ARAVINTHAN

HUAZONG (Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia) has urged Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) to reconsider its plan to restrict the sale of hard liquor in sundry shops, convenience stores and Chinese medicine shops, Sin Chew Daily reported.

Its president Tan Sri Goh Tian Chuan said the move, to be enforced from October next year, would deal a heavy blow to small businesses.

“Currently, businesses are struggling to stay afloat. The country needs to build up its economy in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The government is allowing industrial sectors to continue operating and encouraging local travel.

“Any form of ban on the sale of alcohol would only bring a negative impact to the image of Kuala Lumpur, especially since it is the capital city of the country, ” he said in a statement.

Goh said the sale of alcohol should not be turned into a religious issue and that DBKL should respect the rights of non-Muslims to “sell, buy and consume alcohol”.

He called for businesses affected as well as other trade organisations and societies to conduct surveys on public opinion and hold talks with the local authorities to resolve the issue quickly.

Recently, DBKL issued new guidelines on the criteria for liquor licence applications and that existing sundry shops, convenience stores and Chinese medicine shops that sell hard liquor could only renew their liquor licence until Sept 30 next year.

Some of the new guidelines include businesses not being allowed to sell liquor in front of police stations, places of worship, schools and hospitals.

> A Malaysian man’s attempt at selling sex toys and aphrodisiacs via Facebook was surprisingly well-received and shared hundreds of times, reported China Press.

The man was seen peddling his wares via livestream for more than one hour and his number of viewers kept rising throughout the session.

He displayed a variety of items, including coffee-flavoured aphrodisiacs, ginseng sweets, lubricants, condoms and even sexy costumes.

However, the reporter noticed that the man was also selling Candy B, a male enhancement pill which is banned by the Health Ministry as it contains Tadalafil, a sexual stimulant.

Despite this, the man enjoyed brisk sales through his WeChat ID and mobile numbers.

The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.