A BAND of street musicians denied disrupting a demonstration led by Umno’s Lokman Noor Adam on Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman in Kuala Lumpur last night, saying they kept their promise to turn down their volume while speeches were made.

Street band JK Lineup were asked to stop playing for 10 minutes, and they kept their word, band leader Marzuki Nanyan said.

Marzuki also took issue with Lokman’s group, New Malaysia Monitor (NMM), for not compensating the band, when Bersih 2.0 had paid them not to perform during street demonstrations led by the electoral reform group.

“Who sabotaged who? We play here every night. But today’s income was nothing. And we can’t even say anything even though they don’t want to compensate us,” Marzuki Nanyan told The Malaysian Insight.

The band of six, which includes three blind musicians, was talking about the chaos that erupted in front of Sogo on Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman last night.

A protest, led by Umno Supreme Council member Lokman, turned unruly last night when police attempted to stop about 100 demonstrators from marching towards the Dang Wangi police station.

NMM was protesting the Attorney-General’s Chambers’ decision to withdraw the corruption charges against Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng on Monday.

However, midway into the illegal protest, it turned unruly after the band of buskers cranked up their speakers.

“Before the chaos, the organisers asked us to stop for 10 minutes so that they could give a speech,” said Marzuki.

“The person said this was a racial issue. We agreed to their request as it was only for 10 minutes.”

But after the 10 minutes was up, the band turned the volume on their speakers up, and the group turned unruly.

Lokman then accused the band of buskers, which included blind musicians, of purposely turning up the volume to “sabotage” their protest and used the excuse to turn the protest disorderly.

The group then attempted to march to the Dang Wangi police station but police did not allow it, prompting more scuffles.

Marzuki said previous demonstrations like the one organised by Bersih 2.0 compensated them for “taking a day off”.

“When Bersih organised their rallies here, they paid us RM500 to not sing for a day.

“Before these people (Umno) want to fight for race, why don’t they help us out instead?” asked Marzuki.

Since losing the general election, Umno has decided to copy some of then-opposition Pakatan Rakyat’s strategies and hold more “demonstrations” to raise their profile and portray itself as a capable opposition.

The protests have been led by former PKR youth leader Lokman (1999-2003), who rejoined Umno in 2008 and was the former communications director of the Finance Ministry. – September 8, 2018.