Lye Chun Keng, the owner of one of the cafes affected, told a press conference today that he had made a police report after finding the shop’s glass door smashed and the interior wrecked.
Grey paint was also splashed over the shop’s walls in the incident that happened earlier this month soon after Lye had turned down their offers for “security” services.
Meanwhile, Jeremy Voon, who is the manager of another shop, said he too had earlier been approached by several men who asked for protection money.
The men had left directly after Voon refused to pay, but had apparently come back later to wreck the shop.
DAP lawmaker Teresa Kok, who was present at the press conference, said she had gone to the Brickfields police headquarters, accompanied by several traders, to request that they look into the matter.
“We requested that the police patrol the area more, because in the past few weeks many shops have been made to subscribe to the ‘security services’.”
The gangs had demanded RM2,800 for the first payment and RM1,000 for every subsequent month.
“This is too much. They cannot afford even RM1,000 – they are small businessmen. These payments will kill them.”