Foreign-language ads turn Leboh Pasar into Little Nepal

Shops catering to foreign workers use illegal signage and advertisements in a variety of foreign languages in Leboh Pasar in the Kuala Lumpur city centre. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Raymund Wong, October 7, 2015.

Visitors in Leboh Pasar in Kuala Lumpur may be forgiven for thinking they have stepped into Nepal, thanks to the many foreign-language advertisements, banners and signboards there.

City Hall’s Licensing and Petty Trader Management Department director Ibrahim Yusoff told The Malaysian Insider that Leboh Pasar was a hotspot for illegal advertisements that the city authority was closely monitoring.

“We have been sending a team to check on the signage and take down any advertisements, especially the ones in foreign languages,” he said.

Ibrahim said business owners needed to ensure that their signboards were primarily in Bahasa Malaysia.

“It is illegal to have signboards in any foreign language. They also need to come to us before putting up signage, they cannot simply put them up.

“We might just send a team again to check on the situation there (Leboh Pasar),” he said.

Special Taskforce to Facilitate Businesses (Pemudah) member Datuk Pardip Kumar Kukreja said foreign languages were used in the advertisements because they were aimed at foreigners.

“Most of the shops there cater to the foreigners. Phone repairs, sim cards... they tend to use illegal advertisements to draw them in.

“Sometimes the advertisements show prices of flight tickets. The advertisements will say it is AirAsia or something like that, but if you call the number, the person on the other end will just book the ticket on the computer for you. So it is not the airlines that are doing this,” he said.Illegal posters and flyers everywhere advertise air tickets, sim cards, handphone repairs and all the products and services necessary to the foreign worker away from home. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Raymund Wong, October 7, 2015.

The Malaysian Insider previously reported that City Hall had issued 53 warrants of arrest for illegal advertisers who had failed to show up to court.

“This year, 191 compounds were issued, and 166 cases brought to court. But there were 53 of them who did not appear in court so we issued arrest warrants,” Ibrahim had said.

City Hall has begun working with Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), the police and Pemudah to address the issue of illegal advertisements in the city.

As of September 10, 464 telephone numbers used in illegal advertisements have been terminated by MCMC.

The owners of these telephone numbers are blacklisted and will not be allowed to apply for another telephone number.

Mayor Datuk Mhd Amin Nordin Abdul Aziz had warned that those convicted of the offence could be fined up to RM2,000 or jailed up to two years, or both, under the Local Government Act 1976, Advertisements (Federal Territory) Bylaws 1982.

- TMI