KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 1 — City Hall’s (DBKL) recent enforcement of language violations on signboards was against all businesses and did not single out Chinese shops, an advisory board member said.

Although DBKL showed photographs of enforcement that mainly involved signs in Chinese, Lai Chen Heng said action was also taken against Bangladeshi, Korean and Arab shops that did not adhere to DBKL’s bylaws.

The bylaws state that Malay must be the dominant language on signs in terms of font size and placement, with other languages ​​allowed as long as they appear secondary in both terms.

“The law is the law. And the national language is important and must be given prominence,” he was quoted as saying in a Channel News Asia (CNA) report.

CNA said it found that DBKL’s inspections have also covered businesses that cater to migrants from countries such as Bangladesh.

Lai said some companies were fined for violating specifications, while others were fined for deviating from their approved submissions.

However, he admitted that enforcement – ​​which coincidentally came after former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s open complaint – should have been more consistent.

“I have no idea why (the operations are being carried out) now. DBKL has been conducting operations on illegal structures and illegal traders, but not really on billboards.

“But this is something that had been planned months ago,” he said.

On Monday, the Malaysian Chinese Restaurant Association claimed their business was facing escalating operating costs due to DBKL’s strict enforcement of signage.

DBKL replied that it was just to enforce laws as set out in the Advertisements (Federal Territories) By-Laws, the Local Government Act and the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Act.

Last month, Dr Mahathir complained that the Chinese and English signs have become common in the city, with some containing little or no Malay.

He said that English was understandable because it was the lingua franca, but he questioned the prominence of Hanzi.

Dr Mahathir claimed to have heard that the local display of Hanzi for billboards is so ubiquitous that Chinese media referred to Malaysia as Little China.