In a clear display of anger, 60 blind protesters stormed the gates of the headquarters of the Malaysian Association for the Blind (MAB) today.

The protesters wanted to demonstrate inside the MAB compound, but were hindered by the locked gates.

This angered the protesters, who then tried to tear the gates down, while others scaled it to get inside.

The situation cooled down quickly though, and after about 20 minutes outside, the gates were opened, allowing the protesters to continue their rally inside.

Hidup orang buta (Long live the blind), and lawan tetap lawan (opponents remain opposed) were among the cries they made, mimicking the opposition coalition battle cry as well.

Corrupt, neglected the blind

The two-hour protest, led by Solidariti Orang Buta Malaysia (SOBM), sought to force the top four people in charge of MAB to quit, claiming they had become corrupt and neglected the blind.

The four are MAB president Tengku Azlan Sultan Abu Bakar, deputy president Dr Veera Ramani, CEO Ganesan Supayah, and vice-president S Kulasegaran.

This is the second time the blind are protesting against the MAB in two months.

Among their allegations against the four are lack of transparency and wasteful spending.

"After Ganesan became the CEO, MAB's savings dwindled from RM11 million to RM6 million," MAB vice-president Hasidi Hassan claimed.

They have lodged a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate the matter.

Besides this, the blind also want to run MAB themselves.

"We are not stupid, don't think the blind cannot run MAB," Society of the Blind in Malaysia (SBM) president Mohammed Nazri Othman cried into the microphone.

The four top people in charge of MAB are not blind or visually impaired.

Malaysiakini is in the process of contacting MAB for its comment on today's protest.