As a form of retaliation and to further incite the conflict between the Malays and PAP, UMNO called for a meeting which was attended by close to 12,000 people. This meeting was chaired by Secretary General of UMNO Syed Ja’far Albar who referred to Lee as an ""Ikan Sepat"" (Three spot gourami), a mud-dwelling fish, and called for collective action against the Chinese community led by the PAP. While this convention was under way, communal violence was sparked in Bukit Mertajam killing two people. This was seen as a prelude to the much bigger riots that followed on 21 July 1964.