KUALA LUMPUR – Umno Youth chief Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh needs to heed Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s decree to stop politicising the “Allah”-printed socks issue, urged PKR vice-president Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.
Nik Nazmi, who is also the natural resources and environmental sustainability minister, cautioned the Merlimau assemblyman that continuing to ride on the matter for political gain will bring more harm than good.
“Akmal should heed (the Agong’s) decree and stop using this issue as a political capital (as) continuing to do so will not benefit anyone,” he said in a statement today.
As a former party youth chief himself, Nik Nazmi also advised Akmal that the desire to make one’s mark in the political field by leveraging on issues such as convenience store chain KK Mart’s sale of the offending socks “will not last long”.
“Instead, try finding issues that are truly critical and can benefit the people.”
He also pinned the blame on Akmal for the recent attacks against several KK Mart outlets, claiming that Akmal’s “aggressive attitude” in addressing the matter has “invited extreme action” from certain individuals.
Earlier today, KK Supermart & Superstore Sdn Bhd founder Datuk Seri Chai Kee Kan was granted an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim to apologise for his company’s sale of socks printed with the word “Allah”.
“Once again, I warn quarters against taking advantage of this matter, especially (by) inciting the people. I do not want this matter to drag on,” Sultan Ibrahim said on his official Facebook page.
In a Facebook post hours after reports of the meeting between the Agong and Chai, Akmal said that leaders must be the voice of the people without feeling scared as the people have made their choice without force.
“Keep calm and continue boycotting peacefully,” Akmal said in the post, believed to be referencing his call for a boycott against KK Mart.
His post also came after Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin reportedly said that the party leadership, particularly president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, had ordered Akmal to stop playing up the “Allah”-printed socks issue and cease calls to boycott KK Mart.
Viral images of the “Allah”-printed socks at a KK Mart branch had caused the chain and its manufacturer, Xin Jian Chang Sdn Bhd, to be the target of outrage and calls for a boycott.
The controversy has since led to several KK Mart outlets being attacked, with three hits so far involving molotov cocktails being thrown at its stores in Pahang, Perak and Sarawak in over a week.
Last Wednesday, Chai and his wife Datin Seri Loh Siew Mui were charged in the Shah Alam sessions court for intentionally hurting the religious sentiments of Muslims, while three of Xin Jian Chang’s directors were also charged with abetting the duo in the socks’ distribution.
The two companies are also engaged in a separate civil suit brought by KK Mart, which is seeking more than RM30 million in damages and losses caused by Xin Jian Chang’s alleged sabotage. – April 3, 2024