KUALA LUMPUR: While the police declined lawyer and activist Siti Kasim's chocolate offer, the fire station next door happily obliged.
All this started when lawyers for former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak issued a statement alleging that chocolates had gone missing from a fridge at one of the premises that police had searched in their investigation into 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
Siti Kasim then kicked off the "Jom Bagi Coklat Kat Abang & Akak Polis" drive – loosely translated as "let's give chocolates to our brothers and sisters in the police force" – to get Malaysians to donate chocolates to the police.
"Our intention is to simply show that we support them. I asked beforehand and was told that they had a directive to refuse them. I pity the boys at the station because I feel that they really love the idea.
"So I decided to just give them to the firefighters. They are equally as important in serving the community," said the lawyer and activist.
The campaign, with its hashtag #Chocs4Cops, saw dozens of people donating chocolate to their police station of choice.
While some were politely turned away, others had some success in delivering their goods, based on photos on the campaign's Facebook page.
When asked to comment on the alleged misconduct that led to the creation of the campaign, Siti Kasim didn't pull any punches.
"I deal with the police a lot and most of the time when we want to offer them a drink, they'll say no because they are on duty.
"So based on my experience, the police are surely aware of whose house they were working in.
"Tak kan lah nak sapu benda dalam rumah tu! (It is unlikely that they would take anything from that house). More so knowing that they were under the spotlight," she said, referring to the now infamous claims of chocolate thievery.
On Friday (May 25), Federal Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Comm Datuk Seri Amar Singh said he had requested Najib's lawyers to come forward and lodge a report over the chocolate theft.
"Tell us exactly who had taken the chocolates and we will investigate further," he said during a press conference at the Federal CCID headquarters.
Comm Amar was seen stifling a smile while the room burst into laughter when the question on the missing chocolates was raised.
On a serious note, he said he had given his men a "very strict and stern warning" before the search.
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