Tone down on socks issue, Khairy tells Akmal

PETALING JAYA: It is time to temper the rhetoric over the socks issue as all the points have been presented, said Khairy Jamaluddin to Umno youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh over the issue involving the KK Supermart chain.

Khairy, who is also a former Umno youth chief, said the legal processes have already been ongoing, and it is time for the Muslims to take a step back and reflect.

“We need to learn from this issue, Muslims need to take a step back, are we going too far?

“Akmal, you made your point. I don’t blame him (Akmal) – but actions have been taken by the police and it’s time to stand down, your point has been made,” Khairy said in his latest podcast episode, Keluar Sekejap.

Khairy added that it was time to leave it to Muslim consumers to decide whether a boycott was needed or not, while acknowledging that such an issue was serious and sensitive.

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He added that excessive reactions toward the incident will only affect the good relations among Malaysians.

Akmal, who is also the Merlimau assemblyman, had been calling for a boycott of the retail chain's stores even after its management swiftly retracted the socks, publicly apologised for the mistake, and cancelled its contract with the sock supplier.

On Tuesday (March 26), KK Mart Group founder and executive chairman Datuk Seri Dr Chai Kee Kan and his wife, as the company’s director, were charged under Section 298 of the Penal Code for intentionally wounding the religious feelings of others by allegedly putting the socks for sale.