Stand down, KJ tells Akmal over socks issue

PETALING JAYA: It is time to temper the rhetoric over the socks issue as all the points have been presented, says Khairy Jamaluddin in a message to Umno Youth chief Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh.

Khairy, who is also a former Umno Youth chief, said the legal processes are already ongoing and it is time for Muslims to take a step back and reflect on the issue involving the KK Super Mart convenience store chain.

“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 action has been taken by the police and it’s time to stand down, you have made your point clear,” he said in the latest episode in his podcast series, Keluar Sekejap.

Khairy said it was time to leave the issue to Muslim consumers to decide whether a boycott of the convenience store chain was needed or not, while acknowledging that the issue was serious and sensitive. He added that excessive reactions toward the incident will only affect the good relations among Malaysians.

Muhamad Akmal has 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 socks supplier.

On Tuesday, 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 sensitivities of Muslims by allegedly putting the socks for sale.

They both claimed trial.