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Mydin wouldn’t be spared too if they sold those socks, says Akmal

FMT Reporters

-23 Mar 2024, 11:00 PM

The Umno Youth chief answers criticism from hypermarket managing director Ameer Ali Mydin and former minister Rafidah Aziz.

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Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh posted a TikTok video in response to comments by Ameer Ali Mydin and Rafidah Aziz.

PETALING JAYA: Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh has hit back at Mydin hypermarket boss Ameer Ali Mydin who had taken him to task over his campaign to boycott KK Mart convenience stores.

Akmal also responded to former minister Rafidah Aziz who accused him of being a rabble-rouser who would only divide Malaysians.

In a TikTok video posted today, Akmal said his call for Malay-Muslims to boycott KK Mart had nothing to do with the convenience store chain being owned by a Chinese businessman, namely its founder KK Chai.

He reiterated that the issue was that KK Mart had insulted Muslims by selling socks bearing the word “Allah”.

“This issue isn’t about KK Mart being Chinese (owned) or not. The issue is that KK Mart had insulted Muslims, so stern action must be taken by Muslims in this country,” Akmal said.

“I want to tell Ameer this too: if this matter happened in Mydin hypermarkets, we would be doing the same thing to Mydin,” he said.

The Mydin hypermarket managing director had urged Akmal to stop exploiting the socks issue for political mileage, saying political parties should distance themselves from 3R (race, religion and royalty) issues.

Ameer said Akmal’s campaign for a public boycott of KK Mart, despite the chain having issued an apology, would affect investor confidence and the livelihoods of workers, a majority of whom are Malay-Muslims.

Ameer, who is the president of the Bumiputera Retailers Association, had acknowledged that the socks issue was a serious matter but said the issue should not be escalated.

However, Akmal, an executive councillor in Melaka, reiterated that his actions were about defending Islam, which he said had much greater priority than avoiding financial and economic losses.

He added insults to Islam had occurred many times now. “Are we supposed to be satisfied with apologies just because we want to look after the economy and the riches of tycoons?” he said.

Akmal also replied to a statement yesterday by former Wanita Umno chief Rafidah Aziz who criticised Akmal over his behaviour following the controversy. She said even Prophet Muhammad had shown “exemplary restrained behaviour” when confronted by those who were hostile towards him.

In response, Akmal reiterated that his intention was not to provoke conflict or add oil to the fire, but simply to defend Islam.

“You’re right in saying that during the Prophet’s time, a softer approach was taken. But at the time, when their religion was insulted, there was no such thing as forgiveness. We’re not going to war, Tan Sri. We just want to display the solidarity of Muslims in this country in teaching them (KK Mart) a harder lesson. How? Just a boycott. Why must they fear a boycott from Muslims? Aren’t they tycoons already,” he said.