Retailer says fictional Jho Low-esque Santa Claus 'just for laughs’

A new Santa Claus character is making waves on social media for its uncanny resemblance to a certain fugitive businessperson.

“Spending like I stole it,” says one shopping bag featuring the character, while a shop sign beckoned shoppers to “Gift it like a Saudi Prince!”

The bespectacled and stout cartoon character – dressed in either a Santa costume or in a striped prison uniform – is featured on various items sold by the retailer Apom in Bangsar. 

Netizens have been drawing comparisons between Apom's cartoon character and wanted 1MDB-linked financier Low Taek Jho.

However, an Apom co-founder, who asked to be identified only as Kelvin, said 'Jholly the Santa' is merely a fictional character the company created for its Christmas campaign.

When contacted by Malaysiakini today, Kelvin said that Apom – short for 'A Piece of Malaysia' – was founded two years ago to celebrate Malaysian culture with tongue-in-cheek humour.

In light of this, he added, the company decided to create an Asian Santa Claus character for this year’s Christmas celebration, instead of a more conventional marketing campaign.

This includes merchandise like T-shirts, tote bags, mugs, coasters, Christmas cards, featuring Jholly the Santa, as well as the book Find Jholly, styled after famous children’s puzzle book series Where’s Wally?

One scene in the book even portrays a beach party in the Cayman Islands with a ship called the “SS Equanimity” visible in the background.

Asked if he is concerned about being sued by Low over Jholly’s resemblance to Low and the accusations against him, Kelvin pointed to a disclaimer in the book.

It reads: “All characters in this publication are a work of fiction and are not related to any living/non-living being in the world.”

For the record, the formal name for the Cayman-flagged superyacht connected to Low, which was seized by the government and put on auction, is M/Y Equanimity.

'Overwhelming response'

Kelvin also told Malaysiakini that it is too early to gauge how well the Jholly the Santa merchandise is selling, since the campaign only launched on Wednesday.

“But so far what we are happy to see is when people walk by the shop, they’d say this is a good job, and they laugh at the standee, they laugh at the T-shirt, they laugh at the lines we have used. 

"I think that for us, we judge a campaign by how people react to our products.

“It has been very positive so far. As you can see, the exposure we’ve been getting… we didn’t expect it to be this overwhelming,” he said.

Low has been charged in absentia in Malaysia and the US over 1MDB-related money laundering allegations.

The businessperson is still at large, but maintains that he is innocent.

Former Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is facing 38 charges over the 1MDB scandal, including receiving RM2.08 billion in “donations” in his personal bank account.

Najib had claimed that the money was a political donation from a Saudi prince, but the prosecution claimed that the money originated from 1MDB. 

The US Department of Justice claimed that Tanore Finance, through which the funds were channelled, is controlled by Low through an associate.

Najib has claimed trial to all charges. - Mkini