It’s most unexpected, MP says of petrol bomb attack in Kuching

 

Dr Kelvin Yii called for calm and tolerance, saying that such ‘outrageous’ acts were getting out of hand.

PETALING JAYA: A Sarawakian MP said he was left stunned by the firebomb attack on a KK Mart outlet in Kuching yesterday and urged the people of Sarawak to “stand up against such acts of hate”.

“Of all places, we did not expect this to happen in Kuching, Sarawak, known as the City of Unity, a place where for years we have learned to live harmoniously regardless of our race, religion, or background,” DAP’s Dr Kelvin Yii told FMT.

Sarawak’s capital was accorded the status in 2015 by the 1Malaysia Foundation.

Yii said that the attack in Kuching showed that the unity and harmony cherished by Sarawakians all this while was “fragile”.

The Bandar Kuching MP called for calm and tolerance, saying that such “outrageous” acts were getting out of hand.

“We, as Sarawakians, must stand up against such acts of hate and prevent it from becoming normalised in our land and our country.”

The attack on the KK Mart outlet in Kuching yesterday, was the third such incident in the span of a week. The incident was reported by a 25-year-old man who worked at the outlet in Jalan Satok.

The first two attacks were carried out at KK Mart outlets in Bidor, Perak, and Kuantan, Pahang.

The petrol bomb thrown at the shop in Bidor on March 26 failed to explode, while the attack in Kuantan on March 29 set several items on fire but the flames were promptly put out by KK Mart workers.

KK Mart has been mired in controversy since March 13 after socks with the word “Allah” were discovered at its Bandar Sunway outlet, sparking calls by Umno Youth for a nationwide boycott of the convenience store chain.

KK Mart’s founder and a director have since been charged with intentionally wounding the religious feelings of Muslims by selling the socks, while three officers of the vendor, Xin Jian Chang Sdn Bhd, were charged with abetment. All claimed trial. - FMT