Anwar calls Swatch seizures 'overreaction' but what's next?

Over two days last May, Home Ministry officials raided 11 Swatch stores nationwide for displaying its Pride Collection.

Dozens of watches with their faces in various shades of rainbow - adopted as a symbol of the LGBTQ+ community - were seized.

Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail defended the enforcement actions, citing public complaints and provisions under the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) 1984.

“We have the law, the source of power, and there is a public complaint, so action was taken.

“Swatch products have been banned as they are detrimental, or possibly detrimental, to morality, the public interest and national interest by promoting, supporting and normalising the LGBTQ+ movement, which is not accepted by the Malaysian public,” he said in a statement.

A week later, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the Swatch collection of colourful watches included the letters LGBT on their dials.

Subsequently, Swatch Group CEO Nick Hayek clarified that the watch dials do not reference the LGBTQ+ community and that the prime minister was “misinformed.”

Anwar conceded that he did not have all the details and that the Home Ministry would be issuing a clarification.

Nothing in the colours

Last October, I debunked the ministry’s claims: “If watches with coloured dials and straps could be detrimental to morality, it is mere hearsay without any substantiation or, to put it crudely, a falsehood.

“Over the past few days, I boarded public transport, ate in a crowded restaurant, visited the local council office and even a police station (in such colours). I was unable to influence, let alone convert, able-bodied souls of the male gender.

“Not one had a word to say. No one gave me winks, especially since I have a ring on my right ear, which often is the mistaken belief that you are one of them.”

So, why delve into an issue that was another dark episode in the 22-month Madani government?

Last week, in an interview with Mehdi Hassan, Anwar said he disagreed with the action to seize the watches.

“We have told them. It was a decision taken by a particular department. They are overreacting,” he told Hassan, a British-American broadcaster, political commentator, columnist, author and co-founder of the media company Zeteo.

Before that, in September last year, touching on the watches, Anwar told CNN in an interview: “I will not defend that action; it is excessive.

“But the law, people in this country are Muslim and non-Muslim, Christian, Hindu, and Buddhist; they expressed their consensus in this country they do not accept open public displays.”

PM Anwar Ibrahim

A matter of perception

So, if it was an overreaction, as claimed, why not just return the watches so that Swatch’s civil suit can be withdrawn?

But then, the ministry does not want to be seen as having acted overzealously, even if Anwar has said so.

Or are there elements within the government acting on its own volition compelling to defend the action?

What is wrong with a simple “We made a mistake, and we apologise” instead of dragging the issue through the courts?

But then, the Madani government cannot be seen as less “holy” than the opposition, which continues to harp on Islam being under threat.

In the aftermath of the raids, I wrote: “If it was aimed at showing that the federal coalition government is greener than the opposition, it did not work. If it was aimed at placating conservatives that it was against LGBTQ+ elements, it was ignored.

“Seizing and later banning Swatch watches with rainbow colours did much more - making the prime minister and country a laughing stock in the eyes of the world.”

And it did. It made headlines in media organisations globally, with CNN reporting: “Wear a rainbow Swatch watch in Malaysia, and you could face three years in jail.”

I also remarked that the PPPA has become an expedient tool to show that the government is “greener than green” and its shade of green is the brightest.

Ironically, the watches were seized in May, but the order to ban them was only published in the gazette on Aug 12 last year – three days before Malaysians voted in the state elections in six states.

Need more be said? - Mkini

---

R NADESWARAN is a veteran journalist who writes on bread-and-butter issues. Comments: citizen.nades22@gmail.com

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.