China manufacturer ceases exporting 'Allah' socks

Mu Mian Qing Hosiery Co Ltd, the China-based manufacturer of socks bearing the word “Allah”, has stopped exporting them after the controversy erupted in Malaysia.

Through a Chinese e-commerce platform, Malaysiakini managed to contact the manufacturer based in Yiwu, Zhejiang Province, China.

Its customer service personnel confirmed that while they continue to export their products to Malaysia, the socks with the word “Allah” have been taken down from display.

"We don't have this product now. It has been taken down. We received a complaint from our customer a few days ago, saying it cannot be sold in their country," said the personnel.

Malaysiakini also asked whether this sock was the manufacturer's own design but the customer service personnel did not provide an answer.

When the Malaysiakini staff corresponding with the personnel revealed themselves as a reporter and expressed desire for an interview, the customer service personnel refused to respond further.

"We don't know (anything). Whatever the factory produces, we sell," the customer service personnel said in a text message on WeChat, a Chinese instant messaging app.

The salesperson then proceeded to block the reporter’s phone number.

The controversy surfaced last week when images of the socks bearing the word “Allah” being sold at KK Mart’s Bandar Sunway outlet went viral on social media.

Following the uproar, KK Mart issued an apology to all its customers, particularly the Muslim community, and confirmed that immediate action had been taken to halt the sale of the socks.

This included terminating its contract with Xin Jian Chang Sdn Bhd, a company based in Batu Pahat, Johor.

The supplier had, in turn, blamed Mu Mian Qing Hosiery for wrongly sending the socks to it.

Police, in an inspection of the Xin Jian Chang factory, said it had only found five pairs of the “Allah” socks, all of which were the ones recalled from KK Mart. - Mkini