Playing With Fire – Anwar Government Could Collapse If Sarawak Withdraws Support Over KK Mart Allah Socks Crisis

 KK Super Mart saw one of its outlets in Bidor, Perak attacked with a Molotov cocktail. As expected, despite CCTV footage evidence, the police force is still unable to arrest anyone. That’s because the firebombing was done by a Malay-Muslim. Amazingly, a technician of Chinese ethnicity had been arrested, prosecuted and jailed at lightning speed for posting a so-called offensive content on Facebook over the same issue.

Yes, the crisis over socks bearing the word “Allah” isn’t over yet. On the contrary, it has just begun. If it is already over, Perak’s Sultan Nazrin Shah does not need to issue a warning that racial tensions will escalate unless immediate action is taken against those responsible for throwing the firebomb. It’s too little too late – the spark had been ignited by UMNO and there’s no turning back.

The smartest opportunists were Perikatan Nasional, which comprised Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS – Parti Islam Se-Malaysia) and Malaysian United Indigenous Party (Bersatu or PPBM). By keeping silent, the opposition cleverly gives enough rope to the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) to hang itself. Majority of Malays were smart enough to see that UMNO was exploiting and manipulating the issue for political mileage.

At best, it was a genuine mistake or blunder when KK Mart sold the socks printed with the word “Allah”. The Malays might not be as brilliant as the Chinese in business, or as crooked as UMNO-Malays in plundering, but they certainly can ask a simple question – why only 3 out of 881 KK convenience stores sold the socks, and why there were just 5 out of 18,800 pairs of socks with “Allah” inscription?

At worst, the whole crisis may be due to sabotage involving Islamic preacher Firdaus Wong Wai Hung, who converted to Islam in 2009 and the first person who posted and complained about the “Allah” socks being sold at three of the KK convenience stores. Conveniently, his own convenience store – “MyKampung Fresh Mart” – went bust due to competition from rival KK Super Mart.

Exactly why after 23 years in business, KK Mart suddenly wanted to provoke the highly sensitive Muslims with 5 pairs of Allah socks as if it had nothing better to do? Besides, the stores were not responsible for importing, let alone manufacturing it. It was a factory in Batu Pahat – Xin Jian Chang Sdn Bhd – which received the shipments from its China-based supplier Mu Mian Qing Hosiery Co Ltd located in Zhejiang Province.

Crucially, KK Mart Group founder and executive chairman Dr KK Chai has since apologised over the issue. Most Malays do not find it a big issue as they understood clearly that KK Mart did not have any “intention” to mock or insult Islam. It was UMNO Youth Chief Akmal Salleh, desperate for publicity and armed with the blessing of his party, who politicised it with the hope of becoming a Malay-Muslim hero.

However, the silence of PAS Islamist party, supposedly the biggest defender of Islam (not that Allah needs any defending from fake holy men), suggests that Malays who had abandoned UMNO are unlikely to return to the corrupt and racist party despite Akmal’s chest-thumping and bitching. Worse, not only UMNO – with only 30% of Malay support – will continue to lose its traditional support, but also the Chinese votes.

The best part is UMNO still hasn’t realized its mistake of playing the old trick of fanning anger and hatred with racist and dangerous speech against the ethnic Chinese, as it had been doing for 60 years since independence in 1957 – till it lost power in the May 2018 General Election. The party returned to power through backdoor in March 2020 with Perikatan Nasional, and formed a unity government in Nov 2022 with rival Pakatan Harapan.

Equally disappointed were the cowardice and indecisiveness of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. It was only after tremendous pressure from the public, so much so the country was on the brink of a race riot, that the chairman of Pakatan Harapan broke his silence. Even then, the fake reformist issued a vague statement which was interpreted by scumbag Akmal as a go ahead to boycott KK Mart.

Both PM Anwar and UMNO president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi were seen as incredibly weak – even impotent – for failing to restrain a junior leader like Akmal Salleh from excessively playing racial and religious sentiments. It has deteriorated to the extent that angry non-Malays have promised to punish not only UMNO-led Barisan Nasional, but also Anwar’s People’s Justice Party (PKR).

None of the Chinese leaders from PKR – supposedly a reformist and a centrist multiracial political party – dare to speak freely and fairly. Heck, Mr Anwar did not even dare to defend fellow Secretary-General of Democratic Action Party (DAP) Anthony Loke, whose party was the biggest in the unity government and contributed the largest support for Anwar, when he was belittled and bashed by Akmal.

Surprisingly, the only leader who dared to openly tell UMNO Youth Akmal to shut up was Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Tiong King Sing. The no-nonsense minister from the Borneo state of Sarawak was not the only one disgusted with gutter politics from Malaya (Peninsular Malaysia). Joining the bandwagon to defend KK Mart was Sarawak-based Parti Bumi Kenyalang president Voon Lee Shan.

Voon has urged the Sarawak state government under the leadership of Premier Abang Johari Openg to defend and support KK Mart because the brand was founded by fellow Sarawakian KK Chai. Flashing anti-Malaya sentiment, he said – “Sarawak lost her local banks in the past. The state should not further lose KK Mart, which is its ‘business ambassador’“.

Reminding Sarawak-based GPS about the possibility of religious extremists trying to destroy a successful business from Sarawak, Voon has also indirectly slammed the bias police force, lecturing the authorities that it should not allow politicians and activists to stir up hate against the convenience store chain as it could affect the economy and cause workers to lose their jobs.

Voon’s criticism of racist politics from Malaya came after condemnation from Tuaran MP Wilfred Madius Tangau, who called on Sabah and Sarawak states to take action to avoid being dragged down by divisive politics in Peninsular Malaysia. The naughty former UPKO president has even challenged UMNO to summon China’s Ambassador for an explanation and to boycott China if Malaysia does not get a satisfactory answer.

Another party expressing its displeasure over Anwar government mishandling of the crisis was Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP), a component party of ruling government GPS (Gabungan Parti Sarawak). SUPP secretary Sebastian Ting Chiew Yew has expressed the concern of the vigilante actions taken by some quarters against two citizens, which resulted in them receiving heavy fines and jail terms over the Allah sock issue.

Sebastian said – “SUPP also notes with great consternation the petrol bomb attack at a KK Mart outlet in Perak a few days ago. This is likely a direct result of the boycott initiated by UMNO Youth against the convenience store.” Narcissist Anwar, who loves praises and hates criticisms, should be very worried about all the unpleasant statements from Sabah and Sarawak.

The incompetent Anwar government might think it could solve the problem by charging KK Super Mart founder Dr Chai Kee Kan and his 53-year-old homemaker wife Loh Siew Mui in her capacity as company director. However, it could backfire because there isn’t a case to begin with. The fact that Anwar-appointed Attorney General decided to charge them anyway was a declaration of war against Sarawak’s interest.

Like it or not, Premier Abang Johari Openg is under pressure to defend KK Mart. Not only Akmal has overplayed his hand, but UMNO foolishly picked a fight with the convenience store without realizing the background of its founder. When push comes to shove, GPS might withdraw support for Anwar Ibrahim as prime minister, leading to a chain-reaction that could trigger the collapse of his government.

On the other hand, if Akmal was a mole planted by the opposition to create discontent, then Anwar and Zahid deserve even more to lose power for pussyfooting in the issue. Instead of reprimanding or sacking the troublemaker, they have been as quiet as a church mouse. Of course, Anwar could be working hand-in-glove – quietly – with desperado UMNO to boost the Malay nationalist party’s image among the Malays at the expense of the Chinese.

Nevertheless, there appears to be cracks between Malaya and Borneo. Abang Johari openly expressed his dislike of the idea that the Central Database Hub (Padu) was gathering excessive information unrelated to the financial status of the people, prompting the Sarawak government to suspend the Padu registration – a humiliation to Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli and PM Anwar.

If UMNO-Malays insist that KK Mart must be punished regardless of how the controversial socks ended up in its stores, then all UMNO leaders must also be sent to jail to accompany ex-UMNO president Najib Razak for stealing billions of dollars in the 1MDB scandal – regardless how the ill-gotten money ended up in their pockets or bank accounts. - financetwitter

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.