MALAYSIANS love conspiracies. Take the May 13 racial riots which was supposedly engineered by someone to fast-track his journey to be the Prime Minister (PM). Or the disappearance of MH370 where some conspiracy theorists say the plane was shot down in a military operation that went wrong.
Or how Mongolian model Altantuya Shaaribu was blown to smithereens using C4 explosives in a forest near Shah Alam to cover the tracks of her illicit relationship with an ex-PM. Some of these do sound plausible but others were products of an over-active imagination.
So, it came as no surprise that the raging controversy over a KK Super Mart outlet found to be selling a pair of socks bearing the “Allah” inscriptions became fodder for conspiracy theorists.
For example, one “Aman Muhammad” posted on Facebook sarcastically thanking convert Muslim preacher Firdaus Wong Wai Hung for amplifying the issue and wishing the latter’s convenience store a great success.
“Aman Muhammad” was repeating a narrative percolating on social media that Firdaus who owns the “MyKampung Fresh Mart” convenience store deliberately did so to damage competitor KK Mart’s reputation and drive customers to the latter’s own business.
But social activist-cum-human rights lawyer Siti Kasim issued a teaser that she “wouldn’t even consider stepping into the shop”.
Terima kasih atas promosi. Baru tahu. Boleh lah datang kedai @FirdausWong nanti. https://t.co/hvNDys3wdF
— Aidi Ezzhar (@aidi_ezzhar) March 21, 2024
A Newswav viewer “Linda” amplified the conspiracy theories further. “He (Firdaus) owns a similar business as KK Super Mart, hopefully to attract KK’s customers to his,” she commented on a posting over the controversy on the news aggregator website.
Views of conspiracy theorists also gained traction on WhatsApp. An excerpt of a now viral message read: “Police found only FIVE pairs of socks with Allah out of 18,000 pairs. One of them was “discovered” by Firdaus Wong who was the first person to viral it. This Firdaus fella must have special kungfu to find a needle in a haystack.
“But why would KK Mart purposely sell FIVE PAIRS of socks that offend its Muslim customers? Why would KK Mart sabotage itself?”
Some social media users who bought the idea of the socks being planted were convinced KK Mart could not admit to this as it would make things worse for the company.
However, it seems unlikely that Firdaus who has more than 540,000 followers on Facebook and more than 350,000 on Instagram with the bulk believed to be young Malay Muslims would resort to undermining KK Super Mart to drive customers to his outlet.
An online check shows that his MyKampung Freshmart has only one outlet in Shah Alam which opened in 2020 and it is unclear if it is still operating. The outlet’s official website is also inaccessible.
But the conspiracy theories surrounding KK Super Mart are not only confined to those sympathetic towards the 24-hour convenience store whose business has come under siege with threat of nationwide boycott and demand of having to hoist apology banners across its 881 outlets by rebellious UMNO Youth chief Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh.
For example, an Utusan Online social media posting revealed that the police discovering only five pairs of socks bearing the “Allah” inscription following a raid at a factory in Batu Pahat, enraging sone pro-boycott commenters who blamed the cops for their delay in mounting the operation. They felt that this allowed the factory to dispose of “evidence” of wrongdoings.
Interestingly, the factory in the centre of the controversy has denied that the Batu Pahat Municipal Council (MPBP) has revoked its licence.
In fact, Xin Jian Chang Sdn Bhd which has since made a public apology for its oversight said the company has been given a month by the local council to provide a written statement – specifically on non-compliance of its business licence conditions with regard to packaging activities of stockings – before a decision on the matter is made.
In the meantime, Xin Jian Chang said it was considering legal action for negligence against its supplier in China. – March 22, 2024
