THIS weekend will be the best time to indirectly say no to extremists and vigilantes while ensuring that a genuine business stays afloat.
Elderly TikToker Kamarudin Peguam (main image; inset) who made such call has appealed to Malaysians at large to shop at 24-hour convenience store KK Super Mart which is in the centre of the Allah inscription on socks controversy “by spending at least RM5 as a sign of support for an industrious Malaysian”.
“Personally, I don’t know who is Datuk KK (KK Super Mart founder Datuk Seri KK Chai) … I understand that he’s from Sarawak and that he has worked hard to build his chain of stores over the last 22 years thus providing jobs to Malaysians,” the lawyer, political analyst, NGO activist and current issue commentator pointed out in a recent TokTok video.
“He’s a good example of a hardworking Malaysian … This is the kind of Malaysians that we need to support.”
On Tuesday (March 27), KK Mart Group founder and executive chairman Datuk Seri Dr Chai Kee Kan, 57, claimed trial to a charge under Section 298 of the Penal Code for intentionally wounding the religious feelings of others by allegedly putting the socks for sale.
Also charged under the same Code was Chai’s 53-year-old homemaker wife Loh Siew Mui in her capacity as company director who also claimed trial.
Also in the dock were the directors of Xin Jian Chang Sdn Bhd which is the Batu Pahat-based company that supplied the socks to KK Super Mart.
For the uninitiated, KK Super Mart is facing the wrath of UMNO Youth which has rallied for a blanket boycott across all its 881 outlets nationwide.
Kamarudin Peguam’s plea has moved veteran journalist and author Kee Thuan Chye to shop at KK Mart as a mark of support.
“The mart was very quiet. For a while, I was the only shopper in there,” the biographer of retired DAP supremo Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang’s Malaysian First (Volume 1: None But the Bold and Volume 2: Bold to the Last Battle) shared on a WhatsApp text. “I hope that’s not enough of an indication that the boycott is really on.”
Another anonymous shopper also posted his doing KK Super Mart a little favour. “Buy from KK Mart and save Malaysia. The sales attendant is from Lawas, Sarawak and yours truly is from Balingian Sarawak. Sarawak sets the standard of a harmonious state,” he quipped.
Another supportive shopper also put on record his small contribution. “I just came back from buying a few items from nearby KK Mart to support. Good to see a Malay girl walked in to buy things,” he observed.
“Talked to an Indian girl cashier who said business has gone down the past few days which is nothing surprising. So, guys, do shop at KK Mart if you can so as to support a genuine business and the innocent Malay staff who work there to earn a decent living.” – March 29, 2024
