On 13 March 2024, a picture of socks being sold at a KK Super Mart in Sunway City, Petaling Jaya went viral on Malaysian social media. The socks were printed with the word Allah, which is the Arabic word for God. [1]
This case received the attention of the public and politicians such as Dr. Muhamad Akmal Saleh, [2] Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh, [3] Datuk Razali Idris, [4] and leaders from Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS). [5] [6] [7] Some political analysts suggested that certain Muslim politicians were leveraging the event to rally support from Malay nationalists and potentially exacerbate divisions in multicultural Malaysia. [8]
Some commentators urged the public not to exaggerate this issue, including Chong Sin Woon, [9] Wee Ka Siong, [10] Loke Siew Fook, [11] Nga Kor Ming, [12] Dato Sri Tiong King Sing, [13] Datuk Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi [14] and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. [15] On social media, some users called for a boycott of the store chain. [16]
KK Super Mart issued an apology for selling the controversial socks, and they have committed to removing the item from their shelves. The distributor of these socks, Xin Jian Chang, also expressed regret. According to their statement, the socks in question were part of a shipment of 18,800 pairs produced by a Chinese company. [17] Notably, only five pairs out of this large quantity had the contentious print. KK Super Mart confirmed that they discovered these socks in stock at three of their 800 outlets. [16]
Since the boycott, there have been three Molotov cocktail-throwing incidents at KK Super Mart branches. On 28 March, at 5:35 am (just six days after similar attacks occurred at Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, Russia), a Molotov cocktail was thrown at a KK Super Mart branch in Bidor, Perak from a car. [18] Two days later, another KK Super Mart branch in Kuantan was hit by a Molotov cocktail, causing a small fire at the entrance. Additionally, on April 1, another branch in Kuching was also targeted with a Molotov cocktail. [19] These attacks are still under investigation. According to Wan Mohamad Zahari Wan Busu, the police chief of Kuantan, the attack may be related to the sock controversy. [20] [21]
Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar and Acting Sultan of Johor (Tunku Mahkota Johor), Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim ordered that the those responsible are subject to strict action by the authorities to avoid the same incident from happening again. [17]
Director of the Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department, Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain, said two investigation papers were opened following the receipt of 42 reports. This case will be investigated by the Bukit Aman Classified Crime Investigation Unit under Section 298A of the Penal Code. This section pertains to religious reasons, specifically actions that create an atmosphere of disharmony, division, enmity, hatred, malice, or harm to unity.
On March 20, the man who posted the original photo of the socks to social media was arrested. [22]
On March 25, Malaysian police announced that the directors of KK Super Mart and the Xin Jian Chang distribution company would be held liable in court. The directors of KK Super Mart would be charged under Section 298 of the Penal Code for "intentionally wounding religious feelings", while the Xin Jian Chang distribution company would be charged with "abetting the offense". [8] [23]
Sultan Abu Bakar Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mu’azzam Shah Ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Abdullah Al-Mu’tassim Billah Shah, was the fourth modern Sultan of Pahang.
Mohamed Khaled bin Nordin is a Malaysian politician who has served as the Minister of Defence since December 2023 and previously served as the Minister of Higher Education for the second term from December 2022 to December 2023 in the Unity Government administration under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. He had previously served as Deputy Minister of Works, Minister of Entrepreneur and Co-operatives Development and his first term as Minister of Higher Education in the Barisan Nasional (BN) administration under former Prime Ministers Mahathir Mohamad, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Najib Razak from 1999 to 2013. Additionally, he served as the 15th Menteri Besar of Johor after he contested and became a Member of the Johor State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Permas from May 2013 to May 2018. Throughout his political career, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for 3 different Johorean federal constituencies, which are Johor Bahru from October 1990 to March 2004, Pasir Gudang from March 2004 to May 2013 and currently for Kota Tinggi since November 2022. He is a member and the Division Chief of Pasir Gudang of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), a component party of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition. He has served as a Vice President of UMNO since June 2018 and had also served as the State Chairman of UMNO of Johor from January to December 2023.
Syed Ahmad bin Syed Mahmud Shahabuddin was a Malaysian politician. He was the Menteri Besar of Kedah from 1967 to 1978 and the fifth Yang di-Pertua Negeri (Governor) of Melaka state from 1984 until 2004, the longest-serving governor of Malacca.
This article lists important figures and events in Malaysian public affairs during the year 2009, together with the deaths of notable Malaysians. Malaysia hosted the 2009 ASEAN Para Games between 15 and 19 August. Malaysia recorded more than 2,000 confirmed cases of influenza A(H1N1) and 76 deaths during a world pandemic of the disease.
Raja Zarith Sofiah binti Almarhum Sultan Idris Shah is the Queen of Malaysia and the Permaisuri of Johor as a wife of Sultan Ibrahim ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar. She was born as a member of the Perak royal family. While still attending Somerville College, Oxford, she married the heir to the throne of Johor. Now a mother of six, she participates in the work of non-governmental organisations and universities, and writes a periodical column for a newspaper.
The "Kajang Move" was a political manoeuvre attempted in Malaysia in 2014. The manoeuvre sought to topple the 14th Menteri Besar of Selangor, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, and install the national opposition leader Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim as his replacement. The move was initiated by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Strategy Director, then Vice President cum Secretary General, Rafizi Ramli. The attempt resulted in a nine-month political crisis within the state of Selangor and the Pakatan Rakyat coalition, that also involved the palace of Selangor. The crisis concluded with the appointment of PKR's Deputy President, Azmin Ali, as the 15th Menteri Besar of Selangor.
Al-Aminul Karim Sultan Sallehuddin ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah is the 29th Sultan of Kedah since ascending to the throne in September 2017 upon the death of his elder half-brother Abdul Halim. As the fourth son of Badlishah of Kedah, that lived to adulthood he was initially not expected to inherit the throne.
Raja Mohamed Affandi bin Raja Mohamed Noor is a Malaysian senior military officer, former Chief of Army and Chief of Defence Force.
Affendi bin Haji Buang is a Malaysian Air Force General who served as the 21st Chief of Defence Forces. Prior to his assignment, he previously served as the Chief of Air Force.
Tan Sri Dato' Seri Mohd Zuki bin Ali is a Malaysian civil servant who served as the 15th Chief Secretary to the Government from 2020 to 2024.
Awang Bulgiba bin Awang Mahmud is a Malaysian epidemiologist and physician based at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya.
Dato' Onn Hafiz bin Dato' Ghazi is a Malaysian politician who has served as the 19th Menteri Besar of Johor and Member of the Johor State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Machap since March 2022. He previously served as MLA for Layang-Layang from May 2018 to March 2022. From March 2020 to his promotion to Menteri Besarship in March 2022, he served as Member of the Johor State Executive Council (EXCO) in the Barisan Nasional (BN) state administration under former Menteri Besar Hasni Mohammad. He is a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), a component party of the BN coalition. He has also served as the State Chairman of BN and UMNO of Johor since February 2024 and December 2023 respectively.
Hashim bin Aman was a Malaysian civil servant who served as the 7th Chief Secretary to the Government of Malaysia from 1982 to 1984.
The Most Exalted Order of the Sultan Ibrahim Johor is a knighthood order of the Sultanate of Johor.
KK Supermart & Superstore Sdn Bhd, doing business as KK Super Mart, is a Malaysian convenience store chain owned and operated by KK Group of Companies.
Muhamad Akmal bin Saleh is a Malaysian politician and doctor who has served as Member of the Malacca State Executive Council (EXCO) in the Barisan Nasional (BN) state administration under Chief Minister Ab Rauf Yusoh since April 2023 for the second term and under former Chief Minister Sulaiman Md Ali from November 2021 to March 2023 for the first term as well as a Member of the Malacca State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Merlimau since November 2021. He is a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), a component party of the BN coalition. He has served as the 15th Youth Chief of UMNO and Division Chief of UMNO Jasin since March 2023.
Ahmad Perang was the second chairman of the Election Commission of Malaysia. He became the first Malayan Railway manager among the Malays.
Mohd Asghar Khan bin Goriman Khan is a Malaysian general who served as Chief of Royal Malaysian Air Force.
Abdul Samad bin Idris was a former Malaysian politician. He served as Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports from 1976 to 1980.
State elections in 2022 were held in Johor in March 2022 after the dissolution of the legislative assembly in January 2022. On 10 October 2022, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced in a special announcement on television that the Dewan Rakyat would be dissolved, hence paving way for the 15th General Election. Additionally, he recommended that other states with the exception of Johor, Malacca, Sarawak & Sabah do the same.