According to a news report last Friday (April 12) Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh was back hogging the headlines again; this time after lashing out at DAP vice-chairman Nga Kor Ming and calling him stupid (bodoh)!
Apparently, Dr Akmal was responding to Nga’s recent post on X, in which the housing and local government minister had stated that the push for boycotts by certain irresponsible parties had led to many ordinary people being affected economically and were now suffering the consequences.
However, before the uproar over that episode had subsided, and barely 24 hours later, Dr Akmal was back with a vengeance; this time after posting on his Facebook page the offensive photo of an alas kaki (floor mat) reportedly sold in a supermarket, bearing the image of the holy Islamic site Kaabah!
Clearly infuriated by this latest open display of disrespect to his religion, he declared that if anyone still did not acknowledge that Islam was being humiliated it was better to die!
Furthermore, he called on all Muslims (ummah) to put aside their political differences and unite in the name of Islam. But by doing that was he throwing down the gauntlet to his own party top brass to reunite with the opposition Malay-Muslim parties?
Or perhaps, he was insinuating that it was time for Umno to break ranks with PM Anwar’s unity government, especially DAP, and go “solo” - so as to stand a better chance of getting his disgraced mentor Najib Razak out of jail?
In fact, such was the frenzy whipped up by his Facebook post that the comments section was inundated with hundreds of messages in support of his call, with one fired-up follower even calling for the reintroduction of the Internal Security Act (ISA); presumably to catch and lock up those who don't respect Islam. It was as if this latest insult to their religion was the straw that broke the camel's back!
However, later on the same day (April 13) there came a twist in the tale after AEON BiG in Batu Pahat, Johor (where the mats were being sold) clarified that the supplier - A&R Fashion Collection – had actually wrongly coded the items as floor mats when it was actually “mini prayer mats” or sejadah!
The popular supermarket went on to clarify that the said supplier was a fully Bumiputera- and Muslim-owned small and medium enterprise that marketed shariah-compliant attires, as well as prayer mats and carpets: apparently, it has been their supplier since 2015.
Meanwhile, it was reported that the Johor Islamic Religious Department (JAINJ) had promptly seized the said mats (11 in total) with the image of the Kaabah a day before Hari Raya Aidilfitri, after public complaints circulated on social media.
In fact, according to JAINJ they had also summoned the AEON Big supermarket’s management for an explanation while warning them to be careful with the products sold to consumers.
However, strangely, there was no mention of whether they had summoned the Malay-Muslim supplier of the said mats or the TikTok user who had hastily depicted the mat with the image of the Kaabah as a floor mat. If not, why?
Clearly, this incident, reminiscent of the Vent's shoe sole blooper, underscores the importance of not blindly jumping to conclusions based on what one sees on social media which remains largely unregulated and where anyone can post anything they want - even with malicious intent.
It also serves as a reminder that it's always wise to exercise some patience and wait for clarifications from the authorities or the parties involved first; this is so that one doesn’t end up being labelled by the public as downright dumb!
Note: Instead of always “shooting from the hip”, is it not the duty of elected politicians to help propose "peaceful solutions” for problems affecting the rakyat so that serious blunders such as that which touch on “religious sensitivities” is not repeated?
Information Source: Scoop and FMT
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