Was there any malice by KK Mart on sockgate?
How many charitable Malaysians are of the view that there was no malice on their part?
The truth was that they did try very hard to correct the matter and make amends.
They apologize publicly as soon as they got their facts right and then take the necessary corrective actions so that the same would not be repeated.
Was the act i.e placing the offensive items only in 3 stores when they have 800 stores across the country intentional?
Was it a mistake on their part?
Intent matters.
Someone might do it with malicious desire to mock and insult others.
In Sockgate, this single story of one’s mistake and lack of knowledge of others can also have a malicious intent to suppress other groups of people due to prejudice.
Media, both mainstream and social that are available to the public often only tell one story, which causes people to generalize and make assumptions about groups of people.
And given the power associated with the sole antagonist in Sockgate, it not only spreads the story, but also makes its ideas persist.
The antagonist create a single story, a boycott and continuously show the people the boycott as one thing, as only one thing, over and over again, and that is what Sockgate become.
There is a huge difference between malice and a mistake.
With everyone already moved past at shouting at each other across ideological lines to vigilantism and extremist tendencies with 3 unprovoked Molotov attacks todate, a call for context is particularly pertinent in this case.
The call for intent and context is a call for empathy and understanding that people each come with their own story, which should be heard.
We humans are flawed, all of us are flawed, but even while we are flawed, we are capable of enduring goodness.
Let’s pray that all peace loving ordinary Malaysians think and see each other as human beings, not as abstractions who have to conform to bloodless logic but as human beings, fragile, imperfect with prides that can be wounded and hearts that can be touched.
Let’s all reject this single story phenomenon i.e the boycott and see all ordinary Malaysians as more than just one incomplete idea.
We, the ordinary Malaysians need to help each other in need without minding our life backgrounds because of the equally dangerous situation we could be in.
Despite all the differences, the importance of being for one another in time of need without considering our gender or creed is what every Malaysians should be doing now and in every of our endeavours.
And leaders, be it politicians, religious or civil society have a responsibility first and foremost to provide a moral compass on respecting someone for their character and be the aid in need to the ordinary rakyat in times like this.
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