KUALA LUMPUR: Khairy Jamaluddin has called for Umno Youth chief Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh to stand down over the socks issue involving the KK Mart convenience store.
The former Umno Youth chief in his podcast, Keluar Sekejap, said the legal processes had already commenced and that it is time to take a step back and reflect.
"Akmal, you made your point, but actions have been taken by the police and it's time to stand down, your point has been made.
"We need to learn from this issue, we need to take a step back, have we gone too far?" Khairy said.
"Yes, we understand that as the Umno Youth chief, you are supposed to be the 'Hero Malaya' but the authorities have taken their actions."
He said that it was time to leave it to Muslim consumers to decide whether a boycott was needed or not.
Khairy also acknowledged that such an issue was serious and sensitive and that excessive reaction toward the incident would only affect the good relations among Malaysians.
Akmal who is also the Merlimau state assemblyman has been a strong voice for boycott against the convenience store chain despite its management conducting measures by retracting the socks from its shelves, publicly apologising and terminating its contract with the supplier.
This comes after images showing a pair of socks bearing the word 'Allah' allegedly being sold at a KK Super Mart shop in Bandar Sunway.
Earlier today, KK Mart Group founder and executive chairman Datuk Seri Dr Chai Kee Kan and his company director and wife Datin Seri Loh Siew Mui, both pleaded not guilty at the Sessions Court with intentionally wounding the religious feelings of Muslims by displaying socks bearing the word "Allah" at its Bandar Sunway outlet.
Chai, 57, and Loh, 53, who were charged separately, said they understood the charges framed under Section 298 of the Penal Code read out to them in English before judge Muhamad Anas Mahadzir.
Meanwhile, Soh Chin Huat, 61, his wife, Goh Li Huay, 62, and their daughter Soh Hui San, 36, who is a director of a distribution company Xin Jian Chang Sdn Bhd, pleaded not guilty to a charge of abetting in wounding the feelings of Muslims in the same incident.
They were charged with committing the offence at KK Supermart and Superstore Sdn Bhd, Bandar Sunway, at the same time and date.
Soh, who also represented the company (Xin Jian Chang Sdn Bhd), was also charged with a similar charge.
They were charged under Section 109 of the Penal Code read together with Section 298 of the same law and faced a maximum prison sentence of one year or a fine or both upon conviction.
