MIRI – The Home Ministry has been taken to task over its nationwide raids on Swiss watchmaker Swatch stores to confiscate its Pride Collection watches.
Alan Ling said Sarawak Pakatan Harapan (PH) regrets the actions and called on the officers involved to be more sensible and logical in their approach.
“Is that necessary? We are living in an information era – it is like raiding your mobile phones for fear of accessing ‘sensitive’ contents,” the Sarawak PH secretary said in a statement.
He slammed the raids as unwarranted, giving the wrong impression that Malaysia is moving to the stage of banning rainbows as they seem to be taboo now.
“I am afraid many schools will face raids and our students may be victimised as rainbows can be found on wall drawings and even in art classes.”
According to Ling, the Home Ministry owes Malaysians an explanation of what harm the watches would cause to society and which laws were violated by the retailer.
He claimed such raids had caused not only losses to the retailer, but created unnecessary fear amongst the people and tourists, which is very bad for the country.
Options, the lifestyle section of The Edge business weekly, reported Swatch stores nationwide were raided by the Home Ministry last week for displaying its Pride Collection, which comprises watches in various shades of the rainbow.
The watches were seized from Swatch outlets in Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, 1 Utama, Sunway Pyramid, Setia City Mall, Mid Valley Megamall, Southkey, Sunway Putra Mall, Sogo KL, Queensbay, Fahrenheit 88, and Suria Sabah on May 13 and 14.
According to the report, Swatch stores in KTCC (Terengganu), Aeon KB, Aman Central Kedah, City Square, and Vivacity Kuching were issued with warning notices.
The watches were reportedly confiscated because of their connection to the LGBTQ+ movement. – Borneo Post Online, May 23, 2023
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