Politicians Slam NGO For Forcing Convenience Store Worker To Remove Alcoholic Drinks
The incident occurred in the Muslim majority town of Manjoi, Perak.
By Katrina Khairul Azman — 28 May 2018, 06:12 PM
On Thursday, 24 May, a group of men from the non-governmental organisation (NGO) known as Jalinan Bersatu Sahabat Perak (Jabat) ordered workers at a Speedmart 99 outlet in Perak to remove all alcoholic beverages from its refrigerator
A video circulating on Facebook shows the men forcing an employee to remove all of the alcohol sold in the convenience store located in Manjoi, Perak.
In the 10-minute long video, one man can be heard saying, "We don't want to break the bottles, but if you refuse to remove the alcohol then we will have to smash them."
Another man said, "If there is alcohol being sold in this store then we cannot buy anything else from here."
Later in the day, the group lodged a police report to legally stop the sale of alcohol in the store
In a different video, a man can be heard advising other store owners to be considerate of matters such as this in the Muslim-majority town.
"Insya Allah, we will carry out checks every once in a while," he added.
Since then, various individuals from different political parties have spoken out against the actions carried out by the men.
MCA has called for the protection of the rights of non-Muslim retailers to sell alcohol.
"There are no laws prohibiting sales of bottled or canned alcoholic drinks except for the restrictions under the Excise Act," said MCA publicity spokesman Datuk Seri Ti Lian Ker, The Star reported.
"There is no law that prohibits any such sales in a Malay-majority area. However, there are personal laws that forbid Muslims from purchasing these drinks," he said.
Ti added that the enforcement should be against Muslim wrongdoers, rather than the retailers.
PAS deputy president Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man has advised Muslims not to impose their beliefs on non-Muslims
According to The Malaysian Insight, Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said that, "It is their right, not ours. Pressure groups should follow the rules and not act over the limit."
"They have given a bad impression of Muslims because they launched an aggressive raid when they could have just given advice instead," he added.
Perak Menteri Besar Ahmad Faizal Azumu reminded the group that they should have lodged a complaint with the authorities instead of acting on their own
"They can lodge a complaint with the government, and let the government deal with it," the Menteri Besar told Malaysiakini.
However, Faizal also advised shop operators to be "more sensitive to the feeling of locals."
Meanwhile, activist lawyer Siti Kassim has also urged Malaysians to speak out against the behaviour shown by Jabat, which she described as "Islamist thuggery"
"This kind of Islamist extremism needs to be halted and nipped at the bud before it becomes a plague, a cancer throughout Malaysian society," she said, according to Free Malaysia Today.
Siti Kassim added that, "I am disappointed that we have not heard a single word against it from our elected Muslim representatives or Muslim Ministers especially. What are they scared of or waiting for? Or do they agree with this behaviour?"