KUALA LUMPUR: Netizens have called out a man who had purposely walked over a Deepavali 'kolam' (decorative rice motif), describing his actions as "racist" and "embarrassing".
In the 39-second video that went viral on social media, the man, clad in a blue Baju Melayu with a songkok and sampin, was seen intentionally walking over a kolam, laid out in what appeared to be a building lobby, and damaging the design with his feet.
Another person, who was recording the incident, was heard laughing and saying "vandalism".
His actions did not go down well on social media, with Malaysians being quick to lambast his actions.
On Twitter, user @hashimzulkifli said his religion taught him to respect others with different beliefs, and said those who did not do the same had no religion.
"Simple. Logically, only someone crazy and stupid would not know how to respect others," he tweeted.
Will of D (@EDarween) said he, as a Muslim, strongly condemned such "stupid" acts, calling it "very rude".
Another user named Rishi. S on his Twitter handle @webarebears001 explained that making a kolam was a very tedious process, adding that vandalising it showed no regard to those who had worked on it.
"Don't talk about respecting culture when you don't even have basic courtesy to understand someone else's effort."
Meanwhile, Raz_M (@weareulatbulus) hoped that a police report would be made against the man.
"Deliberately (being) malicious provoking Hindu culture and beliefs.
"Hopefully there will be a police report and legal action taken against such racist individuals. Disgusting!"
In an immediate response, KPJ Klang Specialist Hospital, whose logo was embazoned on the Deepavali banner in the video, said it did not condone any act of disrespect among its staff within the compounds of its hospital.
It said it was made aware of a video, allegedly depicting one of their staff members, conducting "unprofessional behaviour".
"We have launched an internal investigation into the video and stern actions will be taken should our staff be found to be involved.
"KPJ Klang is committed to the highest level of professionalism and we do not compromise on ethical values," the statement read.