KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Dr K.K. Chai, the founder and executive chairman of KK Mart Group which is at the centre of the Allah socks blunder made a public apology, decrying the mistake.
"Even I can't accept the sales of socks bearing the word Allah, what more to print such products.
"As the founder and the group executive chairman, I am deeply sorry and apologise for the incident that occurred a few days ago," he told a press conference at Menara KK in Bandar Tasek Selatan.
Chai, when referring to the sales of the product, said his team had never made such a mistake in his 23 years in the business.
As soon as the issue went viral on social media on March 13, the group took an immediate step to make an apology on social media two hours after learning about the matter, he said.
While making a tearful apology, Chai appealed to consumers to stop the boycott against the chain.
"I'm furious with the socks supplier and asked how this could have happened. For the past three days, I've been getting less than 10 hours of sleep.
"We are fully responsible for this and we offer a public apology to the public, especially the Muslims.
"We don't want to offer mere excuses, but have taken the responsibility over the matter and lodged a police report at the Sungai Besi station on Thursday as we wish to offer clarification over the incident and extend our cooperation to the police."
At the same time, he said, KK Mart also submitted an explanation letter to the Home Ministry, Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry; Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Dr Mohd Na'im Mokhtar and religious authorities regarding the issue.
He said the product supplier was allotted a space to display their items in the premises and the processes were handled fully by the company in question without KK Mart staff supervision.
"There is a loophole in our system that allows freedom to our suppliers and we will take the necessary actions to improve our standard operating procedure.
"Checks at our 800 branches found three premises with the products including Bandar Sunway that went viral, and fortunately, none of them have been sold," he said, adding that the company has submitted three letters to the supplier seeking for explanation over the matter.
He said he was also willing to meet Umno Youth chief Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh who had issued a statement to boycott the outlets.
Earlier, photos of the socks being sold at a KK Supermart in Bandar Sunway went viral, drawing criticisms from social media users, with some even calling for the chain to be boycotted.
This prompted the company to make an apology and promised that such an incident does not recur.