PETALING JAYA: Lesbian,Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) letters were inscribed on the face of the Swatch watches seized by the home ministry in early May, claims a source.
A source told Free Malaysia Today (FMT) that authorities only seized watches that contained these letters.
“We seized hundreds of watches and all of them had the ‘LGBTQ’ letters on the face of the watch.
“We did not seize the watches just because they had the rainbow colour. If that’s the case, we would need to seize Paddle Pop ice creams,” said the source anonymously.
The home ministry on May 13 and 14 had raided 11 Swatch shops in shopping malls such as Pavillion KL, 1 Utama, Sunway Pyramid, Mid Valley Megamall, and Suria Sabah for its “Pride Collection”.
Meanwhile, five shops at malls in Alor Setar, Kuala Terengganu, Kota Bharu, Johor Bahru and Kuching were issued a warning.
The raid came about after netizens had linked the “Pride Collection” watches to British rock band Coldplay’s support for the LGBT community.
The claims were refuted by its CEO Nick Hayek stating the watches seized by authorities did not contain any LGBT reference.
Hayek in an online news report claimed that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who previously said the watches were seized due to LGBT elements, was misinformed with having no reference to the LGBT community, while the company is expected to take legal action to seek the return of the watches seized by the home ministry.
