A GROUP claiming to be from a coalition of Islamic pressure groups in Perak forced workers at a Speedmart 99 outlet to remove all alcoholic beverages from its display refrigerator last Thursday.

In a 10-minute video of the incident posted on Facebook, a group of around 10 men were seen supervising the workers as they cleared out the refrigerator and packed beer into boxes.

At the beginning of video, one of the men was overheard saying: “Let them do it and we don’t touch anything”, referring to the alcoholic beverages.

Another man said, “It’s not like we are going to break them. But if they don’t listen, we may have to break them.”

As the workers packed, another man told them to take the beers and hide them. 

 “This stuff is ‘haram’ and if they are here, we can’t buy other things,” said one of the men behind the video.

Another man said that this is the fourth time they have come to tell the outlet to remove the alcoholic beverages from its shelves. 

After the workers were done, one of the leaders said they would lodge a police report.

“This is the start of something positive and I hope that it can be picked up by other NGOs,” said the man as the others clapped.

A second video showed another group of men outside the Manjoi police station holding up their police reports.

“We are a group of NGOs in Perak called Jabat, and we successfully removed all the alcoholic beverages from a Speedmart 99 outlet in Manjoi.  We will continue to monitor other shops,” said the leader.

The event was also posted on the Facebook page of Hafez Sabri, PAS’ candidate for the Manjoi state seat.

“Together with a group of NGOs, Jabat, we went to a Speedmart in Kampung Manjoi and demanded that they remove the alcoholic drinks immediately. Manjoi is inhabited by 97% Muslims. The local mosque authorities and community had also protested to the management but no action was taken,” said the post.

“Why is the outlet insensitive to us and adamant on selling liquor here?”

The posting was tagged #HafezSabri, who is also PAS Tambun Youth chief.

Similarly in Indonesia, hardline groups such as Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) use the Islamic holy month of Ramadan to target pubs and stores that sell alcohol.

Emboldened by government inaction, FPI, who began targeting stores around 2012, routinely sends out teams of volunteers to patrol stores and nightclubs that serve alcohol during Ramadan. – May 26, 2018.