First ‘Allah’ socks, now outrage over shoes as Malaysia’s Islamists drive outcry

Vern’s, a high-street shoe brand in Malaysian shopping centres, has been thrust into the dangerous cross hairs of the nation’s conservative-driven cancel culture, which critics say is over-the-top, divisive and used cynically by Islamist parties seeking political gain in the Muslim-majority country.

Police said several complaints were made about pairs of shoes with a stylised logo engraved on the soles that some say looks like Arabic calligraphy for the word God, widely seen as an insult to Islam.

The store has vehemently protested that it is a coincidence and the lines were in fact a random pattern rather than an Arabic word.

“I apologise, even though it is an issue of misunderstanding, it has hurt the feelings of Muslims,” ethnic Chinese founder Ng Chuan Hoo told reporters on Monday outside the headquarters of the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim).

Jakim will be the final arbiter on whether the logo design is indeed Arabic calligraphy, said Inspector-General of Police Razarudin Husain.