Swatch's CEO Contests Malaysian PM Over Seized Pride Watch Collection

"Swatch has contested Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's remarks that the rainbow-coloured watches that were seized from its Pride Collection displayed symbols related to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ (LGBTQ+) community," reports the English-language Malaysian site SAYS.

Officers from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MOHA) raided 11 Swatch outlets across Malaysia on May 13 and 14. According to Nick Hayek, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Swiss-based Swatch Group, the timepieces contained no reference to the LGBTQ+ community.

"This comes after Anwar on Thursday, 25 May, offered a brief statement to explain the raid carried out by the ministry under Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, saying that the issue was not with the colours, but because Swatch had placed LGBT elements on the rainbow-coloured watches," writes SAYS.

"Let the ministry explain themselves. It is not an issue of the colours displayed on the watch, but the LGBT wording. I'm sorry, but I haven't seen the details," Anwar as saying.

But the Swatch CEO said that Anwar could have been misinformed

"The Malaysian Prime Minister Mr Anwar Ibrahim stated in a recent interview that Swatch's latest collection of colourful watches includes the letters LGBT on their dials. Apparently, he was misinformed. Swatch has not included any reference to the LGBT community on the dials of this year's Pride Collection.

"These colourful watches include the meaning of each pride colour (life, healing, sunlight, nature, harmony, spirit) on their minute hands and two loops that form a rainbow," Hayek said in a statement to SAYS yesterday, 26 May.

Sarah Kok, marketing manager for Swatch Malaysia, told the Guardian: "As per instruction from Switzerland HQ, we will still replenish the stock and display them on-shelf."