Feel like sporting a new colorful watch? Better not do it in Malaysia.
Wearing a Swatch watch with a rainbow motif may result in three years in prison in the South-Eastern Asian nation whose government outlawed the company’s “LGBTQ related” items as it deems them “harmful to morality.”
According to official documents, anyone who uses, sells, imports, or distributes the Swiss watchmaker’s rainbow-themed products, including watches, accessories, or associated packaging, risks not only the possibility of a jail sentence but also a fine of up to 20,000 ringgit ($4,375) if found guilty.
The measure is part of the Printing Presses and Publications Act and it is aimed at “ensuring public safety and peace by monitoring and controlling all forms of publications to curb the spread of elements, teachings and movements that contradict the local socio-cultural setup,” the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement on Thursday.
In Malaysia, a Muslim-majority nation that has experienced a surge in conservative beliefs recently, homosexuality is a felony punishable by fines and prison sentences of up to 20 years.
In a nationwide search on Swatch stores in May, Malaysian officials seized 172 timepieces from the brand’s rainbow-colored 2023 Pride Collection because they “bore LGBTQ connotations”.
The raids led Swatch CEO Nick Hayek Jr. to issue a forceful statement: “We strongly contest that our collection of watches using rainbow colors and having a message of peace and love could be harmful for whomever,” Hayek wrote. “On the contrary, Swatch always promotes a positive message of joy in life. This is nothing political. We wonder how the Malaysian government will confiscate the many beautiful natural rainbows that show up in the skies above Malaysia.”
