KUALA LUMPUR: A minister has called on the Malays to band together and boycott businesses that refuse to lower product prices despite the price of fuel having nosedived.
In a Facebook posting that has since been pulled down, Minister of Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Ismail Sabri Yaakob told Malays that since they formed the majority of consumers in the country, they should boycott Chinese establishments as a means of forcing the owners to lower prices.
He said that although the government through the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism, could tackle errant businesspeople using the Price Control Act and the Anti-Profiteering Act, it was consumers who ultimately wielded the greatest power when it came to lowering market prices.
He lamented however that Malays continued to frequent these establishments although many of these food outlets either did not have “halal” certifications or if they did, had certificates that were “suspect”.
He fingered out Old Town White Coffee and wondered why Malays did not instead go to the thousands of other Malay restaurants that were genuinely “halal”.
“but still the Malays refuse to boycott…more so when the owner is said to be from DAP Perak’s Ngeh family who is widely known to be anti-Islam…”
He also said that it was time Malays changed their consumer behaviour patterns in order to stop the Chinese from exploiting them any further.
“…as long as the Malays do not change… the Chinese will continue to take the opportunity to suppress the Malays”.
Earlier today, Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Hasan Malek warned that the authorities could act against restaurants and food outlets if they refused to bring down prices following lower prices at the pump and deferred electricity tariffs.
“If they can increase prices when the fuel cost went up, they can reduce prices now that the pump prices have been falling,” he said in a statement carried by the Star Online.
