Mahathir Mohamad says minister’s racially-laced boycott was off the cuff and if Ismail had thought about it, he wouldn’t have said it.
FMT
KUALA LUMPUR: Swooping down to rescue Ismail Sabri Yaakob from a racially-laced message of boycott that is snowballing into a national catastrophe, former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad said the Agriculture and Agro Based Industry Minister had probably not thought it through carefully before putting his thoughts into words and posting it on Facebook.
The message in question is Ismail’s call to all Malays to boycott Chinese traders who have refused to lower their prices despite the price of crude oil nosediving in the global market.
“He probably did not think out what he said and may not have made the statement if he had considered what he was going to say,” Mahathir reasoned.
He said this to reporters from various media after installing the national heritage plaque at the Forest Research Institute today.
Mahathir also said that race was not in the equation of the high price of goods in the market and explained, “The issue is not whether it involves the Chinese, Indian, Malay or other races, it is about why the prices of goods are not decreasing despite the fall of crude oil prices,” the Malay Mail Online reported.
Mahathir is fond of coming to the rescue of individuals whose remarks have caused outrage among non-Malays and non-Muslims.
Last year, he reasoned that Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali’s threat of burning the holy books of Christians was only because he was showing respect for the books, the way Muslims burn old and tattered copies of the Quran.
KUALA LUMPUR: Swooping down to rescue Ismail Sabri Yaakob from a racially-laced message of boycott that is snowballing into a national catastrophe, former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad said the Agriculture and Agro Based Industry Minister had probably not thought it through carefully before putting his thoughts into words and posting it on Facebook.
The message in question is Ismail’s call to all Malays to boycott Chinese traders who have refused to lower their prices despite the price of crude oil nosediving in the global market.
“He probably did not think out what he said and may not have made the statement if he had considered what he was going to say,” Mahathir reasoned.
He said this to reporters from various media after installing the national heritage plaque at the Forest Research Institute today.
Mahathir also said that race was not in the equation of the high price of goods in the market and explained, “The issue is not whether it involves the Chinese, Indian, Malay or other races, it is about why the prices of goods are not decreasing despite the fall of crude oil prices,” the Malay Mail Online reported.
Mahathir is fond of coming to the rescue of individuals whose remarks have caused outrage among non-Malays and non-Muslims.
Last year, he reasoned that Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali’s threat of burning the holy books of Christians was only because he was showing respect for the books, the way Muslims burn old and tattered copies of the Quran.
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