'I meant stubborn Chinese traders, not all'

 

Under fire for urging Malay consumers to boycott Chinese traders in order to bring prices down, Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob now clarifies that he did not mean all Chinese traders.

Instead, he said the boycott should only be against "stubborn Chinese traders" who refuse to cut prices despite drop in fuel costs.

"Regarding my boycott call to Malays against Chinese traders, I was responding Facebook users who are angry at stubborn Chinese traders who don't want to cut prices," he said on Facebook.

He said that what he meant was that consumers should use their power as the majority to pressure producers.

"The principle is the same, that is those in the majority should use their majority power and stop complaining on Facebook."

He made the clarification on his public Facebook page, but the post calling for a boycott was on his private profile yesterday.

Using his private profile, Ismail Sabri had yesterday also clarified on what he meant by "boycott the Chinese".

"What I meant by 'Chinese' is Chinese traders, because most of the Chinese are also consumers. The ones who should be boycotted are Chinese traders," he said yesterday.

In his original controversial posting, Ismail Sabri said consumers are the ones who wield the power to compel businesses to lower prices, although the government has legal mechanisms to prevent profiteering.

"The majority of consumers are Malays. The Chinese are the minority. If the Malays boycott their busineeses, they will have no choice but to reduce prices," wrote Ismail Sabri.

He also questioned why Malays are still flocking to Chinese-owned restaurants even though their halal certificates may be dubious.

This prompted MCA Youth chief Chong Sin Woon to declare him unfit to be minister.