KUALA LUMPUR: PKR President Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has condemned the action by a movement calling for the boycott of products based on race or religion, saying that such an action is unhealthy.
He said the campaign to promote halal products is acceptable but to promote it using contentious issues between races is unhealthy in a multiracial country like Malaysia.
“The racial connotation use (in the boycott campaign) is not healthy in a multi-racial society and pluralistic world,” he told reporters after delivering a keynote address at the International Council for Historical and Cultural Cooperation-Southeast Asia (ICHCC-SEA) International Conference on History and Culture here today.
The two-day conference aims to provide a platform for cultural and educational exchanges.
There was an ongoing campaign on social media by certain quarters to boycott goods produced by non-Bumiputeras to buy Bumiputera products instead.
Last Friday, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he did not agree with the movement’s call, saying it was only carried out by people with shallow thinking.
Meanwhile, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said the campaign to boycott products of non-Muslims/non-Bumiputras is unsound and inappropriate as it could jeopardise racial harmony and national unity, besides affecting customers’ interests in getting the best price and quality of the products.
“DAP believes that Malaysian people do not hate each other and do not want to be segregated. Religion does not teach us to get angry, to boycott and to hate each other just because we are of different races or ethnicities, or have different political beliefs.
“So, DAP lauded Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s call to stop the campaign to boycott products of non-Muslims/non-Bumiputeras so as not to provoke public anger,” he said a statement. - Bernama
