MUSLIM pressure group Gerakan Pembela Ummah (Ummah) has denied issuing a document widely shared on chat groups and in social media listing hundreds of Malay and Muslim products and retailers along with a call to boycott non-Malay goods and services.

Ummah president Aminuddin Yahaya said the group does not support calls to boycott products made by other races and only supported calls to buy more Malay-Muslim goods.

He has no knowledge who issued the list, even though Ummah’s logo is on the last page of the 30-page document.

“This is the work of bad people. Don’t involve Ummah – this list has nothing to do with us,” Aminuddin told The Malaysian Insight.

The document bears the title Sokong barangan Bumiputera Islam Vol.3 (Support Bumiputera Islam goods Vol.3) on its cover page and states that it is for “rujukan persendirian” (for personal reference).

It also appears to be published by a group using the acronym “BBCD” which stands for “Boikot Barangan Cina DAP” (Boycott goods by DAP Chinese).

It explains that BBCD is a voluntary movement and provides a link to its blog, which appears to have been started in 2013.

On the blog, it explains that the movement focuses on Chinese from DAP, because 97% of Chinese voters in the 13th general election in 2013 supported the party that is now part of the government after winning elections last year.

“I don’t know about this list. Sometimes, there are cybertroopers who have bad intentions – maybe they want to tarnish our campaign by doing such things. We just don’t know,” Aminuddin said.

“Ummah has never issued any list. We are not against Chinese, we have never called for a boycott nor are we against other races. This must be cybertroopers.”

The document states that BBCD’s objectives calling for a boycott of non-Malay goods is not illegal and is based on the “principles of Islam, the Malay race and Malaysia”.

It added that its list should not be taken as seditious material and should not be liable to prosecution under the Sedition Act.

“BBCD will not waver from its struggle which is to improve the economic conditions of Muslim traders and enterprises by promoting products made by Muslims as alternatives to the monopoly on goods and manufactured items by non-Muslims in the market.”

The document states that BBCD also aims to stop the “Chinese monopoly of the market which has burdened Malay-Muslim consumers”.

It also described Chinese businesses as “kiasu”, a colloquial Chinese term meaning “fear of losing”, and said it wanted to expose products and businesses using Malay-Muslim names or branding, which caused confusion among consumers.

The list covers mini-markets and supermarkets run and owned by Malays, as well as the brand names of all sorts of daily food items, such as rice, cooking oil and sardines produced by Malay companies.

It also lists down Malay producers of frozen foods, pet food, cosmetics, fast food, telecommunications companies, as well as services, including optometrists, car repair and servicing workshops, kitchen hardware suppliers and pharmacies.

It also invites people to submit the names and addresses of other product makers and services owned by Malays to its Facebook page under the “Boikot Barangan Cina DAP” account.

The current “boycott” began on social media in late August as a call to support products made by Malays and Muslims. It, however, has morphed into calls to reject non-Malay goods and services. So far, only certain PAS leaders have supported the boycott.

Last week, Aminuddin had also called a press conference to deny that Ummah was supporting a boycott against non-Malay goods. He said the organisation only supported buying more Malay-Muslim products and rejected the boycott.

He also said the campaign to support Malay products should not be linked to racism, nor was it linked to opposition political parties. – September 9, 2019.