THE move by a launderette owner in Muar to limit his business to Muslims only has brought shame to the people of Johor, who are proud of the co-existence of their multiracial and multi-religious communities, say business operators in the neighbourhood.

The controversy surrounding the launderette first surfaced on Monday, when pictures of a sign stating only Muslim customers were welcomed went viral.

While the owner has since apologised and pledged to stop his Muslim-only practice following a royal dressing down by the sultan of Johor, the incident has caused many in the royal town of Muar to express regret and unhappiness.

“I’m ashamed. This is Muar. It shouldn’t be like this. In the past, it was never like this. This is dangerous, it’s becoming like IS (terror network Islamic State),” said Leo Poh Poh, the owner of Heng Mui coffee shop nearby.

Muar is one of the few remaining towns in the peninsula where Malay-run food stalls are operating from Chinese-owned coffee shops.

It is a common sight to see patrons of all races eating in the same coffee shop or restaurant, a situation that has become a rarity in other large cities in the peninsula.

Leo, 56, said he was “saddened” by the incident, adding that for almost five decades, his shop has been serving customers from all walks of life, race and religion.

“At my coffee shop, there’s no such thing. Malays, Chinese, Indians can all sit together, eat and drink together, and joke like they’re siblings,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar earlier slammed the owner of the launderette as being “sick” and threatened to shut down his business if he did not issue a public apology and end his Muslim-only policy.

The sultan said the country was not a “Taliban state” and that the controversy was a misrepresentation of Islam.

The launderette owner later told The Malaysian Insight that his decision to serve Muslim customers came at the request of his regular patrons, all of whom were Muslims.

But for Ana and Zam, owners of a restaurant near the launderette, the incident was not only wrong in a multicultural community, but was purely a bad business decision and illogical.

“This is a multicultural neighbourhood. Half Malay and Chinese. We’re in the city. And we’re not called Bangsa Johor for nothing,” said the 48-year-old Zam.

“You can try to please your customers, but you can’t meet all their demands, especially if you’re the one to lose out.

“Same goes for cups. I’m running a business so obviously I can’t be separating my cups for the Chinese and the Malays,” he said.

Another business owner, Lee, said that the sultan’s condemnation of the launderette owner would hopefully serve as a lesson to others who might be considering following in his footsteps.

“This makes things complicated. In Malaysia, there are Chinese, Indians, Malays and we have lived together for how long?” said Lee, who ran a shop making advertisement boards and number plates for 23 years.

“Like me, if I run a car rental business, how can I only rent to non-Malays, and not to Malays?” – September 28, 2017.