SINCE Perkasa is so adamant in their stance to boycott pro-LGBT products, I can’t help but think they are misrepresenting the issue. After all, Starbucks is not the only company that has come out to support the rights of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender peoples in America.

But more than that, it reeks of Perkasa not understanding business – in case you missed it, the Berjaya Group bought out the 50% equity share of Starbucks International in 2014. In other words, Starbucks here in Malaysia has no connection whatsoever with the American coffee company and owns it here as a whole.

But if this means nothing to Perkasa, then I guess they would like to boycott all American brands that supported LGBT issues in any way. If this is the case, then let’s go through a quick list of gigantic companies that have been pro-LGBT.

First off, let’s look into our wallets. Perkasa members who are anti-LGBT should start by cutting all credit and debit cards that are using, from Visa and MasterCard to American Express. All three companies have backed gay rights at some point till now.

Perhaps they should also switch back to the old bank book style of banking.

At the same time, do get rid of any credit cards from either Citibank or HSBC. Sorry, but both are supporters of the rainbow children too.

For the ladies of Perkasa, you would have to abandon MAC and Sephora makeup. At the same time, maybe avoid all luxury labels other than Dolce & Gabbana and Armani. Other than those, all other luxury good brands are pro-LGBT.

Plus, these aren’t exactly staple goods nor a necessity, so you wouldn’t have to gripe and show off at all, right?

Similarly for everyday wear, you would have to avoid Levi’s jeans, Dockers khakis, Old Navy in 1Utama, and UNIQLO. For sporting goods, sorry, no Nike, no UnderArmour or even Adidas. Perhaps go to Al-Ikhsan and ask why they keep selling those “gay brands”.

Now, let us look at food. Sad to say, the entirety of the fast food franchise from America based here are pro-LGBT. That includes KFC, McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s. You’re better off sticking to A&W for your food.

Since you can no longer eat out as often, Perkasa members are also encouraged to shop at supermarkets without some gay link. For example, you can’t shop at Tesco. They are so pro-LGBT, they produce a t-shirt range for Pride.

Similarly, pay attention to the shelves. Avoid buying anything from either Unilever and Procter & Gamble - both are huge supporters of this community. And not to forget, you will also have to boycott Nabisco, Mars Inc, Coca-cola, Pepsi as well as Fraser & Neave (F&N) products.

Now that we know that pro-LGBT companies are in our wallets, our clothes, and even what we eat, let us move on to cars. For this, the list is rather long so perhaps Perkasa should limit themselves to buying Proton and Perodua, seeing as how Honda Toyota, Ford, Volvo and even South Korea’s Hyundai has decided to back the community.

Although, since Proton is now owned by Geely which also owns Volvo which is pro-LGBT, perhaps you might want to reconsider?

Of course at the same time, you should not fill your vehicle with anything other than Petronas petrol goods, seeing as how Shell, ExxonMobil, BP and even Texaco, known here as Caltex.

And since we are now promoting the digital economy, do tell our Prime Minister to reconsider Jack Ma, who supported the gay AliBaba staff to get married in California. Also, to those Perkasa members who happen to smoke, do abandon British American Tobacco (BAT), which sells Dunhill cigarettes, for their support for the pro-LGBT community.

But most of all, I hope you aren’t reading this on an Apple product, or a Dell computer, or even any product running on Google’s Android or Microsoft Windows – all of which are pro-LGBT. Hopefully, you haven’t even shared this on Facebook, since Mark Zuckerberg is also a supporter.

Finally, Perkasa needs to avoid anything from a rice cooker to calculator, to perhaps even anything that has a simple artificial intelligence interface out of respect for the concept founded by Alan Turing, a gay man.

So, good luck to Ibrahim Ali and Perkasa. I’ll go ahead and get my four shot soy hazelnut latte while enjoying a good book, knowing just how selectively hypocritical some Malaysians can be in justifying their hate. – July 14, 2017.

* Hafidz loves to ruffle feathers and believes in the EA Games tag line of challenging everything. Most times, he represents the Devil’s Advocate on multiple issues.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.