YOURSAY | ‘Racialisation has gone completely out of control in our beloved country.’

‘Buy Muslim First' campaign a huge success: Ummah

Malaysian: Nowhere else in the world does a majority race, with the institutions of the state totally under its control, display a feeling of being threatened by the minorities.

In Medina, at the height of the Islamic civilisation, all citizens irrespective of race or religion were treated equally and their civil and religious rights were completely honoured.

So why can't Malaysians do the same? Racialisation has gone completely out of control in our beloved country.

Malays are wonderful people who are being made to fear by certain politicians seeking to propel their own political ambitions. How sad.

Innocent Bystander: Ummah chairperson Aminuddin Yahaya has claimed that the ‘Buy Muslim First’ campaign has been successful after just one month, with a good increase in sales percentage of Muslim businesses.

Keep up the good work and make these Muslim businesses successful. Hopefully, the nonsense rhetoric of Malays being poor and still need aid can be eliminated soon.

Quigonbond: Within one month, Ummah has the statistics to declare an increase by 50 percent to 100 percent for Muslim businesses, and a drop of 50 percent for the Chinese businesses following the ‘Buy Muslim First’ implementation.

Even the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) could not have obtained that kind of information in such a short period of time.

Maybe the IRB and other government bodies should exchange notes with Ummah on the latter’s efficiency in collecting economic and wealth data.

But if what Ummah declared is true, congratulations. Hopefully, the success will stop Ummah from continuing to claim Muslims in Malaysia are under threat.

NNFC: Gloating that the ‘Buy Muslim First’ campaign has hurt the Chinese businesses shows that these people have bad hearts.

What is religion teaching Malaysians these days?

Keat Ng: Call it what you want, but the move to prioritise Muslim products may lead to a backlash, with the non-Muslims feeling the necessity to prioritise their own products too.

Being a non-Muslim, I am not too concerned at the loss of business due to the ‘Buy Muslim First’ campaign. But the split and animosity created from this move is not good for the country.

The Wakandan: Indeed, the idea of ‘Buy Muslim First’ is to instil racial discrimination and eventually prejudice and hatred of other races who are not Muslims. People who follow this call will unlikely to vote for non-Muslims when it comes to elections.

The ultimate aim of those backing this campaign is to gain political trust despite the toxic effects that come with it.

Just A Malaysian: My advice to Aminuddin is please don’t misquote China’s business tycoon Jack Ma.

Ma’s vision is to create a level-playing field so that the best will succeed without the need for high capital investments - the small guy with good ideas and product alone can triumph even without having a large business premise.

Ummah, however, is hell-bent on using religion as a captive market, irrespective of quality or cost competitiveness. This is an anti-thesis to what Ma envisioned.

Anonymous 1530630482: It is alright for Ummah to push the ‘Buy Muslim First’ programme if it has the determination, perseverance and private funding to set up an Alibaba internet style of trading.

But at any point in the future, please don’t expect the government to bail out or help sustain the project. And please don’t blame the other races when the campaign fails.

I will be among the first to feel proud to see a rags-to-riches Malay enterprise succeed without any government funding or support.

Anonymous 0123456789: There was never any boycott of halal non-Muslim products. ‘Buy Muslim First’ is intended to only help uplift the Malay/Muslim economy.

The ‘Buy Muslim First’ method:

1 Look for and buy Muslim products at Muslim shops.

2 If there are no Muslim shops, buy Muslim products at non-Muslim shops.

3 If there are no Muslim products, buy halal non-Muslim products at Muslim shops.

4 If there are no Muslim products and no Muslim shops, buy halal non-Muslim products at non-Muslim shops.

Why should the non-Muslim traders worry then?

Anonymous 0123456789: The ‘Buy Muslim First’ must not be seen from the business angle only.

Along the way, ‘Buy Muslim First’ is to teach Muslim consumers to be wary of non-Muslim food producers who used dirty tactics to sell their products to them.

Some are using Islamic brand names, images and colours on their packaging to hoodwink Muslim consumers. Some of their goods are produced at dirty factories and by unhygienic workers.

Keat Ng: If ‘Buy Muslim First’ is for choosing and buying quality products, then say let's buy quality products, and educate the consumer in looking for good, reliable, clean and even halal products.

But don’t educate the consumer to adopt ‘Buy Muslim First’. The idea of seeking a good and ethical product should be upheld in a much more positive way instead of promoting or shunning certain races and religions.

Zoe: I have several questions to ask the Aminuddin:

- Why would the Chinese businesses complain to Aminuddin when the ‘Buy Muslim First’ allegedly caused them losses?

- Can Aminuddin reveal the name/brand of the booming Muslim businesses which benefited directly from the ‘Buy Muslim First’.

- Why equate ‘Buy Muslim First’ to Malay businesses only. Isn’t Islam for everyone?

- Does Aminuddin and Ummah realise that a non-Muslim factory or business may employ fellow Muslims as workers? By trying to run down these businesses, ‘Buy Muslim First’ is also harming the livelihood of Muslims working for these businesses.

Rakyat Reboot: Congratulations, Ummah, on the success of the ‘Buy Muslim First’ campaign.

The rise of the Malay middle class is essential for the stability of our nation. No one should begrudge the success of any business enterprise that succeeded due to hard work and foresight.

Likewise, I will continue to support non-Muslim businesses so that they can supply products to Muslim entrepreneurs at fair prices and ensure everybody’s continued prosperity together.

Anonymous 2401191456463140: Honestly, I can’t bring myself to retaliate against the ‘Buy Muslim First’ campaign by shunning Muslim products.

The Malay businesses, especially those from the lower income group, will continue to receive my support. They all have families to feed.

It is a sin for any religion to victimise others by following Ummah’s incitement. I love them all, for we are all God's people.

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