KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 3 — Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob should quit his Cabinet post for refusing to apologise over his call to boycott Chinese-owned businesses, an MCA leader said today.
The youth wing’s secretary-general, Datuk Leong Kim Soon said that Ismail’s statement went against the Federal Constitution and Barisan Nasional’s (BN) policies.
“Thus it is only right that Ismail Sabri not only apologises to the nation and especially to all Chinese-owned businesses, but he should also resign as minister over his statement,” Leong said in a statement here.
He added that instead of immediately apologising for making such racist remarks, Ismail made the situation worse by attacking MCA Youth chief Chong Sin Woon.
Chong had called Ismail a racist and had demanded the Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister resign over his remarks.
Ismail responded to Chong’s statement by saying that the youth chief should instead “thank” him for telling Malays to boycott the Chinese.
Ismail said on Facebook yesterday that Malay consumers could assist the fight against profiteering by boycotting Chinese businesses, singling out the Old Town White Coffee franchise as an example of an “anti-Islamic” business.
The minister attempted later, however, to fend off criticism by saying he was not criticising the entire ethnic community but just profiteering businesses.
The minister also claimed the traders’ failure to lower prices despite a reduction in fuel costs was a form of sabotage intended to foment disaffection towards the government, which he said was wrongly blamed by consumers for rising cost of living.
