PETALING JAYA, Feb 6 ― Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob today said it was consumers’ right to snub businesses and force traders to lower prices, but stopped short of defending a Facebook page that called for a boycott of Chinese-owned brands.

The agriculture and agro-based industries minister who this week urged Malays to boycott Chinese traders also said he was not involved in the Facebook page that has taken up his message for consumers to pressure businesses to drop their prices.  

"The details of what they want to do and what items they want to boycott is not from me anymore.

"I just said in today's situation of increasing prices, (the public) cannot just depend on the government to protect the rights of consumers," Ismail said after a forum with Umno Youth members titled "The profit of the Middle Man: Legitimate or Sabotage?"

Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, who was also present, did not comment on the matter.

Named “Boikot Barangan Cina DAP ORI” or BBCD, the page urges Malays to avoid products as long as they were Chinese owned and to favour Malay and Acehnese alternatives, many of which are owned by tycoon Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary.

When asked if he thought the BBCD page was appropriate, he simply replied: “I don’t know.”

He did, however, reaffirm that consumers should exercise their power to pressure businesses into lowering the price of goods, regardless of race.

“We together can do something so businesses will reduce the price and everyone will benefit. What I do is for the benefit of all consumers,” he said.

The BBCD page it lists product and services purportedly owned by Chinese businessmen, and provided alternative “Malay brands” for Malay consumers to choose from.

In a Facebook post on Monday, Ismail Sabri allegedly called for a boycott of Chinese traders in a bid to pressure them to lower prices of goods sold, saying: “As long as Malays don’t change, the Chinese will take advantage to oppress the Malays.”

The entry has since been removed as the minister later clarified in a second Facebook post that he meant consumers were the majority and traders the minority, and was directing his remarks at unscrupulous Chinese traders instead of the entire Chinese community.