KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 17 — Controversial columnist Dr Ridhuan Tee Abdullah chided “ultra kiasu” traders for allegedly lacking sincerity today, claiming they would “do anything” for the sake of their businesses, including even offending the sensitivities of others.
In his regular column in Malay daily Sinar Harian, Tee, a Muslim convert, also claimed that the traders in popular tech mall Low Yat Plaza had “resorted” to hanging Islamic scripture displays in order to court customers following the racial scuffle last month.
“This desperado act clearly shows how their business has been affected by the Low Yat incident when Muslims boycotted them. That is why without shame, they organised a Raya celebration which has never been done before,” said Tee, a lecturer with Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin.
“We plead to the ultra kiasu traders to learn sincerity in business. Think about the country’s interest and public harmony. We don’t want to hear swindling after swindling happening.”
“Ultra kiasu” is a term Tee first used on the members of opposition party DAP but he has since applied it to other groups, including Christians and Malaysia’s ethnic Chinese.
Despite that, Tee said he had been informed by his acquaintance in the federal Islamic authorities that there is no law to punish non-Muslims from displaying Islamic scriptures.
Tee also supported minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s suggestion for a Malay-only gadget mall similar to Low Yat Plaza, calling it a move to break the monopoly that has victimised Muslims.
“I hope the name will not be Low Yat 2, but a name that has a national identity such as Plaza Mara, or a beautiful name,” he added.
Before Tee, the Muslim Consumers Association of Malaysia had also previously accused ethnic Chinese traders of adopting swindling as part of their business “culture”, claiming that they regularly cheat Malay consumers as a legitimate way for them to get extra profit.
A riot erupted outside Low Yat Plaza last month, after a 22-year-old man was reportedly handed to the police for allegedly stealing a mobile phone, after which his accomplice contacted their friends who then assaulted workers from a mobile phone store and caused an estimated RM70,000 in damage.
Rumours had spread on social media after the alleged theft that the Chinese trader had sold the Malay man a counterfeit phone, leading to calls for boycotts of “cheating” Chinese traders and the complex itself.
Editors of Umno-owned newspaper Utusan Malaysia then claimed that Low Yat Plaza is a “bomb waiting to explode” if authorities do not tackle the purported counterfeiting, gangsterism and corruption that is associated with the traders there.
