The have been a lot of calls by almost everyone from politicians to NGOs to even the Utusan reading pakcik at the local kedai kopi for the boycott of goods and services produced by US/Jew owned corporations. The list of “sinner” companies include Marks & Spencer, Starbucks, Dell, Coca Cola, Levi’s, Philip Morris, Estee Lauder, Newscorp, Nestle, Sara Lee, Procter & Gamble to name a few. The proponents of this boycott claims it will teach the supporters of the Zionist regime a lesson and hurt them where it hurts them quite bad – their pockets. While this may be a right thing to do, it must be done the right way without making it worse for Malaysians in general. What are the consequences of this campaign? Will it bring more good than bad?
We are now living in a globalised era where the “nationality” of a corporation is extremely difficult to ascertain. How do we classify or identify the nationality or for that matter the race/religion of a company? What is a “bumiputera”* company? Is it defined by the composition of the shareholders? The composition of the workers? Suppliers? Market?
I do not think many companies can be tagged with a nationality or race/religion. Take a car company for example; it may be headquartered in Germany, listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange but the shareholders may be made up of investors from all over the world, the workers may have different racial and religious backgrounds, the steel may come from Poland, the rubber parts from Malaysia and Thailand, the electronics developed in Japan, the plastic parts from China, parts of the engine may have been assembled in Mexico, South Africa and Turkey and the car is sold all over the world by Arab salesman in Dubai, Indian salesman in Mumbai, Brazilian salesman in Sao Paulo, Uzbek salesman in Tashkent … you know what I mean. This (hypothetical) so called Christian-German company has stakeholders from all over the world from different backgrounds so therefore it is not a Christian-German company after all; it is what we all know as a global entity with no distinguishable racial/religious identity.
Back to the boycott issue, if Malaysian consumers boycott goods and services of those so-called Zionist sympathiser companies, no doubt it will cause a dent, albeit a small one, to their revenue and profits but the biggest impact will be on the Malaysian population and economy itself. Yes, if we boycott these goods and services, we will end up losing more than we bargained for and no, I’m NOT an advocate of Zionist controlled business enterprises. When we boycott those goods and services, we are in effect affecting the livelihood of thousands of Malaysians who depend on these companies for their livelihood. The factory workers, the sales people, wholesalers, marketers, bankers who provide financing to the local partners, transporters, not to mention a fall in the tax revenue and ultimately a reduction in the nation’s GDP. It will create a spiral effect when the affected employees of these industries, resulting from losing their jobs will stop spending on clothes, car, houses and household items, holidays etc which in turn will affect the jobs of those in the auto, construction and travel industries. When more people are affected, it will affect the banking system, mortgages and credit card debts won’t be repaid, NPLs will rise and bank employees may lose their jobs …
I’m not saying we should not boycott the goods and services produced by companies sympathetic to the Zionist cause; we must and should do it ASAP and wholeheartedly. BUT we must provide alternatives, both for the consumers as well as the industry. If for example we want to stop buying shampoos and stuff from P&G, we must ensure there is a Malaysian alternative which can offer products of similar quality and we must ensure the Malaysian alternative is able to provide employment for the local employees of P&G and related companies, should they decide to cease operations here.
If a boycott is seen as a way to tell the world that the violence in Palestine (and anywhere else for that matter) has to stop then let’s do it. But let us do it properly, we do not want it to back-fire on ourselves.
* Bumiputera, literally translated means “sons of the soil” - a Malay term for indigenous people of Malaysia which includes the Malays, Ibans, Kadazans and the various indigenous tribes.
We are now living in a globalised era where the “nationality” of a corporation is extremely difficult to ascertain. How do we classify or identify the nationality or for that matter the race/religion of a company? What is a “bumiputera”* company? Is it defined by the composition of the shareholders? The composition of the workers? Suppliers? Market?
I do not think many companies can be tagged with a nationality or race/religion. Take a car company for example; it may be headquartered in Germany, listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange but the shareholders may be made up of investors from all over the world, the workers may have different racial and religious backgrounds, the steel may come from Poland, the rubber parts from Malaysia and Thailand, the electronics developed in Japan, the plastic parts from China, parts of the engine may have been assembled in Mexico, South Africa and Turkey and the car is sold all over the world by Arab salesman in Dubai, Indian salesman in Mumbai, Brazilian salesman in Sao Paulo, Uzbek salesman in Tashkent … you know what I mean. This (hypothetical) so called Christian-German company has stakeholders from all over the world from different backgrounds so therefore it is not a Christian-German company after all; it is what we all know as a global entity with no distinguishable racial/religious identity.
Back to the boycott issue, if Malaysian consumers boycott goods and services of those so-called Zionist sympathiser companies, no doubt it will cause a dent, albeit a small one, to their revenue and profits but the biggest impact will be on the Malaysian population and economy itself. Yes, if we boycott these goods and services, we will end up losing more than we bargained for and no, I’m NOT an advocate of Zionist controlled business enterprises. When we boycott those goods and services, we are in effect affecting the livelihood of thousands of Malaysians who depend on these companies for their livelihood. The factory workers, the sales people, wholesalers, marketers, bankers who provide financing to the local partners, transporters, not to mention a fall in the tax revenue and ultimately a reduction in the nation’s GDP. It will create a spiral effect when the affected employees of these industries, resulting from losing their jobs will stop spending on clothes, car, houses and household items, holidays etc which in turn will affect the jobs of those in the auto, construction and travel industries. When more people are affected, it will affect the banking system, mortgages and credit card debts won’t be repaid, NPLs will rise and bank employees may lose their jobs …
I’m not saying we should not boycott the goods and services produced by companies sympathetic to the Zionist cause; we must and should do it ASAP and wholeheartedly. BUT we must provide alternatives, both for the consumers as well as the industry. If for example we want to stop buying shampoos and stuff from P&G, we must ensure there is a Malaysian alternative which can offer products of similar quality and we must ensure the Malaysian alternative is able to provide employment for the local employees of P&G and related companies, should they decide to cease operations here.
If a boycott is seen as a way to tell the world that the violence in Palestine (and anywhere else for that matter) has to stop then let’s do it. But let us do it properly, we do not want it to back-fire on ourselves.
* Bumiputera, literally translated means “sons of the soil” - a Malay term for indigenous people of Malaysia which includes the Malays, Ibans, Kadazans and the various indigenous tribes.
the only company we really need to boycott is Phillip Morris and the like... i can assure you this will most definitely benefit the whole of humankind, especially the people we love, as well as our environment and everything else in it. This coming from an ex consumer, who has gone to the 'other side'.
ReplyDeleteOuch! Guilty as charged ... nevertheless I assure you I won't stop trying to join you on the other side
ReplyDelete