Vishen Mohandas Lahiani's defence of American companies — and, indeed, of the American people and their way of life — is excellent, one of the most lucid and thoughtful pieces I've seen in letters to malaysiakini .

It rivals Dinesh D'Souza's arguments in his bestselling book What's So Great About America as refreshing reading. I would just like to add a simple point to Muslim Consumer Association of Malaysia (MCAM) executive secretary Nadzim Johan's recommendation for a boycott of Coca Cola.

The boycott is hardly frightening to the American people, their government or their corporations. If Muslim consumers wish to boycott American products in a credible way, they need to be prepared to make genuine sacrifices. Malaysians, after all, don't drink Coke with their nasi lemak or Penang fried kway teow anyway.

They will also have to consider avoiding the following American products:

Dell, IBM, Compaq, HP and all other US computer brands

All Microsoft and other American software (rendering the use of a Taiwanese or Japanese computer difficult at best)

The Internet and all the associated hardware and software

Movies, TV shows, CNN, New York Times and all other US media organs

If you can call it a 'product', the American constitution, the first one to enshrine and genuinely protect freedom of speech and religion

The US consumer: that is, access to the American market (As long as you're boycotting everything American, one might suppose they have the right to do the same to you.)

Boeing aircraft (You can, of course, buy aircraft from any number of alternate countries.)

The fuel pumps at petrol stations

All US products you would ordinarily find in a supermarket, personal care store, health store or any other type of retailer

Fast food (If Coke, why not McDonald's, KFC and the others?)

US universities (among the finest in the world)

While we're at it, I think they should also boycott all American inventions and banish them from their home as symbols of Western/US economic imperialism that include the simple electric light bulb and telephone to the latest in global positioning systems.

I could go on, of course. And what can Muslim consumers use since Islamic countries have hardly contributed and invented anything in the past 500 years?