Gerakan has hit out at Malay groups who are urging a boycott of Chinese traders, labelling the move as "unrealistic, racist and immature" and arguing that the Chinese shouldn't be blamed for BN’s overall poor performance in GE13.

"In a democracy, everyone has the right to choose and must be respected," said party vice-president A Kohilan Pillay.

 

NONE “It is an outrageous stand, how can we boycott the business of any ethnic group because we do not agree with them. Malaysia has never tolerated such absurd calls and we must reject it," he stressed.

 

Kohilan ( left ) added that the economy will suffer greatly if the boycott took place, (thus) hindering Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s efforts to turn Malaysia into a high-income nation by 2020.

 

“While the prime minister is trying his very best to lift the living standards of the country, here we have some irresponsible quarters calling for a boycott which will affect the business climate in the country.”

 

He argued that the swing in support is not along racial lines, but more along regional lines as GE13 was an urban tsunami, where BN had also lost in urban Malay majority areas.

"It is unwise to blame any ethnic group. I, too, lost in Puchong, but I accept the choice of the voters,” Kohilan said.

 

He reminded all quarters not to be too emotional over the results of the just-concluded general election, stressing that reconciliation should be the priority for the moment.

Several pro-Malay NGOs and a Muslim consumer group had recently called for a boycott of products from Chinese companies which they claim had financially backed Pakatan Rakyat as part of the "tsunami" of Chinese support for the opposition.

Malaysiakini has been trying to get a response from the five reportedly Chinese-owned companies since last week, although their response is still pending.

The Malay NGOs also urged the Malays to start buying goods from companies linked to Umno and owned by Malay tycoons to “support their race”.