Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob today said that there is "no reason" for him to apologise over his Facebook post few days ago which suggested a boycott of Chinese traders refusing to lower prices.
 
Speaking to reporters in Putrajaya today, Ismail Sabri said that he had later explained in a separate Facebook post that the public must also take similar action against Malay and Indian traders who refuse to bring down prices of goods.
 
"I only said ' dikatakan (supposedly)', and that a majority of the traders are Chinese," Ismail Sabri added.
 
He further said that he believes his Facebook post has generated enough attention and pressure to force some traders to lower prices. 
 
"I heard some people are already lowering prices due to the pressure," he noted.

'No friction'

 

In his Facebook  post, Ismail Sabri also trained his guns on DAP suggesting that the Ipoh Old Town Coffee franchise was partially controlled by DAP's Beruas MP Ngeh Koo Ham.

He also criticised MCA Youth chief Chong Sin Woon for being openly critical of him (Ismail) following the Facebook post.

Chong had called for Ismail to be dropped from the cabinet.

"That is not proper. Appointing ministers' is the Prime Minister's prerogative. That is the PM's right," he said.

Despite Chong's criticisms, Ismail said he felt his controversial statement was not causing friction among  BN component parties

"There is no friction. You see, the MIC Women's Wing chief and some from MIC Youth have supported my statement as well," he said.

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