Gerakan vice president Dominic Lau is disappointed that the cabinet failed to take action against Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Ismail Sabri for calling the Malay consumers to boycott Chinese traders.

 

He was saddened that the cabinet did not make Ismail Sabri to retract his statement and offer a public apology.

 

He said that it was unacceptable that the Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak was trying to get rid of the issue, merely claiming in a press statement that Ismail Sabri’s statement was not targeting a single race.

"Gerakan agrees that the prime minister reiterates that the government will try its best to protect the interests of all races, but Ismail Sabri’s comment on Facebook had hurt the feeling of the Chinese, particularly those traders who had major contribution to the economy of this country.

 

"It is hard to quell public anger by merely issuing a press statement by the prime minister," said Lau in a statement today.

 

Lau pointed out that it was clear that Ismail Sabri (left) was asking Malays to "boycott Chinese traders" in his comment on Facebook.

 

Thus, he said, the minister should apologise to the community.

 

"For the time being, we believe that Ismail Sabri was not targetting the Chinese traders but they were mentioned in his Facebook comment. He should apologise to the Chinese community should he abide and accept prime minister’s advice," he said.

 

In a Facebook post on Monday, Ismail Sabri urged Malay consumers to boycott Chinese traders to bring down prices of goods and services.

 

Yesterday, the Prime Minister's Office said Ismail Sabri was not targetting Chinese traders alone.

PM Najib had stressed that the BN government will "continue to defend and safeguard the interests of all races", the PMO added.

 

"Therefore, any disputes which could lead to racial polarisation should not be prolonged as it will bring adverse effects to everyone," the statement read.

 

Gerakan, too, split on the issue

 

However, Gerakan public service and complaints bureau chief Lau Hoi Keong has a different opinion with Dominic.

 

Hoi Keong had earlier lodged a police report against Ismail Sabri’s remark.

 

When contacted, Hoi Keong said that he personally accepted Najib’s statement as the premier wants to put an end to this issue.

 

"I can accept the intention of the prime minister as he does not want to see this episode to turn sour," he said.

 

Hoi Keong (right) also said that he would not further pursue this matter even if Ismail Sabri refuses to budge from his position to not apologise.

 

"I believe that he will not apologise after all and we will not pursue further. Whether he apologises or not, so what? It does not change anything, you cannot retract what you have said," he added.

 

He hoped that BN will take this as a lesson for not repeatedly play up racial issue in the future.

The despondent tone was echoed by Gerakan Youth chief Tan Keng Liang who had scathingly called Ismail Sabri an “imbecile” when the issue first broke out over the weekend.

"Final score: Pakatan 1 - 0 BN," Tan tweeted after PMO issued the statement yesterday.