Selective civil disobedience
But Syed Mokhtar is not the only Barisan Nasional or Umno crony. There are many other cronies. And these cronies are not just Malays. There are Chinese and Indian cronies as well. And some of these businesses and companies are not just crony-owned. They are directly owned by the political parties in Barisan Nasional and not just by Umno.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
“Kempen boikot roti Gardenia melampau,” said the Persatuan Pengguna Islam Malaysia (PPIM). You can read more about it here: http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/beritakomentar/50482-kempen-boikot-roti-gardenia-melampau
The issue is as follows. It seems, according to the report, Malaysian Chinese are boycotting bread manufactured by Gardenia because the company is said to be owned by Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary. And, of course, the reason that Malaysian Chinese are boycotting this particular bread, allegedly manufactured by a company owned by Syed Mokhtar, is because Syed Mokhtar is an Umno crony.
Actually, I have been trying to drive home this point for some time. It is no use just shouting and screaming about ABU (anything but Umno: meaning vote for any party other than Umno). Umno is in power because of two reasons. One is that the non-Umno parties give them power, meaning those in Barisan Nasional. Secondly, Umno is financially well backed by businessmen who depend on Barisan Nasional and who make money through the help of Barisan Nasional.
Hence, to defeat Umno (and make ABU a reality), you need to cut the political and financial support-line to Umno. And this means you need to kick out the non-Umno political parties in Barisan Nasional and bring the financial backers of Umno down.
In short, you need to launch a civil disobedience campaign, meaning a boycott.
The response to this suggestion was that it is impossible to do this. Well, Malaysian Chinese are demonstrating that it is not really that impossible after all. They are now boycotting bread manufactured by Gardenia, which means it can be done.
But Syed Mokhtar is not the only Barisan Nasional or Umno crony. There are many other cronies. And these cronies are not just Malays. There are Chinese and Indian cronies as well. And some of these businesses and companies are not just crony-owned. They are directly owned by the political parties in Barisan Nasional and not just by Umno.
So, good, now Malaysian Chinese are boycotting bread said to be manufactured by a company owned by a Barisan Nasional crony. But are they going to take the next step by boycotting products and services owned by other companies that are also owned by Barisan Nasional cronies or owned by political parties in Barisan Nasional? There are many more such cronies. Syed Mokhtar is not the only one. And it is not only Malays who are cronies of Barisan Nasional.
Vincent Tan is another such crony. And Vincent Tan financed the downfall of the Pakatan Rakyat Perak state government. But why is he being spared? How many Chinese have stopped gambling? When you gamble you make Vincent Tan rich. And it is Vincent Tan’s money that is propping up Barisan Nasional.
Chinese should not only stop eating bread. They should stop driving on the highways and expressways. All these roads are owned by Umno or Barisan Nasional crony-companies.
Chinese should stop watching TV. Chinese should stop buying and reading newspapers, unless it is Harakah or a Pakatan Rakyat party newspaper.
Chinese should stop buying cars that are being manufactured and/or sold by Barisan Nasional cronies. They should only buy cars handled by Pakatan Rakyat supporters.
They should terminate their phone and Internet services from companies owned by Umno or Barisan Nasional cronies. They should change their service to those owned by Pakatan Rakyat supporters.
They should stop shopping in shopping centres owned by Barisan Nasional cronies. They should shop in shopping centres owned by Pakatan Rakyat supporters.
They should not send their children to colleges and universities owned by Barisan Nasional cronies. Their children should be sent to colleges and universities owned by Pakatan Rakyat supporters and if there are none then they should send their children overseas instead.
So it is not enough that Chinese stop eating bread manufactured by Barisan Nasional crony companies. There are many more things they must stop doing. Stop flying on MAS or Air Asia. Stop driving cars unless it is a car sold by an opposition supporter or take a bus. Stop driving on highways and expressways and use the old trunk roads even if it takes three times longer to reach your destination. And so on.
If you just boycott bread manufactured by a Malay Barisan Nasional crony but you do not do the same to the non-Malay cronies then it might be seen as you are targeting just the Malays, and even then only certain Malays. But when it is inconvenient to you, you ‘close one eye’ and continue to support the other cronies.
