Utusan editor says ‘ashamed’ by lack of Malay-owned stores in klia2

(Malay Mail Online) – Utusan Malaysia’s Datuk Zaini Hassan complained today about the small number of Malay-owned stores in the newly-opened klia2, saying it made him feel “ashamed” to be a Malay in Malaysia.

The assistant chief editor of the Umno-owned Malay-language daily said he went through the list of food and beverage outlets that have been awarded slots in klia2 but discovered that none were operated by Malay-Muslims.

The only outlet is the Gloria Jeans coffeehouse, but he pointed out that this is owned by government-linked firm Perbadanan Nasional Berhad (PNB).

“Maybe there are some Malay stores that are hidden here and there that were not seen and we don’t know of.

“Or there are stores owned by Malay-Muslims but they were rejected or not qualified,” he said in an opinion piece titled “Where are the Malay and halal stores in KLIA2?”

While Zaini admitted to being “kuno” or outdated for raising this issue, he said that if it is true that the “majority” of stores in KLIA2 were not owned by Malays, it would mean the Malays are still being sidelined.

“The situation of the Malays here would then be akin to the Malay saying of “Kita ini masih lagi melukut di tepi gantang!”, he said.

In elaborating, he explained the saying as someone who was abandoned or viewed as not being important because he cannot be of any use to society, or would not give any impact if he did not exist.

“So ashamed to be a Malay in Malaysia!” Zaini said in concluding his opinion piece.

Earlier in the article, Zaini said his decision to investigate klia2’s store list was because of his Muslim friend, who is particular about halal food or anything permissible only in Islam.

His friend had visited the new airport and voiced his concern to Zaini over the ownership of eatery outlets in the new airport.