“Mydin isn’t racist to bypass CNY for Raya promotion for the Chinese are never its target market”

 

SUCH is presumably how apolitical Malaysians brushed aside a miscued opposition-slant online new site’s insinuation linking Mydin’s skipping “CNY (Chinese New Year) deco for Raya celebration” to the recent fallout between the wholesale & retail chain head honcho and DAP.

This came about after MYNEWSHUB (@mynewshub) applauded Mydin’s deemed bypassing CNY by promoting Hari Raya-related merchandise as “serve ‘em right for Type C never support its business at all” prior to assertimg that “already stupid yet still want to argue”.

Recount that Madani keyboard warrior Raja Mohd Shahrim has recently demanded an apology from Mydin Mohamed Holdings Bhd managing director Datuk Ameer Ali Mydin for accusing Kota Melaka MP Khoo Poay Tiong of unfairly portraying the hypermarket chain as a “the sole beneficiary” of the SARA aid programme.

In his defence, Khoo furnished his Dewan Rakyat ‘script’ which stated that he did also mention 99 Speedmart alongside other major supermarkets as beneficiaries.

Following Raja Mohd Shahrim championing Khoo’s ‘innocence’ by mooting a boycott of Mydin, the digital creator was not only slammed as a “DAP bootlicker” but also triggered the furore of rightist groups and individuals who not only rallied behind Mydin but accused DAP of masterminding the destruction of Malay/Muslim-owned businesses.

This eventually led to the call by some rightists to boycott the slew of Chinese-owned convenient store chains comprising 99 Speedmart, KK Super Mart, 7-Eleven, Mr DIY, TF Value-Mart and HERO Supermarket in addition to “DAP grocery store, DAP tire store, all DAP stores”.

Thankfully, an observant commenter came to Mydin’s defence by revealing that all these while “I’ve never come across Mydin selling CNY deco stuff”.

“Mydin has been selling Raya stuff since way back – even before fasting starts – and now they’re already selling Raya money envelopes, too,” shared one Najib Jaafar.

“All these years, Mydin has thrived without playing the racial sentiment card because EVERY RACE SHOPS THERE.”

Interestingly, Najib went on to snub the poster by implying that “usually those who want to play with racial sentiment don’t even shop at Mydin”.

“Mydin has staff of various races, there are places whereby non-Malays are put in-charge. One thing for sure is that not all items sold at Mydin are suitable for us; there are some items that are better to be purchased at other stores because their prices are cheaper.”

While the rightist-inclined would concur with the poster “why must Mydin sell CNY goods when the Chinese never support Mydin”, those who are sensible tend to insist that “it has been a norm for Mydin to embark on Hari Raya promotion one month before the Muslim festivity”.

Nevertheless, one commenter who re-visited the Mydin-DAP fallout incident opined that the matter got out of hand as “he (the Mydin owner) took it personally while the ultra-Malays – without using their common sense – straight away attacked the YB (Khoo who is also the Melaka DAP chairman) and the Chinese”.

Whatever said and done, one Chinese commenter summed up best when he proclaimed that “Mydin is totally right” in bypassing the CNY celebration.

“Why focus on Chinese deco when your customer is 99% Malay community? The Chinese will never complain about this, so why complain when it doesn’t matter at all (indirectly mocking the poster).” 

- focus malaysia