Retail market condemned for having Malay name; damned if they do, damned if they don’t?

 

LIVING in multiracial Malaysia is a blessing and a curse. On one hand, we are spoiled with all the delicious food that comes alongside this melting pot of culture.

On the other, local businesses incur a high printing cost since they need to have their names, instructions and menu in many different languages.

Even then, they are still condemned. Take for example, the recent controversy surrounding Oriental Kopi where people have called to boycott the brand since the menu only came in English and Chinese.

“Where is the Malay language?” critics lamented, pointing out that Malay is the national language and needs to be prioritised.

And along that line, or sense of misplaced nationalism, another netizen decided to highlight ST Rosyam Mart too, a wholesale retail market for having a Malay name.

He claimed that the business was 90% owned by the Chinese and that having a Malay name slapped on the business is a form of Chinese trickery to earn Malay patronage.

So if not having a Malay language on a menu is racist, and having a Malay name is trickery, what then is the right course of action?

Thankfully, netizen gegangsa pointed it out on threads so that the right wingers can have a taste of their own medicine.

“It’s not like the Chinese pointed a pistol at Rosyam Nor to give the right to his name over, but this is a mutual ownership,” added gegangsa.

Note that the name ST Rosyam Mart came from the local Malay actor Rosyam Nor who is quite famous among the Malay community.

Also, ST Rosyam Mart claims to be Malaysia’s first 24 hours fresh wholesale retail market, and also the first to feature a Celebrity Corner.

The Celebrity Corner offers products from local celebrities such as Chef Wan, Rabbani, Rosyam himself and several others.

Maha_letchumy further commented that the Malay is a sleeping director who earns a profit, so all is well.

On another note, diwantinsta said Chinese content creators who use the Malay language were also accused of trying to subtly gain support from the Malays.

“When the Malay language is not used, they were told to return to Tongsan,” said abg.helmi.

But faezil.aidil said some brands were doing fine even when they used their own name.

Readers should know that Rosyam has in the past come forward to explain his participation in the business.

“I never said that ST Rosyam Mart was 100% mine, yet people have accused me of being a Chinese ‘stooge’. Even information from the Companies Commission of Malaysia was circulated online, with my shareholding also being called into question,” he was reportedly said by Harian Metro.

To recap, the business was owned by Datuk Ho Ah Chai of Sri Ternak Group while Rosyam was merely its ambassador tasked with attracting customers.

Ho holds 89% of the stake in ST Rosyam Mart while his younger brothers, Alan Ho, owns the remaining 1%. Rosyam, on the other hand, has a 10% stake in the business.

Rosyam said he has always dreamed of owning his own supermarket since childhood.

“During the discussions to set up the supermarket, I made it a condition that my name be used. If they had disagreed, I would not have signed the agreement,” he added.

Ultimately, businesses cannot be expected to satisfy every racial or linguistic expectation when even their choice of name becomes a source of suspicion. 

A Malay name does not automatically make a business Malay-owned, just as Chinese ownership does not make it any less Malaysian. 

Consumers are entitled to question corporate ownership and demand inclusivity, but such scrutiny should be grounded in facts rather than ethnic assumptions.

Otherwise, businesses will remain trapped in an impossible situation: damned for not using the national language, and damned for embracing a Malay identity.

Surely, in a multiracial country, there should be room for businesses to operate without every commercial decision being turned into a racial litmus test.— Focus Malaysia