'We are not racist', local restaurant says in apology

 

Darsa Group chief executive officer Mohammed Faiz Zuhdi has insisted that their restaurant is not racist as claimed.

He said the company does not agree with using religious, racial, or political sentiments to attract customers to a business.

“We are not racist. We also want to emphasise that DFC rejects accusations linking our (restaurant) to racial or religious issues.

“We agree that we do not need to play with religious, racial, or political sentiments. Our commitment is to provide high-quality services in line with the spirit of unity and mutual respect, which is the basis of the Malaysia Madani concept.

“Therefore, once again, we apologise and thank you for this extraordinary response,” he said at a press conference today at DFC Restaurant in Rawang.

Faiz (above, centre) reiterated that what happened was caused by the mistakes of the employees and the company management in overlooking the issue.

On May 7, DFC apologised for comments on its official Facebook page that social media users claimed were racist.

This is after the restaurant, which touted itself as an alternative to KFC, was criticised for its expensive prices in customer feedback.

However, an employee operating the restaurant’s Facebook page responded to the comment by telling a customer not to be “fooled by bad sentiments played by ‘type C’,” which social media users believe refers to Chinese Malaysians.

The response caught the attention of Rawan assemblyperson Chua Wei Keat, who wanted to give the restaurant a try to support local entrepreneurs.

“I just thought of finding time to try a local fried chicken shop because of its location near Rawang and my desire to support the local area. But now the question of ‘type C’ comes up. What does ‘type C’ mean?” he asked.

Some social media users also asserted that businesses that adopt racist sentiments will not last long, not only in Malaysia but around the world. Some also wanted to boycott the restaurant over the “type C comment”.

Muslim employees only

Faiz said that despite the controversy, DFC would maintain its Islamic and pro-bumiputera in its marketing.

However, he said this did not mean that the restaurant would only focus on bumiputera customers.

Darsa Group chief executive officer Mohammed Faiz Zuhdi

“For now, we will stick with the bumiputera image because we want to rise as one of the companies that fight for the bumiputera economy and Islam.

“We want to see our religion and race succeed like others in the business,” he added.

He also said that DFC’s restaurant policy currently only accepts Muslim employees to ensure the cleanliness and purity of their food handling.

“We do not accept other races but we hold the concept of halalan toyyiban (lawful and good). So, of course, handling food is not just a hygiene factor but also requires purity.

“So, for now, we only open job opportunities for all Muslims,” he said again.