Tag: Malaysia

McDonald’s Use Malay Staff and Franchise Owners As A Front For Public Sympathy

KUALA LUMPUR – A Malay business lobby group slammed McDonald’s Malaysia today for using its ethnic Malay staff and franchise owners as “human shields” to deflect criticism from anti-Israeli boycott campaigns.

The Malay Economic Action Council (MTEM) accused the local operator of the global fast food chain of being hypocritical with its stance of “supporting its workers”, alleging that very little of its profits are passed down to its workers.

“It must be said that whatever McDonald’s restaurants are facing are not comparable to the atrocities currently being inflicted in Gaza,” said MTEM CEO Nizam Mahshar in a statement.

“At the same time, we do not agree with the way McDonald’s is using the Malay staff and franchise owners as a front for public sympathy.”

MTEM claimed that McDonald’s Malaysia would register sales of RM1.8 billion this year based on an annual growth rate of 20 per cent, and its last sales figure of RM1 billion as of 2010.

The group calculated that with 12,000 employees working 150 hours per month at a wage of RM5 per hour, McDonald’s Malaysia would’ve spent only RM108 million on its staff.

“This would mean that only 6 per cent of their sales go back to its employees in this country. Where does the rest of the 94 per cent head to?” asked Nizam.

He demanded McDonald’s Malaysia disclose who benefits the most in the company.

MTEM said it abhors violence, and urged those who had joined in boycotts against the fast food outlets to offer better-paying jobs to McDonald’s Malaysia staff and provide its franchise owners viable alternatives instead.

“We believe that this should also be part of the discussion for organisations and individuals that believe in a sustainable movement to boycott multinational brands that allegedly funnel funds to Israel,” he said.

“MTEM admits that it has no control over the anger of the public, however misguided they may be. However, we believe it is up to the corporations to win back the trust of the public while refraining from using its staff as a public relations human shield.”

The group also said the event serves as a lesson to all multinational conglomerates in Malaysia, which should include Malaysians both in terms of employment and also as part of the supply chain.

A list of products and companies, including McDonald’s, purportedly with ties to Israel’s Zionist regime has been circulating in the social media, although many have ended up there based on now-debunked hoaxes and obsolete links.

A nationwide 24-hour boycott was held last Friday against McDonald’s to protest against the fast food chain’s alleged links to Israel.

The popular fast food joint has since pleaded against the protest, saying the real victims of a boycott of its products would be its mostly Malay-Muslim employees.

The fast food chain also pointed out that the company is a source of livelihood for more than 12,000 employees, over 85 per cent of whom are Muslims.

It also said 67 of the restaurants are owned and operated by 27 local franchisees, nearly half of whom are Malay-Muslims.

Source: http://www.malaysiandigest.com/news/513363-don-t-use-malay-staff-as-human-shield-mcdonald-s-malaysia-told.html

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August 16, 2014
Could ISIS Launch Attacks on Malaysia and Indonesia?

ISIS, which now refers to itself as the Islamic State and has claimed the title of Caliphate, has already made it clear that it wants to claim rule over the Muslim world. Now, security officials in both Malaysia and Indonesia claim that ISIS is attracting followers in said countries. How serious is the threat? And could ISIS actually launch global strikes?

Hundreds of years ago caliphates did rule over most of the Islamic world, though they were often more well-known for their moderation, rather than extremism. ISIS is trying to revive the wide sweeping power of the Caliphate, though they are bastardizing it with extremism and increasing attacks against non-Muslims.

Security Threat Real Even If Challenge To Power Isn’t

Whatever ISIS might dream of, the organization simply isn’t in the position to build a global empire. The organization is still small, and its scope is largely limited to Syria and Iraq. Its followers are radicalized and ready to die for their cause. This does allow ISIS to exert a lot of power locally, but expanding that power internationally will be difficult.

That doesn’t mean, however, that ISIS won’t find supporters abroad. Radical groups tend to attract alienated individuals, and every society has its alienated individuals. Authorities in Malaysia and Indonesia now fear that ISIS will be able to use these individuals to launch attacks within South East Asia.

Terrorist attacks, by their very nature, focus on creating fear, rather than high casualties. While ISIS might not be able to ever sieze control of territory in Malaysia or Indonesia, that doesn’t mean the organization can strike fear into the hearts of citizens. Indeed, it only takes a single radical to launch an attack.

Malaysia Is A Prime Targeting

Malaysia is recognized across the world for being a moderate Muslim country. The rights of other religions and minorities are generally respected, even if tensions do exist. The brand of Islam practiced in the country tends to be more moderate, and individual choices are usually left to individuals.

Terrorist activities, however, appear to be on the rise. Over the last several months Malaysia has managed to arrest 19 different suspects for being involved in terrorist activities. There are fears, however, that this may just be scratching at the surface.

Malaysian security officials claim that the government is among the prime targets of the terrorists. As a moderate Islamic government that offers a clear alternative to the extremism espoused by ISIS, the Malaysian government would indeed be a prime target.

At least 20 Malaysians have gone to fight for ISIS.

Indonesia Also Worried About ISIS

Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim majority country, home to nearly 250 million people. Over 87 percent of Indonesians are Muslim, so the country is a prime target for radical groups like ISIS. Indonesian authorities have already had to deal with radical threats in the past, though usually they’ve been domestic groups.

Perhaps the most famous domestic terrorist, Abu Bakar Bashir, the now jailed leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, an Al Queda-linked terrorist group, has expressed support for ISIS. Jemaah Islamiya carried out the 2002 Bali bombings that claimed the lives of more than 200 people.

Indonesia is undergoing a rapid period of modernization, which is likely creating a clash of cultures. With rampant poverty and a growing gap between the rich and the poor, the country is also a fertile recruiting ground for radicals looking for new recruits. It should come as no surprise then that at least 56 Indonesians have joined the ranks of ISIS.

Indeed, ISIS is reportedly able to pay each of its fighters up to $250 dollars a month. While this wage might not seem like much, for people from poorer countries, like Indonesia, this can be quite substantial.

Source: http://www.valuewalk.com/2014/08/malaysia-and-indonesia-in-cross-hairs-of-isis-terrorists/

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August 16, 2014
Captured Malaysian ISIS ‘Jihadists’ Plan to Bomb Putrajaya

While concern for the atrocities committed by Israel in Gaza reaches an all-time high, a far more insidious threat is growing, and cannot be ignored any longer.

In Syria and Iraq, a war is being fought by the Islamic State, formerly known as Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), to establish a new caliphate in the Middle East and, by extension, over Muslims worldwide.

Led by the enigmatic Abu Bakr al-Baghadi, who claims to be a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, ISIS in its original form comprised several Sunni insurgent groups supported by Al-Qaeda.

In 2006, ISIS announced its rulership over the governorates of Baghdad, Anbar, Diyala, Kirkuk, Salah al-Din, Nineveh and Babil in Iraq, before realising that an opportunity lay in the 2013 Syrian Civil War to expand its reach.

ISIS currently controls the following provinces in Syria: Al Barakah, Al Kheir, Ar-Raqqah, Al Badiya, Halab, Idlib, Hama, Damascus and the Coast, and boasts a fighting force of an estimated 4,000 jihadists.

But its ambitions extend much further than that, as it looks to dominate the Levant, which includes Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Cyprus, and parts of southern Turkey.

The actions of ISIS militants have become so extreme that the group has been denounced by al-Qaeda.

And with its claim as a Salafist regime that practices a harsh brand of Islam and Islamic law, it looks to cull non-Muslims and Muslims that do not adhere to the policies of the new caliphate of blood and violence.

Bone-chilling violence

Between January and July of this year, the violence caused by ISIS in Iraq caused some 5,500 civilian deaths and 11,660 more wounded.

The horror stories that come out of the region tell of acts that we had hoped and prayed humanity would be incapable of.

Videos circulating on the Internet show civilians and soldiers being beheaded even after succumbing to coercion to convert to Islam. Tales of crucifixion of Arab Christians abound. Minorities are forced to flee their homes or be slaughtered.

And all over the world, images and reports of bright young Muslims seduced into migrating and joining the jihad send chills up the spine of their governments.

Even more chilling, perhaps, is ISIS’s trumpeting of its actions, recently seen in its Twitter boasts of executing as many as 1,700 prisoners, posting gruesome pictures as proof.

Homegrown jihadists

“That is scary,” you may say, “But what does all that have to do with Malaysia?”

A lot more than you may think. Just a few days ago, buried under news about the current Selangor political crisis, was an interview in the South China Morning Post with Ayub Khan, the senior counter-terrorism division official at Bukit Aman.

In that interview, Ayub revealed that some 19 Malaysian jihadists captured had confessed that there are plans to storm Putrajaya and replace the government with an Islamic Syariah government through armed warfare.

Along with that, they also planned to attack a disco, a Carlsberg factory and several pubs.

Are you starting to feel scared yet?

That’s just the tip of the iceberg, however. To date, some 30 Malaysians have flown to the Middle East to join ISIS’s cause, and last May, Ahmad Tarmimi Maliki was celebrated by ISIS on its website as Malaysia’s very first suicide bomber.

In an article titled “Mujahidin Malaysia Syahid Dalam Operasi Martyrdom”, ISIS detailed how the 26-year-old, who received militant training in Port Dickson, rammed a military SUV crammed with explosives into a SWAT headquarters, preceding an attack by other jihadists. He reportedly killed 25 Iraqi soldiers in his suicide charge.

Tarmimi is not alone. According to Ayub Khan, the number of actual militants currently looking to overturn our country’s government is probably much higher than the 19 already captured.

For a nation like Malaysia that touts itself as a successful moderate Muslim nation, this news is cause for panic.

Moderation is the better option

The rise of extremism in recent years is a worrying phenomenon, with groups like ISMA declaring that the Chinese are nothing more than migrants and should be treated as such and demanding additional taxation on those they deem have grown fat on the wealth of the land. This not so far from ISIS’s demand that non-Muslims pay a tax, be executed, or leave their territories.

Add to this the fact that our young men and women are now wilfully going through training to become militant jihadists, no time has ever been riper for Malaysia to return to the middle ground.

Despite one glaring black spot in our history and the occasional tension since, our society has been plural, accepting, inclusive and peaceful.

The days are not so far gone that we do not remember visiting our friends’ homes on cultural celebrations, sharing food with them, or roving through malls and streets speaking Malay despite our different skin colours.

The rise of extremism by nature demands that such behaviour be curbed in recognition of the “superiority” of a given ideology, and that is the way of life that we are in danger of losing should we continue to allow this miasma to creep its way into our society.

That way of life is Malaysia’s pride, as well as it’s biggest strength. The pluralistic society we live in has garnered praise and is looked upon as a model for other nations experiencing the phenomenon of multiculturalism.

The acceptance and respect of other beliefs and practices is one well-rooted in the teachings of Prophet Muhammad, who strove to govern his people with fairness and equality.

Prophet Muhammad’s covenant with the Christians in Madinah is astounding to read about. It’s no wonder that the rulers that followed his path closely led Islam into a stunning era of artistic and scientific advance. And that should be our goal as well.

Friends, we need each other. No person is an island unto himself. And Malaysia, as a nation, is no different. We should return to the principles that made this country great.

It’s time for the majority as one voice to speak out against extremism and the threat it holds against our very way of life because if we stay silent, we will have only ourselves to blame when groups like ISIS begin to wage their war on our shores.

“By the grace of Allah, you (Muhammad) are gentle towards the people; if you had been stern and harsh-hearted, they would have dispersed from round about you.”—The Quran, 3:159

Source: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/highlight/2014/08/16/malaysias-isis-problem/

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August 16, 2014
Al-Qaeda Islamic State Militants Planning Attacks on SE Asia

Abu-Ahmad-al-Muhajir

Malaysia and Indonesia are warning of a fresh terror threat from Islamist militants who have joined the al-Qaeda offshoot that has seized territory in Iraq and Syria.

The appeal of Islamic State, whose gains in Iraq and brutality towards minorities have prompted air strikes from the US, has spread to Southeast Asia, where radicalised Muslims have been inspired by the group’s declaration of an Islamic caliphate.

In Malaysia and Indonesia, followers of Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, wanted their governments toppled because the countries’ constitutions were secular and not based on sharia law, warn counter terrorism officials from both countries.

The involvement of Malaysians and Indonesians in the Iraqi and Syrian conflicts had increased the terrorist threat in Southeast Asia, according to analysts and regional police.

Malaysia has arrested at least 19 suspects for links to the terror group in the past seven months.

“During questioning, they [the suspects] admitted one of their main objectives was to attack the government,” Ayub Khan, a senior official for Malaysia’s Special Branch Counter-Terrorism Division, said. “They also discussed planning attacks against a disco, pubs in Kuala Lumpur and a Carlsberg factory in Petaling Jaya.” Petaling Jaya is a suburb outside Kuala Lumpur.

Some 20 Malaysians are known to have gone to Syria to fight with Islamic State. “We believe their real numbers are more than that,” Ayub said.
At least one Malaysian, 26-year-old factory worker Ahmad Tarmimi Maliki, died as a suicide bomber in Iraq in May.

Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, last week banned support for Islamic State and warned its citizens not to join the group.

National police chief Ronny Sompie said the Indonesian counter-terrorism taskforce, Den88, arrested a man named Afif Abdul Majid on Saturday for allegedly declaring support for the group and for funding a terror training camp in Aceh province in 2010.

Abu Bakar Bashir, the jailed leader of the country’s al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah, has expressed support for Islamic State. Jemaah Islamiyah was behind the Bali bombings in 2002 that killed 202 people, including 11 Hong Kong residents.

At least 56 Indonesians have become Islamic State fighters in Syria and Iraq and at least three have died. Those who return would bring back combat skills and global terrorist links, said Indonesian counter-terrorism expert Noor Huda Ismail.

“This is just like veterans from the wars in Afghanistan. Apart from Malaysia and Indonesia, there are also recruits from the Philippines going to Syria,” said Huda, who runs the only private de-radicalisation programme in Indonesia.

Islamic State recruits include experienced militants as well as recently radicalised Muslims, inspired by the group’s rapid advance in the Middle East. “Its appeal lies in its declaration of an Islamic caliphate, which is viewed by some Muslims as the realisation of a prophecy that a new Islamic order will emerge every 100 years,” Huda said.

Islamic State’s core group of fighters learned their skills against the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the US when it occupied Iraq. The group has used raids and ransoms to stockpile weapons and cash.

“[Islamic State] is also far richer and better armed than al-Qaeda from taking over banks and weapons in places it has over-run. It can afford to pay each fighter who joins them US$250 every month,” said Huda.

Source: http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1571008/islamic-state-threat-southeast-asia-counter-terrorism-officials

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August 12, 2014
McDonald’s Malaysia Expressed Disappointment After Being Unfairly Targeted By a Boycott

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 7 — Facing a nationwide boycott over alleged links to Israel, McDonald’s Malaysia today placed a full-page advertisement in a local daily to again deny the claims and to put a face to the “real victims” of the consumer activism: its mostly Malay Muslim employees.

In the advertisement on page 11 of Malay language daily Sinar Harian, the local company was forced to repeat its previous insistence that the firm was not related to “any political activity, violence or oppression”, following accusations it was helping fund Israel’s attacks on Gaza.

“The real victims of these allegations are friends, workers and families who are the subject of discrimination and our franchisees who are working to make a living,” it said.

The fast food chain also pointed out that the company is a source of livelihood for more than 12,000 employees, over 85 per cent of whom are Muslims.

It also said 67 of the restaurants are owned and operated by 27 local franchisees, nearly half of whom are Malay-Muslims.

“In addition, McDonald’s also provides business opportunities to more than 50 local suppliers who also provide employment opportunities to more than 2,500 locals.

“It is clear that any boycott will bring negative effects to the economy and the lives of some of the Malaysians,” it said. A pro-Palestine rally in Dataran Merdeka last Saturday saw calls to boycott products linked to Israel. A list of products and companies, including McDonald’s, purportedly with ties to Israel’s ZIonist regime has been circulating in the social media, although many have ended up there based on now-debunked hoaxes and obsolete links. On Tuesday, violent rallies were held outside two McDonald’s outlets Kerteh and Dungun, resulting in about 80 per cent loss of revenue at the two locations since, franchise owner Syed Hussain Tuan Embong told Sinar Harian. Today, the advertisement also pointed out that McDonald’s Malaysia also pays millions of ringgit in corporate tax and service tax each year to the Malaysian government. “We want to emphasize that McDonald’s does not channel revenues, profits or royalties from our restaurants to support any form of political campaign or conflict in any country in the world. “There is no truth in the claims to the contrary,” it wrote, adding that the majority of returns from the businesses were redirected for expansion. The fast food chain added that it has contributed more than RM11 million to help more than 20,000 children who are less fortunate for over 24 years. Malaysians have joined others worldwide in protesting the Israeli offensive against Gaza that has already killed thousands of Palestinians. Source: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/real-victims-are-malaysians-says-mcdonalds-ad-pleading-against-local-boycot

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August 9, 2014