Is the boycott working? Is it? Really?
By Zan Azlee
A few days ago, I pulled my car up into the drive-thru lane at the McDonald’s nearby my house and ordered a Big Breakfast set with orange juice.
I had returned home from my wife’s hometown in Johor Bahru after a short Hari Raya break earlier than her and my daughter because I had to start work earlier.
So I was home alone and hungry. And I couldn’t be bothered to go into the kitchen to look for ingredients and to fix something up for myself.
I was greeted on the audio box next to my car window very politely.
“Selamat Hari Raya. What would you like to order?” the voice said.
“Selamat Hari Raya. I would like one Big Breakfast please. And change the coffee to orange juice instead,” I said.
“Please pay at the counter sir.”
I drove up to the cashier’s counter and I saw the face behind the voice. She was a young Malay girl, probably in her early twenties, in a tudung and I assumed she is Muslim.
“Assalamualaikum. That would be RM12.90 please. Thank you.” she greeted me.
“Why aren’t you off for the Hari Raya holidays?” I asked her.
“I have to work sir. Such is life!” she smiled.
I smiled back at her, took my food and drove off.
Does the boycott work?
Here is a situation that has made me think about the boycott that is being called for here in Malaysia against Israel and the Zionist state.
It is obvious from the anecdotal evidence I gave at the start of this opinion piece shows that I have not decided to boycott McDonald’s.
It doesn’t mean that I support Zionism. And it definitely doesn’t mean that I am belittling the efforts of so many Malaysians who believe in the boycott.
I just don’t want to do something where I am not fully comprehensive of its entire mechanics and objectives. I need to believe in it 100% to want to get involved.
The story also shows that at a micro level, the first people to suffer when such a boycott takes place are our own local people who rely on these organisations to earn a living.
The question that has been playing in my head is whether the boycott works in achieving the objective of pressurising the Israeli government. [Click to read the full article at English.AstroAwani.Com]
