McDonald's Malaysia lodges police report over boycott calls

Gerbang Alaf, the local operator of McDonald's Malaysia, said it had the right to seek compensation from boycotters as a result of the financial and business opportunity losses incurred. (Photo: AFP/Karen Bleier)

Gerbang Alaf, the local operator of McDonald's Malaysia, said on Thursday (Dec 14) that the report was lodged primarily to protect the livelihood of 12,000 employees and safeguard against a possible threat of damage to the company’s property.

Gerbang Alaf added that it also had the right to seek compensation from boycotters as a result of the financial and business opportunity losses incurred.

Managing director and operating partner Azmir Jaafar said the police report, which was lodged on Wednesday, was made against those who had spread baseless accusations about the fast food giant on social media and other platforms.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, he said that an official complaint has also been lodged with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission and that it was now up to the authorities to investigate.

He added that Gerbang Alaf has also sought the counsel of the federal territory’s mufti office, who said that the call for a “compulsory boycott” was only valid if issued by a religious figurehead or leader of the nation, and that the individuals or NGOs involved in the boycott should retract their statements and accusations.

Azmir said: “No leaders or religious figureheads have called for any boycott of McDonald's Malaysia. In fact, any call for such a boycott would be wrong in the eyes of Islam.”

Azmir said one of the accusations concerned contributions made by McDonald’s United States to the Jewish United Fund (JUF) through the Matching Gift programme.

He denied the involvement of McDonald’s Malaysia and added that such programmes were widespread in the United States and common among Fortune 500 companies. He added that the objective of the Matching Gift programme was to encourage employees to contribute to charity and that the JUF was only one beneficiary among many other potential recipients.

Azmir also denied that McDonald’s Malaysia had channelled a portion of its profits back to the United States, saying that these were royalty payments on the McDonald’s brand.

On Wednesday, the Malaysian People’s Economic Party (PEKIRA) said it planned to launch a campaign to urge businesses and the public to boycott products with links to Israel, in light of the United States’ recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Coca-Cola and McDonald's were among the brands cited.

McDonald's Malaysia had previously issued a statement on Dec 8 emphasising that the company is “100 per cent owned local and its largest shareholder is Muslim”.