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Israel-Gaza war: Malaysians mock Starbucks franchise owner Vincent Tan’s calls to end boycott

  • The US coffee chain’s local franchise, run by Tan’s Berjaya Food, has seen its revenues plunge amid accusations its parent company supports Israel
  • Tan’s exhortations to end the boycott were met on social media with wit, defiance – and calls for him to cut ties with Starbucks altogether

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Vincent Tan pictured in 2013. The now 72-year-old is Malaysia’s 28th richest person, according to Forbes. Photo: AFP
Hadi Azmi
Malaysian social media has been awash with wry humour and defiance after consumer-goods mogul Vincent Tan appealed for an end to a costly boycott of Starbucks in the country over its alleged links to Israel.
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Customers in Malaysia began spurning the US coffee chain’s local franchise, run by Tan’s Berjaya Food company, amid accusations that the Seattle-headquartered multinational supports Israel’s Gaza offensive, which has killed more than 30,500 people, many of them women and children, according to the latest toll from the Hamas-run enclave’s health ministry.

Israel launched its nearly five-monthlong bombardment of Gaza in response to an October 7 attack by Hamas that resulted in about 1,160 deaths and the taking of around 250 hostages.

Palestinians inspect the debris of a house destroyed by Israeli bombing in Rafah, the southern Gaza Strip, on Monday. More than 30,500 people have been killed in Gaza since October, according to the Hamas-run enclave’s health ministry. Photo: AFP
Palestinians inspect the debris of a house destroyed by Israeli bombing in Rafah, the southern Gaza Strip, on Monday. More than 30,500 people have been killed in Gaza since October, according to the Hamas-run enclave’s health ministry. Photo: AFP

Tan, whose net worth of more than US$695 million makes him the 28th richest person in the country, according to Forbes, called for Malaysians to stop boycotting Starbucks Malaysia, which he said is wholly locally owned and run – stressing that more than 80 per cent of its employees are Muslims.

“It’s all Malaysian-owned, it’s run by Malaysians. It’s just a franchise, it’s not owned by an American,” the 72-year-old said in comments reported by local newspaper Business Times.

But the appeal appears to have fallen flat on social media, where few made the distinction about ownership or empathised with the mega-rich Tan, rejecting the call to end one of the few direct actions available to Muslim Malaysians enraged by the Israeli deadly assault on Gaza.

“All of a sudden the ultra-rich tycoon spoke up to gain sympathy from the people. Perhaps he just realised that the source of his wealth comes from the people,” said Wak Solihin on Facebook.

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