KUALA LUMPUR: Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing has criticised those questioning the ministry’s strategic collaboration with global coffee brand Starbucks for Visit Malaysia Year 2026 (VM2026).
He said the ministry was open to working with any company as part of its promotional activities, and is currently working with many businesses, such as cookie companies, and even Muslim-owned fragrance brands.
“We are not only working with Starbucks.
“Come to our ministry anytime. I can show the full list of our collaborations.
“We have a collaboration with Danish butter cookies, too, but no one talks about it.
“There are also perfume products from Muslim-owned halal brands, but no one raises that issue,” he said.
He added that those raising the matter were only politicising the issue.
“If we want to play politics every day, we might as well go back to the villages instead of being here,” he said during his winding-up speech for the Supply Bill 2025 in the Dewan Rakyat today.
Tiong said the collaboration would not be cancelled.
On Sept 30, Bernama reported that Starbucks Malaysia had inked a strategic partnership with Tourism Malaysia to help promote VM2026.
The agreement would see the introduction of exclusive merchandise as well as local-themed food and beverages to celebrate Malaysian heritage and promote VM2026 on the global stage.
The announcement drew criticism from several quarters, who had questioned why a foreign brand was chosen instead of local ones.
The coffee chain was also among the American brands that were boycotted over the US’ support of Israel’s offensive in Gaza that began last year.
In Feb this year, Starbucks Malaysia, in a statement, maintained that it had never contributed its profits to the Israeli government or the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). The company had condemned the violence, the loss of innocent lives, as well as all hate and weaponised speech.
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