Despite the angry reaction to the Danish Mohammed newspaper drawings, there is little evidence that Malaysians might boycott Danish products. The Malaysian organization of Muslim consumers recommended on Wednesday that the Malaysian government send an official protest letter to the Danish Embassy. But Dansk Industri (a large interest organization of the Danish companies) has still heard no reports of a boycott of Danish products in Southeast Asia akin to the reaction seen across most of the Middle East since the controversy erupted.
Mogens Jonck, who is Carlsberg’s Administrative Director in Malaysia, says that the country’s newspapers have only published a few small articles about the issue in the last couple of days, informing the population about the controversy.
“I feel no impact on Carlsberg’s business here. And I do not see this situation as one that will affect our business in any way,” he says.
Carlsberg is the key shareholder of the stock exchange-listed Carlsberg Malaysia, who are the market leaders when it comes to beer sales in Malaysia. The country is a multi-ethnic society, where Muslims live side-by-side with Chinese Buddhists and Indians with a third religion.
“Religion is not used politically in Malaysia,” states Mogens Jonck.
