Asia in 3 minutes: Indonesians turn on pro-gay Starbucks, Duterte turns cannibal, and Malaysian men turn frisky over petrol station advert
Bangladesh police find missing government critic on bus, BBQ joint bars foreigners over fears of terrorist attacks
Indonesian Muslims call for Starbucks boycott over gay policy
Muslims in Indonesia have been urged to boycott Starbucks by major Islamic groups that accuse the coffee chain of being pro-gay. Leaders of Muhammadiyah, Indonesia’s second-biggest mass Muslim organisation, urged the government to revoke the company’s business licence for its stance on gay issues. A Muhammadiyah leader, Yunahar Ilyas, said the group was calling on “Muslims to not drink in Starbucks so that the income is not used to strengthen LGBT campaigns”.
What next? Opposition to Starbucks came after a video from 2013 circulated online featuring comments by the company’s chairman Howard Schultz. In the video, he said Starbucks embraced diversity after a shareholder complained that the company lost customers because of its support for gay marriage. “Our objection is because they are promoting something that is against the human instinct, against human behaviour and against religion,” said Perkasa’s Amini Amir Abdullah. But some Malaysians said they didn’t care. “Don’t make it such an issue that we have to boycott a company because of one small statement,” said a coffee drinker in Kuala Lumpur.
