Kuala Lumpur, April 2 - Malaysian dairy producer Dutch Lady Milk Industries took out newspaper advertisements Wednesday to denounce an anti-Islam film by a Dutch lawmaker, in an apparent bid to appeal to Muslims not to boycott its products.
Malaysia's religious council and several other Muslim groups in the country have called on Muslims to boycott Dutch goods to protest the 15-minute movie by right-wing politician Geert Wilders, saying it creates unnecessary tensions and misleads viewers to link Islam and violence.
In full page announcements in major newspapers as well as on its web site, Dutch Lady - whose parent is Dutch multinational firm Royal Friesland Foods - said it "strongly condemn this expression against Islam" by Wilders.
Dutch Lady, a public listed company, is 50%-owned by Malaysians, employs 660 Malaysians and its dairy products are manufactured locally, it said.
"We are part of the Malaysian community and respect all its cultures as its own. We look forward to your continued support and will always cherish the values that we share," chairman Kamarul Ariffin Mohamad Yassin said in the advertisement.
State investment agency, Permodalan Nasional Bhd., is the second largest shareholder in Dutch Lady, which carries brands such as Dutch Lady, Frisian Flag, Frisolac, Calcimex and Joy.
Malaysian supermarket chain, Mydin, has already marked Dutch products with red labels to give customers the option of boycotting them. Mydin buys MYR60 million worth of Dutch goods a year, from dairy and cosmetics to electronics.
Dutch ambassador Lody Embrechts has said the film's release was regrettable but called on people to refrain from boycotting Dutch goods and engage in dialogue instead.
Malaysia's Foreign Ministry has also strongly condemned the film as disrespectful and insensitive. Some 60% of the country's 27 million people are Muslims.
The film, titled "Fitna," or "ordeal" in Arabic, was posted online Thursday. Though it was removed from the site, LiveLeak.com, on Friday, it has since been available on other file-sharing sites.