Tourism, arts and culture minister Tiong King Sing has downplayed criticism of a strategic collaboration between the ministry and Starbucks for the Visit Malaysia 2026 (VM2026) campaign.
He told the Dewan Rakyat today that his ministry wasn’t just working with Starbucks for the campaign, but also many other brands.
“People keep politicising everything. This doesn’t bring any benefit to the nation. Do we want tourists to come or not?” he said during his winding-up speech on the 2026 supply bill.
“If we want to play politics every day, we might as well go back to the villages instead of being in this lower house.”
On Sept 30, Bernama reported that Starbucks Malaysia formed a strategic partnership with Tourism Malaysia to help promote VM2026.
The announcement drew criticism from the public, given…