Duck Group Revives Its “Palestine Duck” Collection To Aid Palestinians, Gets Criticised As “Opportunist”
All sales proceeds from the Palestine Duck collection will be channelled to Viva Palestina Malaysia (VPM) to help provide Palestinians with hot food, clean water, shelter, and medical aid.
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The Duck Group has revived its Palestine dUCk collection to raise funds for the Palestinian cause amid the Al Aqsa Flood operation on 7 October 2023.
The Palestine dUCk collection is comprised of head scarves, mugs, and tote bags sporting the colours and motifs of Palestine’s flag.
All of the proceeds will go to a non-governmental organisation (NGO) named Viva Palestina Malaysia (VPM).
The proceeds are to help provide Palestinians with hot food, clean water access, medical aid, and shelter.
In 2021, the Duck Group partnered with VPM and raised RM1 million in emergency funds to support the Palestinian victims in Al Aqsa and Gaza.
Criticisms about the “merchandise” for charity
Despite knowing that the proceeds go to a good cause, some people found the initiative to be disingenuous and capitalistic. The Palestine dUCk collection was seen as a move by the company to profit from another person’s suffering.
Those who disagreed with the initiative believe people who genuinely want to help affected Palestinians should donate to the charity directly instead of buying “merchandise” from any company.
A netizen suggested a better move was for the Duck Group to allocate a certain percentage of its current profits to the charity instead.
Benda boleh derma terus kepada tabung Palestin, kenapa perlu derma melalui pembelian tudung..🤔 https://t.co/ZokZahZZTd
— Jalal Misai (@jllmisai) October 14, 2023
IMO, kalau betul2 ada hati nak tolong, might as well just dedicate a certain percentage of your current business profit directly to them? Nampak sangat insensitive and opportunistic at the same time.
— Jœ 🦷🪥🇲🇾 (@iamdrjoe) October 15, 2023
Sama jugak dgn orang2 yang jual baju ‘Save Gaza/Palestine’ tu. A Muslim friend… https://t.co/jk3Q4vdi2d
Mixed feelings ya tengok, I mean sure the profit goes to Viva Palestina Malaysia 100% tapi… entah, the Palestinians are going through one of the darkest times in their lives… idk I might be reaching tapi macam insensitive gila https://t.co/W2dY224AgC
— Puteri N. Balqis (@puteriarchy) October 15, 2023
Hell even brands yang fund israel pun bagi direct fund je, tak keluarkan special edition product to ride on a tragedy….camne ek hari hari tengok video baby mati and rasa cam okay time to make a handbag out of this….
— brb (@5M30W) October 15, 2023
Vivy Yusof responds to criticisms
The founder of Duck Group, Vivy Yusof, took to her Instagram to address the criticisms about the company’s Palestine dUCk collection.
Posting on her Instagram Story, Vivy explained that the collection was brought back after allegedly receiving customer requests to do so.
The people who requested for the collection to be brought back claimed they wanted to wear the Palestine dUCk pieces to show solidarity with Palestine and to spread awareness of what’s currently happening between Israel and Palestine.
Vivy clarified that 100% of the proceeds go to VPM to provide medical supplies, shelter, and food to Palestinians. She added that the company does not get a tax refund from this, and people could verify with VPM.
In addition, Vivy encouraged people to donate directly to the NGO, as stated on each Instagram post caption featuring the Palestine dUCk collection.
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