Few days ago the Minister in charge of Islamic affairs mentioned that JAKIM is studying if want to make halal certification compulsory for all eateries that does not serve pork or alcohol (refer https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2024/09/05/2857955/ or https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2024/09/1101908/jakim-mulls-mandatory-halal-certification-restaurants-not-serving-pork). He admitted that it would require changes in various laws. Obviously the first question would be is this even constitutional! Maybe it is just an initial proposal by them to test the water. There are already voice opposing it such as Theresa Kok (which our UMNO youth leader was fast to oppose https://focusmalaysia.my/akmal-saleh-criticises-teresa-kok-for-opposing-mandatory-halal-certification-proposal/) and Ganabatirau (https://www.weekly-echo.com/push-for-mandatory-halal-cert-for-all-restaurants-in-multiracial-malaysia-a-troubling-development-says-klang-mp-ganabatirau/). While some are misguided and say this is purely a Muslim affair, let’s be clear that any decision on this affects all Malaysians so there is no such thing as this is a religious matter for Muslims only. Let’s review this proposal.
Why the idea is good?
- Increase number of cert holders, boost for KPI of the agency. This move can easily increase the number of businesses having certificate.
- Improve standing of country as halal proponent.
- Score brownie points with Muslim voters as the threat of opposition looms. Current PM need to be seen as Islamic and not under control of liberals. This will also weaken opposition claims that govt is not Islamic enough.
- Bring in revenue for govt through the certification and renewal fees.
- Increase confidence among Muslim customers as a shop without cert is automatically non-halal.
- Business can tap into the big Muslim market which is strong in domestic market. Our Muslim consumers are getting affluent and able to spend well for food.
- provide a bit employment opportunity as need to hire staff specifically for halal requirement.
Why it may not be a good idea after all
- Does it really solve the issue? The issue of (1) using false certificates or (2) proclaiming halal but actually not having certificate, won’t be solved by making it mandatory. Businesses can still cheat by not applying for cert and yet claim as halal. And then, the dept will need more staff for enforcement, thus leading to more cost for govt. There is already an app, so why not just teach consumers to use it.
- The actual issue may be with Muslim operators. As it is, majority applicants are already non-Muslims as per July 2023 (https://www.sinardaily.my/article/198314/focus/national/non-muslim-companies-dominate-halal-certification-ownership-in-msia-reveals-jakim-data). So the market forces and business strategy can naturally get them to apply, not only for food, but other products too. Why want to force force lah? But on the other hand, Muslim operators may not be inclined to apply since there is the unwavering faith that the Muslim operators will be following the halal requirements already. They realize that fellow Muslim will visit their shop regardless got cert or not, since its Muslim owned. So why bother applying? Maybe then, a better idea is to force Muslim operators to apply?
- Why not implement easier solution such as ban use of “Muslim friendly” signages. “No pork, no lard” still OK as got people of other faith that don’t consume pork based, its not only for Muslims.
- There are businesses that don’t sell pork or alcohol, but they may not target Muslim market, for example vegetarian shops or Indian restaurants. So now they will be forced to apply if they are made mandatory. Different businesses may have different target market depending on their location and owners. So, let the market conditions and owner preference dictate if a business needs to apply for cert or not.
- May lead to unnecessary business constraints such as cannot use name like root “beer”, or vegetarian outlet can’t have “pork meat rice” even though it is made from vegetarian material.
- Or business that want to escape this mandatory rule as forced to serve pork or alcohol, so that they will be exempted. This can be just “on paper” (pretend to sell) and not actually serve them, so as to avoid this certification unnecessary headache.
- If the issue is health reasons, then the relevant non-religious requirements such on preparation area, packaging, food handling, sourcing etc. from halal handbook can be extracted and used by KKM, KPKT and local councils to improve the regulations for licensing. This actually benefits ALL Malaysians and should be the main focus.
- The fallacy that Muslim operators no need to apply halal cert as they are bound by religion (https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/09/07/umnos-ulama-council-no-need-for-muslim-owned-eateries-to-get-halal-cert-as-they-are-bound-by-islamic-rules-on-halal-and-haram/149621). Unless those Muslim operators are prosecuted in Syariah court when they are caught for cleanliness issues, we can’t see this being some reliable. We can see dirty eateries regardless of owner/operator’s religion. The personal faith is not something legally binding and we cannot discriminate businesses based on their owner’s religion.
- Can non-Muslim owned eateries still display prayer altar or religious verses, playing religious songs in the morning after get halal cert? if not then it goes against the constitution for stopping others from practicing their faith in their daily lives. Lot of Hindus businesses prayer in the morning and even play religious hymns before or during start of business. The display of other religious symbols etc. can lead to confusion and construed as bringing disrepute to the halal labeling.
- The idea of implementing a religious element on businesses that are not religious can be unconstitutional and challenged in court.
- Govt face more unhappiness from non-Muslim voters which leads to pressure on the relevant component parties.
- Cost of doing business increases due to the application process, the changes that need to be implemented including hiring specific staff, and the renewal costs.
- If implemented, it should be done for all, not just non-Muslim eateries. Non-Muslims would also want to eat in healthy environment which is promoted by the cert.
- The cert also limits how the business can advertise or promote their business as the business cannot bring disrepute to the halal name. So questions will arise if a model wearing short skirt or dress can promote the eatery, or can promotion advertisement done with temple as background. Any promotion (or any other activity) that is deemed contradictory to halal (and by extension Syariah and Islam) can become a problem.
- In addition to pork and alcohol, must also include cigarette as exemption as it is also haram.
- Finally, there is also a thought that cert or no cert, Muslims must only support Muslim businesses (BMF). This group exists and this means, for a non-Muslim operator, applying for halal cert won’t make much difference if Muslim patrons don’t spend at their shops.