No ban yet on ‘sensitive’ brand names, says minister

 

Alexander Nanta Linggi at the launch of the sale of Covid-19 self-test kits. He said engagement sessions are not for one religion but for all religions and groups.

SEPANG: The Cabinet has only discussed a possible ban on products with brand names that may offend sensitivities of certain parties, and the matter has not been finalised, says Alexander Nanta Linggi.

The domestic trade and consumer affairs minister said any announcement would be made on the issue only after the next Cabinet meeting.

“Engagement sessions are not just for one religion but for all. Some things may be sensitive to the Dayaks, some things may be sensitive to the Chinese,” said Linggi.

“If we want to do it, let’s do it properly,” he said when commenting on the ongoing controversy over Timah, a local whisky brand.

“We have to be meticulous in the matter so the rules are fair. We are not in a hurry,” he added after launching the sale of Covid-19 self-test kits below RM10 at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2.

He was commenting on a recent statement by environment and water minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man that the Cabinet had agreed to bar the production of goods with brand names that can offend the sensitivities of any race or religion.

Speaking at the PAS Youth assembly last week, Tuan Ibrahim, who is PAS deputy president, had said: “I have good news to share. The Cabinet has decided that no manufacturer will be allowed to produce anything (with brand names) that can cause unrest, especially in the context of race and religion.”

Whisky makers Winepak subsequently held a meeting with several ministers and government officials last week, asking for a week’s grace to discuss a change of name and image with its board of directors and shareholders.

Critics of the award-winning Malaysian-made whisky have said the word “Timah” appears to be like a shortened version of the Arabic name Fatimah and that the image of the man on the bottle looked like a person wearing a “kopiah” or a Muslim skullcap.

The manufacturers say “Timah” refers to the Malay word for tin and the image is of British colonial administrator Capt Tristram Speedy who was linked to the opening of tin mines in Larut, Perak, in the 19th century. - FMT