Kelantan’s halal certification mandate raises concerns among netizens

 

THE Kelantan state government has mandated halal certification for food and beverage outlets to renew business licenses, starting with Kota Bharu Municipal Council-Islamic City (MPKB-BRI).

The initiative will expand to other local councils. From January to December, 453 businesses in Kelantan received halal certification, including hotels, restaurants, pharmacies and salons. Of these, 405 are Malay-owned and 48 are non-Muslim-owned.

Certification requires meeting eight criteria, such as kitchen management and halal-certified materials. But the mandate has sparked debates online, with the usual sarcasm from netizens. Here are some of the most bizarre comments found online.

Some users are questioning whether the non-halal restaurants will be forced out of business.

An X user boldly asked if an establishment selling alcohol and pork would also need to apply for the halal certificate if they wanted their business licence to continue.

This questioning led to an argument among X users saying that some people are overreacting to this new rule. But others chimed in, citing that this is a legitimate concern, as the rule is announced to be one that will cover all food and beverage outlets. They did not specify if it was a Muslim or non-Muslim restaurant.

Instead of this new enforcement, non-Muslims who own halal establishments may not face any major hurdles. Unfortunately, there are a number of Muslim restaurants that do not actually have the certificates. This is a concern towards some users, and they claim it might affect more Muslim business owners than thought if they do not apply for the licence.

Others shared their concerns with the roadside sellers, as they may not have enough funds to apply for a halal certificate. Users claim that such businesses might be heavily impacted with this enforcement.

- Focus Malaysia