“Query Muslim diners directly if you’re doubtful of Din Tai Fung’s halal status, not postulate on social media”

 

ACCORDING to the Cambridge Dictionary, “to stir the pot” is an English idiom that means to intentionally cause trouble, provoke controversy or start unnecessary drama.

Like stirring a cooking pot to bring hidden things to the surface, the phrase describes agitating a peaceful situation to spark a reaction.

During these times of halal-related controversies, there are many keyboard warriors ever willing to provoke further reactions from perceived lack of official JAKIM (Department of Islamic Development Malaysia) certification among non-Muslim-owned FnB (food & beverage) businesses.

The latest attempt to create controversy was self-described “socially awkward” Threader fizfizfiz (@hfzh.31) who questioned how come so many Muslim diners were confident eating at the Din Tai Fung outlet in IOI City Mall when it did NOT have official halal certification from JAKIM.

Editor’s Note: Standard Din Tai Fung branches in Malaysia serve pork and are not halal. However, the spin-off concept DIN by Din Tai Fung is ‘no pork and no lard’ by using chicken and seafood substitutes (such as chicken xiao long bao) though specific certification and beverage menus can vary by location.

The fact that there are Din Tai Fung outlets that serve porcine is the sticking point with this poster with suggestions of cross-contamination in central kitchens.

Claiming that the post was without malice, she went on to outline that there are many layers to halal criteria and it is not limited to just the absence of porcine on the menu.

Malicious intent?

Perhaps fed-up with the constant hyping of halal issues and the targeting specifically of non-Muslim-owned businesses, a few irate commenters took aim at the mischief-making poster.

One commenter claiming to be a Malay staff of the restaurant slammed the poster for spreading dubious information.

Confirming that the restaurant did NOT possess official halal certification, she was at pains to stress that they have supporting documents to show that it sources its ingredients from halal-certified vendors.

The pertinent point she made was that the outlet did NOT force anyone to dine there and it is entirely the customers’ choice to make.

That’s when a few netizens made the pointed observation as to why the poster did not query the Muslim diners in the restaurant directly.

A few Muslim commenters were of the opinion that their brethren were free to make the necessary enquiries with the eatery and make up their own minds.

One argued that not everyone was so minded to have their diets dictated by JAKIM criteria, especially “Muslims who have explored the world and know that halal and haram issues were not tied to JAKIM alone”.

Giving any establishment that has the JAKIM certification the thumbs up, this enlightened commenter nonetheless urged Muslim diners “to make their own judgement” if a shop does not have official credentials.

“Many Malay and Mamak shops were filthy and don’t possess halal certs either.” The hypocrisy of targetting only non-Muslim-owned businesses was again highlighted as to why many Malaysians are getting tired of this attention-grabbing, thinly-disguised racist shtick.

That’s when a commenter decided to fight fire with fire by throwing similar hypocrisy-dressed-as-religious-conservatism back at the poster by questioning the poster’s own dress code (with the insinuation that her tudung was not worn properly).

Few things to note about this post.

Firstly, DIN by Din Tai Fung has NOT claimed to be halal certified. It however provides assurances to customers who ask documents to show that it sources its ingredients from halal-certified vendors, including meat.

Thus, the poster’s continued raising of centralised kitchen insinuating cross-contamination with porcine products is pure mischief-making and could possibly be inviting litigation for spreading malicious falsehoods.

Secondly, diners should be entirely free to make up their own minds without busybodies dictating their diet.

It is fine for those who wish to have JAKIM logo for peace of mind but to cast aspersions on those who think and dine differently is a habit that must stop. –  Focus Malaysia