“Non-muslims with halal cert should be trusted more than muslim shops,” said fiery netizen

 

HALAL or haram has always been a very messy topic for discussion, especially in conservative peninsular Malaysia.

It has grown from its spiritual dimension, and into the realm of business since entities possessing the much coveted halal status enjoy a much larger share of the market.

Understandably, non-muslims will have to go the extra mile to convince their muslims customers.

But should muslim owned businesses pursue halal certification too?

The recent controversy surrounding the processing centre in Puchong certainly points towards that direction.

And it appears the clarion call is getting louder and louder on the cyberspace.

Take for example a post on Threads by netizen mirrrnana, stating that she placed more trust in non-muslim businesses that are halal certified, than the muslim ones that don’t.

“Let’s always support the shops that have the halal certificate irregardless of their religion and race,” she said.

Her remarks have since attracted a good deal of attention from netizens, who echoed her opinion.

“Agree, shops that have the halal certificate should be trusted more than the “Malay islam,” said elk.37856720.

Netizen ya.sai_ya further pointed towards the many famous Malay restaurants out there that have yet to apply for their certification.

Towards this topic, a netizen suggested people boycott the Malay shops that do not have the halal status.

Kasechsbt20 also came up to share an incident where he was having char koew teow, but the ketchup used for the meal was found to be not halal.

Extending from his comment was netizen tacaamin, pointing out a muslim who was processing noodles while sporting a long beard.

However, netizen aishidos said he was 99% confident that the Malay shops use halal products. However, he had reservations where cleanliness was considered.

Jasminekay189 further lamented about the difficulty for shops in the mall to get the halal certificate since the suppliers must all be halal too.

But ghad_dafy said people will still find excuses to attack these businesses even when they possess the halal status.

At the end of the day, halal certification should not be treated as a barrier for non-Muslim businesses, nor should Muslim-owned establishments assume that their ownership alone is enough to earn customers’ confidence.

Otherwise, consumers may have to go through all the trouble scrutinising not just the ingredients, but the entire kitchen, the supplier and possibly even the chef’s beard.— Focus Malaysia