YOURSAY ‘Will Malay NGOs be requesting to remove the Batu Caves statue?’

Firm to remove Hindu deity bottles off shelves

Jiminy Qrikert: Malaysia's ambition is to be the world's halal hub but it does not quite make sense if the country is secular and not an Islamic country.

There are so many Islamic countries that could well gear themselves up to be the world's halal hub if only they can see the business potential of being a halal standard bearer to the world's roughly 1.4 billion Muslims and the whole network of business catering to Muslims globally.

The oil-rich ones don't see a need to. The others are just either too poor or too unsophisticated to lead in this role.

So, Malaysia is in a 'perfect' position if only it was Islamic, not producing, exporting or importing pigs and pork, not among the top alcohol consuming markets, does not have such a huge non-Muslim population and a dozen other offending, totally unIslamic traits.

So, Umno and PAS have made it their mission to sanitise Malaysia and convert all non-Muslims, starting with the Orang Asal in Borneo, so as to become a truly Islamic state. And sanitising the halal logo is certainly a priority.

Kyrie Eleison: Why are these people so sensitive and so intolerant? How could an image of a deity in the mineral bottle label offend Muslims?

Only in Malaysia are Muslims projected to be so weak, so insecure and so sensitive. How can we move forward and catch up with our neighbours with this kind of attitude?

J Ng: All these hypersensitive reactions in Malaysia clearly undermine the good name of Muslims. It is a big slap on Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to tell the world we are a moderate Islamic country.

Comments and reactions from many so-called NGOs clearly reflect its stupidity and projects Islam as a weak, intolerable and highly vulnerable religion. In their quest to play politics, they are destroying the good name of the Prophet and the Almighty.

TAG: The intention of the manufacturer is honourable. But that is not the issue. The manufacturer chose to obtain the halal certification to capture the Muslim market. So they have to be sensitive to the Muslims who place the halal certification at high value.

The manufacturer can always surrender its halal certification and maintain the deity image instead. The choice is theirs. No big deal then. So if they want to withdraw the mineral water bottles and apologise profusely to protect their bottom line, go and ask them why.

Vijay47: To be quite honest, I think that the company concerned did the right thing in removing the mineral water bottles from sale. The company should not do anything that does not take into consideration the religious sensitivities involved.

After all, the bottles have been removed from public sight and other senses. Fresh stock of the bottles can be put up for sale, this time without the halal logo. It is extremely insensitive to put a mere commercial logo next to a picture that is holy to the Hindus.

If religious fanatics are unhappy about the missing logo, too bad, they can thirst for enlightenment. Next thing we know, these fanatics will demand that road signs to mosques should not include other locations, and, heaven forbid, or a church.

Tholu: What I am more confused and dumbfounded about is, does drinking water need to be certified halal before Muslims can consume it? Is water used to prepare drinks and food at eateries, be it fast food outlets such as McDonald’s and KFC or hawker stalls, certified halal?

When you are thirsty and you reach for water from whatever source, such as public taps or even wells, do you, whether or not you are a Muslim, first ensure that the water from such source is certified halal?

I wonder if our dignitaries and even common people who visit foreign countries, especially Western countries, are mindful that they should first ask their host or the eateries there whether the water they are served is halal.

I may be wrong, but to the best of my knowledge, water was not an item to be halal for consumption.

Old Timer: I don’t think even the Hindus who revere and respect their deities would be confused by the picture showing the iconic statue in Batu Caves.

Perhaps in time to come, no one who is of a different religion can look in the direction of the caves when driving down the road, in case they can see the stature.

Perhaps then there will be a demand that the stature be removed because some people claim others are insensitive to them.

Perhaps the way to solve it is to have settlements/villages just for these so very sensitive people.

Apapunboleh: Indeed, will Malay NGOs be requesting to remove the statue itself because it is facing the area where Muslims live and Batu Caves is a Muslim-majority area? When will this end?

SRMan: First it was Perkasa, then came Isma and now Muslim Consumers’ Association Malaysia (PPIM). All trying to outdo each other with their bigoted speeches and actions.

Just because the statue of a Hindu deity is placed next to a halal logo, a police report was lodged. If anyone could recall, a life-size cut-out of Najib was put up, probably the work of MIC members, at Batu Caves a few years ago.

A visitor to this country then might have thought Najib was one of the Hindu deities worshipped together with Lord Murugan. But the question is: Why was there no outcry then from those bigots, the likes of Perkasa or Ridhuan Tee Abdullah then?     

Multi Racial: This country is spending too much money on many government officers who are more interested in minor things. Since when we are so intolerant?

We should be focusing on how to compete globally and regionally. We should focus on catching all those who have been stealing the country’s wealth through corruption and pilferage.

We should focus on improving our efficiency so that the nation can compete more effectively.  We should focus on team building and not look for reason to divide the people.

It is a shame the moderate majority keep quiet and allow the few extremists to drown them out.  

This country will never be the same again until all the moderates stand up so that the politicians will know this is not what we want.

Dappy: The company needn't apologise nor withdraw their products as it is clearly shown Visit Malaysia 2014 and Batu Caves.

After this, we can expect Jakim (Malaysian Islamic Development Department) to advance to more issues with other products. Jakim is behaving badly, overly-sensitive, over-bearing and intolerant to other religions.   

Telestai!: I've been warned many times by this friend of mine - never underestimate the power of stupidity. Once again, my dear friend is proven correct.

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.

These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.