YOURSAY | ‘Let's divide Malaysians further, a wonderful plan - this is just what we need now.’

Another halal logo to be launched, for Muslim-made products only

Anonymous 2405561458171517: Does Islam divide halal into halal Muslim-only products and halal non-Muslim-only products? If a product fulfills the hukum for halal, it is halal. What is important is halalan toyyiban and less of the party that made the halal product.

Myrights: In Malaysia, we have products that are halal but some are more halal than others.

Then there are Malaysians but some are more Malaysian than others.

It reminds me of George Orwell's ‘Animal Farm’ story. Malaysia, the country where everything is possible.

Appum: I wonder if these 'halal people' realise how ridiculous they portray themselves to be.

They issue the halal certificates, yet they doubt the 'halal-ness' of the certificates they issue. So they have to separate them: one is more halal than the other!

Of course we also know that there is money to be made on the side. That's not very halal, is it?

AB Sulaiman: Oh yes, sure. But don't stop there. Make sure the funding of the producing company is Islamic, that it adheres to Muslim management, its workers wear Islamic dress codes. That it uses Muslim-made machines with Muslim-produced alloys, pack them in Muslim-made plastics and boxes, transports them in Muslim-made lorries or other vehicles.

Paul Warren: Patently obvious about how grudgingly non-Muslims are accepted in a Muslim community. Every mechanism in the book to sidestep them, they take. That this can be harmful to the overall economy does not seem to matter.

The fact is the Muslim-owned food industry mainly serves local markets. So what if the export market also demands this other certificate? Are the non-Muslims supposed to close shop or sell out to Muslims then? Or do the Ali Babas take over?

What is most demeaning is the suggestion that non-Muslim-produced food products run the risk of contamination. But Muslim-produced don't. That is bull and they know it.

They know the trouble and cost non-Muslim food companies undertake to ensure their certifications are not jeopardised. Sorry, but what I see is pure greed here. Nothing Islamic.

Hardboiled: The point of this endeavour is just to tell Muslims that you should only buy products made by Muslims. It is an Islamic institution that is now stating that a truly Islamic product can only be made by Muslims.

This is a dangerous trend towards segregation and extremism.

It showcases Islam on a fascist plateau where the world is divided into Muslims and non-Muslims, and no matter how well an infidel makes a product following halal regulations, it isn't as good as one made by a Muslim, even if followed to the tee. Because, let's face it, that's what this new halal logo is about.

So, will the institution Jakim now propose vegetables to have this logo as well, for those cultivated by Muslim farmers only? How about handphones, too?

The notion that Samsung phones are assembled and packed by South Korean barbeque pork-eating hands must be unbearable to such people.

Gaji Buta: While many comments here may be true, let's also not forget the businesses that cheated on their halal certification, which contributed to this loss of trust.

Greedy small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that think they can scam and buy their way through everything, while keeping wages low resulting in all the foreigners around you, hiring illegals and protesting against any minimum wage increases.

Rocky: The new logo means halaler than halal? Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against halal or non-halal food, but to me, anything like this new label means more burden to the public, even non-Muslims are consumers of halal foods.

Whether the manufacturer or the government foots the bill for the certification isn't the issue, the buck will still be passed to the consumer, either by taxes or directly on the price tag.

My question is: is there really a need for such segregation, or is this another money-making scheme, justified with the use of religion?

Kringerxx1: Hello everybody, this is not the end of the halal 'tragedy' in this country.

Coming soon there will be a halal from 'Muslims of Umno' and 'Muslims of non-Umno' products, so that only Umno members will buy the product of Umno halal and the others buy the product of Muslims produced by non-Umno Malays.

Coming immediately after that is urban and non-urban Muslim products. We will wait for the grand opening of this confused announcement.

Norman Fernandez: This is no more than product segregation solely to make the Muslim consumer go beyond the halal certification and buy products made by Malay-Muslims.

This is nothing but product apartheid. So, since a more halal compliant Malay-Muslim logo is launched, does it mean that henceforth, Malay-Muslims will buy these certified products while non-Malays can buy halal compliant but non-Malay company produced goods?

What next? The yellow star?

Kangkung: The Umno government should also have separate money for Muslims and non-Muslims and spend money earned from income tax separately. Non-Muslims' income tax is haram, so don't touch it.

Jvc: Yes, the first action is to ask Malaysian Official 1 (MO1) to return all that non-halal money in his personal account.

RightsForAll: Calm down guys, this isn't racial/religious segregation. It's merely creating more Ali Baba companies/business opportunities.

Mindspeaks: Let's divide Malaysians further, a wonderful plan, this is just what we need now.

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