YOURSAY | ‘The faith of a religion lies with the person.’

COMMENT | Weaponising Teresa's discourse on halal cert issue

Ex-restaurateur turned PM's aide opposes mandatory halal cert

MyMY: There should be a course for all cabinet ministers and their deputies to “think carefully before you speak”.

The word mull should be erased from their vocabulary. Keep the mulling to yourself.

After one has thought it through and has had input from all parties or stakeholders concerned, then only you announce it.

This issue wouldn’t have been an issue if Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Mohd Na’im Mokhtar had thought carefully about the backlash, unwanted consequences and implications for “mulling” publicly over a sensitive issue.

Milshah: Looking into this issue, I feel it is reminiscent of the “three pages of khat” all over again. There are two elements involved here:

1) The issue is related to non-Malay rights;

2) The issue is raised by DAP or any non-Muslim representatives and voilà, it becomes an earth-shattering issue.

This issue would not be an issue if no one raised it. It is such a small matter.

Making compulsory halal certification for businesses except for those that publicly sell pork or alcohol, so what?

How much does licensing cost? RM100 maybe?

Some businesses are earning RM500,000 annually. But make it such a big issue like tomorrow the world is going to end, why? To show power?

If the government feels that it is good, just proceed. Nothing will happen.

FactsMatter6628: The politicians are wasting a lot of time and energy on a nonsensical issue.

Common sense should prevail in this multiracial society.

Maybe our politicians can have a look at restaurants in Indonesia or even in some of the Arab countries and borrow some common sense from them.

Spend all your time and energy on improving the livelihoods of the people. Remember, it’s us, the people who put you up there.

Oct: Let’s not get overboard on these halal certification needs. The faith of a religion lies with the person.

There are too many rules and regulations, making it difficult to operate a restaurant business in Malaysia.

Malaysia won’t survive if we cannot live as a family but keep on quarrelling on nonproductive issues.

Pink: Eating halal food, like praying, fasting, paying zakat and going for the pilgrimage to Mecca are the responsibilities of individual Muslims.

If they have faith in their religion, they will do them. No amount of laws and certificates would make them more faithful.

Faith is in their hearts, not on certificates. The responsibility of the religious authority is to educate, motivate and help them.

I go to non-Muslim restaurants when I see Muslim staff in them. I would normally ask whether the food is halal and simply trust their answers.

If they lied to me, there is not much I could do. They have to answer to Allah.

Halal food is not only about pork and alcohol it is also about the way they are prepared.

Many Muslim restaurants are dirty which renders food to be non-halal.

I would rather go to clean non-Muslim restaurants which employ Muslim staff than go to a dirty Muslim restaurant. In my hometown, there is a very popular non-Muslim restaurant whose clients are mostly Muslims including members of the royal family.

It is not to the restaurateur’s benefit to lie to us by serving non-halal food. If it is found out his business will collapse.

It is based on trust between him and his Muslim clients. We leave the rest to Allah.

apanama is back: Malaysiakini columnist S Thayaparan, this issue has been deliberately played by these so-called religious defenders.

Some of my Malay friends are laughing at their antics. They know that all these fellows are spinning and twisting Kok’s statement.

They are fully aware of this voluntary certification of the Islamic Development Department (Jakim) for halal foods.

Former law minister Zaid Ibrahim mentioned in an article, “....what they are doing is pathetic. It shows they do not trust Muslims to think and decide for themselves, even on a personal matter of what food to take. Labels have to be everywhere.”

All these politicians are insulting the intelligence of some voters.

Thayaparan, do you notice or not all these fellows are just waiting for race and religious issues to crop up now and then and suddenly will jump on the bandwagon like “I will be the first, I will be the first” defender to voice out?

This will be followed by making police reports. This has become a routine and ritual in this land of endless possibilities.

All these fellows (politicians) are confused people. They do not know what they want.

For a Better World: Thayaparan, I take my hat off to that rare, illuminating, well-researched, all-encompassing, brilliant analysis of the issue Malaysians face.

The powers-that-be and the relevant authorities should read his analysis a couple of times to digest his well-laid-out reasoning.

A minor issue is being blown up, like a tremendous explosion in the Malaysian skies.

Extremists and the usual agitators are having a field day, to seek fame or infamy, and exploit the situation.

We all hope good sense and a compromising attitude will take precedence.

Cogito Ergo Sum: So why are the police probing the remarks made by Seputeh MP Teresa Kok? A suggestion was met with a counter-suggestion.

Na’im should also be probed for raising the issue and for infringing and denying the rights of non-Malays to do business without undue interference and pressure. Let’s see how the international community with its billions of foreign direct investment view this move.

Proarte: The idea that the Umno ulama council can say that Muslim-owned eateries should be exempt from halal certification because they understand the importance of “purity”, is an insult to non-Muslims, implying that they are not.

The double standards are unconstitutional and seditious, just like the antics of Umno Youth chief Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh who incited the nation over the “Allah” socks scandal.

DAP must look into the long term if they want to be relevant in the future of Malaysian politics.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has clearly shown he is willing to burn bridges with DAP if push comes to shove by openly chastising a senior DAP leader such as Kok, even mendaciously accusing her of being against halal certification per se.

Never mind that she had praised Malaysia’s halal certification as being among the best in the world.

Kok’s open opinion regarding mandatory halal certification is a political “stalking horse“.

It is the DAP leadership saying enough is enough, and that it will not budge on mandatory halal certification for non-Muslim businesses because it is discriminatory and an unconstitutional attempt at encroaching on the non-Muslim public domain.

WhiteMoose0037: Anwar’s political secretary Azman Abidin is sensible and brave enough to speak out for the truth.

He explained that Kok was providing her views in response to the halal certification proposal brought up by Na’im.

We are all entitled to our opinions on whatever matters are stated, or else we agree to the statement.

Our problem in this country is that some politicians will jump on the opposition’s views, as in the case of Akmal. He is somebody who should be investigated, and not Kok.

Casualuser: Well said. Former restaurateur Azman said the process of obtaining the certification is far from simple and that it is expensive and there are stringent requirements.

This is the main reason why many disagree with compulsory halal certificates. If it is straightforward and cheap, I doubt many would disagree with mandatory halal certification.

Zaheed: Let’s be sincere. The application for halal certification should be made free of charge as it is just a means to implement the principles of the religion.

It should not be seen as a money-making venture for Jakim.

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