The racial tiff in Malaysia took a nasty turn with calls from social media users to boycott halal goods made by non-Muslims.
Entrepreneur Development Minister Mohd Redzuan Md Yusof yesterday said the campaign is ‘not constructive’.
He said the online campaign should not be happen in a multiracial country.
“For example in the north, 70 percent of (some) halal products are produced by non-Muslims. It is not a problem. The campaign is not right. If it is halal, it’s enough.
“If there is a halal certification from the Islamic Development Department, it is enough to sell,” he said at a media conference.
He called for a stop to the boycott though the government is unable to control the spread of such campaigns on social media.
A local NGO has joined the campaign started on social media by users who called for non-Muslims to stop using halal logos on their products.
The campaign results from reactions of some Malaysians to the opposition of NGO’s and politicians in government against the introduction of Islamic calligraphy in schools.
Non-vernacular schools are to introduce the subject too, which enraged some NGO’s and got some political leaders criticising their own government.
A rally planned by an local Indian NGO was cancelled upon intervention of Prime-Minister-to-be Anwar Ibrahim.
The latter said the introduction of Islamic calligraphy or Khat in schools is not necessary and the country should instead focus on Bahasa Malaysia.
The Persatuan Pengguna Islam Malaysia (PPIM) last week suggested the office responsible for the issuance of Halal logos should introduce new logos.
The PPIM said the Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (Jakim) should issue halal certificates with the native languages of the producers of halal products.
This is meant to indicate whether the producer is Muslim or not. However, the Secretary General of the PPIM Dr Maamor Osman said the suggestion is for those who do not like the Khat or Islamic writings.
If the proposals are accepted – which is doubtful – the non-Muslim producers of Halal products will have Chinese and Indian writing on their Halal certificates and on their products.-/TISG