When news approaches you from vague sources saying that some product may contain non-halal material, how far would you go beyond skepticism? Its halal and haram at stake, ini serius!
Another day and another routine to check the e-mail inbox. Like usual, I went through mail which mostly notifications send by Facebook. I picked and deleted them to keep my inbox clean. From photo comments to tagged photos to friend requests, a whole bunch of them back to back all into the trash. Then, I stumbled upon a mail that is not from Facebook. It must be some forwarded e-mail. I usually deem forwarded mail as unpleasant, unoriginal or junk. It’s a way of lazy people to reach out during hari raya or new year, I rather not receive these messages and start aching my eye reading a lame crafted message which intended to look snazzy yet sleazy (remember? Sir lump mart harry raya? Saya baru pulang dari London? )
There is something different about this particular e-mail content. Indeed, it’s a forwarded message. As soon as I opened it, I had to scroll so many time as the content lays so far below. What filled the upper part of the mail was lists of e-mail addresses which the mail had been send to. Judging by the hundreds of mail addresses with all swanky names like famous footballer and anime superheroes, I assume the mail had been received by many recipients. Finally when I reached the content part, I began to realize, it is not a spam neither a link to a get-rich-quick scheme. I wasn’t infuriated, but felt compelled how we had to resort to guerilla tactic to point out certain message.
The mail I received that day contains several pictures of Old Town White Coffee, a local franchise which food themed on pre-independence big towns of Malaysia when eateries were prone to fire because they were made of wood. They serve local selections of black coffee, tea, nasi lemak and roti bakar. The accompanied statement pointed out that those food served are not halal and shouldn’t be consumed by fellow Muslims in Malaysia. Followed by pictures of retail packed instant noodles which labels had been blurted (libel laws?) having halal label but being sold at non-halal section.
I wouldn’t elaborate much on the mail I had received; I bet some of us had received such mail. I did not pay much attention, but I wonder no matter how much research or investigation done by the initial sender, does the Jabatan Kebajikan Agama Islam Malaysia (JAKIM) took notice of this issue? The initial sender mail claim may still remain as accusation/hearsay not until an official, fully recognized agency and professional body like JAKIM conduct test and verified the halal status . No matter good or bad the initial sender intend, this forwarded mail may smell, look and feels like one of old tantrums usually thrown by some unsatisfied consumer with somewhat hidden intent. I vividly remembers when KFC allegedly slaughtered its livestock in inappropriate manner against the syarak practice, did JAKIM issued any action against them?. Starbucks mixing some sort lard in their product to enhance the ‘creaminess’ of their beverages, did JAKIM put those beverages under their microscope? Dubious Yellow Mee and Sausage which are made of pork belly? Does that all belonged to quick foods for college students, don’t they?. Now, these tantrums had turned its face on locally established footstalls like Old town White Coffee. All those claims are frail and supported by statements like “my auntie/uncle is some high ranking who works with the officials, and confirmed its not halal” How can we take by word such claims?
Emasculated or hikmah?
Finding Halal food is a paramount importance among Muslim. Its compulsory .No matter what the reason is, we must avoid consuming them except in times where life is at risk (eg. you are trapped in some Pandora like island and the not any vegetation can be consumed, but the only thing present was a pork chop) I’m not being paid by Oldtown to write this kind of entry, but what are the odds me, as a muslim, taking this kind of mail beyond benefit of doubt? I have friends working in Oldtown and Starbucks, I did interviewed the latter and they responsibly claimed that they had to bare with the accusation. “Biasalah, benda macam tu memang selalu orang kata” said a former barista in my local Starbucks. But I did not further scrutinize him out of wonder if he knew any content contained any non-halal material. He is doing his job. The mixing products delivered to his Starbuck outlet then he prepared them according to instructions. His job is akin to taxi driver which provide services to ordinary patsy and hobos without knowing their intent, or lawyers who defend guilty person and won the case, thus making money out of it. There is always a hikmah in all of God arrangements.
Or should Malaysian Muslim consumer which lived in self proclaimed Islam state (Negara Islam) must practice caution like they were wandering tourist in Shanghai or Moscow? They were told to do their own homework carefully because halal food is not easy to find, and halal food had become so scarce that they need to buy live chickens and slaughtered them behind some bushes? Can JAKIM pounce into our consciousness us to do homework instead of relying onto them 100%. Would JAKIM scream at us telling that we take them for granted and it’s partly our job to determine the halal-ness of mass manufactured food.
This ultimately means, the initial sender of the mail may be a concerned muslim. Trying to pull all of us out of trouble and wrath of non-halal food. He is responsible and successfully chained that mail without threatening the receiver that their parents would be dead if they fail to resent within 20hours or so. Hurrah for the sender. But in an age of information freedom, internet is proven to be easily abused. The initial sender has got nothing to lose. He may just send it and relied on receiver fear/sentiment for the mail to gain momentum throughout the digital realm. Who wouldn’t freak out when a meal contains something non-halal, especially those restaurant that you can easily find at the corner of your neighborhood.
Who is this person to be taken by word? If he did quote by some mufti statement, would that lend some credibility? My family had some time upheld principle that we have reached a certain maturity where opinion must be shaped independently, not by mere one-two line statement by high-power people. Its clear that a collective body like JAKIM must play its active role by implementing stricter implementation. Set-up a website where we can confirm the halal status of manufactured foodstuff ( I know it had existed, but its unheard as whisper) . Create an iPhone application called ‘iHalal’ (or whatever Arabic sounding words) where people can have an instant access of the halal food reference. Make newspaper announcement displayed image of that product from all elevation and state that product is not halal. If possible, any company that uses fake halal label, make them apologize just like what Microsoft make some hardware company do when they were caught selling fake software.
But it seems JAKIM is emasculated, leaving words of non-halal product somewhat ‘sendimented’ below the streams of public knowledge. Worst, they had to be dispersed the guerilla-style. Shoot and hide. Maybe its true, the hastily constructed e-mail with disproportioned photos might be a brave truth from a mouth which had nothing to lose. On the other hand, JAKIM is a government agency, and the government had many many many interest to take care of. Starbucks? Which Malaysian corporate body that brought them in? Maybe its likely to be a hikmah behind all this.
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