Kota Kinabalu: Muafakat Nasional Supreme Council member Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan said the proposal to make halal certification mandatory for all restaurants that do not serve pork or alcohol will burden small business owners, particularly those from the Malay Muslim community.
“Let’s not simply burden the people, especially small-scale restaurant owners, by requiring them to apply for halal certificates,” he said in a statement.
He said the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) was too hasty in making the proposal.
“If a restaurant, especially one owned by a Malay Muslim, does not serve pork or alcohol, why is it necessary to require it to apply for a halal certificate?
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“What’s important is to ask the Minister whether Jakim is ready and has sufficient workforce nationwide to handle the halal certificate application process?
“Personally, I feel Jakim is still lacking in many aspects, including workforce and equipment, to handle halal certificate applications nationwide if we were to make it mandatory for restaurants to apply for it.
“In reality, it is not appropriate for the Minister to make such an open statement because Jakim has not yet conducted an in-depth study on the practicality of implementing the policy.
“Conduct a thorough study to ‘measure the shirt on your own body’ first. Why rush to issue premature statements without an in-depth study at the Jakim level?” he said.
Khairuddin said there was no need to overreact to Teresa Kok’s statement on the issue.
“Instead, we should study in-depth from micro and macro aspects regarding the readiness to implement this policy.”
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