KUALA LUMPUR: Muslim Consumers Association of Malaysia (PPIM) president Nadzim Johan said today that every product sold in the country must be labelled clearly and this should not be confined to just porcine-based products.
He called a press conference today in an attempt to end the recent debate involving pig bristle paint brushes, which he said had been wrongly framed by the media.
“This should not have started up a halal-haram debate. It is about product labelling and religion should not have been pulled in,” said Nadzim.
PPIM adviser Kareem Said Khadaied, also at the press conference, commended the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry (KPDNKK) for controlling the situation by asking traders to label animal-based products instead of instructing officers to continue confiscating them.
“KPDNK should be commended. In fact they should strengthen labelling laws to be more clear – for vegetarians, Hindus, people with allergies and so on.
“This should be the way forward, not making everything about race and religion,” said Kareem, adding that the media should also play their part in keeping this balance.
“Any product to do with dog, pig must be labelled rightly and there is a government gazetted order (Trade Description Order 2013) on this, not religious, nothing to do with Hudud but strictly about trade.
“Sadly, some media outlets chose to play up the issue from a religious perspective. Non-objective reporting is hurting the country. It’s like playing with fire,” warned Kareem.
PPIM also attempted at clearing up the ruckus over its previous comment about the need for a pig logo to help Muslim consumers who were not very smart.
“We suggested a small logo of a pig or some kind of label that people can immediately recognise, even kids and kampung folk would be able to tell the difference. Sadly that was sensationalised by some,” said Nadzim.
He said that traders should be sensitive to their customers and label items responsibly, while the media should not be so quick to sensationalise matters.
“All we want is for businesses to separate and clearly label goods that are made from pig or dog parts,” said Nadzim.