Muslim restaurateurs cry foul over ‘confusing’ 3pm rule
The Malay Mail Online – 4 hours agoRELATED CONTENT
- Islamic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom reportedly said last Saturday …
KUALA LUMPUR, July 8 ― Unhappy and bewildered by the government’s surprise announcement barring them from selling food before 3pm during Ramadan, Muslim restaurateurs questioned the rationale behind the decision, arguing the move cut into their profits.
Noorul Hassan Saul Hameed, the president of Malaysian Muslim Restaurant Owners Association (Presma), said some of his 3000-odd members are “still confused” as the government had not provided them with the “proper guidelines”.
“It’s not [that] we are against the order, but we want the order [to] be implemented fair and square,” Noorul told The Malay Mail Online when contacted yesterday.
The lack of proper information is also compounded by the fact that the rules may vary from state to state, he said.
He said Presma members have “mixed feelings” ― because they were not against the rule as Muslims, but felt that the rule should be applied equally on all outlets selling halal food or food permissible under Islam.
Pointing to fast-food restaurants which Kedah said would be exempted from the 3pm rule, Noorul questioned the enforcement that he said smacked of “double standard”, pointing out that Muslims could still go to such outlets to eat during fasting hours.
It was “unfair” not to enforce the same ruling on fast-food outlets that carried the halal certification like all other Muslim-operated eateries, he said.
“You want to implement the law, implement on all, all halal food eateries. All halal food eateries should be closed, then it’ll be fair,” he said.
Noorul also called for a “holistic” and “comprehensive” approach from the government in its bid to ensure Muslims fast, saying that factors such as non-Muslim customers needed to be taken into account in enforcing this rule.
According to Noorul, non-Muslims account for more than half of the client base of Muslim-operated restaurants in urban areas.
During the whole fasting month which started over a week ago, Muslim restaurants would stand to lose out if they were barred from selling food to non-Muslims before 3pm while also incurring high rental and overhead costs, he said.
“There is one month (where) non-Muslims will be treated unfairly and we may also lose our profits,” he said, adding that Muslim eateries could take up to two or three months to recover from their losses.
One factor that should also be weighed is that certain Muslims exempted from fasting such as young children and women who are menstruating would still need to eat and buy halal food during fasting hours, he said.
Noorul, who said he was unaware of the actual guideline or rule behind the 3pm order, also said the government should discuss the finer details of the rule with the association before enforcing it.
Islamic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom reportedly said last Saturday that Muslim eateries are not allowed to sell food before 3pm during the Muslim fasting month, warning those who defied the rule risked being punished.
Eateries caught flouting the ban face a RM300 fine and seizure of their equipment, the New Straits Times daily reported.
On Sunday, national news agency Bernama reported Kedah executive councillor Badrul Hisham Hashim saying that restaurants in the state must operate after 3pm during the fasting month or risk having their licences revoked.
But Badrul also said that fast-food outlets and a Restoran Hameed serving tourists in Langkawi would be exempted from this rule.
During the fasting month, Muslims would eat before dawn and fast throughout the day, breaking their fast only after sunset.
