Authorities Say Malaysian Eatery Selling Non-Halal ‘Nasi Kandar’ Might Mislead Customers
Recently, a Malaysian eatery has been on the receiving end of ire from authorities for the name of a dish on their non-halal menu.
The food establishment proclaims to sell ‘nasi kandar’ with pork, which a local influencer promoted on their TikTok account.
@eat.with.aishwarrya 📍Pumbaa’s @ Damansara Jaya 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐚’𝐬 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐍𝐚𝐬𝐢 𝐊𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫 🐷🔥 𝐍𝐚𝐬𝐢 𝐋𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐤 𝐁𝐚𝐛𝐢 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞 𝐀𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨! 😮💨 Opening Hours: 7.30am till 4pm (open Tue-Sun) They serve the best Pork Nasi Kandar & Nasi Lemak 😍😍🔥 The legendary man behind Kadei by Manchula has now opened a new stall located in @goodolddays. His food is the bomb if you don’t already know 😆 I was so excited so try out Mr Suresh’s new venture especially with the added porky touch to it 🐽 and it did not disappoint 💯 I was so hyped up for it bcos where can you find a non halal Nasi Kandar right? 😜 The curries were great and the pork varuval was so delicious 😋 It was tender and the best part is they remove the fatty layer so you get only tender chunks of pork meat 😩👍🏻 Honestly, it’s the best out there and y’all should try it for yourself 🔥 The sambal also packs a punch (not too spicy) which explains why their Nasi lemak is porkfection! 🌶️ They also have various side dishes like their signature mutton varuval, juicy crispy fried chicken, aromatic chicken rendang, sambal sotong and many more 🤩 They really take Nasi kandar and Nasi lemak to the next level 🫡 ‼️ Strictly non halal ‼️𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘 𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐊 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑’𝐒 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌 😍🐽 Go try it for yourself 😋 #nasilemakviral #nasilemakakka #nasikandarmalaysia #nasikandarpenang #nasikandarbendiganimaju #nasikandarviral #makananviralmalaysia #makananviraltiktok #klfoodie #porkvaruvel #wildboarperathal #indianfood #indianfoodmalaysia #bananaleafrice
♬ Naa Ready (From “Leo”) – Anirudh Ravichander & Thalapathy Vijay & Asal Kolaar
The Malaysian Muslim Restaurant Owners Association (Presma) then stepped in, labelling the post as “insulting.”
In addition, they stated that the stall could mislead Muslim customers into visiting them due to the name of the delicacy.
Malaysian eatery promotes non-halal ‘nasi kandar’
Last week, a food influencer took to TikTok to share about Pumbaa’s Nasi Lemak and Nasi Kandar, located in Damansara Jaya, Selangor.
The eatery proclaimed to sell Malaysia’s first Indian-style ‘nasi kandar’ and ‘nasi lemak’ with pork. In the video, the OP savoured the meal and praised it as flavourful.
She made sure to mention that other choices of meat were available too, such as luncheon meat, fried chicken and mutton.
Source: @eat.with.aishwarrya on TikTok
The video soon went viral with many viewers expressing their discontent over the non-halal eatery naming their dishes in such a manner.
Source: TikTok
However, not all netizens shared the same opinion, with some excited to try the delicacy.
Authorities call promotional video “insulting”
Regardless, authorities in Malaysia intervened, describing the post as “insulting.”
Speaking to the New Straits Times, the Presma President Jawahar Ali Taib Khan said that the video could mislead Muslim customers into visiting the eatery, assuming it was halal.
Source: New Straits Times
“It is a known fact that all nasi kandar restaurants are halal compliant and only serve food which are prepared according to the halal process,” he said.
When someone comes up with such a video claiming that the dish served is Nasi Kandar, it can only be seen as insulting, insensitive and misleading.
Meeting to take place between stall owner & authorities
Mr Jawahar Ali thus called for the immediate removal of the post. If not properly clarified, he said it could cause confusion in Malaysia, which contained a Muslim majority.
“Most nasi kandar outlets are operated by the Mamak Muslims,” he explained.
“It is not because of food taste but also because we make sure that all the food prepared at nasi kandar restaurants follows halal certification requirements.”
He added that they had to deal with the matter properly. Otherwise, dishes such as murtabak and mee goreng mamak could start containing non-halal ingredients.
Mr Jawahar Ali then confirmed the National Unity ministry contacted him regarding a meeting with them and the stall owner.
“We look forward to the meeting, so that we can solve this issue in an amicable manner,” he said.
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Featured image adapted from @pumbaa_s_ on Instagram and Instagram.
