Do we really care?

I came across a mail regarding HALAL regulation. It is surely going to kill the food industry in Malaysia if it is allowed to go on as it is. How true can it be? The mail is as follows:

The Halal Hype that is going on in our country will force many SMIs involved in food production and distribution to close shop. JAKIM has muscled its way to make itself the Monopoly of the Halal certificate. In April 2011 the Halal Act will be passed by Parliament where only Jakim has the monopoly to issue the certificate.

Each certificate cost about RM1000 and with 2000 line items in my company I will have to foot out RM2,000,000 and that is if I am lucky to get all those approved. I might as well close down my business and retrench all the 60 staff with some 100 odd dependents.

The Government will be deprived of some RM800,000 worth of taxes and duties. The Food standard will definitely decline as chefs will have less ingredients to work with. The Halal procedures will increase the food cost by 10%. JAKIM doesnot care for the economy of the country. All it cares for is its rice bowl to ensure that it is relevant and seen to be working hard.

Look at the way it closed down IKEA for two weeks. Look at the way it closed down Silverbird in Nilai. It does not care for the business environment in this country.

Even mineral water has halal logo. Eventually all vegetable, fish, grains, rice, etc will need halal logo. Eventually all Muslims will not touch all non Muslims if the Halal fever is allowed to spread. Even Saudi Arabia is not as strict as Jakim. I have suppliers who could sell their products intoSaudi Arabia but not in Malaysia .80% of the food industry is run by Non Malays. One of the criteria to obtain the Halal Certificate for restaurants is to employ Malaysian Muslim. If you do not have any Malaysian Muslim in your restaurant you will not be issued with a Halal certificate.
Where are we heading????