A SIGNAGE spotted by social activist-cum-human rights lawyer Siti Kasim of a factory purported to “process Muslim chickens” has elicited a lot of loud guffaws from netizens.

She shared the image of the incorrect use of Bahasa Malaysia on X (formerly Twitter) with the post having generated in excess of 775,000 views at time of writing.

The outspoken social critic suggested that perhaps the word halal should have been appended onto the sign instead of “Muslim”.

There were plenty of comments. Here is a sample:

Some were quick to point out such ‘linguistic-stylings’ were par for the course in Malaysia. Nasi ayam Hainan, anyone?

Some said it just highlighted that the correct Islamic method for slaughtering animals were adhered to.

Some netizens suggested that perhaps the proprietor’s name is actually “Muslim”, thus making it correct.

One netizen suggested that the sign was merely highlighting that it was a Muslim-owned business as some Muslims prefer to purchase their meat from their brethren. The point is taken but then the sign should have read “Kilang Pemerosesan Ayam Muslim” (Muslim-owned chicken processing factory).

Many thanked Siti Kasim for the free publicity given she has a sizeable following on social media.

Some correctly pointed out that the factory cannot proclaim to be halal unless properly certified, hence the emphasis on the word ‘Muslim’.

One netizen saw the sign as divisive marketing tactics. He reminded others of the ‘BMF’ (Buy Malay First) campaign not too long ago.

Of course, not everyone saw the funny side of her post. Given her public profile, quite a few took the opportunity to aim insults at the legal eagle.

There were still suspicious minds who asked others to exercise caution despite the signage, saying it could well be a ruse to trick Muslim customers into patronising the business.

One netizen even shared wat he thought was similar type of signage from abroad, missing the irony of those billboards.

It is disconcerting to see how the halal (permissible)/haram (prohibitive) issue seems to be dominating the national narrative when a post on poor grammar leads to all sorts of invective being hurled.

As one netizen quite succinctly put it, are there not more pertinent issues to capture the attention of ordinary Malaysians. - March 22, 2024

https://focusmalaysia.my/since-when-do-chicken-have-religion-asks-siti-kasim/