Halal, another feared idea
On Tuesday, non-Muslim parents of children studying at Boon Lay Garden Primary School protested against a recently formalised ban on non-Halal food items entering the school’s canteen. The school have had this rule since 2002 when all the stalls in the canteen were certified Halal.
When a new canteen contractor was appointed by the school, they had to get the stalls re-certified, and with it, the principal decided to remind the parents not to bring in non-Halal food into the canteen.
Parents of the non-Muslim students who account for 80% of the school population protested the ban, ringing up the school, the education ministry and the media to vent their frustrations. To them, the new rule amounted to discrimination.
Immediately, the ministry intervened and released several press announcements to urge “all schools to provide a mix of halal and non-halal food stalls in their canteens to cater to children of all races”.
When I first read this story, I was amused and disappointed, not with the no-non-halal-food rule, but by the lack of racial and religious understanding of 80% of the students’ parents.
Bringing in non-halal food in halal certified premises bans are not uncommon in multi-racial Singapore. There a lot of halal establishments like Banquet and Food Culture, which prohibits customers from bringing in non-halal food into their dining area. Even though their establishments certify only the stalls. Yet, why didn’t the public protest against these establishments?
Have these establishments committed an act of discrimination?
The establishment, Banquet, the first completely Halal food court seem to suggest otherwise. Quoting from Banquet’s website:
“The opportunity for dining with different races under the same roof provides an excellent platform for social interaction among different races, and cultivation of mutual respect through better understanding of cultural differences in dining habits of different races and religions, values of which are of utmost importance especially so for a multi-racial country like us in Singapore.“
If Boon Lay Garden Primary School had performed an act of discrimination, then the parents of these grieved students are grossly misinformed. The school had obviously attempted to make the canteen a social catalyst, to help students of different races enjoy each other’s company.
When I was still a primary school student, there was only 1 muslim food stall. Our queue was always long, because there were many mouths to feed. So the school decided to open another muslim food stall to reduce the queuing bottleneck as students only had 30 mins for recess. The situation didn’t improve much. The reason was simple. Some non-Muslim students queued at the muslim stall too. Because they had the luxury of choice.
It was no different in secondary school. There was only 1 muslim food stall. And the queue was always darn long. Because there were also non-Muslims queuing up at the muslim food stall who chose not to eat their usual Chinese dishes.
In secondary school, I had a close-knitted class. Chinese, Malays, and Indians sat on the same table at times, enjoying each other’s company and savouring their food. The canteen was a common space. But it was very hard for a muslim to try to build on that space.
I remember one afternoon when my classmates and I were having lunch. Obviously, I bought my lunch from the Muslim food stall. I sat opposite a Chinese friend of mine who was savouring his obviously non-Halal dish. I was curious about his food as I liked to explore cultures different to mine. I asked him curiously, “What’s that?”, pointing to the bits of meat-like portions on his plate as he gobbled down his food with his chopsticks.
“Oh you want some?”, he asked as he simultaneously picked up a piece with his chopsticks and placed it on my yet to be touched plate. I gaped in horror accompanied by gasps from the other Muslims at the table.
He was trying to be nice by offering his share. But his act of kindness became an unfortunate misunderstanding of social space and borders. It wouldn’t have been a problem if my canteen was completely halal.
I could have eaten that morsel of meat (I think), that my friend offered me. But that incident prevented me from ever asking about another person’s alien dish again for fear that it would spoil my plate.
This is why I encourage schools and the ministry to get their food stalls halal-certified. It would not only allow the queues at lunch and recess to be spread out more efficiently, providing students, regardless of race, with enough time to consume their meals, but it would also encourage, rather than discourage social interaction among students of different races and beliefs. Because if we don’t change the system now, we will always have a situation where we will never have the ability to be inclusive.
There should be no rolling of heads at Boon Lay Garden Primary School. The principal did a magnificent job in creating a common space where students could socialise. They also had choice, which allowed them to queue as they please, and gave them time to eat their meals properly, an important thing for a growing child.
But there should be rolling of heads at the Ministry of Education. For suggesting that the principal had made an error when he should be commended for his efforts. If anything, this episode has unearthed Singapore’s weak social fabric that binds us different races together. That we cannot, it seems, to agree on at least having a nice meal at the dining table, where everyone could share their food.
* ST Photo by Shahriya Yahaya
Good point. There is often a queue problem with Muslim food stalls, somehow; I noticed it in secondary school and I still notice it at University. I begin to suspect that ‘halal’ is actually becoming synonymous to ‘delicious’.
I would like to share a bit more.
Where halal and non-halal stalls share the same roof, people of different religions can still eat at the same table together. An example is the typical hawker centre, where plates and cutleries are differentiated. At the very least, in the spirit of tolerance, children who opt to eat non-halal food should have somewhere to sit down and eat in school. But I say, just let them sit together.
The case for Banquet is different, however. They are a 100% halal establishment, so it’s certainly against their business interest to have people bringing in non-halal food (from someplace else) into their premises. In fact, all food courts I’ve been to prohibit ‘outside’ food, anyway.
Insensitivity to Muslims’ need to keep their food uncontaminated from what is non-halal will not be cured by separating the halal and non-halal food eaters, and neither was it caused by people sitting together to eat. The cause runs deeper, and I believe ignorance to be the prime suspect; so, we must strike the problem at its root.
The underlying point of all this: I don’t think there is a problem with people eating together at a table, so long as they maintain the minimal, necessary distance. In particular, in a primary school, this shouldn’t be an issue at all. Despite this, for some reason, I’d still avoid a company of alcohol drinkers, because alcohol just stinks.
Yes, there isn’t a problem with halal and non-halal food at the same table. But it’s the person that’s consuming the food that may be the potential problem.
Granted, most of us are probably ignorant of what is halal and what is not. And you’re talking about primary school kids here who may not understand what this halal thing is.
To most non-muslims, it just means no pork or lard. But we know it’s more than that. Thus, in a mixed halal/non-halal setting in school, I find it problematic for 1) a minority muslim to find choice in tuckshops and 2) for other races to easily socialise with the minority races like the malays and indians.
The halal misunderstanding incident was not restricted to my secondary school years. In primary school, I accidentally ate a pork fried toast. I had no idea it was pork. All I knew was that it looked so similar to the roti telur (fried egg bread). So I bought a piece from the younger Chinese aunty who was all too pleased to make a buck.
I was only aware that it was pork when the Chinese grandmother who owned the stall yelled to me in Malay, “Eh! Itu babi tau!” And I gave this shocked face and uncomfortable pout as I rushed to the nearest dustbin to throw the remaining bread and yank whatever was left inside my throat.
So having 100% halal food courts could eradicate all these instances. I would be a very appreciative citizen if they were.
I think in Banquet and all, they are private establishments. So they have a right as to who they cater for. Like when cafes and public places have a no pets rule.
but i guess in the issue of schools, i feel that students (and maybe parents alike) need to be more educated on the different religious and races in sg, so as to foster a harmonious social scene.
I mean, i, for one, have nothing against a mixed canteen, so long as the children dont mix up the utensils. And for them to know that, they have to be educated to accept and respect the differences among races. I’m not just saying we all need to revamp the CME syllabus to fit understanding for the Muslims, and make us all seem like an exclusive group, but also, for the vegetarians and indians who are non-beef eaters. respect for their circumstance should also be held.
Because malays (which are generally muslims, i hope) are the next largest racial group next to chinese, and since the chinese can eat ANYTHING, while the Malays can only eat HALAL food, having the canteen all halal wld mean that there would be choices for majority of teh students, Muslims and non-muslims alike. I mean, COME ON. even if the children liek pork, its only ONE type of food and they can always have it at home kan? some malay children like briyani, but if the school as a healthy-canteen programme, the parents dont protest against it saying that their kids love fat-laden food and to do this to suit the overweight and unhealthy kids discriminate against the ones who regularly have a well-balanced meal.
I feel that any accusations of calling teh sch discriminatory because it attempts to better social inetractn and ease canteen crowds in the sch, is invalid, and the person holding up teh accusation, as simply ignorant and misinformed.
btw. just a small info i got from mum.
pork isn’t allowed to be sold in sch canteens. chinese food usually have unhalal meat and stuffs, but no blatant pork meat. cos in the late 60s and 70s, then pork was allowed in school, everytime malays fought with their non-muslim counterparts, the chinese muslims will throw or purposely spill pork sth on muslim students.
It became quite an issue and since then, pork as meat per se isnt sold in school. not sure abt pork floss buns and stuff la.. but yeah.
60s and 70s? Well then, these kids back then are the parents of today. Perhaps these are the same people who felt that such a move would amount to discrimination?
Sincerely, I do not see how a majority community can be discriminated in Singapore’s context. Especially since the principal moved to make the conditions at the canteen helpful for all races, not just the minority.
How would taking halal food be discriminatory to non-Muslims, when the Chinese in particular have no dietary constraints?