I really hope that some form of educational posters are made to inform people to ” DO NOT PLACE UNWANTED PORK ITEMS INTO HALAL SECTION”.
The section just after the orange divider on the left is the NON-HALAL section, these can be placed there and not be inconsiderate.
Source: Abdillah Hashim
TAITO WARD — In a sushi restaurant in Tokyo, a group of customers is shuffling in. They first take a quick glance at the menu to check if there’s anything that might go against halal rules.
The restaurant is only one of many in Japan that are looking to the halal food market to expand their business, as visitors from predominantly Muslim countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia are increasingly visiting Japan.
However, there are also difficulties they face in catering to these customers.
“In Japan, places where they handle halal seasoning are very limited,” said manager of Sushi Ken Masao Ito. “I have had difficulty getting my hands on them. The fish itself is not a problem. (But) another problem is processed food.”
However, they have managed to find alternatives. At Sushi Ken, the seasoning is made in-house. The radish roll tastes a little different, but is still delicious. At another Yakiniku, or grilled meat restaurant, its owners are doing even more to obtain halal certification.
“They have to change all their ingredients, items,” said chairman of the Japan Halal Foundation, Mohamed Nazer.
The restaurant has even prepared a whole new kitchen to be able to serve halal meat. According to its manager, the cost of doing so has been high, though he stopped short of unveiling the exact amount.
“If things work out, we would like to be a halal meat wholesaler to expand business,” said manager of Pangu, Hiroaki Sato.
The restaurant eventually earned a stamp of approval, a boon for Muslims diners as a mosque is located nearby.
‘MUSLIMS CAN ENJOY WITHOUT ANY WORRIES’
Taito ward now has 17 restaurants with halal certification, a huge step up from when there were only Indian restaurants serving halal food in the past. This change is in part due to subsidies of up to US$820 offered by the local city government, part of a scheme that started in October.
They used to have only Indian restaurants serving halal menus. This change is partly due to subsidies of up to 820 US dollars offered by the local city government, thanks to a system launched in October.
“When you travel, you want to enjoy the food of that country, the regions, and if that cannot be done here in Taito ward, it’s sad,” said director of tourism at Taito City office, Takuji Kwai. “We offer lots of delicious food. So we decided to create an environment where Muslims can enjoy without any worries.”
A growing number of local governments are also trying to encourage more of their businesses to cater to Muslim visitors. The halal exhibition in Japan is one that has seen success, with an increase of 80 exhibitors last year to 120 this year.
“Japan is not a Muslim country so the market is very small,” said chairman of the Japan halal Expo Executive Committee, Yoshichika Terasawa, Chairman. “It’s gradually expanding. But it depends on Muslim visitors to Japan. I hope more food suppliers (and) exporters go to the cities to find their new market, the Muslim market.”
Source: www.todayonline.com
Call me proud , arrogant or whatever … if you insist on bringing in “Non – Halal” food and consume in my restaurants i will show you the way out !!!
I might lose some customers but my Halal status must never be compromise . #sibehtulan
Complain :
Darren Chua Hi, I’m a loyal customer of 18 chefs and have been patronizing their branches, the ones I commonly go to are the one at NEX and AMK hub, I must say that they have superb service. However, today was my first time going to the branch at Bugis, and I am really truly disappointed by the service there.
Today, on the 26th November 2015, my friends and I were eating at 18 chefs really happily and all, despite the long wait, we were glad that we could find seats. We were about to celebrate our friend’s birthday and we took out a cake (from chocolate origins) to eat it.
Yes, 18 chefs is a halal restaurant, but the cake from chocolate origin is halal but not certified. I understand that by consuming it there it could be inappropriate and spark unhappiness. However, how the staff a handled the situation was really a shocker to me. There was a Muslim lady that approached is first, I didn’t get her name, but she handled it well, we told her we were apologetic, and since we already ate the cake (Without even using your utensils but with tissues and our hands), we would clear it and leave immediately, which we were doing, until a man (assumingly the manager, a rather plum man in his thirties perhaps) made my experience with 18 chefs today a horrid and disappointing one.
He came up to us and told us, “You know you shouldn’t be eating this here.” My friends told him that we were sorry and are already cleaning up, he stopped is halfway and told crossed his arms and said, ‘no.’ No explanation, no listening, just a big no. We tried to explain that we didn’t know and wanted to apologize sincerely, as our Muslim friends were also eating the cake, we thought it was perfectly fine, but he just raised his voice and said no. I got a tad bit angry with receiving such disgusting service from a shop that I really enjoy having my meal at, told him, ‘okay, your staff told us to ask for permission in the future and to clear it immediately and leave. And that’s what we are doing.’ He came up closer than he already is to the table and just said “No.” Again, even louder, practically screaming in our faces. 16 of us, having a meal at 18 chefs, trying to enjoy a birthday celebration, to be ruined by nothing but a no.
I really do understand and am honestly apologetic on the behalf of my friends for being so ignorant and bringing something that isn’t halal into your restaurant. However, I am really disappointed and very sure I’m never going to eat at the branch in Bugis as I really am disappointed and ashamed by such crude behavior displayed by a manager. If that’s how a manager treats their customer by saying no and with no explanation or patience I think that the other service staff is going to be worse. Having a sign that perhaps say ‘ask for permission before brining any outside food or drinks.’ Or ‘outside food and drinks are strictly not prohibited.’ Would be good enough compared to a no.
I strongly feel that we deserve a proper explanation or perhaps and apology for having to experience something that is rather traumatizing from a well known brand for their excellent service. Once again, truly disappointed by that man’s rude, boisterous and monosyllabic attitude and response and I sincerely hope that you can educate your staff members more and such incidents to ever happen again. I do not want to tell my friends ‘No.’ (With no explanation at all) when they ask if I would like to eat at 18 chef in the future. Thank you and I hope you can get back to me.
Sincerely,
Darren Chua
Source: Benny Se Teo
A dining operator at the National University of Singapore (NUS) was found to have served non-halal roast beef at a halal counter earlier this month.
The beef was served at two dining halls for students from four residential colleges at NUS on Oct 8. Close to 2,400 staff and students, including about 80 Muslims, attended the dinner.
A spokesman for Chartwells, which was appointed the dining operator for both halls in June, told The Straits Times that the lapse “is an isolated incident, resulting from a (chef’s) poor judgment call, for which the chef feels deeply regretful”. The chef had worked at the kitchens on the NUS campus for “a number of years” and has since been suspended, pending the outcome of Chartwells’ full inquiry.
When contacted, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) said Chartwells had breached conditions of the halal certification system, and that Muis “will be taking further action”.
Muis said the halal certificate may be suspended or revoked. Anyone found guilty of abusing the Muis halal certificate and logo could also be fined up to $10,000 or jailed for up to a year, or both.
An NUS spokesman told The Sunday Times that a Muslim student resident had told an academic staff member on Oct 8 that the beef served at a halal counter was prepared in an oven in a non-halal kitchen. Chartwells has halal and non-halal kitchens in NUS. NUS’ Office of Housing Services then immediately alerted Chartwells and apologised to the affected Muslims the next day in an e-mail.
The beef had been taken to the halal kitchens before being served at a halal counter, and the halal kitchens were closed after NUS learnt of the incident. They will reopen only after being re-certified by Muis.
While Chartwells is still serving non-halal food, it stopped serving halal food a day after the incident and was replaced by another halal-certified vendor, Eurest Catering. But some NUS students were uneasy with this arrangement.
Mr Syamil Maulod, believed to be from the University Scholars Programme (USP), posted on Facebook on Oct 10 that Eurest Catering and Chartwells belong to the same parent company, Compass Group.
“Our trust was violated. We do not feel it is right to engage the same (parent) company,” he wrote.
An article on The Cinnamon Roll, an official online publication of the USP, also said last Sunday that “most students, Muslim and non-Muslim, regard (the lapse) a serious breach of trust”.
The NUS spokesman said that getting Eurest to provide halal meals was an “interim measure” and a “third-party, external halal-certified caterer” has been providing halal meals since last Thursday. The caterer is not related to the Compass Group, said NUS.
Compass Group Singapore managing director Andrew Marshall said: “We deeply regret this issue… We continue to work closely with NUS and the student body to rebuild the trust of the community.”
A Cinnamon College resident, who declined to be named, said that NUS should have given an assurance earlier and asked the vendor to provide a public explanation.
“Only Muslims need to observe the dietary standard, but if you think about it, it is about food handling in general,” he said. “People who are vegetarians, or people who have allergies… we expect their needs to be taken care of.”
Source: www.straitstimes.com
Hi Nicole,
Just to help re-enforce some of the points made here ;-
I went to an Abbatoire in Turkey last year & took our kids (1 & 4 at the time), where they slaughtered 10,000 Qurb’an. Each one is done by hand.
To explain the pillars for the slaughter to be halal (permissible by God) are a) the person performing the slaughter must be Muslim b) he must pronounce the name of Allah c) he / she must use a very sharp instrument to cut the jugular in one swift cut, severing the jugular, windpipe / oesophagus.
When I watched the man performing the slaughter was constantly sharpening his blade on a slather around his waist. This ensured his instrument was razor sharp the whole time. He was extremely expert whipping around like a dervish, slaughtering at least 3-5 animals (sheep in this case) in a matter of seconds.
The animals is very unlikely to feel any pain, as the instrument is so sharp that by going straight through the neck & oesophagus it cuts off the oxygen to the brain and the animal passes out within seconds. A German scientist did a study comparing the Halal way of slaughter versus the stunning & other methods & he concluded the Halal method is far superior as the brain patterns show it is like the animal is falling asleep. The animals come out individually from a segregated enclosure & they are really not intelligent enough to figure out what is going on in that space of time.
Slaughter in this method is compulsory as the heart then pumps out all the blood & it is compulsory to drain out all the blood from the animal (they are hung up). There is a lot of science to back all this ancient wisdom up & it is to do with health reasons, as the blood can contain harmful bacteria.
The Western media in some cases may make it look like some sort of bloody occult ritual, as if people go to Makkah to bathe in the blood of camels & delight in the killing. They do have a habit of sensationalism, sometimes even turning things upside down to the confusion of the reader.
Halal slaughter is the most humane way to kill an animal. Whereas MNC animal slaughter has many cases where it is grossly inhumane & simply cruel in the extreme.
Part of Islamic teaching is to observe the act of halal slaughter, I have volunteered a number of times at the Mosque. It is very moving. On a smaller scale (80-100 sheep) a few of us will hold and stroke the animals to keep them calm. No animal likes to be manhandled, but it doesn’t mean they are in fear of being killed – they do not have awareness of this as they are segregated. When we witness the slaughter process we are less likely to take the steak & food we get served up on a plate for granted. It puts us in a higher state of gratitude. I encourage my children to see it and explain to them what it is about.
The Western MNC slaughterhouses are often really inhumane. The animals are backed up & stunned. They are in such shock & pain that the animals behind go into a state of fear & adrenalin is pumped through the body of the animal which hardens the meat. You can taste the difference with halal meat.
As a consequence of all this negative publicity animal rights movements have prevented people from being able witness this sacred ritual in Singapore, which is a great education for kids. In Singapore now for the past 4 years they have had to totally screen everything off, no observation points! How will kids learn to appreciate all this food they devour & take for granted? Isn’t it better they grow up to appreciate that an animal sacrificed it’s life so we can eat? In Singapore you never even get to see a cow or a sheep!
So as is often the case media critics have it wrong. The meat is distributed to the poor and needy as an act of alms giving. The act of slaughter is to represent the slaughtering of the ego.
I hope you will accept the invitation to come to Al Kaff Mosque, (next to where I live too) & we will be very happy to share more with you / answer all your concerns.
A last point is these animals are actually in submission. I can show you videos where animals will literally lie down and place their necks to be slaughtered. This is an act of obedience to God.
Have a blessed day.
Source: Tim Alden