On the 15th of January 2025, the headline in the South China Morning Post: “Ham sandwich scandal exposes tensions over halal certification in Malaysia”. The article written by Hadi Azmi reports the latest update on the ham and cheese scandal that has cheesed off many Malaysians.

Hi, my name is Terence, and I’m your host for the Daily Monsoon, where we take a look at the news and see what spiritual insights are there to be gained.

This is the scandal.

A student at University Malaya was shopping at the KK Super Mart convenience store when to the person’s horror, he discovered a ham and cheese sandwich.

Ham, as everyone knows, is processed pork. Muslims don’t eat pork. That is why pork and alcohol are not sold in shops, or if they are sold, there are prominent displays shouting this is not halal. This is to ensure Muslims do not accidentally sin.

The ham and cheese sandwich is thus a sign of casual disregard for Muslim sensitivities. And this needs to be brought to the authorities, namely social media. I would be interested to know whether there was any attempt to just bring it up to the university.

If the university disregarded the complaint I can understand the student’s frustration. However, if the student went straight to social media, then I would suggest the outrage provoked was intentional, and as has happened before, matters perceived as a religious slight become a national issue.

From the article, UMNO, a Malay nationalist party, has its youth chief Akmal Saleh saying, I quote, “Since when is ham considered halal, and how did this product obtain halal certification?”

Okay, before we continue, let’s get one thing clear.

When we live in a Muslim-majority country, I think it is right to do things according to the majority’s preferences as long as it does not excessively intrude on non-Muslim rights. In the same way, when a Muslim stays in a non-Muslim-majority country, he should not expect the wider community to label items as halal.

So, jokes aside, if pork is sold in a shop, it is a problem. But it is a problem that doesn’t have to be escalated to national outrage from the get-go. Outrage does not help national cohesion. It creates anger and fear, distrust of the other side.

When it is possible, it was all a mistake or just something that can be resolved.

Was it a mistake?

Was the ham in the sandwich actually pork? No.

I can understand the confusion. The first time I heard of turkey ham, I was confused. Ham is pork. What is turkey ham? Then I realised that somehow, ‘ham’ means processed sliced meat.

Incidentally, the word ‘ham’ according to the Oxford Languages means, I quote:

Old English ham, hom (originally denoting the back of the knee), from a Germanic base meaning ‘be crooked’. In the late 15th century the term came to denote the back of the thigh, hence the thigh or hock of an animal.

So, in the Old English, ham does not mean pork.

What about the word ‘hamburger’? You would think that hamburger is a combination of two words, ham and burger; that’s how we get chicken burger, cheese burger, and so on. But hamburger literally comes from the name of a German town Hamburg. It came from Hamburg, so it’s a Hamburger.

There is a pastry called the Berliner, named after Berlin. And you would know the Frankfurter, the sausage named after Frankfurt.

So, coming back to the ham. Now that the shop and supplier have made clear that it is not pork but rather chicken, that should let all the steam out of the argument. There was no insult. It was merely a misunderstanding.

But no… the story doesn’t end there. The issue has now turned to the halal label on the sandwich.

In an article posted in Free Malaysia Today, the headline reads: “Halal certification of meat doesn’t apply to the entire sandwich, says Jakim”. Jakim is the Islamic development department in Malaysia.

The supplier of the said ham and cheese sandwich has pleaded that the chicken ham is legitimately halal. So when they put it between two slices of bread and a cheese, they argue the sandwich is thus also halal. Jakim says no.

“What? That doesn’t make sense.”

Then, I gave the issue further thought. If I take two slices of bread and put a slice of halal chicken and give that sandwich to a Muslim friend, I think that is okay. Maybe a Muslim will tell me that it is not, but in my simple mind, I think my devout Muslim friend will appreciate it.

But can I put a halal sticker on my sandwich? No. That’s a whole different thing.

Jakim is right. If you have to jump through hoops to get that halal logo on your product, then you have to jump through those hoops.

This is not unreasonable. Take electronics, I can assemble many components which separately satisfy safety standards. When I make a million of them to sell, I am required to show that the final product, not just all the separate components, meets safety standards.

Some may argue that halal or not in food differs from safe or not in electronics, but I think the same principle applies to ISO certification or any other standard. It is not up to you to determine whether your process or product meets those standards, it is up to the accreditation body. The process may be difficult, maybe impossible, but that’s a whole separate issue and doesn’t give anyone the right to stick a standards met label on any item they want.

So far in this story, the Muslims were outraged, believing that pork was sold in shops. Then, others are outraged, dismissing Jakim as being unreasonable when they are not. Outrage after outrage.

Remember guys, there are people who get their kicks from other people’s rage. I say that is demonic. Demonic, not as in pentagrams or possessions, but demonic as in deriving some perverse satisfaction in anger, pain and conflicts.

We should not give demons the satisfaction.

Instead, university students should learn to address problems in a positive and constructive way. Their youthful zeal should not be steered by people with other agendas.

Instead, national leaders should exemplify wisdom and maturity and steer the country’s discourse towards national cohesion. Where there are real differences, and there always will be, true leaders demonstrate cool-headedness and effectiveness to bring people together, to speak the truth and to make peace.

“Blessed are the Peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”

This is the Daily Monsoon. Thanks for listening.