Halal Certification in Malaysia and Singapore: Culinary Infrastructure at the Intersection of Religion and Politics by Mohd Syai
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Halal Certification in Malaysia and Singapore: Culinary infrastructure at the intersection of religion and politics by Mohd Syaifulzafni Abdul Aziz MBA (Applied Finance & Investment) National University, Malaysia B. Sc. in Business Administration (Finance & Economics) Drexel University Pennsylvania, United States of America Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Master of Arts University of Tasmania, Australia. September 2020 Halal Certification in Malaysia and Singapore: Culinary infrastructure at the intersection of religion and politics Declaration of Originality I declare this thesis contains no material which has been accepted for a degree or diploma by the University or any other institution, except by way of background information and duly acknowledged in the thesis, and to the best of my knowledge and belief no material previously published or written by another person except where due acknowledgement is made in the text of the thesis, nor does the thesis contain any material that infringes copyright. Authority of Access This thesis may be made available for loan and limited copying and communication in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968. -------------------------------------------- Mohd Syaifulzafni Abdul Aziz Date: 17 September 2020 Halal Certification in Malaysia and Singapore: Culinary infrastructure at the intersection of religion and politics Acknowledgments I am truly indebted to the Graduate Research Office of the University of Tasmania for the opportunity to share my experience in Halal development in Malaysia. The completion of this thesis has enabled me to put to use the knowledge acquired during my employment with the Halal Development Corporation and exposure to the Halal industry. The idea for this thesis emerged when I, together with senior government officials from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, participated in the 10th World Islamic Economic Forum in Dubai, 2014. Through discussions with a number of officials from key Islamic countries, I started to realise the varying understandings and approaches undertaken by those countries concerning Halal regulation and commercialisation. Despite subscribing to a similar religious faith, Muslim consumers in many ways are nebulous. However, the encouragement to delve into the topic came at the height of a series of my business trips to various regions in China as part of the One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative between China and Malaysia during 2014 and 2016. This experience provoked me to pursue and write about the politics of Halal. During this pursuit, I began to see the striking paradox between the need to promote Muslim trade and consumption among predominantly Islamic countries and also to address the states' concern about the spread of Islamic customs within the social and political sphere of the communist party. I approached the University of Tasmania and others with my expression of interest in conducting research on Halal. Among the earliest replies was that from Associate Professor Dr Nicki Tarulevicz, who has since been supporting my research and placing her trust in me to complete this thesis. A special thanks to co-supervisor Professor James Chin for his guidance and intellectual discourse that has enabled me to explore the topic and transition it into academic perspective. Also, thanks to my wife Fazlinda Kassim for her unceasing support and encouragement and to my three children for constantly reminding me of the thesis deadline. Finally, I would also like to thank all those who directly or indirectly have contributed to the completion of the thesis. Halal Certification in Malaysia and Singapore: Culinary infrastructure at the intersection of religion and politics Table of Contents ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................................... 7 ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................... 8 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 9 Background ................................................................................................................................. 9 The rationale behind the hypothesis ......................................................................................... 16 Research Questions ................................................................................................................... 18 The Conceptual Framework ...................................................................................................... 19 i. Certification: Culinary Infrastructure of knowledge and trust ......................... 19 ii. Claiming trust and authority: Institutionalising Halal Certification ................ 22 iii. Culture and Consumption .................................................................................. 28 Structure of this thesis ............................................................................................................... 31 CHAPTER 2: ISLAM AND MALAY IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ...................... 33 i. British Colonialism (1874 - 1942) ..................................................................... 34 ii. Japanese Occupation (1942 - 1945) .................................................................. 40 iii. From Malayan Union to the Federation of Malaya (1946 – 1963) .................. 44 Post-Independence Malaysia: Islamisation of a Nation (1981 – 2018) .................................... 45 iv. Mahathir Mohammad - Institutionalisation of Islam (1981 -2003) .................. 45 v. Abdullah Ahmad Badawi - Civilisational Islam (2003-2009) ........................... 50 vi. Najib Razak - 1 Malaysia and ‘Wasatiyyah’ (2009-2018) ................................ 51 Post-independence Singapore: Managing Malay and State Relations (1965 - 2018) ............... 53 vii. Lee Kuan Yew, Goh Chok Tong and Lee Hsien Long ....................................... 53 viii. The emergence and influence of Islamic missionary movement ........................ 59 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 60 CHAPTER 3: INSTITUTIONALISING AND REGULATING HALAL CERTIFICATION – MOTIVATION AND EXPRESSION............................................... 65 What constitutes Halal? ............................................................................................................ 66 Halal in Malaysia ...................................................................................................................... 69 i. Empowering JAKIM as an Official Certifier ..................................................... 71 ii. Institutionalising Knowledge and Practices through Standards Malaysia ....... 78 iii. Auditing for Ensuring Compliance .................................................................... 79 iv. HDC as a Promotion Agency ............................................................................ 81 v. Operationalising Halal by Supporting Institutions ........................................... 85 vi. Sanctioning and Regulating Halal .................................................................... 87 vii. Commercialising Halal: Its Diffusion into National Economic Influence ........ 87 Halal in Singapore..................................................................................................................... 89 viii. Mainstreaming of Halal by MUIS ..................................................................... 92 ix. HalMQ: Adaptation of religious practices into economic modernity ............... 95 x. Industry Support ................................................................................................ 97 xi. Audit and Enforcement Practices by Warees .................................................... 98 Halal Certification in Malaysia and Singapore: Culinary infrastructure at the intersection of religion and politics xii. From pacifying religious and minority rights to harnessing the economic potentials: The Role of Ancillary Institutions ............................................... 98 xiii. Regulating Halal through Audit and Enforcement .......................................... 100 xiv. Exploiting Halal Economic Potentials ............................................................ 101 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 102 CHAPTER 4: NAVIGATING HALAL – CONSUMERISM AND CORPORATION .. 106 Defining a Halal market .......................................................................................................... 106 Islamic Consumerism in Malaysia .......................................................................................... 109 i. Growing awareness, creating demand ............................................................ 114 ii. Halal adoption by companies .......................................................................... 116 Islamic Consumerism in Singapore ........................................................................................ 122 iii. Consumption for enacting belonging .............................................................. 126 iv. Halal adoption by companies .......................................................................... 128 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................