An online petition made its rounds on the Internet recently, asking for “one more halal certified muslim stall at the arts canteen at nus [sic]”. “The Deck”, the canteen situated in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS), currently has only one Halal-certified stall, not including fast food stalls and the upper “Deck”.
‘Halal’ means “lawful and allowable” and certification has important consequences on the dining options available to Muslims. NUS is no stranger to the Halal requirements with every canteen and food court in NUS having separate tray-clearing facilities for Halal and non-Halal food. The problem is that for the Muslim student in FASS, there are basically only two choices: eat at the Muslim stall, which serves the usual fare of mainly Nasi Padang, or eat fast food.
This is also a problem at the other faculties, albeit a lesser one. “The Frontier”, the Science Faculty’s canteen, only has two stalls certified Halal. One is the “Indonesian Panggang” stall and the other sells Nasi Padang.
Amelina Abdul Ghani (Yr 3, Medicine) explained that, “we’re [the Muslim students] not asking for 10 Halal stalls, just maybe more than 1 so that we will have options, and hopefully healthy and affordable options.”
The creators of the petitions are Tehreem (Yr 3, Communications and New Media) and Mohd Ilham Firdaus (Yr 2, Social Work). Both of them emphasized that this was a petition that was “peaceful” and they were seeking merely to “gather responses from both the Muslim and non-Muslim community.”
“We, the creators, hoped that this peaceful petition could enable the authorities to know that the issue of food choice is significantly important to the student body, and it would be constructively addressed. We also seek to collaborate and cooperate in any suitable means that could benefit this process,” said Ilham.
“We hope that the existing stalls could apply for Halal certification in order to enable Muslim students to have an additional choice in affordable canteen food,” they added.
Amelina Abdul Ghani (Yr 3, Medicine) explained that, “we’re [the Muslim students] not asking for 10 Halal stalls, just maybe more than 1 so that we will have options, and hopefully healthy and affordable options.”
According to Tehreem and Ilham, the desire for such a petition arose when the new Western stall that opened in The Deck was not certified Halal. There might be a misconception that only traditional Malay food can be certified Halal but there is actually a wide range of food, including fast food, that can be certified Halal without affecting the quality, taste and appeal of the food.
As of 6th November, the poll has garnered 248 supporters (both Muslims and non-Muslims) for more Halal stalls in The Deck. It is not known how many of those polled are against the proposal or whether this will extend to the other canteens around campus.
Clovis Tan (Yr 3, Computing), current Welfare Secretary of the 34th NUSSU Exco, assured the creators of the petition that Ms. Jeslin Pang, Senior Manager (Retail & Dining Services), from the Office of Estate and Development (OED) has already been informed.
“We [NUSSU, in conjunction with OED] will take their needs into consideration when Arts canteen goes for renewal and re-tendering,” he added.
As far as The RIDGE understands, OED has attempted to convince stalls to apply for Halal certification and to invite Halal stalls to set up in The Deck without much success. Sources say that one complication could be the increase in prices if a stall applies for Halal certification. Despite these failures, OED is alleged to have assured the creators of the petition that there will be a minimum of 2 Halal stalls at The Deck come June 2013 and at least 2 Halal stalls in the new cafeteria in UTown.
Separately, dining options seem to be limited for vegetarians as well. The key for all the stakeholders involved is to try and balance affordability, variety and quality. Thus far, it is not an easy balance to maintain.
Nevertheless, Singapore is a multi-racial society and Muslims are an integral part of that society. If we consider NUS to be a microcosm of that society, it would be remiss not to at least consider the problems faced by fellow students in our community.
As of 6th November, the poll has garnered 248 supporters for more Halal stalls in The Deck.
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To give your feedback and suggestions regarding this matter, please go to: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDhZbkVhTXp6b1c5Tl90MUtaVmdNNkE6MQ
[Update 06/11/12: Ms. Jeslin Pang assures the students that “OED will work with NUSSU to look into this issue and bring in more halal stalls for The Deck when the leases are due for renewal next year.” The matter is now under discussion and the creators of the petition will soon present the collected data from the poll to OED.]
[Update 10/11/12: The creators of the petition speaks to The RIDGE and provides more details about the objectives and goals of the petition.]
[Update 12/11/12: OED says there will be a minimum of 2 Halal stalls at The Deck come June 2013 and at least 2 Halal stalls in the new cafeteria in UTown.]