KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) has reiterated its stance that there are no restrictions for halal certificate holders to write any form of festive greetings on cakes or similar items.
In a statement issued past midnight, the department stated that the matter, which went viral recently, was not new and was addressed by Jakim on December 25, 2020 and November 1 respectively.
According to Jakim’s past statement issued on Christmas Day in 2020, its deputy director-general for operations, Datuk Abdul Aziz Jusoh, had said festive wishes are allowed to be displayed on a product, if it is not intended to be placed on display at premises that are halal certified or on the product itself that has the halal labelling.
“There are no provisions which touch on any festivities let alone Islamic festivities under the Malaysian Halal Certification Procedure Manual (Domestic) 2020 and the Malaysian Halal Management System, which is only binding to applicants and holders of Malaysia Halal Certification (SPHM),” he had said then.
As such, Jakim advised all SPHM holders to refer to the department or the respective state Islamic departments or councils in advance should there be any confusion regarding Malaysia’s halal certification.
The department added that clarifications involving halal issues that have gone viral can be referred to via the page https://sites.google.com/islam.gov.my/skkbph/laman-utama.
Jakim’s response comes after employees of local patisserie Berry’s Cake House were barred from writing “Merry Christmas” or “Xmas” on its upcoming Christmas-themed cakes.
This was verified by one of its staff members, who said they would instead be providing customers with “Season’s Greetings” card toppers.
However, the employee was not informed of the reason behind this confounding decision, which was only introduced this year.
Berry’s Christmas-themed cakes are expected to be launched next week.
According to a notice circulated online, the bakery’s employees are prohibited from incorporating “Christmas”, or its variations, to decorate their seasonal cakes – even upon customer requests. – December 17, 2023