Social media in Indonesia was abuzz recently after a man shared how shocked he was to find out that the mixed rice he ordered online contained pork. The Indonesian Muslim man had eaten almost half of the dish before noticing that the meal was non-Halal.
The man then recorded a video criticising the food delivery app and the restaurant for ‘hiding’ the non-Halal status of the dish. This was despite the fact that he ordered from a pork restaurant and that the description for the dish clearly stated that it contains pork.
Taking to Twitter to ‘warn’ others that food delivery apps may not show whether a dish is Halal or not, his video on the social media platform has since gone viral with over 8,000 quote Tweets and over 2,700 likes. However, most of the replies to the Tweet were criticism directed towards the man for not reading through the description before ordering.
Pesan makanan onlen.. Ternyataaa…. Ba bi pic.twitter.com/hj2Pd0CIoT
— Fahmi Alkatiri (@FKadrun) July 11, 2021
In the video, the man can be seen showing the ‘nasi campur’ or mixed rice being halfway eaten before saying,
“Astaghfirullahaladzim (I ask Allah for forgiveness). I just ate half of the portion of the food I ordered. Then when I browsed the restaurant on the internet, it turns out that this dish is non-Halal… I just had pork!”
The man then clarified that he ordered two portions of mixed rice from a restaurant called ‘Nasi Campur Kencana 99’ in West Java. However, the man seems to be oblivious to the fact that Nasi campur is actually a well known rice dish served with pork in many parts of Indonesia, including West Java, despite its direct translation literally meaning mixed rice.
He further clarified that he only thought about finding more about the restaurant while eating the dish. That is when he realised that the restaurant specialises in pork, with the dish he ordered consisting of Hainanese rice, lapciong (pork sausage) and bakso goreng (fried meatballs).
Following the tweet going viral, many Indonesian netizens criticised the man for making a scene out of a non-issue. One tweet with over 2,500 likes compared the man’s actions to other examples of people not reading the description prior to purchasing something. The comment reads,
“Ordering items online without reading the description first and then becoming angry when the item arrives. Purchasing electronic items without reading the manual first and when the item arrives, don’t know how to use it. Buying food online without checking first and feeling cheated when the food arrives. Why didn’t you read first?”
Another reply to the Tweet took a screenshot of the restaurant’s profile within the food delivery app and showed how easy it is to know that the restaurant is non-Halal. In fact, the screenshot clearly shows that the restaurant specialises in Chinese dishes and its meals contain pork.
Another reply, this time with over 3,200 likes shared the same sentiment and said that if the man doesn’t know what samcan, lapciong, bakut and other dishes’ name mean, he should search for their meaning first before purchasing and not only do his research after eating the food.
Let this be a lesson for all of us to do research before doing something, instead of only researching afterwards. Rather than blaming others, it is our responsibility as consumers to find out whether the item we’re purchasing fits with our needs or not.
What do you guys think of the whole incident? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
Also read: “Do better research” Travel Vlog Couple Called Out For Inaccurate Portrayal Of Malaysia
