JAKIM: Writing ‘Merry Christmas’ on Cakes Won’t Affect Halal Certification as Claimed by Local Bakery

The Malaysian Islamic Development Department (JAKIM) has debunked a viral post showing an internal memo from a local bakery that claimed that writing “Merry Christmas” or “Xmas” on cakes would lead to Halal certifications being retracted.

On the contrary, JAKIM clarified that there is no such practice in Malaysia and that Halal certifications won’t be affected by writing seasonal greetings on cakes or similar.

In a Facebook post, JAKIM asserted,

“Once again, we would like to inform that there is no obstacle for Malaysian Halal Certificate (SPHM) holders to write any form of writing related to celebration greetings on cakes or similar.”

JAKIM further elaborated that such an issue has popped up before, with the department already debunking a similar claim back in 2020.

The department thus asked SPHM holders to refer to JAKIM or respective state Islamic Development or Islamic Religious departments should they have any confusion regarding Halal certifications in our country.

In the internal memo by a local bakery that has gone viral on social media, the company’s operation manager told all counter and decoration workers not to put the words “Merry Christmas or Xmas” on their cakes and replace them with “Season’s greetings” instead.

The internal memo also claimed that the reason behind the directive is that the company is an SPHM holder and doesn’t want its certificate to be retracted.

So, what do you guys think of the whole situation? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!

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