In the month of April this year, Malaysian actor Shah Radhi Hazfee announced his plan of opening a Halal pub, capitalising on the Malaysian Muslim craze of Halal-everything.
You might think this is an overly ambitious April fools joke, but the plan to open the halal pub is REAL and it’s going to happen, according to Shah.
In a recent interview with Gempak, he revealed that the halal pub is there to cater to usual pub-goers who do not drink but frequent pubs for the atmosphere.
“I have already gone to these pubs to do some research and I found that most of these youngsters went to these places just to hang out and enjoy the ‘vibes’.”
Shah hopes to fill the market gap by pioneering his halal pub and bringing it to a dimly lit shop lot near you.
“With the opening of my halal pub, I can still retain the ‘vibes’ of a pub without serving any alcoholic drinks. At least it can prevent youngsters from drinking alcohol.”
With the noble intention of preventing youth from drinking alcohol, it seems that the naysayers are probably just a little bit over sensitive with the words ‘halal’ and ‘pub’ used in a single sentence.
In fact, alcohol is actually shown to be one of the largest causes of negative health outcomes in Malaysia recently. Maybe Shah is on to something.
Will opening a halal pub do more harm than good? Share with us your thoughts on the matter in the comments section below.
Also read: This M’sian Celeb Plans to Open a “Halal Pub”, Immediately Gets Bashed by Netizens