M’sian Confronted for Hanging “Tanglung” as Decorations at Her Chinese-Muslim Restaurant

Many restaurants in Malaysia serve food that fuses dishes from different cultures, hence the term ‘fusion food’! Some of these restaurants are also known to transform commonly labelled “non-Halal” food into Halal food, allowing Muslims to enjoy dishes from other cultures as well.

One Chinese-Muslim restaurant owner decided to decorate her eatery with tanglungs (lanterns), considering she sells Halal Chinese food. However, not every customer was happy about this.

The restaurant owner, Wa Nita Ini, took to her Facebook page to share how a customer had confronted her for having Chinese lanterns at her Halal Yong Tau Foo restaurant, believing that the lanterns insinuated that the eatery was non-Halal.

She wrote, “Today, there was a customer who asked me to recite the 2 Kalimah Syahadah (an Islamic oath).”

“Is this a Malay shop or a Chinese shop? Are you Muslim? Who is the owner? Then why are there lanterns?” the customer apparently asked her.

The owner went on to explain that she respects the customer’s concern as in Islam, one must know what they’re putting into their body. But, she didn’t like how the customer handled themselves.

“Yes, I respect it. In Islam, it is mandatory to monitor our source of food. It’s just the way it was said, it was not very nice,” she said.

Upon being confronted, she explained to the customer that she was the owner of the restaurant and that they serve Chinese-style Halal food, hence the lanterns.

“That wasn’t enough for them. They asked me to recite (the oath),”

“It’s okay, as long as they are happy. It’s just that, even tanglungs can become an issue. And we say we’re 1Malaysia. For me, a tanglung is just a decorative lamp,” she added.

It’s truly amazing to see how the restaurant owner handled the situation with grace.

Do you think it’s okay for restaurant owners to decorate their eateries based on the culture’s food that they are serving? Do feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.

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