EXPRESSING disgust at the narrow-mindedness of her own race, social activist-cum-human rights lawyer Siti Kasim is speechless that people would associate a brand with “Arab” spelling in it as having to be a Muslim-friendly product.
“Just because of the name ARAB, this fool directly associates it (the product) to Islam. Such is the mentality of our people … It has openly stated (in its ingredients section) that it contains PORK. We’re a very sick nation, people! 😩 ” she lamented in her Facebook page. “After this we can boycott Singapore… 🤭🤭🤭😂😂😂 ”
As expected, ‘it rains torrent” from netizens following Siti Kasim’s spicy remarks. First and foremost – from a linguistical stand-point – few netizens cleared the air that the sausage brand has no Arabic nor Muslim connotation whatsoever for “Arabiki” is a Japanese word which means “coarsely ground”.
One netizen teased that perhaps the “pork” wording is “not big enough”.
Another curious netizen wondered where to get his hands on those tantalising sausages while the other explained how an ignorant purchaser sparked the entire episode by having taken for granted that any “Arab”-bearing brand is halal (permissible for Muslim consumption).
Taking the debate a little further, some netizens contended that “not all Arabs are Muslims” in the first place.
To cut a long story short, “there are lots of uneducated/under-educated people who have been influenced/brainwashed by religious fanatics”, claimed some netizens.
At the end of the day, this incident is not the first and neither would it be the last. – March 21, 2024
