THE devil’s brew is in the headlines again. Be it from the point of sales and displays at supermarkets or the altogether more tragic Klang accident involving an intoxicated driver which claimed the life of a father of three.
Hence, there was a timely call to the government to curb sale of alcohol at convenience stores by popular health and medical influencer Dr Malar Santhi Santherasegapan who is popularly known as Dr Malar on social media.
For starters, the Kuantan-born medical practitioner had urged the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry to ban the sale of alcohol at convenience store chains such as 99 Speedmart, 7-Eleven and KK Super Mart.
It was even suggested that this ban should be extended to all convenience stores, grocers, supermarkets and hypermarkets so as to respect the sensitivities of Muslim workers.
Moreover, Dr Malar also passionately argued this would allow workers of the Muslim faith to earn a halal living.
But the Health Administration in Healthcare Management master’s degree holder was also quick to acknowledge that her plea may be perceived as “menunggang agama” (riding on religious sentiments).
This is when she admitted to a more personal reason for her call: drastic measures are needed to curb alcohol-related ills that plagued the Indian community. Such a ban would curtail easy access to the demon alcohol.
The views of the 43-year-old Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) alumnus was shared on Facebook by content creator Syafiq Fitree who opined how brave it was for Dr Malar to call for such a ban regardless of the impending abuse that will surely come her way.
It was also noted that this was clever “psychological warfare” from Dr Malar who used the dominant religion in Malaysia to put across her views as well as address the impact of alcohol abuse in her own community.
While some cynics may be sceptical of Dr Malar’s call on behalf of Muslim staff at these convenience stores and hypermarkets, Syafiq believed it was a clear warning from a medical practitioner who sees the devastation caused by alcohol abuse on a daily basis.
The travel content creator then asked if the sale of alcohol beverages be completely banned as suggested by Dr Malar or should there be special counters at these points of sales that are manned by non-Muslims?
The post has generated 13K likes, 1.2K comments and 3.3K shares denoting this is currently a hot topic.
More than a few Muslim commenters praised Dr Malar who is a non-Muslim for having the gumption to speak up “when many Muslims are muted in expressing the bitter truth”.
One commenter even claimed that it was an offence under the Syariah law for a Muslim to be involved in a transaction involving alcohol, relating an incident whereby a staff at a 99 Speedmart outlet was reprimanded by a vigilante that s/he could be reported to the religious department on the matter.
However, the vigilante ended up getting condemned for his good intent to help his Muslim brethren who was perceived to be a victim of circumstances.
Quite a few agreed, including non-Muslim commenters, that it is a good idea to curb easy access to the devil’s brew, contending that specific non-halal counters or shops be set up for this.
Others agreed with Dr Malar and called for a total ban on grounds that sale of alcohol benefitted nobody.
In light of the most recent accident in Klang, emotions are running high and many will feel that it would be better to at the very least limit the sale of alcoholic beverages.
But a total ban would have serious economic repercussions, not just for the breweries and vendors such as 99 Speedmart but also for the multitude of workers who may find themselves out of work. – April 1, 2026
Main image credit: Syafiq Fitree/Facebook
