FOR non-Muslim’s sake, the Madani administration has been enlightened that based on official Dewan Rakyat data in 2020, Malaysia issued a total of 5,791 retail liquor licenses nationwide for a population that currently stands at around 35 million.
On the contrary, Tamil Nadu which has a population of around 85.3 million in 2025 only had 4,765 TASMAC (Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Ltd) retail liquor stores before the reduction to around 4,048 stores after the recent mass closure order.
Such was the appeal by United Rights of Malaysian Party (Urimai) interim deputy chairman David Marshel in light of praises showered on former Tamil film megastar C. Joseph Vijay for having ordered the closure of 717 TASMAC liquor shops located near schools, places of worship and bus terminals across Tamil Nadu in his new Chief Minister (CM) capacity.
“The state of Selangor alone recorded 1,721 retail liquor licenses, followed by Sarawak with 1,212 licenses and Johor with 558 licenses,” lamented Marshel who is also a Malaysian Anti-Cheap Alcohol Movement (MACAM) activist.
“This shows that Malaysia has more retail liquor licenses than a large state like Tamil Nadu even though Malaysia’s population is very far smaller.”
Marshel who has been campaigning on this issue since 2014 through MACAM now wants the Madani government to restrict “the sale of cheap liquor which is too easily available in retail and convenience stores”.
“No doubt alcohol consumption is the right of adult non-Muslims in Malaysia. However, the main problem today is cheap liquor is too easily accessible to school pupils and youth under the age of 21 due to the oversupply of retail liquor licenses and weak enforcement.”
Editor’s Note: Marshel is the second social activist of Indian origin after renowned ‘kuil haram’ (illegal temple) activist Cikgu Chandra having called on the Madani government to emulate Vijay who is instrumental in shutting down 717 liquor shops in Tamil Nadu since assuming his CM-ship
As a solution, Marshel who was formerly the Seberang Perai City Council (MBSP) proposed the implementation of a nationwide special license system to enable the authorities to monitor the sale of alcohol in a more organised and professional manner without denying the rights of non-Muslim communities.
In his contention, reducing the sale of cheap alcohol can curb (i) social ills among youth; (ii) road accidents due to drunkenness; (iii) health problems due to excessive alcohol consumption; (iv) cases of domestic violence and family poverty; and (v) involvement of school pupils in the culture of drinking alcohol.
“Today, many leaders in Malaysia praise the actions of Vijay but unfortunately, they themselves don’t dare to implement a similar move in our country,” lamented Marshel.
The Madani government must prove that they’re really serious about protecting the younger generation and aren’t just concerned with tax revenue and government income from the alcohol industry which reaches billions of ringgit every year.
As the Urimai interim deputy chairman and a community activist, I demand that the Madani government:
- Cancel retail alcohol licenses in stages;
- Reduce at least 70% of existing retail alcohol licenses;
- Replace the existing system with a special premises license for the sale of alcohol;
- Tighten enforcement against sales to minors; and
- Ban premises selling alcohol near schools, places of worship, hospitals and residential areas.
Malaysia needs political courage to protect the future of the younger generation from the increasingly alarming threat of cheap alcohol culture. – May 18, 2026
