PETALING JAYA: The Islamic development department (Jakim) directive from 2020 which banned products containing non-Islamic festive greetings being put on display is no longer applicable, the department said.
According to Jakim, there is no restriction for premises with halal certificates from writing festive greetings on cakes and related products.
Jakim also said that it will continue to review and reevaluate Malaysian Halal Certification Procedure Manual (MPPHM).
“Based on Jakim's statement, it is clear that there is no restriction for business premises that have a Malaysian Halal Certification to write any festive greetings on cake orders or anything similar.
“Jakim will review and re-evaluate any related matters in the MPPHM.
“With this explanation, Jakim's previous statement in 2020 is no longer applicable,” Jakim’s Corporate Communications department under the Halal Management Division said in a statement on Monday (Dec 18).
On Saturday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Dr Mohd Na’im Mokhtar said there are no restrictions on halal certificate holders writing celebratory festive greetings on cakes for customers to take home.
This followed an internal memo from a cake house purportedly telling its staff not to write Merry Christmas or X'Mas on their cakes, even on request from customers.
Instead, employees were told they could provide a "Season's Greetings" cake topper.
In the circular dated Dec 14 and signed by the bakery's operations manager, the justification for the decision was to comply and meet the halal certification requirements by Jakim.
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