Interfaith advocate ‘embarrassed’ by SIA Muslim meal complaint, says people ‘conflate inclusion with entitlement’
An interfaith advocate has spoken out after a netizen raised concerns about Singapore Airlines’ (SIA) Muslim meals being heated in the same microwave as non-halal meals, calling the complaint “embarrassing”.
The discussion arose after Threads user @opsieeedaisyyyy, asked in a post on April 20: “Cabin crew SQ. You all serve pork, but how you heat it up with the halal meal?”
An SIA spokesperson clarified that even though the airline offers Muslim meals which are prepared without pork, lard, or alcohol, and sourced from halal-certified suppliers, the meals are not halal-certified as the serviceware used is not segregated by meal type.
Mohamed Imran Mohamed Taib, an advocate for diversity and interfaith dialogue, weighed in on the debate in a Facebook post on April 30.
“The issue about halal-certified food in SQ flight is unnecessary, and frankly, embarrassing to me as a Muslim,” he said.
Mr Imran pointed out the distinction between inclusion and entitlement, saying that SIA providing Muslim meals constitutes inclusivity, but to “demand the meals be halal-certified” would be entitled behaviour.
He noted that SIA had also stressed that meals are sourced from halal-certified suppliers. “To further question this is no longer a question of food but one’s attitude and trust,” Mr Imran added, saying that Muslims passengers could “choose not to partake” if they were in doubt.
Mr Imran also described the call for having separate microwaves for reheating halal and non-halal food “annoyingly puritanical”, “misplaced”, and “ignorant”.
Mr Imran is the founder director of Dialogue Centre and vice-chairperson of the Centre For Interfaith Understanding — both are interfaith organisations in Singapore.
Stomp has reached out to Mr Imran for comment.
‘Consumption of food is a choice’: Netizens agree
Mr Imran’s post garnered over 270 shares and 1,700 reactions, as many netizens expressed support for his stance.
“We cannot live in ethnic or religious bubbles,” one netizen mused, while another pointed out that “consumption of food is a choice”.
“We either trust and accept what is being offered in the right spirit or abstain. If we insist on certain certifications, to further prove the authenticity of the meal, then where do we stop?” the user asked.
However, another netizen disagreed, saying that consumers are “entitled to pursue what is best for them” and it was “reasonable to expect SQ to adopt proper processes and systems”.
“Must everything a Muslim ask for be scrutinised? This is a trend?” another asked, to which Mr Imran replied: “not everything. We only scrutinise unreasonable and frankly, ignorant requests.”
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