Apa Ada Pada Nama

That’s Malay for “what’s in a name” which is exactly the topic for today.

We Malaysians are very particular when it comes to names. Names like Foch Avenue, Shaw Road, Mountbatten Road, Maxwell Hill, Jesselton are erased from our maps, replaced with Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lok, Jalan Hang Tuah, Jalan Tun Perak, Bukit Larut and Kota Kinabalu. Even my alma mater was not spared; there was a rumour back in the 80’s the government wants to change the name to Sekolah Menengah Lelaki Jalan Hang Tuah!

Then there is this controversy about naming the halal variant of bak kut teh, well, bak kut teh. Traditionally bak kut teh is meat bone eaten with tea. Since the inventor of this dish is Chinese and they love to eat pork, the meat bone tends to (almost all the time) originate from the banned (from the Islamic context) animal called a pig. A chicken bone version of bak kut teh, chick kut teh, has been in the market for a while now.

So you ask, what’s in a name? Everything, I say. I used to muck around about it as a younger man, to the chagrin of my mom, but now I see her point and I agree with her. Whoa, scary!

Putting “halal” before everything non-halal doesn’t make it halal. Bacon is bacon; it cannot be made from other things other than the lining from a pig’s stomach. So is beer, if it is not fermented hop or yeast, its not beer. Wine is wine and grape juice is grape juice. Therefore, beef bacon, turkey ham, non-alcoholic beers and wines are oxymorons.

I tend to agree with JAKIM’s stand of not certifying bak kut teh as halal despite its halal ingredients. Check out Munira’s comments here, it really makes a lot of sense.