1

ISSUES AND CHALLENGES OF FOOD SERVICE

INDUSTRY IN MALAYSIA
BY
AZUATI BINTI MAHMUD
#2017669096
(Contemporary Issues in Customer Service)

1) HALAL ISSUE

 THE USING OF WINE AND ALCOHOL IN FOOD

- Used as flavor to make the food become more tasty and delicious to eat.

- Manufacture of cakes and pastries as baking powder.

- Alcohol had been identified in soft drink products in 2010.

 THE USING OF GELATIN IN FOOD

- Hot issues for people across the world including Muslims when they know
the source of the gelatin is from the bones and the skin of animals.

- For this issue, Muslims must ensure that these animals are slaughtered
by Muslims and obey the syariah.

REGULATOR: JAKIM

2) HALAL LOGO

- The problems arise due to the local food manufacturers that did not
comply with the Malaysian Halal Standards as well as they cannot prove
any documents indicating that their product can be labelled as halal.

- A except from the Malay MAIL online paper dated Sept 26 th, 2016 said
that a proposed new halal logo for Muslim-made products is illegal unless
 2

certified by existing regulatory authorities like the Department of Islamic

Development Malaysia (Jakim), its director-general Tan Sri Othman
Mustapha. (paper clipping attached)

REGULATOR: JAKIM and Malaysian Halal Standards

ISSUER: The Malaysian public

3) HALAL CERTIFICATE

- Halal certification is becoming another issue of halal, where the

manufacturers or food producers still use the same halal certificate even
though the certificate is already expired.

- Not only the Halal certification was issued to the F&B industry but it was a
caused of concerned in the medical aspects as well. As reported in the
New Straits Times paper published in March 18, 2018, the Health Ministry
has urged Muslim parents not to doubt the halal status of vaccines
administered on their children, including that for diphtheria. According to
the Health Deputy Minister Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya, the ministry
conducts checks on all vaccines it obtains and rejects those containing
porcine deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Despite this, he said that there are
Muslim parents who still refuse vaccines for their children due to doubts
over their halal status. (attachment provided)

- The Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) is expected to

introduce halal certification for medical devices in the third quarter of this
year. Once the halal certification is implemented, the recipients will
include the synthetic bones produced by the Ministry of Science,
Technology and Innovation with Sirim (Standards and Industrial Research
Institute of Malaysia), mentioned by Halal Hub Division director, Datuk
Sirajuddin Suhaimee in the Malay Mail paper dated 9th February 2018.

Regulator: JAKIM, SIRIM, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Science,

Technology and Innovation
 3

- Report in 2016, Malaysia must rename hotdogs or risk being refused

halal certification. The ruling, which also includes other food items
whose name includes the word “dog”, has garnered much ridicule on
social media. It follows complaints by Muslim tourists from overseas,
said Sirajuddin Suhaimee, director of the halal division from the
Department of Islamic Development. “Any (halal) products that make
consumers confused, we have to change,” he said. In Islam, dogs are
considered unclean and the name cannot be related to halal
certification. Numerous street vendors and halal restaurants sell
hotdogs in Malaysia. US pretzel chain Auntie Anne’s, which has 45
outlets in Malaysia with plans to expand further, told AFP it has no
qualms about renaming its pretzel dogs — sausages wrapped with
pretzels — following advice from religious authorities. Sirajuddin, who
recommended pretzel dogs be called pretzel sausages, said Aunty
Anne’s halal certification application is currently being considered.

Regulator: JAKIM
Issuer: The Malaysian public
SERVICE PROVIDER: Auntie Anne’s

4) LACK OF HALAL AWARENESS FOR YOUNGER GENERATION

- The problem held in Muslim Gen Z is they lack of awareness in choosing

food industry to consume. Some studies have shown that the lack of
knowledge, awareness and understanding of the halal concept between
Muslim producers of halal products may lead to the declining values of
halal-ness. Some of Gen Z lack of awareness that they didn’t get noticed
the halal logo or certificates by JAKIM to consume food and beverage in
specific restaurant or product bought.

- Halal knowledge, information and education by the government agencies

are perceived as lacking.
 4

- Hence, the lack of a scheme and authority for systematic monitoring and
controlling of the halal control points throughout the marketing chain,
together with the lack of a trustworthy halal quality signal or label (Riaz,
1996), drive consumers to seek additional reassurance through civic
quality coordination. Perhaps one may argue that the major challenge for
the implementation of a successful Islamic branding lies in overcoming
the existing problem of standards and holistic principles as well as the
establishment of independent control mechanisms that signal halal quality
through a trustworthy label.

REGULATOR: JAKIM

5) ISSUE ON SELLING FAKE RICE

- As reported on The Star Online in 17th June 2017, The Agriculture and Agro-
based Industry Ministry has found no artificial substance in the Super Special
Rambutan brand Five Percent local rice based on the preliminary tests that it
carried out. The ministry said the examination and investigation were carried
out on the brand's rice mill in Mergong, Alor Setar, following a viral video that
claimed that the rice contains traces of plastic. But it causes consumers to
panic without a doubt.

REGULATOR: The Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry/ Kedah

Paddy Regulatory Office
ISSUER: The public
SERVICE PROVIDER: Cap Rambutan rice mill, Mergong, Kedah.

6) FOOD WASTAGE

- Gathered from the consumer kini portal, MALAYSIANS waste a lot of food.
But few people take heed. Malaysians go on a food-wasting-spree and
without remorse. So, despite noisy, spirited occasional complaints about
prices of foodstuff, many Malaysians are still perennial food wasters. It is
estimated that in a household of five, RM2,700 worth of food per year is
wasted. (12 June 2017 The Star)
 5

REGULATOR: FOMCA, NCC

ISSUER: Johan Jaaffar , a journalist with The STAR
SERVICE PROVIDER: The Malaysian public
(http://www.konsumerkini.net.my/v1/index.php/berita-terkini/isu-
makanan/1114-the-need-to-manage-food-waste

7) HALAL AND NON-HALAL TROLLEYS IN SUPERMARKETS

- Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister had caused an

uproar when he announced that his ministry was considering legislation to
segregate trolleys at supermarkets nationwide, using different colors, such as
red for non-halal products. He had explained that the move was to ensure
that Muslims would not have to “worry” if the goods they bought had mixed
with non-halal items saying that the proposal was still at the discussion stage
and required comprehensive study due to the expected high costs that
supermarket operators will have to bear. While some Malaysians see eye to
eye with government on the idea, others were bewildered by the suggestion
and dismissed the need for a separate halal counter or trolleys, with non-
governmental groups like Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) saying the
proposal is impractical. "Islam is not about making things difficult," Isma's
president Abdullah Zaik Abdul Rahman had pointed out in an interview with a
local English news daily. As expected, the minister's proposal to make
supermarkets separate trolleys for halal and non-halal goods has triggered
mixed reactions from the general public, even gaining international media
attention with several Singaporean news organization running news reports
citing that the move was another example of increasing Islamic conservatism
in Malaysia led by government officials, Strait Times reports. (Utusan
Malaysia, 2015).

REGULATOR: Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism,

FOMCA, PPIM
ISSUER: Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism, JAKIM
SERVICE PROVIDER: Mercato supermarket, Hartamas Shopping Centre

There are articles, reports and also journals addressing the issues on halal products
and its issues also pertaining to current issues in Malaysia that I have attached
together for your perusal.
 6

Thank you Dr. Khirzan.

ISSUES IN BANKING MALAYSIA

BY
NURAISYAH DIN
#2014965235
(Contemporary Issues in Customer Service)

Regulator
1. Bank Negara Malaysia
2.The Minister of Finance

There are a lot of weaknesses in the Malaysia financial institution services

nowadays. “In a fiercely competitive market, non-price factors like customer service
had become more important” (Kotler, 2003).

There are three factors and issues that will influence the customer satisfaction in
banking which are tangibility, responsiveness and assurance.

1) Issues in tangibility, which is the physical evidence of service (Lassar et al.,

2000).

- The major problem of the local banks is the issue of the banking service
hours. Previously, Malaysia banking operating hours is from Monday to Friday
10 am to 4 pm. The bank operation hour is different in each state. This
adjustment is made because there are quite a lot of customer complaints
about the operating hours of the local bank, so the trend has changed based
on the customer.

2. Issues in responsiveness which is the concerns of willingness or readiness

of employees to provide services (Lassar et al., 2000).
 7

- The personal quality and skills of the bank officer can be a problem as well.
The officer who works in the bank may lack of skill on providing services to
their customers. This is the main issue which will affect the customer
satisfaction level in that particular bank. It is concerned about the staff’s
attitude and behaviour in the bank will bring a lot of good performances such
as serve their clients politely, immediate response to the problems of the
customer and so on. As compared with the foreign bank, they will concern
more on their workers in personal attitude and behaviour, their service quality
is the main reasons that uphold the bank reputation and retain their
customers.
-
3. Issues in corresponds to the knowledge and courtesy of employees and
their ability which is to inspire trust and Confidence (Lassar et al., 2000).

- Assurance about security relates to the extent to which the web site
guarantees the safety of customers` financial and personal information, an
area which has witnessed a proliferation of research interest (Kimery &
McCord, 2002; Miyazaki & Krishnamurthy, 2002). To overcome these
problems, bank should implement the online banking system in order for their
customers to deal with a bank with out of bank operating hours.