It’s the season of Ramadan bazaars and while the ongoing one at Geylang Serai is often known as the big or main one in the city, there are a couple of smaller-scale bazaars happening in different neighborhoods.
At Ramadan bazaars, visitors can usually expect plenty of food stalls that sell halal food, to cater to Muslims fasting during the month. However, at the Bazar Raya Utara in Marsiling, it was recently found out that there have been stalls selling pork at the bazaar.
In a post on the neighborhood’s official page, the committee wrote, “Marsiling Constituency Office discovered last weekend that there was a non-compliance at our Bazar Raya Utara in which stalls selling pork were included among the vendors.”
“The organisers have engaged with the operator and have taken immediate corrective steps to stop the sale of pork.”
They ended by saying, “Lastly, we wish to assure all our residents and patrons to the bazaar that we will do our utmost to provide as best as a Ramadan experience as we can, this includes performances during the weekends as well as halal/Muslim-owned and non-halal stalls to cater to all residents.”
The statement did not go well with the public.
Some felt that there was a lack of sensitivity towards the Muslims, given that it was labeled a Ramadan bazaar.
One suggested how to keep it Ramadan-friendly.
However, most of the commenters called for the bazaar to take out the Ramadan branding and call it a regular ‘Pasar Malam’ instead so they could also include non-halal stalls to sell food.
Should a Ramadan bazaar be a fully halal affair or is there space for non-Halal items and stalls to accommodate to all?
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