To commemorate the Year of the Pig (in 2019, according to the Chinese calendar) the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) unveiled specially minted coins featuring the zodiac animal imprinted on a background of Pulau Ubin.
The limited edition coins are part of the Singapore Fourth Chinese Almanac Coin series and will arrive in different versions and metals. Provided you’ve got the enthusiasm for swine-themed collectibles and the change to spare, you could be forking out as much as $16,388 for a set of silver and gold coins.
But the story here is not about the coin itself, but the question of whether it’s offensive to Singapore’s Muslim community. Spoiler alert: It’s not, because it’s only explicitly forbidden for Muslims to consume pork and pork products (as well as wearing items made from pig skin). Plus, it’s not as if the porcine pieces are the default new currency — they’re novelty items that nobody is being forced to purchase. So yeah, unless they somehow manage to fit in bits of hog into the minting process, we’d say nobody ought to be offended.
That didn’t stop folks from debating in the comments section though. Muslim folks as a whole voiced out that there’s nothing wrong at all with the coins.
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