The ‘No pork, no lard’ sign is a common one you’ll see in multicultural Singapore – and though it might not mean that the food served is 100% halal, it does imply some level of inclusivity for Muslims who worry about the potential for haram pork products finding their way into their dishes.
But when TikTok user @lunanguyen.hb or Luna first put up a video warning other Muslims to be wary when dining at peranakan restaurant chain Tingkat PeraMakan due to signage she found misleading, she received some rather unpleasant feedback in the comments section.
@lunanguyen.hb Don't overlook the signage Muslim friends!
♬ Oh No – Kreepa
The video showed her browsing through the restaurant menu board, which had sign at the bottom that she took to mean ‘No pork, no lard’ . However, she noticed that one of the dishes on the menu had the option of either chicken, beef or pork.
Presumably as a goodwill gesture, Luna wrote on her caption, “Don’t overlook the signage Muslim friends!” Harmless right?
Confusion over the sign
Some people thanked her for the tip and “looking out” for her fellow Muslims.
But there were a lot of people who believed the sign clearly said ‘No pork lard’ and began attacking her. A lot.
But there were other who argued that the way the sign was designed clearly meant “no pork, no lard.”
And then there were the meanies.
So what does ‘No pork, no lard’ mean?
In a thread by the official Twitter account of Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis), they stated, “Halal is more than just no pork and no lard.”
They went on to explain that a restaurant not being halal-certified doesn’t mean that all the food it serves is non-halal.
“That being said, whether you prefer Halal-certified products or are open to read through labels, let’s learn to accept differences and be respectful towards each other,” one of the tweets read.
It’s hard to separate culture when things like this happen. Only recently, NTUC Fairprice had to rename their Japanese Arabiki pork sausages because some felt it was misleading that the word ‘Arab’ was included on the label of a pork sausage. People are weird…
Sign has since been removed
According to comments from Luna, she said that when she visited the restaurant again, the sign had already been removed to avoid even more confusion (and fighting in the comments section).
She documented it in a separate TikTok video when she returned to the restaurant.
@lunanguyen.hb Replying to @clarence18181 ♬ original sound – ⓁⓊⓃⒶ
On top of that, Luna disabled the comments on her video, which is fine by us since we didn’t need to see any more English experts breaking down the concept of ‘no pork lard.’
What do you think? Is it ‘no pork, no lard’ or ‘no pork lard’? Is Luna in the wrong, or are the haters just too mean? Let us know.
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