https://sg.yahoo.com/style/islam-growing-influence-malaysia-now-170000732.html
Islam’s growing influence in Malaysia is now reaching airline drinks trolleys
A splash of bubbly is a rite of passage on a long-haul flight, particularly in the premium cabins. It would have to be a very brave – or perhaps foolish – airline to contemplate dropping the tradition in favour of non-alcoholic options.
In the circumstances, then, you have to feel some sympathy for Malaysia Airlines, whose drinks menu has caused consternation among local lawmakers, who argue that the national carrier of a Muslim-majority country should not be serving alcohol.
The airline may not be the most widely used carrier for British holidaymakers, but it does run two daily services from Heathrow to Kuala Lumpur. More usefully, it also offers connections to other popular destinations, including Thailand, New Zealand and Indonesia.
While the airline has served alcohol for decades, its service includes plenty of nods to the national character, says Rhys Jones, aviation editor at Head for Points, a British travel advice website. “The female members of the cabin crew usually wear a traditional sarong kebaya dress, and much of the cuisine is Malaysian too,” he says.
At the same time, the airline has made no bones about serving alcohol to passengers who want it. That stance has now come under fire from an influential group of hardline politicians who have been voicing their objections in the Malaysian parliament.
Right now, there’s no sign of the anti-alcohol brigade getting its way. But the fact that such a ban has even been proposed reflects a clear trend within the south-east Asian country, which appears to be inching towards a stricter interpretation of Islam.
A hardening of attitudes
Given Malaysia’s history, that’s quite a turnaround. Ever since the country gained independence from Britain in the 1950s, its constitution has contained a commitment to freedom of religion. And with around one third of its citizens coming from non-Malay (ie non-Muslim) backgrounds, that principle has never been merely theoretical.
In recent years, Malaysian politics has shown a hardening of attitudes among younger Muslims. In 2023, one bombshell opinion poll from a reputable US firm found that 86 per cent of Muslims in the country would support replacing the secular legal system with Islamic law.
That poll isn’t an outlier. Support for Islamist politics has surged in recent elections, giving hardline groups a significant foothold in parts of the country. In the 2023 state elections, a coalition of Islamist parties known as PN (“Perikatan Nasional”) won almost two thirds of the 245 seats contested.
In areas where they have taken power, Islamist parties have introduced the sort of rules more commonly seen in conservative Muslim countries, including stricter dress codes and sex segregation in public spaces.
In some areas, their rise has been accompanied by thuggish street politics. The US think tank Freedom House has highlighted the case of a retail chain being pelted with petrol bombs after Islamists took offence at socks bearing the word “Allah”.
In such a climate, it’s unsurprising that alcohol has become a flashpoint. In theory, Malaysian law permits the sale of alcohol to non-Muslims, including in bars and restaurants, but this has remained contentious – particularly among the country’s elites.
Earlier this year, Malaysia’s prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, publicly admonished one of his ministers after it emerged that alcohol had been served at an official government function, in breach of local laws.
A few days after that, Malaysia’s largest private company, the oil giant Petronas, was forced to issue a grovelling public apology after its executives had been seen being doused with champagne at this year’s Singapore Grand Prix. Unsurprisingly, the scenes didn’t go down well with some Muslim groups.
Alcohol isn’t the only Western-style liberty to cause issues between secular Malays and their more hardline peers. Earlier this year, Malaysian pop fans were surprised when a music video from local girl group Dolla disappeared from the internet. It turned out that the group’s label, Universal, had withdrawn the video after the costumes and dance moves had been criticised by the Malaysian government’s minister of religious affairs.
The impact on tourism
Could this kind of shift towards conservative Islam put off Western tourists? The Malaysian government doesn’t seem to think so. Earlier this year it unveiled an ambitious goal to boost visits from this part of the world, with a target of 500,000 British tourists in 2026 – an increase of around 20 per cent on current levels.
Those who know the country well insist that the political climate should not be an issue for tourists who know what to expect. “Malaysia’s melting-pot mix of cultural groups, religions and traditions is one of the many reasons the destination is so fascinating, and I don’t think that’s going to change,” says Karin Kindler from high-end tour planners Hayes & Jarvis.
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“Part of being a mindful traveller – and a good guest – is to be aware and respectful of local norms, so we inform our guests in advance about topics such as dress and behaviour, regardless of where they’re going. If travellers are aware of those things in advance, it’s unlikely they’ll be surprised or impacted by them when they arrive at their destination.”
The Foreign Office advises British travellers to consider “dressing modestly”, particularly when visiting more rural areas. The advice for LGBT travellers is more cautious (given that Malaysian law still criminalises same-sex relations), but no more so than in other Muslim-majority destinations such as Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
As for Malaysia Airlines and the question of alcohol, it seems that the airline may have been granted a reprieve on that front. Just last month, Malaysia’s transport minister, Anthony Loke, explicitly defended the airline’s right to serve alcohol, pointing out that its policies were in line with carriers such as Emirates and Qatar Airways.
“We must recognise that international passengers come from diverse backgrounds,” he told the Malaysian parliament last month.
“If Malaysia Airlines were to impose a ban, it would immediately lose ground, particularly among businesses and international travellers,” said another parliamentarian.
Whatever happens at the next Malaysian general election (set to take place by 2028), it looks like that glass of in-flight bubbly is safe for now.
The global trend towards Islamic fundamentalism
Maldives
Few countries on Earth juggle a dual identity as starkly as the Maldives. While the private resort islands offer Western luxuries, life on the “mainland” islands is still governed by strict Islamic law. In the past, the Maldivian government has even used flogging to deter women accused of sex outside of marriage.
In more recent years, the Maldives has begun to express a more Islamist-sympathetic line in its foreign policy. Earlier this year, it banned all Israeli passport holders from holidaying in the country.
Turkey
For much of the past century, Turkey has wrestled with balancing its secular constitution with the pull of political Islam – a tension that’s only grown during the Erdoğan era.
In recent years, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his allies have initiated a clampdown on certain political freedoms, as well as a tougher approach to alcohol. The state now routinely enforces laws against selling booze within 100 metres (330ft) of a mosque or school, while penalising those who break laws around drinking in public.
Syria
The overthrow of the bloodthirsty dictator Bashar al-Assad was met with jubilation in parts of Syria. Yet the country’s future remains deeply uncertain under the leadership of former jihadi-turned American ally Ahmed al-Sharaa.
While al-Sharaa has pledged to build a freer Syria, early signs aren’t exactly reassuring. Earlier this year, sectarian thugs killed some 1,300 people – mostly civilians – in a 72-hour eruption of violence. More prosaically, political supporters of al-Sharaa have been involved in forcibly closing down bars in Syria’s diverse capital, Damascus.
Bangladesh
Like Syria, the south Asian country of Bangladesh finds itself at a crossroads following the collapse of Sheikh Hasina’s government last year. The interim administration says it wants to protect the country’s secular constitution but has struggled to resist pressure from hardline groups.
Earlier this month, it dropped plans to hire music and PE teachers for primary schools – a move widely seen as a sop to religious clerics who had objected to the teaching of supposedly un-Islamic activities in state-funded schools.
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