Of Religion vs. McDonaldisation

How would McDonald's have changed our lives over the years? Since the existence of Golden Arches in Malaysia, I remember that my not so well-to-do father only took me there once in a blue moon when I was young but nowadays, McDonaldisation have changed us Malaysians. We can practically sit there through the night till the wee hours of the morning for their breakfast studying, using their Wi-Fi and refilling our drinks - all for a cup of Regular Coke and a Medium French Fries. That is just sufficient. But that's not what I am going to tell you here.

I'm sure all of us remember the stampede that took place back in the year 2000 in which McDonald's Singapore introduces the Hello Kitty, now they are back again, not with the kittens anymore but with animals.

Of recent McDonald's in Singapore were place on the griller not over their beef patties but over the "pig zodiac" toys in which they wish to introduce in their Happy Meal. A set of 12-zodiac toys were introduced namely: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and CUPID!!! The missing animal which supposed to be the Pig was purposely left out for fear it might offend their Muslim customers.

According to the Straits Times, the fast food chain was apologetic about the initial decision to yank the pig character. McDonald’s Restaurants communications director Linda Ming said the chain excluded the pig toy out of sensitivity for its Muslim customers and chose Cupid instead to commemorate Valentine’s Day, which coincides with the first day of the Chinese New Year this year, on Feb 14. "We seek our customers' understanding that it has never been our intention to be disrespectful towards any religion or culture."

But the damage is already done. Blogs and forums are already calling it an overreaction and experts say it showed a lack of cross-cultural understanding. Sociologist Daniel Goh said that if McDonald’s did not consult Muslim opinions before making the decision to exclude the pig toy, the company had then assumed Muslim sensibilities, which amounted to a form of self-censorship.

Dr Mohamad Maznah, a visiting senior research fellow with the Asia Research Institute at the National University of Singapore (NUS), said to the Straits Times that she felt the restaurant was just being cautious, although she doubted the Muslim community here would have been upset if the pig toy had been included. Dr Syed Muhd Khairudin Aljunied, an assistant professor of Malay Studies at NUS, said, "Pigs and dogs are not non-halal, except when they are consumed."