Non-halal meals to be added under govt's 'Menu Rahmah' cheap meals programme

The newly launched affordable meal initiative Menu Rahmah will soon have non-halal ingredients to cater for non-Muslims, says Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Salahuddin Ayub.

The programme, currently involving 15,000 halal outlets, will be expanded to non-halal restaurants that serve pork and non-halal chicken, he told the New Straits Times in an interview.

"If it's pork, then what kind and which part would be suitable as there may be premium cuts, just like chicken," he was quoted as saying.

Menu Rahmah, under which restaurants offer a complete meal for just RM5, was launched last week as the government's response to the rising living costs faced by the B40 group.

Salahuddin, who is also Amanah deputy president, said he was inspired to come up with the "initiative" after many of his constituents in Pulai, Johor approached him for aid.

"In 2020, I started seeing many Chinese constituents making a beeline for my door.

"I got in touch with (former deputy women, family and community development minister) Hannah Yeoh and Seputeh MP Teresa Kok," NST quoted him as saying.

Menu Rahmah has been compared to a similar initiative under the administration of former prime minister Najib Razak, who in 2011 launched Menu Rakyat 1Malaysia, where participating eateries offered meals for as low as RM2.

The programme was later abandoned as restaurants found they could not cope with the rising food prices as well as operational and labour costs.