Pig farm plan stirs protests among Muslims Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: A plan to build a major pig farm outside Malaysia's largest city has triggered protests by some Muslim residents whose religion considers the animal unclean.
About 200 people carrying banners staged a demonstration outside the Selangor state government's office Wednesday and handed a protest note to officials, the national news agency Bernama reported.
"We are worried that the number of pigs will increase and the environment will be polluted with the stench of pig waste," Bernama quoted a protester, Mohamad Tarmudi Tushiran, as saying.
Prominent newspapers published letters Wednesday from angry Muslims.
"They are challenging Muslims and stirring protests because a pig farm that involves such huge expenses is inappropriate for a country where Islam is the official religion," Mohamed Idris Abu Bakar, a federal government lawmaker, told the Malay-language Berita Harian newspaper
Selangor's new state government sprung a surprise last week by announcing efforts to open a 100 million ringgit (US$32 million; €20 million) pig farm by early next year on the state's outskirts near Kuala Lumpur.
The state's chief minister, Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, is a Muslim, but he is part of a multiethnic opposition alliance that took control of five state legislatures, including Selangor, in last month's general elections.
The opposition's inroads were helped by its pledge to promote justice for all ethnic communities. About 60 percent of Malaysia's 27 million people are ethnic Malay Muslims, 25 percent are Chinese, who are mostly Buddhist and Christian, and 8 percent are Indians, most of them Hindu.
Malaysia is one of Southeast Asia's biggest pork producers. But the industry — operated by the ethnic Chinese — remains a sensitive subject.
But Abdul Khalid, the chief minister, defended the plan, saying it would be environmentally safe and provide a centralized venue for all pig rearing in Selangor.
The project "will be implemented fairly in line with multiethnic harmony," Abdul Khalid said in a statement.