Moroccan Jewish farmer Jean-Yves Yoel Chriqui at his farm in Agadir.Photo: AFP

Hi guess what, this anger by the malays take the cake of stupidity! You might be angry with me you might not but let's read the news first!


Not in our backyard, villagers demand

Posted by kasee
Thursday, 10 April 2008
(NST) SHAH ALAM: About 200 people yesterday gathered in front of the Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah building, where the menteri besar's office is located, to protest against the state government's move in approving the RM100 million modern pig-farming project in Kuala Langat.

The protesters, residents of Kampung Tumbuk Darat, Tanjung Sepat, Tanjung Laut, Kampung Layang, Kundang and Kampung Indah, gathered from 10.30am, carrying banners to vent their anger over the decision. All the villages are located near the proposed project in Ladang Tumbuk.One of the protesters, Mohamad Tarmudi Tushiran, said many objected to the project on grounds of pollution and fear that it may spread vector-borne diseases, such as the Japanese Encephalitis outbreak in Bukit Pelandok a few years back. He claimed that small-scale pig farming had been going on for decades."We are worried that once the project takes off, the pig population will increase. This will aggravate the pollution further. We must also put up with the stench from the farm."
Tarmudi, who is also the Ladang Tumbuk village head, said tourism in Morib coastal areas as well as in Kelanang would also be affected given their proximity to what would be the biggest pig farm in the state.He also handed over a memorandum from the affected residents to Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim's political secretary, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, calling for the cancellation or relocation of the project to Pulau Ketam. -- Bernama

let's go to this wonderful news!

Pig Farm Bloom in Muslim Morocco

April 1, 2008 - 10:08AM
Shunned by most Muslim countries where pork consumption is a religious taboo, pig farming is booming in Morocco thanks to a growing tourist industry and pragmatic breeders.
"If there's tourism, it would be better to have pigs," said Said Samouk, 39, who raises 250 porkers at his farm 28 kilometres (17 miles) from the seaside town of Agadir.
After being battered by a wave of bird flu, he launched a pig operation 20 years ago in partnership with an elderly Frenchman.
Today, Samouk spins dreams of doubling his production within three years to help meet the demands of some 10 million tourists expected to visit Morocco in 2010 - up from 7.5 million who flocked to the north African country in 2007.
"I'm a practising Muslim. I don't eat pork and I don't drink alcohol but it's just a breeding operation like any other and no imam has ever reprimanded me for it," he said of raising pigs -- whose consumption is prohibited in both Islam and Judaism.
Outlawed in Algeria, Mauritania and Libya, pig farming is nonetheless authorised in Tunisia as in Morocco, to cater to the flocks of European and other non-Muslim tourists who head to north Africa's spectacular beaches and deserts.
"Our clientele is 98 percent European. They want bacon for breakfast, ham for lunch and pork chops for dinner," said Ahmad Bartoul, a buyer for a large Agadir hotel. Signs are posted on buffet tables to avoid any confusion about the meat's origin.
Morocco's swine industry comprises some 5,000 pigs raised on seven farms located near Agadir, Casablanca and the north-central city of Taza. The breeders include a Christian, two Jews and four Muslims.
Annual production is currently estimated at 270 tonnes of meat, bringing in some 12 million dirhams (1.6 million dollars) in revenue.
The breeders include Jean Yves Yoel Chriquia, a 32-year-old Jew who owns the country's main pork processing factory along with a farm of 1000 pigs. Chriquia also buys pigs from Samouk and another local farmer at 22 dirhams a kilo.
Four times a month, he goes to the slaughter house in Agadir -- but must enter from a door other than that used for deliveries of meat that is halal, or authorised under Islam.
"We have a special place for this sort of slaughter. After cutting up the meat and getting the veterinarian's stamp, we transport it to the factory and put it in cold storage," Yoel said.
Almost 80 percent of his products are earmarked for hotels in Agadir and Marrakech. The rest heads to supermarkets and butchers -- and to feed some 220 Chinese workers building a nearby motorway.
"My wife was certain we would never find pork because we were in a Muslim country," said French retiree Bernard Samoyeau, as he ordered pork at a butcher in Agadir. "We have been pleasantly surprised."
Yoel is also pleased.
"We have more than doubled our sales in three years and it's starting to snowball. But since we rely on tourism, we must be careful," he said.
The Moroccan farmer speaks from experience: the 1990 Gulf war, the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, and the 2003 invasion of Iraq ultimately forced him to shutter his last business burdened by 2.8 million dirhams of unpaid bills.
Three years ago, he opened up a new company that employs 31 people.
"Hotels all over Morocco are calling me up for deliveries, but for the time being I can't respond to all the demands. We're getting there, little by little," Yoel said.
Nor does he see a conflict between his job and his Jewish faith.
"Religion is a private matter. What I do is just another way to earn a living and my rabbi has never said anything about it," he said.
AFP

So what gives really? I have always told and I believe sincerely that it is not a crime to keep pigs for commercial purposes, it is only forbidden to consume it or touch it if it is wet. It is not even HARAM unlike liquor. But sadly the Malays knowing that liquor is haram in fact a great sin still could close one eye to those who drank but become hysterical when it comes to Pigs or Dogs. I do not understand? I just wonder aloud at this puzzle with amusement and sometime with disdain.

Not i do not consume pork but I have a high regard for all living things for they are all creatures of God and since we pride ourselves as the 'khalifah' we should show the same respect to these animals and act as the khalifah or guardian as required. We took great pride in showing and baying that as a Muslim we should have high ideals but this glib is a sore point that need to be corrected. What Selangor is proposing is a hight tech husbandry with the state of the art technology so that the pig farming in Malaysia could be revolutionise. The monies is not the state coffers but from those entrepreneurs who show wisdom of getting pig dollars! Selangor state government understand the sensitivity but sadly stupidity of the Malays. And now since they are in the opposition they are championing this uproar forgotten to be good wakil rakyat for the state and to make sure the malays understand the need to clean up the pig farms in malaya which has resulted in the JE outbreak. Yes, Pig Farms in Malaysia are dirty, pig itself are dirty creatures so it is important to keep farm as hygenic as possible or not the idea of turning Selangor into a develop state bt next two years is just pipe dream.

The Malays must put aside sentiment and study the DOE studies made. Look at the proposal and if need be ask the designated place to be move a bit futher but remember that we are sharing our place with others too! They must be a spirit of give and take as it once was 50 years back!