Halal and Malay Middle-Class Mobility in Malaysia

Abstract

In this chapter, I discuss the way in which Islam has been nationalized and halal has been standardized in Malaysia. This has taken place through Malaysia’s bold halal vision. I will provide a glimpse into Malaysia International Halal Showcase (MIHAS), social and physical mobility among the Malay middle class, food and middle-class practice, the ethnic Chinese and Malay other, and middle-class Malays in London. These discussions provide the reader with a broader context for exploring “halal” using a multisited perspective that follows Malays from Malaysia to Britain and traces the global circulation of halal commodities. I show that halal has become entangled in complex webs of political, ethnic, and national significance in modern Malaysia. The concept of a “frontier” refers to different arguments presented in this chapter. Malaysia is a good example of a frontier where different class, religious, and ethnic cultures interpenetrate in a dynamic manner. As we shall see, in modern Malaysia, halal is no longer a question of a national or inner frontier but part of a vision to globalize halal markets on a frontier such as London.