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KUALA LUMPUR: Opposition MP Hanipa Maidin claims that changing Malaysia’s palm oil campaign slogan to “Palm oil is a gift from God” could have a detrimental impact on the country.
The Sepang MP said that using “God” in the slogan may lead Western nations to associate it with sharia compliance, especially with increasing anti-palm oil sentiments in European countries.
“We need to understand that when we mention God, they will think that it is related to compliance with sharia.
“The minister is carrying out a campaign that is dangerous for the country,” he said during the debate on the Budget 2021 of the Ministry of Plantations and Raw Materials Industries.
Hanipa, who was a deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in the previous administration, also questioned the justification for changing the previous campaign slogan “Love My Palm Oil”, which was introduced by the previous government of Pakatan Harapan last year.
On July 23, the Minister of Plantation and Commodity Industries, Khairuddin Aman Razali, told Dewan Rakyat that the ministry would combat the growing anti-palm oil sentiment around the world with a new slogan: “Palm oil is a gift from God ”.
PAS’s Kuala Nerus MP said at the time that the change was to combat widespread criticism about palm oil’s negative impact on the environment.
In 2018, the European Parliament voted to ban the use of palm oil for biofuel production in the European Union (EU) by 2020, claiming that it wanted to stop the destruction of rainforests in Indonesia and Malaysia.
Khairuddin said Malaysia cannot afford to be always on the defensive when it comes to a commodity, but must take proactive steps and promote its benefits.
