KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 25 — Datuk Ramly Mokni is far from impressed by a local fast food chain’s move to name a pork burger after him.
The founder and owner of Ramly Group, the company behind the popular Malaysian food brand Ramly Burger, questioned non-halal eatery Ninja Joe’s claim to pay homage to him by calling the pork burger “P. Ramly” and added that he is consulting his lawyers after a Muslim consumer group highlighted the issue.
“I am leaving it to my lawyers to advise me on what to do. Personally, legal suits are not always the best way, but I will seek their advice,” Ramly told Malay Mail Online when contacted today.
“It is just confusing and wrong. Pay homage to my burger but using pork meat? You know how dangerous that move is don’t you?” he added.
Ramly said there have been previous reports to the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry on the confusion caused by the pork burger, but alleged that no action was taken.
Ninja Joe proprietor Kelvin Tan told Malay Mail Online that the name was chosen to pay homage to Ramly Burger when they launched the burger on Hari Merdeka.
“The Ramly Burger has been in Malaysia for a very long time; it’s iconic. It’s a homage to them,” he said, adding that the letter “P” stood for pork.
The local burger joint has outlets in Petaling Jaya, Klang, Seremban and Singapore.
But the real Ramly disagreed with Ninja Joe.
“No, no, you simply cannot do that saying it’s a homage. This is a very dangerous issue. If you want to do that for any halal products then it’s a different matter but this is not halal.
“People know that Ramly’s products are halal but with what they did, they might think, eh is Ramly now into non-halal products too?” he said.
Ramly added that Ninja Joe’s action could also cause conflict due to the similarity of its name to the late actor, singer Tan Sri P. Ramlee, who was also a Muslim.
Malay daily Berita Harian reported earlier today the Muslim Consumers Association of Malaysia (PPIM) as demanding action against Ninja Joe over its “P. Ramly” burger, claiming that the name “confused” the public, even though a poster of the product at a shopping mall in Petaling Jaya clearly stated that it was a pork burger.
Tan has since said posters of the “P. Ramly” burger would be removed and the product would be renamed.
“We are sensitive to public opinion; we’ll take it down.
“Somebody alerted me about it today on Facebook and we’re running a poll to see what name we should change it to. They gave good suggestions,” Tan added.
