Perceptions of muslim government servants towards halal food logo in Pejabat Ladang Hutan Kemasul / Nurul Izzati Johari

Living in the new age of the world brings a significant impact on life. The idea of globalization that had been spread throughout the world affected not a few but all kind of industries. In the name of globalization, diverse facilities and technological advancement had been introduced. For the last few decades, Malaysia is one of the developing countries and faces sweeping technological changes in the food manufacturing industry. Globalization that occurs nowadays had been continually changes consumer lifestyles, tastes and preferences. Thus, various food products have been introduced for the convenience and enjoyment of people in their daily lives. These trending issues bring food marketer an idea on how to become more competitive than their competitors to enable the consumer to choose them as one of their food product preferences. The key areas for growth and development in the food processing industry in Malaysia are functional and convenience foods, food ingredients and halal foods. Nowadays, the awareness of halal certification and its practices are on the rise. More and more Muslims become receptive to the Islamic teaching and lifestyle. According to the department of statistic Malaysia, 2010, 61.3% is the proportion of lslam and it is the most widely professed religion and the percentage of non-Muslim in Malaysia is 38.7% where the religions is Buddhism (19.8%), Christianity (9.2%) and Hinduism (6.3%). Non-Muslim also affected on the awareness of halal food in Malaysia and they have positive personal attitude towards the consumption of halal food based to the empirical study (Rezai, et. al. 20 I 0). For Muslim, any issues related to halal and haram need to seriously consider as it is a part of everyday life. Because of these, Muslims had been strictly commandment regarding what they consume. In the Holy Quran, ALLAH S.W.T. commands Muslims and al I of mankind to eat halal things. ' ·O mankind! Eat of that which is lawful and wholesome, and follow not the footstep of the devil. Lo! He is an avowed enemy of you." (Surah al-Baqarah 2;168). Muslim all over the world are facing everyday problem related to the concept of halal and haram. This is because, not all the food products introduced or marketed can be consume by everybody, mainly to the Muslim consumer. The issue of purity of a product or service is sensitive to this community. Accordingly, every Muslim must concern about choosing the good and halal food. Department of Islamic Development Malaysia or JAKIM has set the principle the guidelines and principles by certified halal certificate to the food manufacturer in order to follow the Islamic guidelines in processing and handling the food products (Rezai et. al., 20 I 0). Besides that, the researcher added about JAKIM give an effort to Muslim in Malaysia to obtain only halal food by generated the importance of consuming product or services that follow Islamic halal guidelines. Besides that, the researcher also added for the marketer that had been obtaining halal logo or certificate, these create significant advantage to them compare to their competitors that do not have halal certification.