The cow is a sacred animal for Hindus, but is it right to demand that Muslims in India cannot be allowed to eat or transport beef? Because it's “sensitive” or “offensive” to the majority?

In a multicultural society, let's learn to live and let live.

The respected former Sarawak chief minister Adenan Satem was reported as saying: “Sarawakians, whether they are Malays, Chinese, Dayak, Bidayuh, they live together, drink together, eat together, find partners together.”

What I admire about Sarawak is that Muslims, Chinese and Dayaks can sit together in a coffee shop. The Muslims eat their halal nasi lemak while the others eat non-halal kolo mee. Everyone is cool.

That's why Sarawak is the model for Malaysian racial harmony.

Cows, goats and pigs

Yes, admittedly, traditional pig farms in coastal Selangor, in Kuala Langat and Sepang, have issues with smell and pollution.

On Jan 10, Selangor ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah said he firmly opposed the renewal of licences for existing pig farms there.

However, are chicken, cattle and goat farms more “fragrant”? Or less dirty? Well, it all depends on how they are managed, right?

Even the cleanest animals will stink if they are not taken care of, and that includes pets. Think about cats in apartments that poop everywhere.

I had a friend who caught leptospirosis after accidentally swallowing river water while doing white-water rafting at Gopeng, Perak.

It's a serious disease from rat urine. Rafting guides told him the source was an unhygienic riverside goat farm.

As for cattle farms, they can spread various diseases to humans, such as Q fever, cryptosporidiosis, salmonellosis, E coli, and brucellosis.

So even farms that supply halal meat can be smelly, cause diseases and taint water. It's all about how they are operated.

Clean modern farming

To solve the problem of polluting pig farms, Selangor wants to relocate them to a modern eco-friendly system at Bukit Tagar to minimise odour, noise and pollution, said Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari.

This means zero waste emission, as everything will be in a closed system. Pig waste will be converted into biogas for electricity generation, explained Izham Hashim, the state executive councillor overseeing agriculture.

He added that the farms will be located away from residential areas and flanked by buffer zones.

For the record, Lam Sai Kit was the scientist who discovered that the Nipah virus from bats in nearby fruit orchards had transferred to pigs to cause a deadly outbreak in 1998.

He supports the Bukit Tagar plan as “modern and centralised pig farming enhances public health”, CodeBlue reported on Jan 23.

Centralised systems allow for engineered wastewater treatment, reducing pollution, he explained. It also allows veterinary disease monitoring and vaccination.

In short, the most reasonable opinion is that we need to clean up pig farming through modern methods, as done in Europe.

Emotional politics

But sadly, pigs and pork have become emotional religious issues, and rational debate starts to break down. Then, political calculations enter.

Perhaps that's why, on Jan 23, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim called for the proposed Bukit Tagar modern farm to either be put on hold or relocated due to “residents’ concerns”.

Yet, “residents’ concerns” have often been ignored when it comes to super high-density condos, local council elections or lately, the imminent destruction of parts of the Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve in Puchong, Selangor.

So, why is Anwar suddenly so sensitive to residents' unease over an eco-friendly pig farm?

“Even if the technology is the best available, if it causes concern in the area, it should not be allowed to proceed,” Anwar added.

So, it's a big no to modern science and yes to emotional fears and possible loss of votes - when the issue is blown up by the usual suspects.

The reason earlier pig farms could survive was that they were scattered, small-scale operations under the radar. However, that meant a lack of central pollution control.

Whereas Bukit Tagar is a big, integrated operation that invites political attention, like a big red bullseye target.

So, will pig farming in Selangor have to shut down even though a modern, hygienic alternative is available?

Why not just be honest and declare: “Sorry, actually we want to close down all pig farms as the animals and meat are offensive to Muslims, no matter what scientific farming methods are used.”

What’s next?

In 10 or 20 years, what will come next? Will shops be banned from publicly displaying “offensive” roasted pork products such as char siew and siew yuk?

Perhaps, Selangor's pig farms can be relocated to an island far, far away - namely Sarawak - but that will mean higher costs. Maybe we have to import pork from Thailand or faraway Europe and Brazil, even if it goes against local “food security” policy.

Izham underlined that the issue was long-standing and should not be politicised, stressing that the state government’s focus is on resolving pollution and safeguarding community well-being.

That is the right approach. One can only hope that such rational ideas will speak louder than emotional or political panic.

Meanwhile, please stop evoking the ridiculous argument of “busuk”.