KUALA LUMPUR – Employees of convenience stores have voiced their support for Pulai MP Suhaizan Kaiat’s proposition to facilitate the sale of alcoholic beverages through vending machines in these establishments.
Speaking to Scoop, the convenience store workers expressed discomfort with personally handling alcohol sales.
Nur Syazani Atiyah, a 24-year-old cashier at a 7-Eleven in Bangi, shared her conflicting feelings as a Muslim.
“I’ve always felt conflicted about selling alcohol to customers. My father has told me not to sell alcohol, but it is my job, so I don’t have a choice,” she explained.
“I would actually be really happy if customers could buy their beers and other alcohol by themselves through vending machines.”
She recounted a previous incident where a can of beer accidentally exploded at the counter, causing discomfort and aversion due to the associated smell.
“A customer once accidentally dropped a can of beer while trying to pay at the counter; the can then exploded, and some of the liquid managed to get near my mouth. I didn’t know what to do, and I also hated the smell,” she told Scoop.
Siti Rahfidah Rahman, another 7-Eleven employee in Bangi, echoed these sentiments, emphasising the potential relief from handling “haram” items if alcohol sales were shifted to vending machines.
“I don’t like the thought of selling alcohol to people, especially if they are Malay customers who come in and buy it,” Rahfidah said.
Rahfidah also recognised the need for measures to prevent underage sales through vending machines.
Muhammad Wafiuddin Mohd Pakharuddin, a 27-year-old Takaful Ikhlas agent and customer at the same convenience store, proposed a solution to address this concern.
He suggested that the government enforce a rule mandating identification card scans at vending machines to verify the customer’s age.
“Now, with all the digitisation talk, surely it can be done, right?” the Sepang resident asked.
However, some customers argue against selling alcohol in convenience stores altogether.
Grace Shalini, a 37-year-old product authentication trainer at eBay, emphasised the existence of legitimate liquor stores and deemed it unnecessary to sell alcohol in convenience stores.
“It’s quite ‘unethical’ to sell them in convenience stores, bothering not only the Muslim workers but also lacking the security needed to ensure that people who aren’t allowed to buy alcohol get access to them,” the Bangsar South resident said.
Rahimah Mansor, a 51-year-old Islamic banker in Bangi Lama, expressed a preference for alcohol sales in licensed stores rather than vending machines, citing potential unwanted social implications associated with the latter option.
“I would prefer alcohol be sold at licensed alcohol stores rather than vending machines. Selling alcohol through vending machines would still have some unwanted social implications,” she said.
In raising the vending machine proposal last week, Suhaizan said he was saddened to see Muslim cashiers in convenience stores such as 7-Eleven and 99 Speedmart having to sell alcoholic beverages.
Suhaizan had asked if there was a way for cashiers to keep their jobs while not having to handle “haram” items, and proposed that vending machines be used to sell alcoholic beverages.
In response, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Zulkifli Hasan said he welcomed the proposal.
However, former law minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim has said that Malays are being held back from making economic progress based on the advice of certain preachers to avoid work that involves non-halal matters.
In his response to the Amanah lawmaker’s proposal, Zaid said such views had far-reaching consequences.
Such beliefs also have “economic ramifications”, Zaid added, while urging the government to rope in the Conference of Rulers to decide on such matters. – March 10, 2024