THE Customs Department issued two circulars – first in June and then in August – to all its division heads, state directors, and local authorities including Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL).

In these notes, the department said it had revoked its directive, issued on August 24, 1993, which postponed the enforcement of licensing on liquor sales besides beer and stout in coffee shops and restaurants.

With effect from January 1, 2022, all restaurants and coffee shops will need liquor licences before they can sell beer on the premises, a requirement that falls under the Excise Act 1976 and Excise Regulations 1977.

A newspaper highlighted this requirement in its print edition on Sunday, accompanied by an interview with the Petaling Jaya Coffeeshop Association (PJCA), which confirmed the above.

The president of the PJCA was even quoted to have said he received just three weeks’ notice of the change in regulations during a meeting with the authorities.

He reportedly said that even though he and other members of the industry raised objections during the meeting, they were told that it was just a briefing, while the government officers did not even announce the detail of the enforcement or further rules and regulations, and no discussions were allowed.

He was even quoted to have said the government officers told them to write to the Ministry of Finance for any complaints, which they did following the meeting and that he hoped to meet Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz to discuss the matter.

On the same day, social media was flooded with comments from the public, specifically from the non-Muslims, criticising the move, saying the federal government has now extended its interference in the customary lifestyle and business practices of non-Muslims nationwide, and called for the government to stop.

Two days thereafter, Transport Minister and President of MCA Wee Ka Siong said he spoke to Tengku Zafrul, who was overseas, and confirmed that he had ordered the Customs Department to revoke the liquor licence policy.

Any announcement to revoke the directive should have come from Tengku Zafrul, who oversees the Customs Department and no one else.

Therefore, Wee’s announcement was clearly designed to give the impression to the Chinese voters – who own almost 90% of the coffee shops nationwide – that only MCA, not the opposition parties, can represent their interests.

Yes, MCA did voice its objections to this directive too but if it didn’t do so publicly, the charade will be incomplete.

After almost complete rejection by the Chinese in 2018 – in contrast to the time the community saved Barisan Nasional’s two-thirds parliamentary majority in the 1999 general election – MCA has vowed that it would continue to fight and regain minority rights under the Federal Constitution because it understood the political aspirations of the people it represents.

It was common knowledge that MCA’s failure to stand up strongly to Umno for its Malay centric narratives prior to 2018 was one of the main causes that drove Chinese people away from supporting the party.

Thus, it is clear that the whole issue of the coffee shops needing a licence to sell beer was a political charade planned, hopefully, to sway the Chinese vote back to MCA.

If the directive was indeed issued with a financial objective in mind, the officers from the Customs Department would have, in their briefing to the PJCA, been able to explain the directive in detail, including the types of enforcement and the accompanying rules and regulations, instead of asking them to write to the Finance Ministry with any complaints.

It will be an insult to the professionalism of the Custom Department, which obviously would have studied the viability and obtained approval from Tengku Zafrul before revoking its own 28-year-old directive, only to revoke its directive again six months after issuing it.

Does the government really want to impose the licence requirement on the coffee shops?

The President of the Malaysia Singapore Coffee Shop Proprietors’ General Association (MSCSPGA) in a December 7 article titled: Restaurants, coffee shops may stop selling beer due to new govt policy, was quoted to have said operators may not think it is worth paying between RM840 and RM1,320 for a licence when they can hardly earn from selling beer.

If all the coffeeshops refrained from applying for the licence and stopped selling beer, would it hurt the revenue of the three licensed breweries in Malaysia?

For the poor, it is just less convenient. The coffee shops are unlikely to witness a substantial drop in patrons that could result in them closing.

Licensed brewing combined contributes to Malaysia’s income and employment with more than RM2.2 billion in taxes annually; direct and indirect employment of 66,000 people; and products generating income for more than 35,000 Malaysian businesses and retailers.

Malaysia has the 10th largest population of alcohol drinkers worldwide, with an annual spending of RM2 billion on alcoholic drinks.

It is clear that discontent on rising living costs and the economy is no longer confined to the non-Muslims but also spreading fast to the Muslim community. These concerns are real and not mere opposition propaganda.

The public’s dissatisfaction over the lack of a clear economic direction by the new government does not help and if it remains this way, the dissatisfaction will continue to fester until the next general election.

BN needs to convince Chinese and Indian voters that the coalition and its Malay-centric narratives will not erode what both communities currently enjoyed.

Playing the economic reasoning card is the obvious choice to convince them that only BN can represent their interests.

Believing that there is a slight shift back of non-Muslim voters when BN was voted in with a resounding majority in the Malacca elections, the stage was set for the political charade.

Wee started the ball rolling when he went on record in his social media saying the party will repay the kindness of Malacca voters.

After this issue, MCA can now proudly say they stood up and successfully defended the minority’s rights under the Federal Constitution.

Chinese voters need to be more careful and circumspect of our politicians. Be it the governing coalition or the opposition, these politicians are only looking out for their own interests and not of the public at large. Nothing they said is worth its salt. – December 9, 2021.

* FLK reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.