When Mr Koh Boon Ooi decided to open a 24-hour self-service laundromat in Muar, Johor, six months ago, one of his priorities was getting a halal certification for laundry detergent.

Although the Johor local council did not require him to do so, he applied for the halal certification from the federal Islamic Development Department (Jakim) because most of his potential customers are Muslims who place great emphasis on “halal” products, he said.

“The detergents and softener sold at the shop are halal-compliant so the halal logo on the wall of the shop is to give peace of mind to my customers, of which some 60 per cent are Muslim,” he added, explaining that the halal products used in his shop are free from alcoholic and animal derived ingredients.

His shop is located about 6km away from the controversial Muslim-only laundromat that has made headlines in recent days. The operator of that laundromat has since stopped the practice after an outcry across the country and a stinging rebuke from the Johor Sultan in particular.

The controversy however has laid bare rising Islamic conservatism in laidback Muar, where Muslims make up about 60 per cent of the population.

Residents interviewed by TODAY noted with dismay how tensions along racial and religious lines have crept into their daily lives.

Mr Vincent Chua Wee Beng, the opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) assemblyman for Bentayan — one of the three state seats in Muar — said increasing incidents of religious and racial identity politics have created “insecurity” and a divide between Muslims and non-Muslims.

“The non-Muslims see it as increased Islamisation while the Malays insisted that it is their right to do so,” he said.

He related an incident where Muslim nurses at a dialysis centre in Muar, where he is the administrator, asked for it to be turned into a halal place.

The request came about because the nurses were uncomfortable with non-Muslim patients packing non-halal food to eat there while undergoing their treatment.

“I told them not to turn this into an issue. A medical facility is meant to treat people and save lifes, and we should not have such doctrines in place,” he said, adding that the nurses subsequently agreed.

Retiree Anthony Joseph, 71, recalled how it was different when he was younger.

“Our Muslim neighbour used to send over ketupat and rendang over to my parents’ house while during Christmas, we will give them kueh and cakes,” he said.

“Now, some Muslims will ask me ‘who cooked the food’ when I invite them over for Christmas.”

To be sure, what is happening in Muar is reflective of developments in other parts of Malaysia.

Some have also criticised the frenzy over halal products in recent years, including the government’s proposal to mandate separate supermarket trolleys for non-halal products.

At a broader level, the rise in conservatism fuelled by increasingly vocal Islamic hardliners and politicians is also eroding a traditionally moderate brand of the religion.

“There are many examples of politicians and ministers invoking religion for political purposes, so in a lot of ways, you cannot divorce religion from politics in Malaysia,” said Mr Rashaad Ali, a research analyst at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies’ (RSIS) Malaysia Programme.

“However, the by-product of this approach is that now you have these incidents happening ‘organically’ at a grassroots level.”

Mr Rashaad was referring to incidents such as the uproar over Muslims touching dogs which they considered “impure”, a Selangor school separating cups for Muslim and non-Muslim pupils as well as government agencies and public buildings enforcing a conservative dress code for women.

The centrality of Islam in Malaysian public life has risen, particularly in the past decade. Religious institutions have been steadily expanding their jurisdiction, increasing their budgets, and growing their influence on society.

A United Nations cultural rights expert warned in a report last week that there is growing pressure to adopt a more narrow interpretation of the Islamic religion and identity in Malaysia, which excludes the country’s cross-cultural history, marginalises religious minorities, and fails to take account of the diversity of Malay Muslims.

Ms Karima Bennoune expressed deep concern at the level of involvement of religious authorities in policy decisions, saying that some Malaysians have expressed concern about a growing Islamisation, which represented a “significant break with the past”.

Analysts noted that since the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) government lost its parliamentary two-third majority in the 2008 general election, the coalition has increasingly sought to rally the Malay community — which formed half of Malaysia’s 31 million population — by playing on a siege mentality.

This is done by focusing on the fear of relative deprivation, or losing one’s status, wealth or position in society.

“We are seeing an alarming combination of religious and racial identity politics which is new to the country. It has become more intense and pronounced because of Umno’s fear of losing political power,” said Dr Lim Teck Ghee, director of the Centre for Policy Initiatives in Kuala Lumpur, in using the acronym for the ruling United Malays National Organisation, the lynchpin party in BN.

“At the same time Islamists have risen to positions of influence and power in key institutions apart from religious bodies. They are shaping Malay public opinion in an unprecedented way with little or no resistance from other important stakeplayers.”

DEBATE OVER RACE, RELIGION GOES ON

For residents of Muar, the uproar over the Muslim-only laudromat has led to some soul-searching on what it portends for the community.

“What will the future be if this is allowed to go on?” said Mr Rehan Ibrahim, a self-employed man who disagreed with the exclusion of non-Muslims.

“Will we have halal and non-halal specific areas to cater to Muslims and non-Muslims? This does not augur well for racial harmony.”

Others do no see it that way.

A customer who did not want to be named said she agreed with the laundromat operator’s Muslim-only policy.

“As a Muslim, I want peace of mind that the machines have not been used to wash materials that may have come into contact with dogs or non-halal matters,” she said, adding that she use the facility an average of twice a week.

“Before the sign board was put up, there were some non-Muslim patrons and I was worried over ‘cleanliness’ aspect,” said the 61-year-old retiree.

Religious leaders in Johor had initially also voiced support for the move by the laudromat owner.

Johor Islamic Religious Affairs Committee chairman Abd Mutalip Abd Rahim said: “As Muslims who live in a multi-racial society, we cannot be too rigid in upholding such matters, but at the same time, should not belittle this effort taken by the operator of the laundromat either.”

Johor Mufti Mohd Tahrir Samsudin added: “If someone wants to do it, then it is a good thing because some Muslims hold doubts over laundromat services. It is better for Muslims to be free of such doubts when it comes to cleanliness as it will help Muslims fulfil religious obligations.”

He made those comments days before the Johor Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar weighed in and got the business owner to reverse his decision.

In an interview with The Star, the Sultan ordered the proprietor to stop the discriminatory practice or face having it closed down.

“This is not a Taliban state and as the head of Islam in Johor, I find this action to be totally unacceptable as this is extremist in nature,” said the Sultan.

“If he still insists on carrying on the Muslim-only practice, he can leave Johor. I suggest he set up shop in Afghanistan. His thinking is sick and goes against everything that Johor stands for.”

The Sultan said that he had also spoken to both Mr Mohd Tahrir as well as Mr Abd Mutalip Abd Rahim on the issue, adding:

“From now on, I am directing the state executive council and all the councils to insist that any business owners who carry out such blatant discriminatory practices should have their licences revoked. Don’t mess around with your narrow-minded religious prejudices.”

Although the Sultan’s intervention has effectively doused the controversy over the laudromat, observers note that the issue of rising Islamic conservatism is unlikely to go away any time soon.

Marketing manager Ahmad Anwar Asyraf said he does not understand why Malaysia is facing such polemics, as the minority Chinese and Indian communities having been around for hundreds of years.

“Islam is not rigid in its interpretation on racial relations but this incident (involving Muslim-only laundry) has given the impression that Muslims are trying to dictate the lives of non-Muslims and to me, that should not have happened,” he said.

“We should live harmoniously and with tolerance without bringing up racial religious sentiments that could divide us.”

RSIS’s Mr Rashaad noted that what is of greater concern is how Muslim individuals have taken their own initiative to ‘protect’ themselves from the non-Muslim world they keep hearing their leaders warn about.

“This perhaps is more worrying than efforts from the government, as members of Malaysian society are choosing to wall themselves off from their fellow Malaysians, alienating groups from one another,” he said.

“It also imposes one’s way of life on everyone; (for example) where beer in some cultures is part of celebration, it now becomes prohibited in public life,” he said in reference to opposition from Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) to beer festivals scheduled to take place in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.