Cover image via
Winepak Corporation/Prestige
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According to Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Alexander Nanta Linggi, the decision to allow the local whiskey brand to keep its name was taken by the Cabinet, reported Sin Chew Daily.
The Minister said that Winepak Corporation (M) Sdn Bhd, which owns the Timah whiskey, doesn’t need to change the name and only has to add a label on the back of the bottle to explain the name’s origin.
The report said that the Timah manufacturer will be required to include the label on the whiskey bottle to explain that its name is in reference to ‘bijih timah’, meaning tin ores in Bahasa Melayu (BM).
This was supposedly a proposal from the manufacturer.
“I had a meeting with the manufacturer to discuss how to deal with this issue and then submitted the company’s proposal to the Cabinet, and the Cabinet agreed to it,” he was quoted as saying.
Alexander hopes that controversy will no longer be a hot button topic.
“I have tried my best to resolve this issue,” he added.
Prior to this, on 28 October, Alexander had said that the manufacturer requested one week’s time to discuss with its shareholders and board of directors about changing the name and image on the label.
According to the minister, Winepak Corporation’s consideration on the matter was the outcome after the government met with the company representatives on 27 October.
“The meeting, held online, was conducted in a harmonious way in line with the ‘Keluarga Malaysia’ concept to reach an amicable solution for the good of the country,” Alexander had said.
Several right-wing politicians and conservative Muslim groups had argued that it “confused Muslims”.
In fact, Rusnah Aluai, a PKR member of Parliament (MP) brought the issue to the Parliament and likened drinking Timah to “drinking a Malay woman” in her speech in the august house.
Following an uproar over her remarks, the Tangga Batu MP took to her Facebook page to say that all she had wanted to do was to make sure there is no confusion about the label of Timah.
“Although my original intention was to ensure that no confusion arose regarding the label, my speech was misunderstood,” she wrote in Bahasa Melayu without offering any explanations about her remark.
The MP then offered an apology to those who were offended.