TRUST has always been a precious commodity. Breaking a trust is also not difficult. It is often driven by greed. We have seen many examples of this recently — how some investment fund was misappropriated, another trust broken.
We also saw how our trust in the Immigration system was dismantled by unscrupulous officers. If those were not enough, a story recently broke out about another breakdown in trust in the halal meat supply chain. The repercussions of the halal meat scandal are even more serious.
Not only are Muslims cheated of the trust invested in the many players in the halal supply chain, many small traders, who have been the retail link with the unsuspecting consumers, will also be badly affected by any dismantling of the supply chain.
Again, greed is behind the broken trust. The fact that this has been going on for the last 40 years is even more disturbing. There is no easy answer to the debacle. Some have called for the setting up of a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on the scandal.
It is also uncertain whether a RCI will solve the problem. It is not easy to build trust. We have seen a few examples where past scandals were also the focus of the RCI, and the breaking of trust was repeated soon after.
Someone had suggested using digital technology to ensure trust along the supply chain. The proposed use of blockchain technology may not be a bad idea to explore. Experts in blockchain have demonstrated how the use of such open digital ledger can remove any chance of meddling in all the contracts made along the supply chain.
This explains why blockchain technology is at the core of the cybercurrency that is fast gaining popularity. It is a secure way of tracking transparency.
Maybe machines can be better trusted because there is no element of greed. One weakness is that they can break down, mainly due to poor maintenance. Such weakness is not insurmountable.
The halal meat scandal is a big dilemma for the nation. We are dependent on imported meat for years now. When we speak of food security, the biggest gap is with meat consumption. This has been on the rise because of the improved purchasing power of the population.
This is a fact in most countries. Per capita meat consumption is, in fact, one yardstick economists use to compare the gross domestic product of nations. We have rolled out all kinds of programmes to produce our own meat. It is unfortunate that none has really made a mark in reducing imports.
Again, trust has been at the centre of most of the failures. The only meat which we produce more than we need is chicken. Even then, we depend a lot on the vast import of feeds to support the poultry industry.
It will not be so problematic if we are just importing plain meat, which most countries do. The problem arises when we demand a special type of meat, halal meat, which conforms to the Islamic standard of meat preparation. This is where more rigorous monitoring of the supply chain is required.
It is clear from the scandal that we lack the rigour of constantly auditing the entire process. We are not alone in demanding a special standard for meat. The Jewish community also has a very strict standard on their kosher meat. There is no compromise.
I remember when a group of kosher auditors came to check a plant producing oleochemicals in Malaysia. Their demand for conformance was stringent and strict. Regular auditing of any quality control system is critical in stamping out any potential malpractice.
Failure to do such stress tests on a regular basis has often led to the breakdown of the system. There have been many studies which looked at the implementation of the ISO 9000 Quality System, which is the system widely used by businesses worldwide.
The studies have shown glaring cases of malpractice, where the ISO was only used to shore up the brand. But, practising what has been promised in the certification is mostly absent.
The halal system may not be far different.
The writer is fellow, Academy of Science, UCSI University