The recent fake halal meat scandal has gotten Serunai Halal Centre of Excellence and FELCRA Training & Consultancy (FTC) to join arms in their fight to empower local halal livestock farming through a hybrid course combining remote learning and field training. 

Dubbed the Online Livestock Farming and Slaughtering Course, Serunai Halal CoE Senior Regulatory and Halal Exec Nor Izyati Md. Rahim told Global Halal Community e-news that the program is broken into three parts which are theory, internship and career matching.

“Throughout the course, participants will be trained based on four modules which are Halal Industry, Halal Livestock Farming, Halal slaughtering, and Halal Butchering,” she said, adding that the first theory class had started on Dec 30 last year and ended on Jan 22.

Izyati also highlighted that participants will then look for their internship opportunity for a month where they will be placed at slaughterhouses, livestock farms, or butchery houses for their practical field training.

Closely monitored by Serunai Halal CoE, participants will then be assisted in their career matching based on the area of the industry that they are interested in. Funded by FTC, the objective of this course is to tap on the country’s fresh meat market potential and empower more Malaysians to prosper in the livestock industry. FTC Manager and spokesperson, Muhammad Syafiq Hakim was happy to see how the course has progressed despite the pandemic that is happening. 

“With the allocation we received from the ministry, we were looking for the best training operator to properly conduct this course and we are glad to see how Serunai Halal COE are educating the participants so well despite having to conduct the course remotely,” he said, hoping that this could help to fulfil the market demand by providing more skilled human capital for the country’s halal scene. 

“This is our first time venturing into this field. It seems positive so far and we may open to more participants inshaAllah if the demand is there,” he added. Apart from FTC, this course is also strongly supported by a non-governmental organisation (NGO) like ‘Kelab Transformasi Ruminan’ (GTR) who is helping the participants to connect them with local fresh meat industry players. Commenting on the recent fake halal imported meat raid recently, Aidil Elal, 29 who is also a participant of the online course from Penang believes that more l ocal livestock farming training is the answer to cater to the fresh meat shortage in Malaysia. “Fresh meat in Malaysia is not enough and that is why we have to import our meat and face the risk of eating fake halal-certified meat, “he said. 

“I am grateful to have been selected to train under Serunai Halal COE and FELCRA At least now I am proud to say that with the knowledge that I have, I will be able to contribute to sustaining fresh meat supply in the country,” he added. 

A father of four, Zulkifli Shuib, 46 from Sungai Petani urged more Malaysians to get into the halal ruminant industry as it holds a bright future as it ensures a sustainable local halal fresh meat supply. 

“The knowledge that I have gained from the course so far has been so valuable and I hope there will be more batches to graduate from a program like this,” said the former aerospace senior executive who had lost his job after he was retrenched last year due to COVID-19 economic shock. 

Zulkifli also added that he had no initial background in livestock and halal slaughtering industry but has gained a lot of confidence especially from the knowledge gained throughout the online course. 

“I was thought that my future is secured until I was laid off from my companies. I must thank Halal COE and FELCRA for empowering me to become a halal agropreneur,” he said when contacted via phone recently. 

Faridz Aiman, 24 from Klang is determined to make full use of all the knowledge skills gained from this course. 

“My father is a small-time cattle rancher who owns 10 cows. I am positive I will be able to help expand his livestock business after I finish my training with Serunai Halal CoE and I thank Serunai Halal COE for organising this course,” said Faridz who is also a bachelor’s degree holder in Physics from Universiti Malaya.