The "Town" Chicken

A "town" chicken is the term that I use to describe a chicken that is reared commercially, as opposed to a "kampung" (village) chicken. A "kampung" chicken is the term given by Malaysians to describe a chicken that is reared in the "kampung" or at our own backyard. It lives naturally in the "kampung" environment and is allowed to wander around the compound to fend for food. If it is allowed to roam during the day, by nighttfall it will return to the chicken coop. The "kampung" chicken is normally fed with left-over rice from the day's meals or uncooked rice if there are no left-overs.

In the past, I normally avoided taking the "town" chicken and preferred the "kampung" chicken instead, simply because its flesh tastes better. There was one exception though, which was the KFC chicken - Colonel Sanders had indeed invented a delicious recipe for the fried chicken. I really enjoyed the KFC chicken back then. However, after I gained knowledge about how the town chicken was bred and treated up to the stage where it was slaughtered, I decided once and for all, to give up consuming the "town" chicken. I am going to tell you why I do that, as follows:

1). Chicken Feed

I understand from an "Ustaz" (Religious Teacher) that 60% of the chicken feed consists of animal bones, which are grinded into powder before it is mixed together with the other chicken feed. Further investigation into the source of the powder by the Ustaz brought him to a factory in a neighbouring country. which specialises in grinding of animal bones into a powder form, and it includes pig's bones too. He also mentioned that manufacturers of toothpaste in that country use the powdered animal bones as one of the ingredients in making toothpaste. He therefore advised Muslims against buying toothpaste made in that country.

2). Growth Hormones

The town chicken are also fed with growth hormones to make them grow faster so that they can be sold to consumers within a short time, as compared to the time taken for a kampung chicken to grow to the same size. The Ustaz mentioned that the growth hormone given to the chicken supposedly encourages the growth of cancer cells in the body. An interview which was conducted with cancer patients at one time revealed that their favourite food was "town" chicken.

3). Cancer-causing Antibiotics

Chicken farmers believe in the motto "Prevention is Better than Cure". So they also include antibiotics in the chicken feed to prevent the chicken from contracting chicken diseases easily. Some diseases can cause them to die instantly. This is a good move by the farmers, except that the antibiotics are bad for human consumption.

The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) had conducted several random checks on chicken farms which frequently revealed the deplorable filthy conditions and rampant antibiotic abuse on the farms.

CAP revealed that in 2003 alone, 13 out of 17 samples of chickens which were tested were found to contain bacteria which were resistant to either Nitrofuran or Chloroamphenicol, or both. Both Nitrofuran (a cancer-causing agent) and Chloroamphenicol (which can cause potentially fatal bone marrow depression in some people) are banned in food. Therefore they should not be present in chickens.

4). Physical Abuse

Islam forbids treating any animal in a cruel manner. It is said in the Quran that "There is not an animal on earth, nor a being that flies on its wings, but they are communities like you..." (Al-Anaam : 38).

It was narrated by Anas r.a. that the Prophet s.a.w. said, "All creatures are like a family of God and He loves the most those who are the most beneficient to His family." (Al Bukhari)

If you have been to a typical farm, where the "town" chicken are reared, you would observe that there are not enough room for them to move about such that they cannot even spread their own wings, let alone move freely to exercise their muscles. They are also debeaked (a painful procedure) to reduce further pecking and cannabalism. Basic natural behaviour such as foraging, nesting and laying eggs in privacy is impossible. As a result, they suffer many health problems such as feather loss, skin damage, injury to their feet (including abnormal claw growth) and poor bone development (which leads to bones, especially in the legs, being easily broken).

Islam teaches us to love and respect all the creatures ("makhluk') of Allah, irrespective of their usefulness or their apparent harmfulness.

Abu Huraira r.a. reported the Prophet s.a.w. as telling of an incident that happened to another prophet in the past. This prophet was stung by an ant and in anger, he ordered the whole of the ants' nest to be burned. At this point God reprimanded this prophet in these words: "Because one ant stung you, you have burned a whole community which glorified Me." (from Bukhari and Muslim).

Apart from the deplorable conditions in which these chicken are being "brought up" at the farms, they are also treated very badly at the place where they are slaughtered. Eyewitness accounts from ex-workers of such a place reported reprehensible mistreatment of the chickens, such as chicken with popped-out eyeballs, broken bones, disfigured and missing body parts and chickens that are scalded alive and have their bodies literally blown to pieces. In short, from their breeding ground to the time they are slaughtered, these chickens suffered and are treated in the most inhumane manner.

It was related that Shaddad ibn Aws r.a. said: "I recalled two things that the Messenger of God (prayers and peace be upon him) said: "Indeed God has enjoined upon you to be kind to all that you slaughter, so slaughter in a kind manner and when you slaughter, slaughter well. Everyone of you should keep his knife sharp and permit the animal to die in comfort." (from Muslim)

Thus, it can be deduced from the above "hadith" that if the chickens in the farm and the place of slaughter are not treated kindly or they die in discomfort, then it is "haram" (prohibited) to consume them.

In more recent investigations, CAP's tests have even discovered that chicken is one of the most unsafe meats in the market as it is frequently badly contaminated with bacteria - a clear indication of unhealthy chicken breeding and processing practices.

Lastly, most of the commercial chicken farms in Malaysia are owned and operated by non-Muslims. These non-Muslims sometime do not understand the proper method of slaughtering the chicken in the Islamic way. These farms consider slaughtering the Islamic way as very cumbersome and time-consuming. Even though they are being regularly monitored by the religious department, there are still some of them who try to avoid slaughtering it the proper way.

So, I hope now you can understand why I don't take the town chicken anymore. However, if I have the urge to eat chicken, I either go for organic chicken or "kampung" chicken, which are a bit more expensive, but at least I am assured that they are "halal" and hygienic.

Are we building a "reban ayam" here?

The recent suspended bridge at Dipang which collapsed and claimed the lives of three schoolchildren on 26 October 2009 prompted me to write this article.

Prior to this incidence, we read about the collapse of the roof of a newly-completed stadium in Kuala Trengganu and that of a mosque in Kemaman. After the collapse of the Dipang bridge, I asked myself, "what else will collapse, I wonder?"

I also asked myself, "Are Malaysian engineers incompetent or do we have building contractors who cheat and cut corners here and there to maximise their profits? Or do we have field supervisors who collaborated with the contractors to compromise on quality and safety?

All these questions came to my mind before I read the article in The Star on 12 November 09, where it was reported that Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said that the investigation carried out by the Public Works Department showed that the bridge did not have a proper plan and its structure was weak.

So the bridge was built without a proper design? Of course, it goes without saying that when there's no proper design, not only the structure but everything else about the bridge would be considered as "weak".

I at first thought that the bridge had collapsed because of poor design by the engineer or the use of poor construction method by the contractor. It would be simple enough for an engineer like me to determine whether it was due to poor design or poor construction, but when our Education Minister announced that there was no "proper plan", it means that there was no professional engineer being engaged to carry out the design of the bridge. When there was no professional engineer being engaged to do the design work, everything else about the sizes and type of structures for the bridge would just be guessing work.

The thing that made me wonder most was, in the first place, how could the bridge be allowed to be built and used without a proper plan (design) being first drawn up and submitted and for the normal process of approval to take place? What made the person(s) responsible for the development of the unfortunate bridge think that building a bridge is like building a "reban ayam" (chicken coop), where you can just nail in the timbers and planks together and the "reban" will stand?

Wasn't there any respect and due regards for the safety of the public when the idea of building the bridge was first mooted?

The Education Minister also mentioned that a detailed report by a special committee set up to investigate the incident involving the PWD, Perak police and the state government would be completed at the end of the month.

I certainly would like to know the contents of the report after it is completed at the end of this month. I also hope to give my comments in this blog after I have read the report.

A House in Heaven

It was only last Friday that I went to the mosque known as Surau As-Sahabah at Section 7, Kota Damansara to perform my Friday prayer there with my son, Anuar. Even though I have moved to Ampang, I always make it a point to go there for my Friday prayer.

Even though another mosque (Masjid Kota Damansara) has opened recently, the Surau As-Sahabah is still popular with the local residents. As with other mosques, sometimes when the crowd is heavy, there is not enough space for the Muslims to find a place to perform their prayer. I remember on one occasion that I had to pray in the open sun at the back of the mosque when the crowd was unusually heavy that day. Therefore when the surau As-Sahabah decided to extend its existing building to cater for increasing number of Muslims using it, I totally agreed with the proposal.

So, prior to the start of the fasting month, I saw some construction activities going on at the mosque. I thought that it could be completed before the start of the Ramadhan month, but when it was not completed, I thought that it could be completed before the "Hari Raya Puasa". But alas, it could not be completed before the "Hari Raya Puasa" either and last Friday at the mosque I was told that it was another 30% to go before it could be completed.

Obviously, the reason for the delay was due to the lack of funding to support the cost of construction. Just before I left the mosque that day, one of the committee members announced over the speakers requesting for financial support to complete the outstanding 30% of the building.

So I said to myself I must contribute something, if not in cash or in kind, at least in some other way, towards completing the construction of the mosque's extension.

So here I am in the way that I only know how, through my email to you and my blog, appealing to you for donations towards the fund. From Al-Termizi, it was narrated by Abu Hurairah r.a., who heard Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. said, " When someone dies, he is cut off from his deeds ("amalan"), except three : prolonged alms ("sedekah jariah"), beneficial knowledge ("ilmu yang bermunafaat") and pious sons who always pray for him."

Thus your contributions towards the mosque is considered an "amalan jariah" and it continues to increase your "investment" in the "akhirat" for as long as the mosque still exists to function to bring benefits to the Muslims.

There is also another hadith from Al-Muslim, where it was narrated by Othman bin Affan r.a. who heard Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. said," Whoever built a mosque for the sake of Allah SWT, Allah SWT will build a house for him in the Heavens."

So there are many benefits that you can get in this world and the next if you help to build a new mosque or extend an existing one.

So if you wish to contribute to the mosque, you can contact one of the following committee members :-

YM Tengku Endut 012-6769427
Tn. Hj. Senin 012-3121150
Tn. Hj. Razif 012-3118043

or if you wish to pay directly into the bank account you can do so into the EON Bank account no:0539-11-0000-463 under the name of As-Sahabah. May Allah SWT blesses you in this world and the next for your generosity.