Australain mutton helps poor peole in Surabaya
Australain mutton helps poor peole in Surabaya
Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya
Usually, Muslims in Surabaya donate mutton to the needy on the
Islamic Day of Sacrifice, which falls on Friday.
But, there is now a growing number of people in the city who
donate canned corned mutton to the needy.
Yayan Sumantri, the chief of the Indonesia Alms Foundation,
confirmed the trend. The idea began in 2000, but became popular
only last year.
The number of cans of corned mutton donated to the needy
reached 10,000 last year and this year it rose to 15,280 cans,
said Yayan.
In order to accommodate the demand, the Surabaya-based Alms
Foundation linked up with the Australian Federation of Islamic
Councils, which produced the canned corned mutton.
The foundation receives orders and conveys it to the
Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, which is headquartered
in Victoria state.
Based on the order, the federation produces the canned corned
mutton and sends it to the foundation, which later distributes it
to the needy.
The sheep slaughter complies with Islamic rules, and the
product is certified by the Supreme Halal Food of Australia.
People who want to donate canned corned mutton pay Rp 750,000
(US$83.3) to the Indonesia Alms Foundation and later the sheep
will be slaughtered and the meat canned in Australia.
The price include the price of the sheep, packaging and
freight from Australia to Indonesia.
From each sheep, the Federation can produce 20 cans of canned
corned mutton.
The taste is similar to corned beef, but the color is much
brighter. Canned corned beef is also much more oily than mutton.
Besides practical reasons, ordering canned mutton is much
cheaper than donating a live animal. A live sheep costs between
Rp 800,000 to Rp 1 million in Surabaya, not including the cost of
butchering. It is certainly much higher than buying the canned
meat at Rp 750,000.
According to Yayan, some Muslims have ordered the canned
mutton with the intention to distribute it to the victims of the
tsunami in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam.
Many Surabaya residents are not aware of the practice although
it has been going on over five years. Some reject the idea
fearing that it violates Islamic principles.
"I will consider donating canned mutton only if it is approved
by the ulema," said Sulastri, a resident in Gayungsari area,
Surabaya.
However, Yayan said that donations of canned meat was not
prohibited under Islam. He said that the essence of the Islamic
Day of Sacrifice was to promote an awareness of social
responsibility among Muslims, and whether fresh meat or canned
meat was donated was not the crucial issue.