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.