Halal Westgate stall alleged sale of pork (2018)

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Origins of online hoax

The Pork Belly Rice poster that had been placed on the sectioning pillar between Green Delights and a neighbouring stall.

On 28 February 2018, a Facebook user claimed that Green Delights - a halal-certified yong tau foo stall located at Basement 2 of Westgate mall at Jurong East - was allegedly selling pork belly rice.[1] In his Facebook post, the user also claimed to have sent an email to the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) regarding the matter. The Facebook post went viral and the false news had also made its rounds on WhatsApp.[2]


The incident had negative repercussions on Green Delights. According to the business owner of Green Delights, Ms May Liu, the stall's business had allegedly dropped by 20 percent and there was a noticeable drop in Muslim customers.[3]

Confirmation of fake news

On 1 March 2018, local newspaper The New Paper clarified the misunderstanding by publishing an article on the matter. The dish was actually sold by 85 Redhill Teochew Fishball Noodle, a non-halal certified eatery located right next to Green Delights.[4] The New Paper reported that the placement of the pork belly rice poster was adjacent to the halal sign from Green Delights, which may have caused the misunderstanding that the halal-certified Green Delights was selling pork.[5]

Proof of Green Delights' MUIS Halal Certification as shared by Cinta Halal Consultants. Photo from Cinta Halal Consultants Facebook.


According to the manager of 85 Redhill Teochew Fishball Noodle, the poster of their menu had been put up 4 years ago when they did not have a next-door tenant.[6] However, ever since the fake news regarding Green Delights had been circulated the posters of 85 Redhill Teochew Fishball Noodle’s menu have been taken down.[7][8]

Green Delights Halal certification

As of 14 May 2019, Green Delights appears as a search result on the "List Of Halal Food" search engine on the MUIS website (Certified Eating Establishments page). According to Ms May Liu, the MUIS officers who investigated Green Delights had not found any violations.[9]


The Halal status of Green Delights was further confirmed by Cinta Halal Consultants (official website). Cinta Halal Consultants is a consultancy company catering to Muslim owned food and beverage businesses.[10] They specialise in helping these businesses to attain their Halal certification in Singapore. Cinta Halal Consultancy makes a practice to share news of latest Halal certified businesses in Singapore on their Facebook page (Facebook page) which has 5,200 likes as of May 2019. On 28 December 2017, they congratulated Green Delights on Facebook for having received their MUIS Halal Certification.[11] Accompanying the post was a photograph proving the halal-certified status of Green Delights.

Netizen response

On 1 March 2018, Twitter user syera.s tweeted about the incident and urged other users to exercise vigilance and not “believe everything that [they] see online”.[12] She explained that it may “affect other people’s source of income” if netizens decide to believe in fake news without doing proper research and ascertaining the credibility of the online source. Many Twitter users agreed with her sentiments as evidenced by the 4,117 retweets and 1,392 likes that the tweet had gotten as of 16 May 2019.[13]

Mrbrown, a Singaporean blogger (official website), rallied his followers to support Green Delights and included a disclaimer about being aware of fake news.[14] On 3 March 2018, mrbrown shared syera.s' tweet on his Facebook page which has over 94,000 likes as of May 2019.

References / Citations

  1. "Fake news hurts". Gov.sg. November 27, 2018. Accessed on 16 May 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.gov.sg/news/content/fake-news-hurts
  2. Wong, Lucas. “Business slow at Westgate stall after confusion over halal status”. The New Paper. March 1, 2018. Accessed on 6 May 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.tnp.sg/news/singapore/business-slow-westgate-stall-after-confusion-over-halal-status
  3. Wong, Cara. Chi, Euodia. “Business lost, safety threatened because of fake news”. The Straits Times. April 14, 2019. Accessed on 6 May 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/business-lost-safety-threatened-because-of-fake-news
  4. Wong, Lucas. “Business slow at Westgate stall after confusion over halal status”. The New Paper. March 1, 2018. Accessed on 6 May 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.tnp.sg/news/singapore/business-slow-westgate-stall-after-confusion-over-halal-status
  5. Wong, Lucas. “Business slow at Westgate stall after confusion over halal status”. The New Paper. March 1, 2018. Accessed on 6 May 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.tnp.sg/news/singapore/business-slow-westgate-stall-after-confusion-over-halal-status
  6. Wong, Lucas. “Business slow at Westgate stall after confusion over halal status”. The New Paper. March 1, 2018. Accessed on 6 May 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.tnp.sg/news/singapore/business-slow-westgate-stall-after-confusion-over-halal-status
  7. Wong, Lucas. “Business slow at Westgate stall after confusion over halal status”. The New Paper. March 1, 2018. Accessed on 6 May 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.tnp.sg/news/singapore/business-slow-westgate-stall-after-confusion-over-halal-status
  8. mrbrown. Facebook. March 3, 2018. Accessed on 16 May 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.facebook.com/mrbrownlah/posts/please-support-aunties-stall-green-delights-at-b2-westgate-her-halal-stall-was-i/1578103658906179/
  9. Wong, Cara. Chi, Euodia. “Business lost, safety threatened because of fake news”. The Straits Times. April 14, 2019. Accessed on 6 May 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/business-lost-safety-threatened-because-of-fake-news
  10. "About Us". CINTA HALAL CONSULTANTS. Accessed on 16 May 2019. Retrieved from: http://www.cintahalal.com.sg/about.html
  11. Cinta Halal Consultants. Facebook. December 28, 2017. Accessed on 6 May 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.facebook.com/cintahalalsg/photos/a.500656706777660/922776581232335/?type=3&theater
  12. Syera.s. Twitter. March 1, 2018. Accessed on 6 May 2019. Retrieved from: https://twitter.com/syerrrrayam/status/969221778345140224
  13. Syera.s. Twitter. March 1, 2018. Accessed on 6 May 2019. Retrieved from: https://twitter.com/syerrrrayam/status/969221778345140224
  14. mrbrown. Facebook. March 3, 2018. Accessed on 16 May 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.facebook.com/mrbrownlah/posts/please-support-aunties-stall-green-delights-at-b2-westgate-her-halal-stall-was-i/1578103658906179/