Many restaurants in Malaysia serve fusion food, blending dishes from different cultures. Some of these eateries also transform typically non-Halal food into Halal versions, allowing Muslims to enjoy diverse cuisines.

One Chinese-Muslim restaurant owner, Wa Nita Ini, decided to decorate her eatery with tanglungs (lanterns) since she sells Halal Chinese food. However, not all customers were pleased with this choice.

Wa Nita Ini shared on her Facebook page how a customer confronted her for having Chinese lanterns at her Halal Yong Tau Foo restaurant, assuming the lanterns indicated the food was non-Halal.

She wrote, “Today, a customer asked me to recite the 2 Kalimah Syahadah (an Islamic oath).”

The customer questioned her, saying, “Is this a Malay shop or a Chinese shop? Are you Muslim? Who is the owner? Then why are there lanterns?”

The owner explained that while she respects the customer's concern, as Islam requires awareness of food sources, she was unhappy with the customer's approach.

“Yes, I respect it. In Islam, it is mandatory to monitor our source of food. It’s just the way it was said, it was not very nice,” she said.

She informed the customer that she was the owner and that they serve Chinese-style Halal food, which is why there were lanterns.

“That wasn’t enough for them. They asked me to recite (the oath),”

“It’s okay, as long as they are happy. It’s just that, even tanglungs can become an issue. And we say we’re 1Malaysia. For me, a tanglung is just a decorative lamp,” she added.

It's truly remarkable how the restaurant owner handled the situation with grace.