[UPDATED] Govt backtracks on coffee shop beer licence policy

KUALA LUMPUR – The government has reversed a policy that would have seen coffee shops nationwide barred from selling beer without liquor licences. 

According to a statement by MCA president Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong, the Royal Malaysian Customs Department has been ordered to reverse the liquor licence policy for restaurants and coffee shops to sell alcoholic beverages. 

This policy reversal, Wee said, was confirmed by Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, who is currently in Singapore on an official trip.

“He had confirmed that the Finance Ministry (MoF) had indeed cancelled the above directives and had promised to instruct the Customs Department to abide by this decision,” Wee said.

Wee – who is also transport minister – said Malaysia Singapore Coffee Shop Proprietors’ General Association president Wong Tee Hong immediately approached him and Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Lim Ban Hong when the association had first received the circular on the requirement for a liquor licence to sell alcohol.

“We immediately got to work on handling this issue with MoF.

“In the middle of November, some restaurant and coffee shop owners in certain states were invited to attend briefings by the Customs Department – and had been instructed to apply for liquor licences from the Customs Department, which caused an uproar.

“Three weeks ago, I once again spoke to Tengku Zafrul on this matter,” he said.

MoF had issued an official letter on November 23 to instruct the Customs Department to cancel the implementation of compulsory liquor licences for the sales of alcoholic drinks.

“This is because MoF had in 1977 authorised the menteris besar and chief ministers of each state to handle this matter through the licensing board under the respective local governments.

“The Customs Department is part of the licensing board of each state, and has no powers to instruct restaurants and coffee shops to apply for liquor licences.

“Therefore, the ministry had cancelled the circular issued on April 7 that requested business owners to apply for liquor licences from the Customs Department before December 31,” he added.

He said Malaysia, being a multiracial and multi-religious country, should respect the rights of non-Muslims to drink alcohol.

The issue first emerged after the Customs Department had issued two circulars in June and August to all its division heads, state-level directors, and various local authorities – including Kuala Lumpur City Hall – to enforce liquor licences in all restaurants and coffee shops.

The two documents sighted by The Vibes stated that the department had revoked its directive dated August 24, 1993, which instructed postponement of the enforcement of licensing on the sales of liquor – besides beer and stout – in coffee shops and restaurants.

Speaking to The Vibes, Wee said it was a “no-brainer” that the government had decided to call off the implementation of the licensing fee. 

“We have had this arrangement since 1977, so it is not something new, just that it had never been imposed.

“There is no reason to impose it now,” said Wee, who is currently on an official trip to London. 

When asked why then the government had wanted to impose it now, Wee said the question is now irrelevant.

He added, however, that there must be an understanding that this is a multicultural nation where the rights of all its citizens must be respected. 

“The government has heard the views of stakeholders and moved to halt the implementation of the licensing fee,” he said, adding that he had fruitful discussions with Tengku Zafrul. – The Vibes, December 7, 2021