Islamic Religious Council of Singapore
This is a press release by the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS)
Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS)
The JKMS (Singapore Mosques Korban Committee) wish to inform you that the price of sheep available to the community for this year’s Hari Raya Haji sacrificial rites is SGD$443.50 per sheep, which is 18% more from last year’s price of SGD$375.00.
The price of $443.50 includes cost of supply of the sheep, all procedures and administrative charges, land transportation, airfreighting, insurance as well as operational cost incurred by the mosques to carry out the Korban rites.
Rationale for price increase
This increase in price is expected and can be attributed to the following;
- Steep increase in price of sheep from the farms by almost 50%;
- Stronger AUS$ currency now than last year – up by more than 10%;
- The natural disasters (flood and drought) in several parts of Australia which have affected the supply of sheep;
- Inflation and its impact on freight, logistics and transportation costs
The JKMS is also of the view that this higher price is also reflective of the current price of meat in the market and supermarkets, which has significantly increased compared to last year. Our market check also pointed to the same conclusion.
Although the Korban rite is not a compulsory religious obligation for every Muslim, JKMS acknowledges that the price increase may be a cause of discomfort to some sectors of the community. As such, as part of its due diligence, the JKMS explored various options which would enable the mosques to offer this service at a lower price.
As an outcome of this exercise, the JKMS is pleased to announce that for the first time, it will be also be offering goats and at a slightly lower price than that of the sheep i.e. SGD$395.00 per goat. This differentiated pricing was possible because the supply of goats is not affected by the natural disasters.
As in last year, all sacrificial animals will be air freighted.
Approved Korban Vendor
The sacrificial animals will be supplied by our Approved Korban Vendor (AKV) i.e. Mini Environment Services Pte Ltd (MES) whom the JKMS had contracted for three years from 2010 to 2012.
Registration
Registration for Korban 2011 opens from Tuesday, 27 September 2011. (today). Members of the public who wish to perform Korban rites can place their orders for sheep and goats at all participating mosques and organisations (Please refer to Annex A for list of mosques and organisations which are providing this service. Altogether 42 mosques and two organisations will be carrying out the rites this time) .The closing date for registration is Friday, 28 October 2011.
As per previous years, our AKV will be providing a dedicated website: http://www.meskorban.sg for participating mosques and organisations to update the status of orders in real time. Members of the public can browse the website to download order forms and to check their order status. However, they will have to go to the mosque of their choice for registration and payment.
No Phototaking
The media and members of the public are advised to strictly observe the requirement that phototaking or video-recording is prohibited at the slaughter area.
