On Jan. 31, MUIS confirmed that Subway, the sandwich deli chain, is interested in obtaining halal certification for its outlets in Singapore.

MUIS's Halal Certification Strategic Unit said:

"Subway Singapore has shown interest in getting their outlets Halal-certified. We have had few discussions to help them prepare themselves, details of which are classified.”

However, they could not confirm whether Subway was seeking halal certification for all its outlets, or only a few selected ones.

Inevitably, the news triggered numerous reactions from Singaporeans -- splitting right down the centre between the for and against camps.

Yay! More food!

Those for the decision were people who are pleased that Muslim customers would be able to eat at another fast food outlet.

Makes some economic sense too as now Subway will be able to reach a previously untapped market with this move.

Oh no! No bacon!

However, there were disappointed reactions from others who dreaded the demise of sandwiches with pork products at Subway.

Boycott

Some particularly irate sandwich enthusiasts even threatened a boycott of the fast food chain over the impending switch.

But there apparently were some Muslim customers who were against the proposed change.

It would be nice for Subway to convert SOME of their outlets to be Halal-certified, but I don't like the idea of Subway being Halal as a whole ...because most of my friends would choose to eat their Ham/Bacon/Spicy Italian sandwiches and that's probably Subway's selling point.

— Izz (@izzusmiles) January 31, 2018

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Not confirmed yet

Amidst the hue and cry, it should be said once more that Subway has not confirmed whether it will proceed definitively with halal certification for all of its outlets, or only some of them.

As they have yet to submit a formal application to MUIS, it's entirely possible that Subway might decide not to get halal certification after all.

Another way around it?

And yet others favour taking a third option.

They pointed out that Subway could even re-brand their selected halal outlets under a new name, much like Han's Cafe did with Hanis, or Andes and Aston restaurants.

But what to call this new brand?

If Subway chooses to open some Halal outlets then they should have two names to avoid confusion. I suggest Subway and MRT.

— Chua Enlai （蔡恩来） (@chuaenlai) February 1, 2018