Alcohol Advertising and Marketing with Basic facts: In Malaysia

Malaysia, though a small country, is the tenth largest consumer of alcohol in the world. Each year Malaysians spend over US$500million on alcohol. Whilst the per capita consumption is 7 liters, those who do drink alcohol consume heavily. Beer consumption in Malaysia is 11 liters per capita. The average age for alcohol dependence is 22 years. Direct alcohol advertising is not allowed over the broadcast media and on billboards, except in the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Alcohol advertising is permitted in cinemas, on video cassettes and the print media. Sponsorship activities are allowed. Alcohol-producing transnational corporations own shares of Malaysia’s entire major alcohol producers. In the face of high alcohol taxes and a ban on broadcast advertising of alcoholic beverages, these companies market alcohol aggressively, making health claims, targeting heavy drinkers and encouraging heavy drinking, employing indirect advertising, and using women in seductive poses and occupations to attract the mostly male drinking population. Monitoring of the country’s alcohol problems is greatly needed in order to establish alcohol consumption more clearly as a national health and safety issue, while stronger controls and greater corporate responsibility are required to control alcohol marketing.

Taxation on alcoholic drinks is an important source of revenue for the Malaysian government to help ease the budget deficit. The three successive years of tax hikes from Budget 2004 to Budget 2006 have pressured volume sales of alcoholic drinks in Malaysia, with beer products affected the most and excise duty increasing by 10%, 27% and 23% in successive years. In addition to duties and excise tax, the government levies a sales tax of 20 per cent. Alcohol taxes are often regarded as “sin” tax and the alcohol industry often lobbies to keep taxes low. All in all the government collects in total (import duties, excise duties and sales tax) about RM1billion in taxes from alcohol per annum. Retailers are required to obtain a license to sell and serve alcoholic beverages. However a license is not required to sell beer in bottles and cans.

The easy availability of alcoholic drinks in coffee shops, supermarkets, sundry shops and plantations together with aggressive advertising and promotions are driving Malaysians to drink.

Most coffee shops, however, will sell beer and routinely provide a bottle opener so that the beer can be consumed at the premises. This is illegal, as a Beer House License is required to serve beer on the premises.

The Road Safety Council estimated in 1994 that drinking and driving caused 30 percent of accidents on Malaysian roads. A study conducted by the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital in 1991 showed that 2 out of 5 Malaysians killed in road accidents were under the influence of alcohol.

Well, what is your opinion whether to support promotional activities and increase the economic condition of Malaysia or to Ban the alcoholic products further to prove Malaysia as an Islamic country?

Alcoholism in Malaysia: Brief overview

Malaysia is a multi-racial country with an estimated population of 26 million people in 2006. The country is made up of more than 60% of Malays, most of which are Muslims who therefore typically do not consume alcohol on religious grounds. GNP per capita is US$3500 and GDP US$85b. The average distribution of labor force by sector is agriculture – 26 per cent, industry – 28 per cent and services 46 per cent. The adult literacy rate is total 80 per cent: male – 89 per cent and female – 72 per cent. Public expenditure on health is 1.3 per cent of the GDP. There are two main breweries, which are located in or near the capital city of Kuala Lumpur. Guinness Anchor Berhad is a joint venture between Guinness and Asia Pacific Breweries of Singapore, itself a joint venture with Heineken and a local soft drinks company. Carlsberg controls the largest shares of Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Berhad. The roots of Malaysia’s drinking patterns lie in the introduction of most forms of alcohol by Europeans. Although Malaysia today has relatively low per capita alcohol consumption, available studies and interviews with alcohol industry officials point to a small segment of the population that drinks heavily and causes and experiences substantial alcohol related-problems. More teenagers in Malaysia are starting to drink alcoholic beverages at an earlier age. 45 per cent of Malaysian youths (under 18) consume alcohol regularly. Of all the legal and illegal drugs, alcohol is by far the most widely used by teenagers, and according to a national survey many are regularly drinking to excess.Indians are over-represented in this sub-population, but studies also reveal substantial drinking problems among Chinese and Malays. Government officials categorize alcohol as an Indian problem. Alcoholism in Malaysia is as serious a problem as smoking. Often the alcohol problem has been sidelined as merely the “samsu problem of the poor Indians”. Samsu, beer and toddy are the most commonly consumed alcoholic drinks. These drinks average 38 per cent alcohol and are widely available illegally from outlets such as sundry shops and private residences. The smallest bottle of samsu costs as little as US$0.36 (RM1.50). In Malaysia, the biggest victims of alcohol are the poor, particularly the rural Indian laborers who work in rubber and oil palm estates. Here alcohol is a major cause of poverty. Can we consider alcohol as an Indian problem in Malaysia?

Types of Alcoholic Beverages

The major types of alcoholic beverages which can be found and popular all over the world are discussed briefly as follows:

Beer is generally made from barley, but can sometimes contain a mix of other grains. Whisky (or whiskey) is made from a blend of different grains like barley, oats, corn, rye, etc. The style of whiskey generally determines the primary grain used, with additional grains usually added to the blend (most often barley, and sometimes oats).As far as American whiskey is concerned, Bourbon (corn), rye whiskey, must be at least 51% of respective constituent at fermentation, whilst corn whiskey (as opposed to bourbon) must be at least 81% .Two common distilled beverages are vodka and gin. Vodka can be distilled from any source of agricultural origin (grain and potatoes being the most common) but the main characteristic of vodka is that it is so thoroughly distilled as to exhibit less of the flavors derived from its source material. Distillers and experts however will disagree; potato vodkas display a creamy mouth feel, whilst rye vodkas will have heavy nuances of rye. Other vodkas display citrus notes (more common among domestic brands). Gin is a similar distillate which has been flavored by contact with herbs and other plant products, especially juniper berries but also including angel root, licorice, cardamom, grains of paradise, Bulgarian rose petals, and many others.

The most commonly appreciated alcoholic beverage throughout the world is considered as the beer which is consumed both as a soft as well as hard depending upon the individual choice. Can we really consider Beer as a soft drink?

Alcohol consumption and health, good or bad?

In many countries, alcoholic beverages are commonly consumed at the major daily meals (lunch and dinner).Beer can be stored longer than grain or bread without fear of pest infestation or rotting, and drinking beer avoided the tooth-destroying grit that was present in hand-ground or early mill-ground flours. Consumption of alcoholic drinks (particularly weak or “small” beer) was one method of avoiding water-borne diseases such as cholera. Though alcohol kills bacteria, the low concentration in beer or even wine will have only a limited effect. In colder climates, strong alcoholic beverages such as vodka are popularly seen as a way to “warm up” the body, possibly because ethanol is a quickly absorbed source of food energy and dilates peripheral blood vessels. In moderation, alcohol consumption has significant health benefits. These include

·         A lower risk of heart attack

·          Lower risk of diabetes

·          Lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease

·          Reduced risk of stroke

·          An increase in overall longevity. 

 It is important to note that excessive consumption of alcohol has serious detrimental effects to a person’s health. Alcohol has also been linked to cancer. “3.6% of all cancer cases worldwide are related to alcohol drinking, resulting in 3.5% of all cancer deaths.” Alcohol is also a potentially addictive substance to a large percentage of people. Alcohol addiction can also lead to malnutrition because it can alter digestion and metabolism of most nutrients. Alcohol affects the brain, causing slurred speech, clumsiness, slow reflexes, and a loss of inhibition.

Basics of Alcohol and Alcoholism

Any drink containing ethanol is known as the alcoholic beverage.Ethanol is a centrally-acting drug with a depressant effect.Alcoholic beverages are addictive when consumed repeatedly or in high doses and the state of addiction to ethanol is known as alcoholism.Ethanol (CH₃CH₂OH), the active ingredient in alcoholic drinks, for consumption purposes is almost always produced by fermentation–the metabolism of carbohydrates by certain species of yeast in the absence of oxygen.Drinks with a concentration of more than 50% ethanol by volume (100 proof) are inflammable liquids and easily ignited.In chemistry, alcohol is a general term for any organic compound in which a hydroxyl group (-OH) is bound to a carbon atom, which in turn may be bound to other carbon atoms and further hydrogens.Metabolic products cause a poisoning and acidosis. In the case of other alcohols than ethanol, the aldehydes are poisonous and the acidosis can be lethal.A blood alcohol concentration of 50 to 100 mg/dl is considered legal drunkenness.

Alcohol has been widely consumed since prehistoric times by people around the world, as a component of the standard diet, for hygienic or medical reasons, for its relaxant and euphoric effects, for recreational purposes, for artistic inspiration, as aphrodisiacs, and for other reasons too.So alcohol has both positive as well as negative effects to health,luxury as well as business.Different individuals has different views on alcohol and alcoholism, what is your view on it?