Alcohol in Malaysia

Jars for the making of the traditional rice wine of tapai in Sabah.

The history of local alcoholic drinks in the country are mostly concentrated in the island of Borneo as the indigenous people in the island have been traditionally drinking a home-made rice wine called tuak and tapai in their communal gatherings and harvest festivals of Gawai Dayak and Kaamatan.[6] The consumption in the Malay Peninsula meanwhile are less since the Malay sultanates there adheres to Islamic principles regarding to alcohol.[7] But following the arrival of alcoholic drinks from the Western world to Malay Archipelago in the 17th century when European colonial merchants began to come in contact with the people in the archipelago, some local Malay population start to taste wine brought by the Portuguese and Dutch and this was continued until the arrival of British until the 19th and 20th centuries.[6] The arrival of Indian labours in British plantations during the colonial times marks the introduction of "toddy" production by the Indian community, as well with the arrival of Chinese labourers on British mines who produce and introduce their own alcoholic drink such as "samsu" to the local community. The British also brought their own drinking traditions with the introduction of beer and stout. In the 1930, the first brewery was established in neighbouring British Singapore.[6]

Since the British colonial times, Tiger Beer was the first commercial beer brewed in 1932 by Malayan Breweries Limited, a Singapore-based brewery which was formed from a merger between Heineken and Fraser and Neave (F&N).[8] The beginning of alcohol productions in Malaysia start in 1968, when two leading breweries of Guinness and Malayan Breweries merged to form a new company known as Guinness Anchor Berhad. In 1970, Carlsberg established its first brewery outside Kuala Lumpur.[6] Both are since the only legal commercial breweries in Malaysia, which account for 95% of the total beer and stout volume in the country market. In 2007, another two breweries known as Napex and Jaz brewed beer for pubs in the country, but both have since ceased from operation.[8] Beside local productions, many alcoholic drinks in the country are also imported from neighbouring countries such as Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam.

Alcoholic drinks being put in a separate storage places with a label "non-halal" in the Giant Supermarket of Sabah.

Alcohol is generally prohibited for Muslim consumers in the country as Malaysia's sharia law forbids Muslims from drinking alcohol. Alcohol is mostly banned for Muslims in the states of Kelantan and Terengganu. The legal drinking age for Malaysia is 21 years old and above, which was officially changed from the previous legal drinking age of 18 with effect from 1 December 2017. However, the enforcement on the new legal drinking age of 21 was held back until 16 October 2018. [9][10] The legal limit for alcohol while driving in Malaysia is 80 milligrams per decilitre or 100 millilitres.[11] Any vendors, restaurants and retailers need a licence to serve or sell tap/draft beers, liquor and spirits in the country, but bottled and canned beers are exempted from such licence requirements which is why it is common to find many vendors and coffee houses continue to serving alcohol in their premises without any licence throughout the country.[11] Malaysia also impose a nationwide regulations for vendors to place their alcoholic drinks into separate refrigerators or storage places, although this was opposed by certain vendors in the state of Penang.[12] The high tax on alcohol has led to the increase price of alcoholic drinks in Malaysia, this has contributed to alcohol-related harm as many indigenous in the interior turning to unsafe alcohol being smuggled in from neighbouring countries.[13] In 2018, around 45 people died in the country's worst methanol poisoning involving foreign workers and several Malaysians due to the consumption of cheap fake liquors acquired from the country's black markets.[14][15]

• Alcohol in Australia
• Alcohol in Indonesia
• Alcohol in New Zealand