Reflection on Week 9: Institutions of Consumer Rights Protection

Protection of consumer rights is the right of every level of society, both globally, regionally, nationally, and locally. Knowing this made me realize how important it is for people to be aware of consumer rights. We are used to being indifferent to what we buy or consume because we feel that what is sold and consumed in general by the public means it is safe and healthy for consumption, even though there may be a manufacturing process that violates the production code of ethics or there are administrative matters on consumerism that violated by them.

For example, JCo and BreadTalk, two brands from Indonesia that produce and sell donuts and bread. Quoted from the HALAL Corner community on Facebook, as of April 2021 the two brands do not yet have a halal registration number at an institution that provides halal certification for a product in Indonesia called the Lembaga Pengkajian Pangan dan Obat-Obatan Kosmetika Majelis Ulama Indonesia (LPPOM MUI) and until now The halal status of these two brands is not yet clear. How naive are we to enjoy these two brands even though the authorities have not confirmed their halalness. Therefore, it is important for the government, non-profit and non-governmental community organizations, as well as people who have concerns about urging and providing knowledge to the public that both brands must be halal to be consumed in a country where the majority is Muslim.

Doing a consumerism movement in society should not be taken carelessly. There must be a clear legal basis to be able to define and implement a law regarding consumerism, because consumerism is related to 2 major parties, namely companies as producers and consumers as product connoisseurs. Furthermore, there is a more complex supply chain in the production process as well as the sales process for a product, therefore it is very important to have clear laws on consumerism.

For example, Malaysia has issued the CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT in 1999 under the Act which contains 24 sections. All of those parts contain how the Malaysian government is very concerned about consumer protection, as in part 3 which contains about SAFETY OF GOODS AND SERVICES, part 5 which contains GUARANTEES IN RESPECT OF SUPPLY OF GOODS, part 12 which contains THE TRIBUNAL FOR CONSUMER CLAIMS, and still much more.

After having a clear legal basis, what must be done now is how the government, non-governmental organizations, and the community itself maximize the potential of the law. For example, if there is an online shop that deceives its buyers by providing goods that are different from what is shown in the photos and descriptions in the online shop and they do not want to be guilty of their wrongdoing, it is highly recommended for these consumers to advocate to the authorities such as government and NGOs, so that later they can process the complaint and consumers can get proper justice.

What consumer rights institutions do is a noble thing, because the focus of these institutions is helping fellow human beings who become consumers, as the Rasulullah Shallalahu Alaihi Wa Sallam said, "Indeed, Allah will help a servant of His as long as the servant helps other people. other." (Muslim Hadith, Abu Dawud and Tirmidhi).

From the lessons I learned in this chapter, I learned that it is very important for us to have the courage to advocate for consumerism issues. We should not be afraid to get justice, even though what we are fighting may be big companies with big money and power, because in truth justice belongs to everyone, not only those who are bear and have power.