This is the question the International Meatless Day Campaign committee wants people from all over the world to ask themselves when they pledge to go “meatless” on Nov 25.

Meatless Day Campaign committee chairman, Penang, Pishu Murli Hassaram said the world mindset was gradually changing following growing response to campaigns.

He said 4,206 Malaysians pledged to go meatless for a day last year and this year, the committee hopes to collect 5,000 pledges.

“Numbers really do not matter as what we want is to change the people’s hearts and mindset. But every pledge that is made shows that the person has heard our appeal and has taken a conscious decision to abstain from meat on one significant day,” Pishu said.

He said the campaign in Penang would be launched by Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon at the Bayview Beach Resort on Oct 27 where he would pledge to go meatless on Nov 25.

Hotel general manager Edwin Yap said owing to publicity generated by the meatless day campaigns and the increasing number of public choosing to go meatless, the hotel has set up a “meatless section” in its weekly Sunday buffet featuring more than 25 dishes at any one time.

Yap said the hotel had also embarked on a “meatless day” programme for its 310 staff since last November.

“I had noticed that some of them were putting on weight and when I introduced the idea of meatless Fridays, there was a lot of arguments and resistance.”

He said the first three months were tough for some of the staff.

“But the management persisted and today, I can see changes in the reduced number of staff taking medical leave and they are also moving much faster,” he added.

The highlight of this campaign will be the “Meatless Day Carnival” at the Esplanade from 5pm to 10pm on Nov 16.

Pishu said the carnival was an ideal platform to highlight the varieties of meatless dishes in a fun-filled environment.

He said some 50 vegetarian food stalls would be set up and there would also be games stalls, competitions and even cooking demonstrations.

Pishu added the committee hoped to raise RM40,000 for two charities during the carnival – the Penang & Province Wellesley Buddhist Free Clinic and the Sadhu Vaswani Welfare Fund.

International Meatless Day, also known as Animal Rights Day, is organised annually by the Sadhu Vaswani Mission, a non-profit social organisation founded by Sadhu T.L. Vaswani.

“Sadhu Vaswani was an eminent thinker and educationist in India, whose philosophy revolved around the principle of reverence for all life,” Pishu said.

He added that Nov 25, which was Sadhu Vaswani’s birthday, was observed around the world as International Meatless Day as a mark of respect and commemoration of his ideals.