Malaysians misdirecting anger at Singapore over food war, says Malaysian show host

PETALING JAYA — Malaysians are a proud bunch when it comes to the many varieties of food in the country.

And the quickest way to get on this food-obsessed nation's bad side?

Just the mere mention of Singapore as the rightful owner of cendol or excluding Malaysia in favour of Singapore for a feature on Asian street food would do the trick.

The host of popular Malaysian food programme Jalan-Jalan Cari Makan, Nazrudin Rahman, weighed in on the perennial Malaysia-versus-Singapore food war, saying Malaysians are misdirecting their anger and not seeing the bigger picture. 

The host of the long-running TV3 food hunt show was referring to the Netflix snub earlier this year when the streaming giant did not include Malaysia in its Asian Street Food series.

Like many Malaysians, Mr Nazrudin was surprised at Malaysia’s lack of representation, describing Singapore’s food as “Malaysia-lite.”

Rather than taking part in the food war, Mr Nazrudin said it was time Malaysians reflect on their own efforts to promote their country’s cuisine.

“Let’s face it. We were not featured, not because Singapore has better food, but we as a nation have not done enough to show the world that our cuisine is a wonderful reflection of our integrated culture,” said Mr Nazrudin.

He attributed Singapore’s success in promoting its food culture to good public relations but that doesn’t necessarily mean they have the best food.

“Can we blame Singapore for wanting to attract the world? If they want to promote their country through their cuisine, can we blame them if they do a better job than we do?”

As a response, business radio station BFM took it upon themselves to produce its own video, hosted by Mr Nazrudin himself, and is petitioning for Netflix to run the #BersatuForMakan clip under its Street Food series. 

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Since its launch last week, more than 9,000 signatures have been collected out of a targeted 10,000, and the likes of McDonald’s Malaysia and Grab have also jumped on board.

“Indonesia regularly calls us ‘maling’ (thief) for ‘ripping off’ their batik and their rendang and whatnot, despite our own Nusantara roots bearing witness to hundreds of years of innovation.

“We hold our collective heads up high and we scoff at such derision from our larger neighbours but if we direct the same anger to Singapore, we are no better,” Mr Nazrudin said.

As the host of the number one food review show in Malaysia for the past eight years, Mr Nazrudin said he was honoured to work with a team that was passionate about putting Malaysia on the gastronomical map.

Described as a “mouth-watering new documentary,” the English and Malay clip features clever puns such as “have you ever seen a country so kaya?” and “so many varieties, it just makes anyone want tosai ayam (to say I am) in love with you, Malaysia.”

Mr Nazrudin said he was grateful that the team at BFM was up for some impromptu fun on set, allowing him to inject a dose of Jalan-Jalan Cari Makan vibe into the video. MALAY MAIL