STAR BLOGGERS

Back in our childhood days, we used to fight over petty matters. We would scramble for the last piece of candy, proclaiming war over trivial objects (pencil box fights, anyone?), and proudly claiming ‘patent’ over our very own, erm, creations (crayon-painted landscapes that reminded one of Picasso’s masterpieces?).

And to think that we all matured with time. Bah ….. The current fiasco surrounding the ‘Food Fight’ between two neighbouring countries had me sniggering no less, a strong reminder of our past when quarrels over who-owns-what was prominent.

I’m a food blogger from Malaysia, but I’m on the fence on this issue raised by our very own Tourism Minister. With no intentions to disgrace my country, nor putting down Singapore, let me share my two cents’ worth here.

You see, Singapore’s really aggressive (and no doubt efficient) at branding their products, with heavy publicity, and constant promotion to the world. This kind of explains why there are way more food-related shows from our neighbouring country in comparison to the mere handful of local productions.

Chilli crabs and Hainan Chicken Rice are two such dishes that are almost synonymous with Singaporean cuisine. Not to say we can’t find them here in Malaysia, but what Singapore had been routinely practising is targeted promotion; heavily publicizing one method of cooking the crabs, whereas in Malaysia, we have many interpretations, eg. Butter Crabs, Salt-baked Crabs, Steamed Crabs, etc. Literally translated to a lack of identity, as we seldom hear people talking about Malaysian Chilli Crabs on the streets.

What we fail to notice is that, Singapore WAS in fact, a part of Malaysia. Hence it’s not a big deal if both countries share most of the signature dishes. Another point I’d like to draw your attention to is; we in Malaysia are proud to have a wide array of cuisines, with influences from all over. But branding-wise, we falter rather miserably. Take for example Laksa. We have Sarawak Laksa, Penang Assam Laksa, Johor Laksa, and the southern states refer to their curry noodles as Laksa. Now imagine a foreigner coming over to Malaysia expecting a “Malaysian Laksa” but was instead presented with so many different varieties. Confusing? Yes. Identity crisis, even. But it’s the myriad of cuisines from the combined 13 states and 2 federal territories, encompassing flavours from the East Malaysia as well as the multiple variations available in the peninsular, that makes Malaysian cuisine so special; almost incomparable.

There really should NOT be a “food fight” in the first place. Food is meant to bring people together, speaking a universal language, satisfying the gluttons in each and every one of us. It is definitely not a subject to be debated on, as to whether a certain dish belongs to a country or another. Malaysia should be proud of what we currently have, and instead work to promote the many other dishes, before other countries start to lay claims and work their way up the retribution page.

J2Kfm, a Motormouth From Ipoh, is a food blogger from the city of Ipoh, in the state of Perak, Malaysia. Ipoh is well-known for its street food, limestone caves, and currently flourishing well with direct flights from Singapore-Ipoh since July 2009. He writes about his food endeavours in Malaysia, as well as travels travels to other destinations. His writings and pictures can be found at http://www.j2kfm.com

Would the Tourism Minister please back up her claim that Chilli Crab is Malaysian in origin?

Before this, nobody has heard of the name Ng Yen Yen.  Yet in one flail swoop, she has gone down in history, at least in Singapore history, as the Tourism Minister who said one of the most baseless and outrageous statements about food in recent memory.

Nobody with a registrable IQ can willingly agree with Datuk Seri Ng Yen Yen’s claim that “Chili crab, Hainanese Chicken Rice, Laksa and Bak Kut Teh are all Malaysian in origin and that other countries have hijacked it.  She is either very smart and has strategically planned to do this in order to put the spotlight on Malaysia as a tourist destination, or,  just plain ignorant. 

Perhaps she felt that since the Indonesians are already wanting to burn the Malaysian flag for  portraying the traditional Indonesian Pendet dance as Malaysian, she might as well try to see what Singapore would do for accusing us of hijacking their food.  After all, there is already a fire going, why not see how high the flames can go?

It has been a week since her guffaw and I have yet to hear of any evidence to back up her claims.  If indeed all these dishes are Malaysian in origin, then pray, tell us the story of how it all started.  But you see, the problem is that they are all baseless claims and after the initial slip of the tongue, the whole bunch civil servants working in the Tourism Minister’s office are all probably whispering in her ear that they found undeniable evidence that Chilli Crab really is Singaporean in origin, which is why the Tourism office has been silent since the uproar.

The fact is that Malaysia and Singapore were once Malaya and we are separated politically but not culturally.  It is arguable that Malaysia and Singapore are akin to North and South Korea and so, can you imagine how ridiculous it would sound if North Korea started claiming that Kimchi is North Korean in origin?  So without concrete evidence that Laksa, Bak Kut Teh and Hainanaese Chicken Rice are indeed Singapore in origin, I am willing to entertain the thought that perhaps Bak Kut Teh did indeed originate in Malaysia although it would seem quite plausible that the Hokkiens and Teochews probably brought along a similar dish from their home country and modified it to suit the coolies working along Clarke Quay who need a hearty meal in the morning in order to do their back breaking work throughout the day.  Speak to any of the older folks who have lived around the Clarke Quay area in the post war years and they would recount how the first Bak Kut Teh shops started out as a rivalry between the Teochews and Hokkiens both vying for the same work of carrying sacks of rice off the boats onto shore.

But when it comes to Chilli Crab, the evidence is undeniable.  And indeed, if Madam Cher Yam Tian wanted to take legal action, she would probably win the case hands down.   Everyone except for Minister Ng Yen Yen knows that Chilli Crab had its origins in Upper East Coast Road. Madam Cher and her husband were living there in the 50s and her husband used to hunt for crabs along the shore in the days before land reclamation.  Being Teochew, they would simply steam the crabs and eat them. But one day her husband said that perhaps she could do something a little different to the crabs and that is when she fried them in tomato sauce.  His feedback was that it was nice but just too sweet to which she then added chilli into the recipe.  They started selling their chilli crab from a little push cart along Upper East Coast road until 1956 when they set up a little hut lit with a kerosine lamps and thus, Palm Beach Restaurant was born.  In 1985, they sold the business and migrated to New Zealand.  They have since returned and the son is now selling their famous chilli crab at Roland Restaurant in Marine Parade.

So that is the story of chilli crab and unless the Minister is able to come up with something plausible, I think her statement on all the other dishes are really moot.  It just shows that she had made an off-the-cuff statement without prior research and is right now just lying low, waiting for the storm to blow over.

I am just waiting to see what other embarrassing mistake she is going to make next.

“http://ieatishootipost.sg/ is Leslie Tay’s one-man mission to eat and blog all the good food in Singapore.  Some people love the mouth watering photos and frank reviews, but others just complain that it makes them too hungry in the middle of the night”