Sep 28 2009
ieatishootipost’s Leslie Tay is waiting for M’sian Minister’s next mistake
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”
3 responses so far
Lets just humour Minister Ng and agree with her that the origins and its different versions of the dishes she claims as Malaysian are indeed Malaysia’s. So according to her logic, if she were to search her roots, and it most probablly would lead to China, than she is not a Malaysian, because she originates from China or for that matter any other country in the world.
Yes fully agree. This is outrageous…how dare they claim snatch the claim from Singapore! Chili crab is definitely Singaporean, just as true blue as Singapore Table Tennis Team, those loads of tropical fish exported to the rest of the world, golfer Lam Chih Beng, Olivia Lum of Hyflux…need I go on??
Hey guys, lets move on onto something more productive lah!
Dr. Leslie’s comments are as true as it gets.
Honestly speaking, i do not mind that she makes such claims, as long as she has backing evidences, or at the very least, bother to conjure stories to back up her claim.
her apparent actions have “flashed her tu-tu, to expose a sign labled ‘ignorant’ “.
for all we know, like Dr. Leslie mentioned, it could all be a publicity stunt, but whichever it may be, she is definitely going down in history where she may appear in comic illustrations of our social studies texts.
the thing that puzzles me most, is if those foods mentioned were indeed Malaysian, should it not taste better than that of other country’s?
and if Bak Kut Teh was a national dish of malaysia, what would the muslims think?
for time time being, my fearful question (sarcastic) would be “will M’sia sue me if i cook laksa at home?”