There’s no denying that each race have different styles of cooking. Same ingredients, almost the same dish, but different cooking methods. Although it’s not a problem if you know what you’re ordering, some people apparently want labels.
One netizen in particular decided to start a fight about it on Twitter. Apparently, they believed that Malay style char kuey teow should be termed “kuey teow basah”. According to the netizen, “char kuey teow” refers to the dish cooked Chinese style.
Local food blogger Ceddy Ang (@ceddyornot) retweeted the post on Twitter yesterday (Sunday, 16th January) to call it out. Ceddy argued that the name isn’t actually an issue. “The word CHAR in Hokkien means (fried), so to me it’s not a big deal if kuey teow basah is called “char” koey teow because they also fry it,” he said.
However, he did take a huge issue with the netizen who apparently ended his critic by telling people; “If you want to eat Chinese fried kuey teow, go back to China!” Ceddy reprimanded the netizen, calling him out for being racist. “And the funny thing is,” he added. “People who defended the usage of “Char Koey Teow” are mostly Non-Chinese.”
“(You) told people to respect other cultures, but a few (disagreements and you respond with) “go back to China”, who’s the (stupid one) now?” he snapped. Ceddy requested the netizen to stash his racism as “it’s already 2022“.
Other netizens also added their two cents about the issue. Some argued that there were many Chinese born in Malaysia. “Malaysia is our country, (it’s) just that our race isn’t the same,” one stated. Another wrote, “No point telling us to go back to China. (Char kuey teow) is from Malaysia, you won’t find this in China.”
The netizen has since deleted his Tweet. Ceddy on the other hand posted a photo of himself enjoying Penang kuey teow later in the day. As a Penangnite, he stated he could not return home and not have a plate of char kuey teow.
After that fiery shutdown, we’re sure he needed that plate of char kuey teow! After all, whether char kuey teow is Malay or Chinese styled, what really matters is the taste.
Ceddy is no stranger to speaking out against controversial issues. He once slammed a pizza company for paying him cheaply for his advertising services.
Sources: Twitter, China Press, Guang Ming Daily
