We Malaysians can get surprisingly defensive about our food. And recently, local favourite bak kut teh was put in the crossfire after a visiting Chinese internet celebrity tried to claim it as one of theirs.
YouTuber 江淏的旅行 (Jiang Hao Travels) arrived in Malaysia a few days ago and has been exploring KL. While here, Jiang Hao apparently dropped by a bak kut teh shop to savour the delicacy. Unfortunately, his introduction about the food wasn’t well received by Malaysians.
Jiang Hao reportedly has been touring Malaysia, with his first stop being KL. The Vlogger expressed amazement at meeting several people who could speak Mandarin here, claiming it made him feel as though he was “no longer abroad“. Of course, while here, he couldn’t pass up on the food.
Sometime during his KL trip, he made sure to stop by a bak kut teh store, Sun Fong Bak Kut Teh (新峰肉骨茶) at Jalan Imbi. For the sake of his audience, Jiang Hao decided to introduce the food, saying: “Bak Kut Teh is a local Chinese dish based on the taste (from China).” However, the sentence rang wrong with several Malaysian netizens.
Several reprimanded the YouTuber, claiming Bak Kut Teh had no relations to China. “Bak Kut Teh is a local delicacy made by Malaysian Chinese. It has nothing to do with China,” one stated. “What Chinese dish is Bak Kut Teh an based on?” another questioned. “What is its name? I searched Wikipedia and Baidu and found no mention (of it).”
Others were frank with Jiang Hao, telling him better food could be found elsewhere and for cheaper, with some recommending Penang for a visit. A few also took an issue with him blatantly claiming being in Malaysia felt like China. “They are completely different,” one said firmly. Some even corrected the polite way he called a waiter!
However, one netizen spoke up for the YouTuber, claiming netizens could be overly sensitive and irrational. “It was indeed our Chinese ancestors who originally came from China and created this food in Malaysia. The dry Bak Kut Teh is a (modernised) version,” they explained.
Well, we sincerely hope Jiang Hao is enjoying himself here in Malaysia, in spite of the criticisms from netizens online. Hopefully he’ll be able to eat delicious (and cheaper) food elsewhere soon!
Check out his travels here:
Source: YouTube
