Ever since bak kut teh was gazetted as a national heritage dish, it has become the subject of fierce debate and endless arguing among politicians over its ingredients.
Recently, an MP from the Islamic party PAS was subjected to mockery after he referred to an unlikely source to support his argument that bak kut teh shouldn’t be recognised as a heritage dish.
‘Wikipedia says ‘bak’ means pork meat!’
During the Parliamentary session on Monday (Mar 4), Parit Buntar MP Mohd Misbahul Munir Masduki said the main objection towards bak kut teh being listed as a national heritage food was due to pork meat being used, thus deeming it unsuitable for Muslims to consume.
He then went on to argue that the word ‘bak’ in bak kut teh actually refers to pork meat, citing a source no one would expect:
I actually referred to Wikipedia and it said that ‘bak’ means ‘soup with pork ribs and bones’.
“We don’t object to bak kut teh (being a heritage dish) if it is the halal kind,” he said.
Gets schooled by another MP
Following Mohd Misbahul’s objections, Ipoh Timur MP Howard Lee proceeded to ‘educate’ him on what ‘bak’ actually meant in Hokkien, the dialect from which it is derived from.
In Hokkien, ‘bak’ refers to meat and does not necessarily mean pork meat. There are several ways to describe different kinds of meat such as pork (‘tu bak’) or beef (‘gu bak’).
“The opposition is lying and simply trying to twist the word’s meaning in order to incite discomfort and hatred. I know that because I’m Hokkien (person)!”, he explained.
PAS MP mocked for using Wikipedia
The exchange was later shared to Howard Lee’s Twitter account, where netizens wasted no time in roasting Mohd Misbahul for referring to a platform whose info can be altered by anyone.
‘This is the trashy level of PAS MPs. You actually referred to Wikipedia? It’s not allowed to be used as a source of reference for academics at the Diploma level.’
‘Parliament is supposed to be the first place of reference by scholars and where scientific and analytical ideas are discussed. But this PAS MP brought Wikipedia into Parliament. So stupid.’
Meanwhile, others lamented that precious time was wasted discussing on such trivial matters when it could’ve been used to discuss on how to improve the economy and hardships faced by Malaysians.
You can watch how it all went down from the 6:20:00 mark onwards:
Do you think this will be the last we’ll hear bak kut teh being debated in Parliament? Share with us in the comments!
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