Blog TV has asked me to comment about this issue of the Malaysian Tourism Minister claiming that Chicken Rice, Laksa, Nasi Lemak and Chilli Crabs are all Malaysian dishes which have been hijacked by other countries.
My response has been published on their blog: Link here
The way I see it, the Tourism Minister made an off-the-cuff comment without prior research. I think the response from both the Malaysian and Singaporean public has made it quite clear that she made a mistake. The fact that she has not come up with any response to the public uproar or any form of mitigation just shows a deep seated disdain for any goodwill between Singapore and Malaysia.
You might not think that all this is important, but I feel that it is, because history is being written as we speak. Should the Tourism Minister decide to make up some marketing campaign to label Chili Crab Malaysian, given enough time and resources, they could even get someone to rewrite the history. This is not as difficult as it seems because it simply involves getting a few entries into Wikipedia and on the net and suddenly history becomes muddled.
Anyway, there will be a discussion on this topic on Blog TV tonight at 9.30pm. So do remember to tune in to see what happens.
So, what is your view on all this?
