Respect the food choices of others, as not everyone who consumes pork is involved in corruption.
Willie Mongin, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Puncak Borneo, recently spoke from the perspective of the Dayak community and expressed his disappointment in people who view pork as “dirty and rotten.” During the Parliamentary Session yesterday (21 January), Willie said his community has never insulted the food choices of others, but they were targeted simply for eating pork.
He called on Malaysians to respect each other’s choices
In response to the stereotype, Willie pointed out that, as a community that consumes pork, many of them have never been involved in corruption or taken drugs.
“We, who eat pork, rarely take bribes, rarely do drugs, and don’t engage in strange or immoral acts—yet we are accused of eating pork and being uncivilized.”
“I think Malaysians have to stop doing this, because we have to respect other’s choices.”
“Budu and Belacan smell worse.”
Willie then came up with an example, which, to him, is more foul-smelling than pork.
“Although pork smells bad, Budu and Belacan smell worse. But we’ve never insulted anyone and we have always respected others,” Willie said.
Willie said this during a debate on a motion of thanks for the royal address by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar. He said communities in neighbouring countries, including Singapore, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand, were able to unite in developing their nations, and called on Malaysians to do the same.
What do you think of Willie’s take on this matter?
