Malaysians have a tendency to aggressively defend our local cuisine, especially if the person criticising our food is a foreigner.
With that being said, it is important to remember that foreigners might not necessarily like the food in Malaysia, despite us locals believing that we have the best food in the world. But, where does one draw the line between giving an opinion and being rude?
A Chinese tourist, 蒋大好困Winnie, took to her XiaoHongShu account to share her experience after having a meal at a local restaurant franchise, Ah Cheng Laksa. In her post, she said that the restaurant was smelly and the food was difficult to eat.
She wrote, “In Kuala Lumpur, I feel disturbed. Eating at a recommended restaurant in Kuala Lumpur, I ordered a dish and couldn’t eat it. Thinking that maybe I was unlucky (with the one dish), I ordered 2 more dishes and it turned out that I was indeed bothered and couldn’t eat (the dishes) at all.”
In her video, she said that the restaurant smelled bad to her and that she needed to close her nose to eat, making it difficult.
“This Malaysian restaurant stinks, I can only eat like this (closes her nose with her fingers). I can’t eat it,” she said as she attempted to eat a bowl of Asam Laksa.
She then ordered a plate of Rojak and a bowl of Ice Kacang, both of which she apparently struggled to eat as well.
“What is this dish called? ‘Rajak’. I asked the waiter what it was, he said fruit. I couldn’t communicate with him in English and I ordered another dish. Pineapple with soy sauce,”
“The strawberry slush tastes like essential oil balm. After eating this meal, how to say, this taste is… this taste is… you can eat it yourself,” she said in regards to the Rojak and the Ice Kacang.
Her friend thought her antics were funny and took the video of her.
In another post, she shared how she had gone viral in Malaysia as media outlets shared her video, leading to people thinking she was rude and leaving aggressive comments.
“If they (Malaysians) say that stinky tofu is smelly and eat it with their noses covered, I will not feel disrespected. I really don’t know why they have so much hate,” she wrote.
She added that her opinions were merely meant to be funny and questioned if Malaysian media outlets could disrespect her rights by using her image (sharing her post).
“I want to know why a country that claims to be civilised and respectful doesn’t respect other people’s image rights at all? And taken so out of context, what I meant to express was not what they shared at all,”
“And I’m not a food blogger, I just like to talk about talk shows and want to be a comedy character. I like to post funny things in my life,” she added.
Malaysian netizens continued to defend Malaysia and Ah Cheng Laksa, pointing out that the Malaysian media and netizens only ‘exposed’ her for ‘exposing’ the franchise.
You can check out her posts here.
What do you think about this? Do feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.
Also read: Local Man Defends M’sian Cuisine After Chinese Tourists Say Our Food is Not Nice
