Recently, Bak Kut Teh was announced to be among the 10 foods gazetted as heritage foods by the Heritage Commissioner Mohamad Muda Bahadin in the Declaration of Heritage Object 2024.
Following this, many got involved in condemning and defending the dish’s stand in the declaration, causing quite the drama.
Now, Parit Buntar MP Mohd Misbahul Munir Masduki is getting dragged online for using Wikipedia as a reference during a debate in Parliament with Ipoh Timor MP Howard Lee. The latter showcased the incident on his Twitter page.
Howard Lee wrote, “What does the term ‘Bak’ mean in “Bak Kut Teh’? What does ‘Bak’ mean in ‘Bak Kut Teh’? PAS is trying to distort the meaning of the term Bak Kut Teh in Parliament. Ask Hokkien people first.”
“The government is working to add value to Malaysia’s heritage culture as part of the efforts to develop the dine infrastructure that tourism offers. The opposition, on the other hand, wants to find issues to play Haram-Halal.”
In the video, Howard Lee could be seen arguing that ‘Bak’ means ‘meat’, which could be any meat with examples such as pork and beef. He added that he knows this because he is of Hokkien heritage.
He then accused the opposition party of lying, by insisting ‘Bak’ only means ‘pork’, to cause problems.
“But, I referred to Wikipedia, ‘Bak’ actually refers to pork ribs and bones soup,” the Parit Buntar MP said in response.
This didn’t sit well with many Malaysians as Wikipedia is a platform where its pages can be edited by literally anyone.
“Parliament should be among the first references by scholars, where scientific and analytic ideas are discussed. But PAS MPs are bringing in Wikipedia into Parliament. Very stupid.”
“This is the level of PAS MPs, you’re referencing Wikipedia? Even at Diploma level they don’t allow the usage of Wikipedia as an academic reference source.”
“The PAS member is using Wikipedia as a reference? Even with assignments we’re not allowed to source Wikipedia.”
Hulu Langat MP Mohd Sany Hamzan was backing up Howard Lee in this argument, which made it so much more entertaining.
You can check out his video here:
APA MAKSUD ISTILAH BAK DALAM BAK KUT TEH?
Apa maksud BAK dalam #bakkutteh? #pas cuba memandai memesongkan #parlimenmalaysia maksud Istilah BAK KUT TEH. Tanyalah orang #hokkien dulu.#ipohtimor #ipoh #perak #kerajaanperpaduan #malaysiamadani #malaysia #parliament #parlimen pic.twitter.com/QzgemysJeC— Howard Lee (@howardlee_my) March 4, 2024
What do you think about this? Do feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.
