Nga Kor Ming met his Singaporean counterpart, Singapore’s National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat, for lunch recently.
Ok.
He took Chee for a bak kut teh lunch.
Oh no.
Why oh no?
Well, because a bak kut teh lunch might just be a lunch with some other people at some other time, but in present-day Malaysia — and especially between Malaysia and Singapore — everything from the Federal Constitution to a disrespectful gesture can be raised to find fault with the lunch.
Now if you think I’m exaggerating, please remember that Nga Kor Ming was once called in by the police for hosting a Christmas party at his ministry.
Yes — a Christmas party.
Singapore and Malaysia are not exactly best friends forever, and every handshake, grin and photo-op is often interpreted as a coded message.
According to The Straits Times, Malaysia’s Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming hosted Chee Hong Tat in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 12 over a steaming bowl of bak kut teh. His ministry said that the lunch exemplified the strong friendship and enduring ties between both nations — a gesture Mr Nga fondly described as “culinary diplomacy.”
During the meeting between Nga and Chee, the ministers held in-depth discussions on urban planning, urban renewal, waste management, affordable housing and sustainable development. Both sides also explored collaboration in smart city development and civil service training, areas where Malaysia and Singapore share similar challenges due to limited land and high population density.
It was, by all accounts, a productive meeting — until the headlines came out.
Because in today’s Malaysia, bak kut teh is not just food. It’s politics.
The dish — a hearty bowl of pork ribs simmered in herbs and spices — was officially gazetted as part of Malaysia’s National Food Heritage in 2024 under the National Heritage Act 2005. While it’s arguably a dish born in Malaysia, believed to have been invented by Hokkiens in Port Klang, it has also sparked intense online debates about whether a non-halal dish should represent a Muslim-majority country.
When the government first announced bak kut teh as a heritage dish, netizens were quick to take sides. Some said it was “100 per cent born in Malaysia,” while others questioned whether a national heritage food should be something that “all Malaysians can consume.”
One user argued that “national heritage food should be uniquely Malaysian, halal or not,” adding sarcastically, “Else we let Singapore claim bak kut teh and roti canai lah.”
For Nga Kor Ming, whose name is already synonymous with religious and racial controversy, this “culinary diplomacy” might be a double-edged chopstick. His previous Christmas celebration had already led to 69 police reports and multiple accusations of insensitivity, even though it was merely held on Christmas Day with Kadazandusun Christians singing carols.
So when he now invites a Singaporean minister — from a country that many Malaysians still view with a mix of rivalry and resentment — for bak kut teh, it’s almost as if the stars have aligned for another round of national outrage.
And yet, perhaps that’s precisely the point.
Perhaps this is Nga’s way of saying that Malaysia’s diversity is not something to hide, and that friendship between nations can be built over a bowl of soup that some may not eat but all can appreciate.
Still, the timing and optics will matter. In a country where food is political, religion is emotional, and race is combustible, the combination of all three makes for a headline that practically writes itself.
Whether this lunch becomes another social media firestorm or a model of cultural diplomacy remains to be seen.
But for now, it’s safe to say that the bak kut teh summit has stirred more than just soup.
Let’s see how the cookies crumble — or rather, how the ribs simmer — in the days to come.
TheRealNehruism (nehru.sathiamoorthy@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact creator@newswav.com.
