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Somewhere in Malaysia, a makcik just cooked for 50 customers, packed leftovers for three households, and still had time to complain about the price of cili padi.
No one gave her an 11 out of 10.
But give Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman a plate of nasi ayam and suddenly we are expected to pause as a nation. Because it was cooked by Bella Astillah. His fiancée. And he liked it. A lot.
“Eleven out of ten,” he declared. A man who has debated policies, run ministries, and now judges chicken rice with the emotional intensity of a MasterChef finale.
That moment when he closes his eyes, as if the nasi ayam has unlocked a childhood memory he never had. As if each grain of rice is whispering, “...this is what love tastes like.”
Relax, YB. It’s just garlic and soy sauce.
Pft.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure Bella’s nasi ayam was delicious. Most Malaysian food is. But this was never about the food. This is about branding.
Because in 2026, you’re not in love unless it’s content. You’re not happy unless it’s edited. And you’re definitely not eating unless someone is rating it like a reality show judge who just discovered adjectives.
“11 out of 10” is not a score. It’s a cry for engagement.
And we, loyal citizens of the Internet, obediently clap. Share. Comment. Analyse. Because God forbid we ignore a plate of nasi ayam just because millions of us eat it every week, without good lighting and a storyline.
11 out of 10? Maybe for the drama. Not for the dish.
This is how effortlessly we turn the mundane into spectacle, provided the right people are involved.
Meanwhile, the rest of us are out here cooking daily without a single reel, without background music, and, most tragically, without a numeric rating system to validate our existence.
But perhaps this is the new economy of attention: love, but make it content. Affection, but with lighting. Domesticity, but edited.
The engagement happened on Mount Kinabalu - because of course it did - and now the relationship continues its natural evolution: from couple goals to content pipeline.
At this rate, we can expect parliamentary debates to be livestreamed with cooking segments in between.
“Yang Berhormat, your stance on rising chicken prices?”
“Before that, please try my ayam berempah. Crispy, right?”
We all know how this story goes.
Today, it’s a “spontaneous” nasi ayam moment. Tomorrow, it’s a behind-the-scenes of love and resilience. Next week, it’s a beautifully lit kitchen with a suspiciously well-placed bottle of kicap manis facing the camera.
Give it a month and we’ll be watching them on commercial TV.
“Cinta bermula dengan satu suapan…”
Cut to slow motion chicken.
Close-up: satisfied nod.
Logo appears.
And just like that, nasi ayam becomes a brand narrative.
Because nothing says authenticity quite like a strategically curated relationship.
Fa Abdul (fa.abdul.penang@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!
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