Perak Opposition Leader and PAS member, Razman Zakaria has taken to Twitter to question why Bak Kut Teh is being recognized as a heritage dish. This is after Bak Kut Teh was gazetted as a heritage dish in Declaration of Heritage Object 2024 on the 23rd of February 2024. The Perak Assemblyperson for Gunung Semanggol said the following on Twitter (originally in Malay but for this article, it shall be translated to English):
"The Pork Bone Herbal Soup (referring to Bak Kut Teh) has recently been recognized as a Malaysian Heritage Food.
It's somewhat peculiar because this dish, also known as Bak Kut Teh, is not consumed by all layers of society. It is only eaten by a portion of the Malaysian population."
‘How good it would be if the national heritage food is the food that the majority (of the population) can consume in this country.’, Razman Zakaria further continued in his Twitter thread. It seems that Razman Zakaria is mistaken if he thinks that Bak Kut Teh cannot be enjoyed by everyone in Malaysia - there are halal variations of Bak Kut Teh as well. Chicken and beef have been used in making halal Bak Kut Teh. There is a stall in the capital city of Sarawak that serves a halal version of Bak Kut Teh using beef. In the Lion City of Singapore, a Malay father-son duo, Kamal and Shah, sells halal Bak Kut Teh which is a hit among their customers of all races.
But as a PAS member, he should know that there are halal variations of Bak Kut Teh as during the 2018 general election, PAS National Unity Committee introduced halal Bak Kut Teh. Yes, PAS themselves introduced halal Bak Kut Teh which was made using lamb or chicken. According to Berita PAS, PAS began introducing this food (halal Bak Kut Teh) since the Seri Setia State Legislative Assembly by-election to approach voters, especially those of Chinese descent. Besides halal Bak Kut Teh, they also introduced halal mooncakes during the 2018 general election.
So why is PAS questioning the gazetting of Bak Kut Teh as a heritage dish now? Why not back then? Why are they pleading (and spreading) ignorance in this issue when they know and have introduced halal Bak Kut Teh in the past? When they know Bak Kut Teh can be made using other meats and not exclusively pork?
I let you, my fellow readers, be the judge of PAS action.
Aaron Colt 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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