KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 16 — Minister of Primary Industries Teresa Kok has taken her crusade to promote palm oil to the next level with a release of a Chinese New Year video extolling its virtues.
The five-minute video is shot primarily in Mandarin and is available to watch on video streaming platform YouTube.
In a Facebook post on her official Facebook page, Teresa moved to explain why she made the video, stating every Malaysian can play a part in promoting palm oil amidst an onslaught of bad press from the European Union who claim palm oil is bad for health.
“The underlying message of this video clip is to clear many misconceptions about palm oil in a creative and fun manner. On top of that, I encourage the public to ask questions in order to get the right answer,” Kok wrote on Facebook.
“Malaysia is the second-largest palm oil producing country and palm oil is the biggest agri-commodity export of Malaysia. The government and the palm oil industry players have been facing lots of criticisms all these years,” adding that most criticisms are unfounded but slowly beginning to take root among Malaysian consumers.
Kok said the video was to explain in the simplest terms how palm oil is used and explain its benefits. She urged those who had doubts to seek the right facts before avoiding palm oil.
“The primary purpose of my CNY clip is to explain these criticisms in simple layman terms and to advise viewers not to be too quick to rush into judgment or to believe the many false accusations.
“Instead, they ought to seek proper verification of actual facts. This will also, in turn, result in them becoming spokesperson for Malaysian palm oil,” she added.
On June 10, 2019, the European Union (EU) Parliament passed the Delegated Act to restrict and ban palm oil biofuel altogether, by 2030.
Indonesia and Malaysia will jointly seek justice at the World Trade Organisation as the EU presses on to ban palm oil as The Delegated Act is seen as discriminatory against the economies of developing nations in Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America which produce palm oil.
