KUALA LUMPUR, June 6 — Bak kut teh, the soupy pork rib dish cooked with herbs and spices popularised by the Hokkien community in South-east Asia, sparked a hot debate in the Dewan Rakyat today after Tebrau MP Jimmy Puah urged the government to consider recognising it as a national heritage food.
The PKR lawmaker said he had recently watched a documentary on Channel News Asia that claimed bak kut teh could have originated in Singapore.
“In the documentary, the origin of the dish — which we know came from Klang — was disputed, and depicted as though it came from our neighbouring country.
“I feel slightly frustrated over this, so I would like to ask if the ministry has plans to form a national institute to protect and empower our traditional food and if there could be any documentaries made for this purpose?” Phua asked the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry during Question Time.
Deputy Minister Khairul Firdaus Akbar Khan replied that the government has carried out awareness efforts to help locals differentiate between local delicacies and those that are not.
“As I said earlier, our neighbouring countries may have a similar heritage, we don’t have the right to dispute that.
“But how can we differentiate between our heritage food and theirs? It is through awareness programmes that are often conducted by the government.
“At the same time, the government also has grants specifically for raising awareness on heritage food channels to promotional efforts either locally and abroad,” Khairul said.
Opposition Langkawi MP Datuk Suhaimi Mohd Abdullah then asked if the government plans to include bak kut teh in the list of Malaysian heritage food items.
“I want to ask, since when did bak kut teh become Malaysia’s traditional food? Because from what I see under the 10 most popular Malaysian traditional food items, it isn’t there,” he said.
He said bak kut teh is also not listed among 30 Malaysian ethnic food items.
“Let me read a few: nasi lemak, kuih bahulu, gula melaka, ketupat, char kuey teow, sizzling yee mee, bubur nasi, tong yuan, kuih bulan, kuih bakul, muruku, tosai, idly and putu mayam.
“Bak kut teh isn’t mentioned at all. So I’d like to ask the ministry, since when was bak kut teh included in the Malaysian traditional food list? And if the ministry has plans to apply for bak kut teh to be included in the list?” Mohd Suhaimi from Bersatu asked.
The deputy minister replied that any dish that is to be listed as a Malaysian heritage food must be able to be eaten by all ethnic groups in the country.
“For us to include any kind of food items as heritage food, I have to agree with Langkawi, it needs to have a prospect whereby the food item can be consumed by all Malaysians,” Khairul said, referring to Mohd Suhaimi.
“And if it’s bak kut teh in the form of chicken meat it could be.
“But like Tebrau mentioned, it as not specific so I cannot offer a specific answer,” Khairul added, this time referring to Puah.
Khairul said his Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry had applied to Unesco in March to recognise nasi lemak, roti canai and teh tarik as Malaysian breakfast culture food.
Singapore-based news agency Channel News Asia reported in June 2017 that the origin of bak kut teh is unclear but that it is believed that the Teochew variant of the dish only reached Singapore in the 1940s.
In Malaysia, the dish is popularly linked to Klang in Selangor as bak kut teh is a Hokkien phrase and the district is famous for having many restaurants featuring on its menu.
It is believed locally that bak kut teh was brought by Chinese immigrants from Fujian province in China to South-east Asia where they settled down in the 1930s.
