This year, Teresa Kok’s CNY video champions palm oil

The CNY video with a palm oil theme featuring Prime Industries Minister Teresa Kok.

PETALING JAYA: Teresa Kok has released a Chinese New Year video centred around palm oil, a commodity the primary industries minister has been actively lobbying for, especially after the European Union’s decision to clamp down on it.

Kok, who releases a CNY video every year, said the video was aimed at clearing misconceptions about palm oil in a “creative and fun manner”.

The government and the palm oil industry players, she said, had been facing a lot of criticism over the years, a majority of which she said was unfounded.

Unfortunately, the negative campaigns against palm oil had also influenced Malaysian consumers.

“The primary purpose of my CNY clip is to explain these criticisms in simple layman’s 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,” Kok said in a Facebook post.

She said this, in turn, would result in them becoming spokespersons for Malaysian palm oil.

In the five-minute and 13-second clip, Kok and other actors are seen promoting the benefits of oil palm and rebuffing criticisms linked to the industry, including ones on the environment.

The video clip is in Cantonese with Bahasa Malaysia subtitles. - FMT