Ratu Naga: Why isn’t the famous Pau Ahmad named Pau Ding Hong Sing after its founder?

 

RATU Naga – the political activist and social media influencer with a pro-opposition slant – has questioned the appropriateness of Chinese businessmen to name their products after themselves instead of giving them a Malay or Muslim-sounding brand.

Undoubtedly the action of the former PKR Wanita information chief whose real name is Syarul Ema Rena Abu Samah has triggered emotional reaction from her followers as to whether the relevant authorities like JAKIM (Department of Islamic Development Malaysia) should prohibit non-Muslim entrepreneurs from ‘abusing’ Muslim-sounding names in their brands.

As one netizen rationalised that “Ahmad” could have originated from the slang commonly attributed to “personal drivers of British bosses or Chinese towkays in the past”, another pointed out that Pau Ahmad’s logo “bears jawi writing and the dome of a mosque”.

A supposedly homemaker netizen went on to cast doubt on the product’s halal status as many have consumed it “from young to old”.

For the uninitiated, the halal-certified Pau Ahmad since 1985 is founded by former SME Association of Malaysia president Ding Hong Sing and is reputed to be Malaysia’s first-ever halal pau (steamed buns).

The Pau Ahmad range of dim sum products is produced by PA Food Sdn Bhd as an independent family business at its factory in Bandar Teknologi Kajang in Semenyih, Selangor.

The furore generated by Ratu Naga’s FB post has even prompted one netizen to propose that “the time has come for the authorities to ban non-Muslim businesses from using names that reflect Islamic elements”.

Finally, one netizen expressed amazement as to why Chinese entrepreneurs have an inking to Malay names “when they tend to despise the Malays when it comes to the political scene” with one lady netizen probably offered a jackpot answer – “the buying power of the Malays”.

Whatever said and done, Ratu Naga has an ulterior motive to harp on Pau Ahmad as she has just recently embarked on a 10-year “Buy PN First” campaign “to destroy DAP-controlled economy” while at the same time go all out to promote the “buy Malay first” agenda.

- Focus Malaysia