Swallowing Mahathir’s Hook, Line And Sinker – Chinese Shop Signage Attacked Due To Jealousy Of Businesses Success

 Despite his age of 99, Mahathir Mohamad appears to be able to throw a few punches at the Anwar government every now and then. Known as a master strategist, the oldest living former Malaysian prime minister has once again provoked the nation of 34 million where the complex relationship between race and religion has always been a sensitive issue.

 

What the old man did was pretty easy. He claimed to have gone shopping at Pavilion Bukit Jalil and was shocked to find himself teleported to the Middle Kingdom because the mall made him feel as if “I was in China”. Apparently, he was upset, or pretended to be offended, at food outlet with signboards in “Chinese with English translations” and “nothing at all in Malay”.

 

He must be incredibly jealous of the roaring business at “B.O.D包栈”, which translates to “Bao On Demand”. Mahathir’s own venture into food business went kaput when “The Loaf” closed down its business in 2018 after 12 years of operation. Before his premium bakery went bust, the ex-premier had complained that Malays were lazy and untrustworthy, revealing how a Malay manager was caught red-handed stealing money from the cash register.

Actually, The Loaf was worse as it had zero Malay, Jawi, Arabic, Tamil or Chinese translation. Does that mean racist Mahathir was pro-colonialism even after 60 years of independence from the British Empire? Using his argument, Malaysia must have become part of the United Kingdom due to the absence of the national language from the display boards of The Loaf.

 

Of course, just like The Loaf’s target customers were high-income Malays, who generally understood English and associated the language with high-class society, hence the lack of Malay translation (“Roti” would sound cheap and low standard), “B.O.D包栈” was similarly targeted at non-Muslims patronising Chinese eateries that serve pork and non-halal food.

 

Does Mahathir, and all gullible Malays who insist Chinese restaurants like B.O.D must have Malay language signage just for the sake of feeling Malay supremacy, seriously wanted to see the translation of its tagline “Tasty Pork Dumpling – A Waste If You Don’t Try” in bold and huge Malay signage? Who will be held responsible if some Malay-Muslims somehow get stimulated and consumed the forbidden food?

The shop serving handmade traditional buns and dim sum was trying very hard to prevent or discourage Malays from accidentally consuming non-halal food. The last thing Bao On Demand (B.O.D) wants is to start World War III in Malaysia when Malays run amok upon seeing the signboard promoting delicious “Stim Pau Babi, Ladu Babi, Kacang Soya Sos Rusuk Babi, Sup Babi and whatnot”.

 

Exactly what’s wrong with this old man called Mahathir and other extreme Malays who went nuclear over Chinese businesses prioritizing Chinese language, even though the intention has been not to offend the sensitivity of the Malays in the first place? How come the Chinese get the blame for not using Malay signage, but also get the blame for using Malay signage as it would be accused of luring Malays into eating pork?

 

Yes, all those politicians trying to score some cheap brownie points like UMNO Youth Chief Akmal Saleh and Opposition Perikatan Nasional should make up their freaking mind whether Chinese shops selling non-halal products should prioritizing Malay language despite the risks that the Malay community, already known as the most easily “confused race” in the Muslim world, could be misled by such signage.

Do you want the Chinese businesses to be sensitive to the feeling of ethnic Malay by not confusing them with pork-based food, or do you want the Chinese businesses to be sensitive to the feeling of ethnic Malay by prioritizing Malay language? You can’t demand the Chinese to use Malay signage, but at the same time blame them for trying to encourage the Malays into eating non-halal food because of the Malay signboard.

 

Before banging the head against the wall over the use of Chinese on Kuala Lumpur shop signage, Mahathir and Akmal should explain why the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) is using the English name of the party. Akmal should mobilize UMNO members to boycott his own party, and forced it to change its name to PKMB or Pekembar (Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Bersatu) rather than UMNO.

 

The last time Puchong-based producer Winepak Corporation combined a 6-foot British explorer Tristram Charles Sawyer Speedy with tin as inspiration to produce Timah Whisky, it was twisted into a crisis. They stupidly argued that the bearded man on the bottle – Captain Speedy – resembled a Muslim man in a kopiah, and falsely claimed Timah was short for Fatimah (Prophet Muhammad’s daughter), therefore, the whiskey brand was insulting Malay-Muslims.

Even though Timah Whisky was meant for non-Muslim consumption only, some radical Muslims, including Penang mufti Wan Salim, had accused it as “provocative” and can cause confusion and demanded the name to be changed. They even argued that the whisky could threaten racial harmony, despite the fact that Timah is directly translated as tin while the image was a British man.

 

Nobody asked Malay-Muslims to go into a “non-halal” Chinese shop to buy liquor, the same way nobody asks the moron Mahathir and Type “M” radicals to enter “B.O.D包栈” restaurant to eat pork dumpling. That’s why Chinese businesses have long practiced usage of Chinese language to discourage Malays – arguably the most gullible and easily deceived race in planet Earth – from patronising Chinese eateries.

 

The former premier should stop feeling inferior and envious that some Chinese media were referring to Malaysia as “Little China”. Thanks to the corrupt Barisan Nasional government, which he had led for 22 years (1981-2003), Malaysia is also known as “Little Arab”, “Little Manila”, “Little Myanmar”, “Little Nepal”, “Little Bangla”, “Little Indon”, “Little Pakistan” and the list goes on.

Perhaps Mahathir and Akmal should explain how Bumiputera-operate Malakat Mall in Cyberjaya, despite having “100% Bahasa Melayu signboards”, had shut down in July this year – just four years after its grand opening. Some vendors admitted the mall had failed because of lack of marketing, too focus on “Islamic brands” and over-emphasis on culturally and ethnically-specific products.

 

The simple fact that Mahathir deliberately and specifically attacking signboards of Chinese shops emblazoned with Chinese characters, but hypocritically kept quiet over signboards in English, Japanese, Korean or even Arabic speaks volumes about his evil agenda, double standards and hatred of Chinese success in businesses. In truth, besides jealousy, the old man was trying to sabotage Anwar government.

 

And the clueless and incompetent Anwar administration foolishly swallowed the hook, line and sinker. Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) – which is under the purview of the Federal Territories Minister Zaliha Mustafa, who hails from PM Anwar’s Parti Keadilan Rakyat – blindly and stupidly jumped into the trap, clamping down on Chinese signboards in the capital city, much to the delight of Mahathir.

Again, Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Tiong King Sing, the only ethnic-Chinese minister with the balls of steel, has slammed DBKL’s stunt to enforce a 1982 bylaw dictating that any advertisement must have Malay displayed with larger characters than other languages. He has warned of economic damage if Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government continues to ban prominent Chinese characters on retail signboards.

 

Tiong said – “This overboard behaviour not only causes tourists to question the openness and inclusivity of Malaysia, but some international visitors have asked me point-blank whether Malaysia is racist or religiously extreme”. Tourism is projected to bring in revenue of over RM100 billion in 2024 and rising by nearly 50% in 2026. As usual, the PM is expected to keep quiet and play safe.

 

The City Hall, instead of discriminately harassing and bullying Chinese eateries over its Chinese language signage, should be flexible and use its common sense. What’s the point of bulldozing Malay language signage when Malays will never set foot into the pork-infested restaurants anyway? There are many Malay stalls using English rather than Malay signboards that DBKL should look into.

Blindly enforcing the law might hurt the feeling of Malays even more as the word “BABI (pig)” would keep popping out on signboards. The best part is those signboards had been approved by the DBKL or authorities, even had been in existence for decades, before the useless Federal Territories Minister Zaliha Mustafa panicked over Mahathir’s rambling.

 

Crucially, according to the Kuala Lumpur Selangor Chinese Restaurant Association, the crackdown has affected15,000 restaurantsoperated by Chinese nationals in Malaysia. Since 2004, such Chinese restaurant mushroomed from 10 to 15,000 now, a close to 1,000-fold increase in 20 years – creating 100,000 jobs, promoting cultural exchange and encouraging tourism.

 

Needless to say, these Chinese food and beverage businesses operate through Malaysia-China partnerships pay taxes to the government, money which goes to pay the salaries of useless lawmakers like Akmal and pensions enjoyed by troublemakers like Mahathir. But Mahathir knew the two most important things to the Chinese community are economy and education, so he creates havoc to undermine Anwar.

 

- financetwitter

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.