KUALA LUMPUR – Umno Youth is only bringing shame to the party by questioning bak kut teh’s heritage status by escalating the matter, according to Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing.
Reiterating that “bak” means meat in general, and not just pork, Tiong said “geh bak” means chicken, “du bak” is pork while “gu bak” is beef.
“If you do not know the difference nor understand the Hokkien dialect, find someone who is willing to teach and translate it for you,” he said in a statement last night.
This is not the first time the minister has explained the popular dish.
Tiong added that PAS has its own entanglement with bak kut teh when its national unity committee in 2018 introduced halal bak kut teh, which was cooked with mutton and chicken, at the Seri Setia state constituency in Selangor.
“(PAS secretary-general) Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan once said he could treat media friends to halal bak kut teh. There was no big issue over this.
“Who is the extremist? Think about it. Let the people decide who fosters unity and who is not.”
Tiong also said this would be his last response over the back-and-forth, adding he did not want to waste time debating petty matters.
On Thursday, he called for Umno Youth to stop racialising the issue and to show some respect.
On February 28, Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh called for Tiong’s resignation, urging Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to remove him over the ministry’s decision to recognise bak kut teh as a heritage food.
The ministry’s heritage commission last week granted bak kut teh, kuih lapis, kuih karas, Sarawak kolok mee, uttapam, dodol kukus tahi minyak and nasi ambeng, among others, heritage status.
Last year, Tiong told former tourism minister and former Dewan Negara president Tan Sri Rais Yatim the same story about bak kut teh not being exclusively a pork dish after Rais expressed concerns about the proposal to name it as a heritage food. – March 2, 2024