'That's something Malaysians can't do': Namewee on the edge Singaporeans have in age-old food argument

While Singapore and Malaysia are neighbours and have a shared history, there's one thing that we can never agree on — who makes the better food?

Malaysian rapper Namewee weighed in on the age-old debate in a YouTube video shared by his content creation team on July 30.

In it, he ranked holiday destinations in Asia, namely Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Malaysia, based on five categories: Food, sightseeing, traffic, safety and hospitality, on a scale of S (the best), A, B and C.

When it came to food, both Malaysia and Singapore got an A from him, and he justified his reasons.

"This is the one that Singaporeans and Malaysians quarrel about the most. To which country do bak kut teh and satay belong to, who invented chicken rice?" the 40-year-old said.

"Singapore definitely lose to Malaysia lah, but there are some things they do well."

He likes our pepper-based bak kut teh, for example, but said "we can fight for two hours" if someone claimed it to be real bak kut teh.

But there was one aspect in which Singapore edged Malaysia out in Namewee's books — marketing.

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"Singaporeans are the ones who can make Malaysian and Singaporean food famous around the world," he said. "They're good at promoting — that's something Malaysians can't do."

The top spots for food were reserved for Japan and Thailand to Namewee, who gave both countries an S. Hong Kong also scored an A while Taiwan scored a B.

Namewee gave Singapore S ranks for traffic and safety, but only a B for hospitality.

"This one is buay sai eh," he laughed, using the Hokkien term to mean 'cannot'.

"Singaporeans are methodical. When you talk to them, they'll tell you, 'Please send me an email about what we just discussed.' They lack a personal touch. They adhere more to the law while Malaysians go more by Confucianism," he elaborated, adding that at least Singaporeans aren't as impatient and fierce as the people in Hong Kong, who scored a C.

We also got a measly C for sightseeing, as Namewee felt Singapore is more of a place for people to "work and earn money" rather than go on a holiday.

"They put a lot of effort into creating tourist destinations, and I think it's enough to go there just once since there are places like Marina Bay Sands and the Merlion to take photos," he said.

He conceded that maybe people could spend "two days" in Singapore if they visited Universal Studios and the zoo.

"Don't be mad, Singapore friends, but if it were fun back home, why would you come to Malaysia for holidays?" he said, adding there "isn't much fun" in Singapore for Malaysians like himself.

Hong Kong also received a C from him because he feels their uniqueness has been eroded in recent times.

Claiming to feel patriotic, Namewee gave Malaysia an A, but admitted it could actually be "boring" as the bulk of the tourism industry is focused on Sabah, Penang, Langkawi and Kuala Lumpur.

Taiwan, Thailand and Japan, on the other hand, all got ranked S for sightseeing opportunities.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWz3Wq41qU8&ab_channel=TheGeebaiTeam%E6%93%8A%E6%95%97%E4%BA%BA%E5%9C%98%E9%9A%8A[/embed]

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drimac@asiaone.com

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