Ready, set, fight: Canadian ex-minister labels nasi lemak as 'most delicious breakfast' in Singapore, Malaysian netizens triggered

Love thy neighbour as thyself. 

Except when it comes to food, there's certainly no love lost between Singaporeans and Malaysians.

The two food-loving nations have long had squabbles regarding the ownership (and bragging rights) of popular dishes commonly seen in the region.

Nasi lemak would be one of them and, last Tuesday (June 6), a former Canadian minister gave her take on the tasty treat on Twitter.

[embed]https://twitter.com/cathmckenna/status/1665862840048132096[/embed]

Catherine McKenna, former minister of environment and climate change of Canada, was in town for the annual sustainability event Ecosperity Week 2023.

During her stay in Singapore, she had the chance to try a plate of nasi lemak.

The dish left quite an impression on her, and she even called it the "most delicious breakfast" in Singapore. That's high praise from someone who comes from the land of maple syrup. 

Commonly found in Singapore and Malaysia, nasi lemak traditionally consists of rice cooked in coconut milk and pandan leaf, and is served with side dishes such as sambal, fried anchovies, roasted peanuts and hard-boiled or fried egg.

In her Twitter thread, netizens urged the former minister to give other local dishes a try, ranging from the world-renowned chilli crab to more homely offerings like curry chicken bee hoon.

While Catherine's tweet may seem harmless enough to some, a couple of our friends up north weren't pleased about it.

To be fair, nasi lemak is Malaysia's national dish so some sort of negative reaction from them isn't all that surprising.

"Best nasi lemak will always be in Malaysia," one Twitter user commented.

Other netizens took issue with the miserable amount of sambal provided, along with the tiny portion of the dish in general.

In a separate tweet a few days later, Catherine acknowledged the response from displeased Malaysian netizens.

She mentioned how she "seems to have hit a real nerve with Malaysians" when associating nasi lemak with Singapore.

"I don't disagree – will need to go to KL soon and check it out," the 51-year-old added.

Since then, Catherine seemed to have seen the funny side of the matter when she cheekily admitted that she's been "living dangerously" by tweeting her food experience in Singapore — from a bowl of hearty laksa to chilli crab at Maxwell Food Centre. 

Where's the sambal?

Last July, a Malaysian woman took to TikTok to express her unhappiness over a nasi lemak experience she had in Singapore.

She headed to Ponggol Nasi Lemak at the advice of her cab driver and paid $8 for her plate of nasi lemak, which consisted of fried chicken, fried egg, tempura prawn and one veggie dish with coconut rice.

According to the woman, her plate of nasi lemak came with "only one slice of cucumber" and "one teaspoon of sambal".

It didn't help that the rice was less than fragrant and the sambal was missing a spicy kick, according to her.

Despite the backlash from unhappy Malaysians, let's not forget that there are a number of food establishments here that can deliver a quality plate of nasi lemak.

You just have to dig a little harder. 

ALSO READ: This $1 nasi lemak is so popular, it's sold out weeks ahead

amierul@asiaone.com

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