Recently, a viral post by Tun Dr. Mahathir Muhammad, our nation’s former prime minister, decried the lack of Malay signages in a mall in Malaysia, saying that all he could see around him were signages in Chinese with only English translations, then finising off his Facebook post with a reminder that “our national language is Malay.”
Netizens reacted with negativity at his remarks, challenging him to reveal which mall and which store has the offending Chinese signs. The 99-year-old statesman responded with this post:
So where is the mall in question? It’s Pavilion Bukit Jalil, in Kuala Lumpur, and the shop, B.A.O, is a non-halal eatery specialising in takeaway pork buns, a similar concept to the popular Roti Boy.
We checked out the B.A.O. shop
In Real Life visited the B.A.O. shop recently to find out what the big fuss is about.
We found that the rest of the store does include English translations for its items, such as the Handmade Pork Steamed Bun. Interestingly, items on its menu were prominently displayed not in Mandarin, but in English, including its signature BBQ Pork Bun.
As Tun M said, there were no Malay translations. However, another commenter cheekily asked the former PM if he’d be happier seeing signs that say pau babi, nasi babi, or mee kicap babi instead.
For non-Malay speakers, the joke here is that the word babi, which means pig, is often used as an insult in casual everyday speech. This would obviously lead to further misunderstanding for the Malay-speaking community.
As for the offending tagline, as one netizen has helpfully pointed out, it simply means: “Tasty Pork Dumpling; A Waste If You Don’t Try.”
It is speculated that the shop doesn’t have Malay signage because the items on sale are non-halal, so it caters strictly to non-Muslims living in Malaysia.
Does this mean that all Chinese restaurants are off-limits to Malays frequenting the mall? In fact, no. We found that there are many Muslim-friendly, halal-certified food options in Pavilion Bukit Jalil.
Tun M’s post backfired with netizens
In response to the former PM’s outrageous comment, netizens called him out for possibly sowing division between races in Malaysia.
One commenter pointed out that while he’s up in arms about Chinese businesses, “Half the LG floor of Pavilion Bukit Jalil is practically a shrine to Japan, with kana and kanji everywhere.”– referring to the entire section of the mall that’s been converted into a Bandar Tokyo.
The former PM’s contention is that there are no signages specifically in Malay in the mall. But we spotted a Nandos, Mee Tarik Warisan Asli, and a Seniman, all which sported signs in Bahasa Melayu.
So, is this another one of our beloved national grandpa’s social media shenanigans or does he really have a good point about the place of our national language in Malaysia’s malls?
Let us know your thoughts!
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