It’s time we acted with our minds and wallets!
by Dr Rahim Said
Oh, yes nasi kandar — Malaysia’s national pastime. Where else can you get a plate of rice drowned in five curries, a huge piece of chicken, and a complimentary side order of food poisoning?
Butterworth just gave us the latest episode in this long-running horror series: a nasi kandar joint shut down for operating in conditions so filthy, you’d think the kitchen was doubling as a rat sanctuary.
“Op Bersepadu” was the operation’s name, but honestly, they should’ve called it “Op Common Sense” — because it doesn’t take a health inspector to figure out that a restaurant with crusty walls, unidentifiable stains, and toilets last cleaned during the Mahathir 1.0 era isn’t exactly Michelin-star material.
And yet — here’s the part that deserves an award — we’ll be back. Not me, but you lot. Give it a month, a new coat of cheap paint, and a viral Facebook post declaring “Back to serve you!” and the crowds will return like moths to a flame. Or like cockroaches to a grease trap.
Let’s not kid ourselves. This isn’t an isolated case. It’s a culture. A culture where hygiene is negotiable, where kitchens are left to fester, and where foreign workers with no health checks serve us curry with hands that probably haven’t seen soap since arriving at KLIA.
And enforcement? Please. For every one shut down, 20 more are out there right now, brewing their special brand of E. coli sambal.
And Malaysians, in their infinite wisdom, tolerate it. We do more thorough background checks on our bubble tea than we do on the kitchens feeding us nasi kandar at 2am. Why? Because “best la bro… sedap sampai lupa dunia.”
Here’s a revolutionary idea: stop going. Just stop. Hit them where it hurts — in the cash register. No need for dramatic protests or placards. Just choose a cleaner, safer place. Reward those who respect your stomach lining. Maybe then, this industry — propped up by arrogance and nostalgia — will wake up.
Or don’t. Keep lining up. Just don’t act surprised the next time you spend your Sunday hugging a toilet bowl and questioning your life choices.
#CurryWithCaution
The views expressed here are that of the author’s and does not necessarily reflect that of Weekly Echo’s