BANNING foreigners from cooking 13 local dishes in Penang is nothing short of xenophobia, said P Ramasamy, who urged the state government to rescind the ban.
Ramasamy, who is Urimai chairman, said it is not necessary for locals to cook better compared to foreign workers.
“Foreign workers are cooking the local dishes simply because they are workers and employed to do so.
“The situation in some food stalls has come to the extent without foreign workers, these eateries will have to be closed down.
“There is nothing magical about locals being better cooks than foreigners. Essentially, it is a question of experience and exposure to local food tastes,” the former Penang deputy chief minister said in a statement.
He said tasty food preparation depended on work exposure, length of service and the ability to learn the art of preparing local dishes.
“Cooking local dishes is not rocket science. There is nothing to say that locals are better cooks coming out with tasty dishes. This is complete nonsense,” he added.
The ban to bar foreigners from cooking 13 local items was introduced in 2014, imposed on food stalls owned by the Majlis Bandaraya Pulau Pinang (MBPP).
The MBPP now plans to enforce the ban at all hawker centres, coffee shops, and food courts in the state from early next year.
The 13 types of food are nasi lemak, asam laksa, pasembor, mee sotong, char koay teow, koay teow soup, Hokkien mee, curry mee, wan tan mee, loh bak, chee cheong fun, char koay kak and oh chien.
Ramasamy said it is a falsehood to argue that the taste of these 13 local dishes have deteriorated because they are being prepared by foreign workers.
He added that if foreign cooks are trained, they can be as good as locals.
He said that it should be left to customers to decide if they don’t want to eat the food prepared by the foreigners.
“Nobody is forcing them. There is always the element of choice,” he said. – July 20, 2024.
