Dear Bung, we eat to cope with M'sian politics
COMMENT | During a debate in the Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday, BN lawmaker and Kinabatangan MP Bung Moktar Radin said that our country is most blessed with food and we are fortunate because we can afford to overeat.
He is right.
Take me, for example. I do overeat on a regular basis, especially considering that I come from Penang, which has food as its main attraction. Everywhere I turn, there’s always an ample selection of delicious food such as pasembor, char koay teow, asam laksa and nasi kandar.
Yes. Bung is right. I am blessed to be living in a country surrounded by food. And I am blessed to have a job I love doing, which pays for my delicious food.
However, my obsession with food has nothing to do with being prosperous, as claimed by Bung (photo). There is a reason for my tendency to overeat.
You see, I suffer from a compulsive eating disorder. I comfort myself by eating.
I eat when I am angry. I eat when I am frustrated. I eat when I am sad. I eat when I am anxious. I eat when I am tired. I eat when I am disgusted.
Yes, I use food to cope with daily stresses.
Living in a country where anger and frustration come in abundance, I depend on plates of rojak, packs of nasi lemak, and mugs of teh tarik as a narcotic to stem the pain I feel, especially since I believe both sides of the political spectrum have failed me.
Like the other day, when a minister defended a businessperson hunted in eight countries in relation to the alleged misappropriation of billions of ringgit in 1MDB funds, and claimed that a superyacht seized by the Indonesian authorities had nothing to do with the infamous businessperson, I had a super-large serving of banana leaf rice with mutton perattal and chicken tandoori.
When Maria Chin Abdullah, who I thought was bipartisan, was reported to have resigned as Bersih chief in a bid to enter politics and run for election under the banner of a political coalition that appears to be no different than the ruling coalition, I had two plates of Penang famous Bangkok Lane mee goreng with extra sotong (cuttlefish)!
Right before that, reading about the RM22 million allegedly paid in cash by the Penang tunnel special purpose vehicle in desperation to stop the MACC investigations into the mega Penang tunnel project, also made me once again turn to food – this time around, I ended up gobbling one large Big Mac, one large twister fries and one Starbucks Frappucino.
And let’s not forget about a Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department (CID) director who was stripped by the Australian authorities of more than A$320,000, only to be defended as being too “naïve” by our Malaysian leaders, totally ignoring the Australian Federal Police’s claims that the money could be from proceeds of criminal activity.
For that, I had to eat one bowl of Bee Hwa’s Hokkien char and a plate of wantan at Lebuh Dickens, George Town...
COMMENT | During a debate in the Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday, BN lawmaker and Kinabatangan MP Bung Moktar Radin said that our country is most blessed with food and we are fortunate because we can afford to overeat.
He is right.
Take me, for example. I do overeat on a regular basis, especially considering that I come from Penang, which has food as its main attraction. Everywhere I turn, there’s always an ample selection of delicious food such as pasembor, char koay teow, asam laksa and nasi kandar.
Yes. Bung is right. I am blessed to be living in a country surrounded by food. And I am blessed to have a job I love doing, which pays for my delicious food.
However, my obsession with food has nothing to do with being prosperous, as claimed by Bung (photo). There is a reason for my tendency to overeat.
You see, I suffer from a compulsive eating disorder. I comfort myself by eating.
I eat when I am angry. I eat when I am frustrated. I eat when I am sad. I eat when I am anxious. I eat when I am tired. I eat when I am disgusted.
Yes, I use food to cope with daily stresses.
Living in a country where anger and frustration come in abundance, I depend on plates of rojak, packs of nasi lemak, and mugs of teh tarik as a narcotic to stem the pain I feel, especially since I believe both sides of the political spectrum have failed me.
Like the other day, when a minister defended a businessperson hunted in eight countries in relation to the alleged misappropriation of billions of ringgit in 1MDB funds, and claimed that a superyacht seized by the Indonesian authorities had nothing to do with the infamous businessperson, I had a super-large serving of banana leaf rice with mutton perattal and chicken tandoori.
When Maria Chin Abdullah, who I thought was bipartisan, was reported to have resigned as Bersih chief in a bid to enter politics and run for election under the banner of a political coalition that appears to be no different than the ruling coalition, I had two plates of Penang famous Bangkok Lane mee goreng with extra sotong (cuttlefish)!
Right before that, reading about the RM22 million allegedly paid in cash by the Penang tunnel special purpose vehicle in desperation to stop the MACC investigations into the mega Penang tunnel project, also made me once again turn to food – this time around, I ended up gobbling one large Big Mac, one large twister fries and one Starbucks Frappucino.
And let’s not forget about a Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department (CID) director who was stripped by the Australian authorities of more than A$320,000, only to be defended as being too “naïve” by our Malaysian leaders, totally ignoring the Australian Federal Police’s claims that the money could be from proceeds of criminal activity.
For that, I had to eat one bowl of Bee Hwa’s Hokkien char and a plate of wantan at Lebuh Dickens, George Town.
A few moments of pleasure
Sigh.
To tolerate all this nonsense going on in this beloved land of ours, all I can do is eat, eat and eat.
Yes, food gives me a few moments of pleasure where I am able to keep my mind off the state of our country and society at large.
I am sure there are many others like me, those who turn to food when they are stressed. The delicious food we consume causes our body to release certain chemicals which affect our brain and make us happy. However, this feeling of happiness dissipates quickly - as quickly as the media comes up with more news to be stressed about.
Thus we have to continue eating.
So yes, Bung is right - Malaysians do tend to overeat. And being surrounded by politicians, leaders and statespeople who continue to let us down day by day, I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up being the most morbidly obese people in the world one day.
Now, if you will excuse me, I have to get my sup torpedo and roti Benggali - courtesy of Bung.
FA ABDUL is a passionate storyteller, a growing media trainer, an aspiring playwright, a regular director, a struggling producer, a self-acclaimed photographer, an expert Facebooker, a lazy blogger, a part-time queen and a full-time vainpot.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
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