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COMMENT | What's the fuss? 'Rilek lah, Timah'

COMMENT | Oh boy, here we go again. The crazies are out and they’re making as much noise as they can. One of the highlights in Parliament this week (aside from the budget) has to be when PKR's Tangga Batu MP Rusnah Aluai mentioned that drinking the local whiskey brand Timah is like drinking a Malay woman.

Wait, what does that even mean? Can you drink a woman? Oh, maybe we shouldn’t answer that. This is a general news portal that is read by those of many ages. We want to keep it wholesome and decent for all. But really, I do want to know what Rusnah meant when she said that in Parliament.

She has apologised though for her statement and said that it was misunderstood. All she really wanted to point out was that there might be confusion over the label and it might confuse the Malay Muslims in the country. She said the word Timah is "imagined" as a Malay woman, such as Mak Timah, Kak Timah or Makcik Timah.

Hence, when we drink the whiskey, then it is like drinking a Malay woman. But first of all, whiskey is an alcoholic drink. What business does a Malay Muslim in Malaysia have drinking alcohol?

We all know that this is considered haram in Islam. So why would a Malay Muslim, after seeing a bottle that is labelled as ‘whiskey’ and ‘alcohol’ do such a thing?

The memes are everywhere on the Internet now and the issue is one of the most amusing viral content at the moment. Everyone is talking about it. But a quick note for those who might not be familiar, the whiskey brand Timah is actually referring to tin ores. It has an image of Captain Tristam Speedy, a British army officer during colonial times.

Okay, fine. Rusnah has apologised "to parties who took offence to the remark". But I think nobody really took offence to it. If anything, everyone just saw the stupidity and idiocy in such a statement, and that is why the reaction around the country has been as...

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