YOURSAY ‘The man on the street does not feel you represent him.’

Don't kick us when we're down, wails MCA

SSDhaliwal: MCA, there is a reason why you are down. The man on the street does not feel that you represent him but yourselves.

They are sick and tired of your racial politics and your docile and subservient attitude towards your master, Umno.

You have lost dignity and respect by taking cheap shots at DAP and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, who has the courage and fortitude to do the right thing.

Here, in Kuala Lumpur, there is no authenticity left with fried kway teow to chicken rice being cooked by Myanmars and Indonesians. Suffice to say the taste is off.

MCA is acting like a headless chicken by defending foreigners while the rights of Malaysians and their culture take a back seat.

Kawak: MCA invited Tourism Minister Mohamad Nazri Aziz to kick them and now blames him for doing it. In the first place, why be so upset with Nazri agreeing with Guan Eng?

The minister's bottom line is to bring in as many tourists to Malaysia as possible, even if they go to a Pakatan Rakyat-controlled state. Penang is renowned for street food. Tourists do not want foreign workers to cook these local delicacies.

Maplesyrup: Is MCA happy about the dominance of foreigners in Petaling Street (Chinatown) in Kuala Lumpur?

I think the Penang chief minister has made the right call to preserve the heritage of Penang street food.

MCA and Gerakan are getting too used to being the opposition in Penang so much so that they oppose Lim Guan Eng for the sake of opposing.

Speak For All: I wonder if MCA central committee member Ti Lian Ker eats at hawker centres because the hawker food today in the Klang Valley is mostly handled by foreigners.

For your information, Chinese food served in the hawker stalls today tastes less authentic.

Kheng: MCA is so pathetic. It commands zero respect from even their own coalition partners. Banning foreign cooks at hawker stalls selling Penang's signature food is a good move. Otherwise, we will find the food loses its unique identity.

Besides, it will give the locals an opportunity to pick up the trade from veteran hawkers. Nonetheless, the foreigners can be encouraged to sell their own indigenous food.

Sideview: I really do not know what the fuss is all about. Nazri is simply stating a fact.

Wsoi: The problem with MCA is they don’t know what Malaysians want. We want to safeguard job opportunities for Malaysians and maintain hawker food quality in order to preserve Penang as a local and foreign tourist destination.

I’m from Selangor. if I come to know the hawker food is mainly cooked by foreign workers, I will not want to visit Penang as often as I used to. MCA, please wake up and stay relevant.

New Waves: I used to patronise a roadside stall in Penang selling good Penang fried kway teow. The ‘apek’ , aged 70 now, fried the kway teow himself.

But, lately when I went to the same stall, it was a Bangladeshi frying while the ‘apek’ was sitting and drinking in the coffeshop, watching the Bangladeshi.

The end result was horrible - too salty, too much black sauce making the kway teow too dark, and the cockles were small and hard. The original Penang flavour had gone and it is now Bangla flavour.

The ‘apek’ told me he has no choice to but employ the Bangladeshi because his two children have found other jobs. One is a computer technician and the other, a teacher.

Anonymous #40538199: Ti should insist his party members eat only hawker food cooked by foreign workers. MCA can launch a ‘eat foreign workers’ hawker food’ drive in Penang.

CucuMalaysia: I happened to be in Pulau Tikus, Penang, last week and popped into a coffee shop for a bowl of Hokkien ‘lam mee’. Guess what I got? Not the typical ‘lam mee’.

The food was prepared by an Indonesian woman. Never in my life had I seen ‘lam mee’ being served with fishballs and a few strands of meat. I noticed the other two stalls were also manned by two Indonesian-looking ladies. One was selling wanton mee, and the other, another type of noodle.

If I'm not mistaken, the stalls were operated by the coffee shop owner and the Indonesians were employed to prepare the food. The other food stalls were manned by local men/women, selling chicken rice, curry mee, etc.

So, Ti, do you know how to appreciate authentic Penang hawker food?

Tomkurus: Ti, why should hawkers employ foreign cooks to do the work when they were given the licence to do it themselves?

You want to turn hawkers into rent-seeking Ali Babas - start a business and employ cheap foreign labour?

We are talking about a hawker stall, not a restaurant. Understand the issue before shooting your mouth off.

Tpn: The people in Penang think the ban on foreign cooks is a very good idea. It has nothing to do with politics. Let's maintain the quality of food in Penang and the rest of the country.

Roar: Those lazy hawkers who employ foreign workers to cook should give the stalls to others willing to cook themselves.

They should not occupy a good spot in the tourist area. They deserved the back lanes instead.

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These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact. - See more at: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/270438#sthash.AG7CyBDA.dpu