The booklet for ‘Visit Klang Year 2017' did not mention the local famous food ‘Bak Kut Teh’ because this round of publicity focused on Klang’s historical monuments instead of food, said Klang Municipal Council president Mohd Yazid Bidin.

In response to MCA’s question, he said that if there is a food booklet printed after this, the council certainly will not miss the Bak Kut Teh.

“In that booklet we did not focus on food but we focus to introduce the Klang Heritage Walk, that is why there were no details about food.

“But if we print a food publicity booklet after this, we will include Bak Kut Teh in the booklet,” Mohd Yazid Bidin told Malaysiakini when contacted.

He said that the Visit Klang Year 2017 definitely will promote Bak Kut Teh as it was a famous food in Klang.

“It is no problem to include Bak Kut Teh in the publicity booklet, we will include the Bak Kut Teh, Cendol and Bubur Cha Cha in the food booklet if we publish one,” he said.

He also pointed out that Visit Klang Year 2017 will not only have one brochure but will be followed by various activities and new brochures or booklets will slso be published.

Klang Municipal Council member Lee Fu Haw (photo) told Malaysiakini that Visit Klang Year 2017 was organised in collaboration with various organisation and businessmen to promote various activities as well as the Bak Kut Teh.

“For example we have cooperated with Seng Huat Bak Kut Teh Restaurant to promote Bak Kut Teh, we also cooperate with the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Warisan Sungai Klang and others to promote halal and non-halal food and activities,’ said Lee.

According to Lee, it was Tourism and Culture Minister Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz who announced 2017 year as Visit Klang Year, therefore the Klang Municipal Council had to launch it in this year.

However, he criticised the Tourism and Culture Ministry for not providing funding or assistance in the promotion of the Visit Klang Year.

“I wanted to urge MCA to help us to get the funding from the Tourism and Culture Ministry,” said Lee.

According to media reports, the Klang Municipal Council has launched the Visit Klang Year 2017 on Feb 28 and allocated some RM500,000 for this project, with the hope that it can attract 20,000 people to visit Klang every week.

MCA asks if Bak Kut Teh deliberately crowded out

Yesterday, Klang MCA vice-chairperson Ching Eu Boon accused the Klang Municipal Council of not including Bak Kut Teh in its all publicity booklet and activities.

He then questioned if the Klang Municipal Council had deliberately crowded out Bak Kut Teh as it was a non-halal food.

“Does the Klang Municipal Council feel that Bak Kut Teh is not suitable to promote or is not a local food?

“We want to know why Selangor government and Klang Municipal Council have excluded Bak Kut Teh in their Visit Klang Year 2017?

“Is it because of opposition from PAS, or did DAP shy away and did not fight for it? Or DAP fought for it (promoting Bak Kut Teh) but they failed in the end?,” asked Ching.

He said that one page of the Visit Klang Year 2017 booklet had introduced food but did not mention Bak Kut Teh.