“Racist.” That is how celebrity chef Redzuawan Ismail, better known as Chef Wan, described a proposal by Human Resources Minister M Kulasegaran to ban foreign cooks from restaurants in the country.

"I find this new ruling to be racist. How can we stop other races in this world from acquiring knowledge and skill in any cuisine? Food, like love, has no boundaries.

"We have many Malaysian chefs across the world working in so many cities doing the same thing.

"So my question to the minister why is it different? Suddenly other immigrants in this country cannot cook Malaysian food simply because they are not Malaysian? Why do we need to discriminate (against) them?" he asked on Instagram.

Redzuawan noted it was unfair to only be offended when others say there cannot be a non-Malay finance minister or attorney-general, but at the same time discriminate against non-Malaysians.

Read more: Kula clarifies local cooks ruling still at proposal stage

Yesterday, Kulasegaran said that by year end, all Malaysian eateries will be required to hire only local cooks.

However, he has since clarified that this was just a proposal, and that a definitive decision had yet to be made. He also said that this only applied to local eateries and not foreign restaurants.

‘Standards can be learned’

Besides reducing the number of foreign workers in the country, many believe the move is linked to complaints about hygiene and food safety standards practiced by eateries that employ migrants.

Redzuawan, however, said these standards can be taught and enforced properly.

He claimed that many eateries, and even hotels which are unhygienic, are able to bribe inspectors to avoid punishment.

"So who do you blame?" he asked.

Read more: Labour groups pan Kulasegaran's local cooks regulation

Hiring Malaysian chefs, added Redzuawan, is no guarantee of better standards or even good food.

"There a many who are filthy and undisciplined, mister minister!

"You should wear a bloody apron and work for yourself for some time to experience all this... you will be shocked to hear how bad the hospital industry is now.”

The chef also shared how there are good Malaysian dishes cooked by Bangladeshi and Pakistani chefs, as well as good French and foreign cuisines cooked by Malaysians.

He said Malaysian should be proud to pass on its culinary heritage to the world.

 

I was asked to comment last night on this issue by Harian Metro. I find this new ruling to be racist. How can we stopped other races in this world to acquire knowledge and skill in any cusine of the world. Food like love has no boundary. We have many Malaysian chefs across the world working in so many cities of the world doing the same thing. So my question to the minister why is it diff suddenly other inmigrants in this country cannot cook Malaysian food simply because they are not Malaysian? Why do we need to discriminate them? Negara lain tak pulak treat other races mcm 2nd class citizen. Minister of Finance cannot be chinese, Peguam Negara tak boleh Indian pandai pulak kita marah to discriminate our own fellow Malaysian but we can do that to the rest of world? Tukang masak or Peguam Negara mau pun Menteri pun its a job perform by us human beings. If their chefs are not good then train them la and improved their skills. Jika ada sifat pengotor ajar la mereka and supervise all this restaurants and food out let lah to meet certain standard of food hygience, sanitation etc. Ini tak saya dengar banyak restaurant yg kotor ni kata mereka boleh rasuah lagi bila yg dtg check restaurants mereka jika nak kena fine. This has been happening for years. So nak salah siapa? Ingat just because we only hire Malaysian chef our standard of food can be better? Sikap Msian Chefs kita tu sebenarnya yg need huge improvement! Daripada kita menundung kan jari pada orang2 Asing ini ada la lebih kita lihat kelemahan kita sendiri. Over the years these country loose alot of chefs to other countries. Tak usah pi jauh la. Singapore tu pun cukup. Why? They are better paid and respected more then working in this country pun. The grass is greener on the other side so depa cabut lah. Can u blame them for doing that? Any passionate human beings can be a good chef regardless of their race pun jika they were given proper training if the owners of all this hospitality industry are serious in improving their Malaysian food. If as a chef i work in Sydney, London, Paris to improve my skills in those country cusine and suddenly was told i cant as i am not good enough how would i feel? Kecewa kan?

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