Teresa blames translation flub, media focus in halal cert brouhaha

Seputeh MP Teresa Kok has blamed ChatGPT and the media’s focus on sensationalist headlines for turning her comments on a halal certification proposal into a source of controversy.

She told Utusan Malaysia yesterday it all started when the Mandarin version of her statement was translated into Bahasa Melayu, giving “sensitive” meanings to words that she did not intend.

The police questioned the Seputeh lawmaker after she said the government’s proposal to make halal certification mandatory for restaurants and food companies that do not serve pork and alcohol would burden businesses and could make Malaysia an object of ridicule.

In reply, Umno Youth chief Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh slammed Kok as an “old Nyonya” who should not have interfered in Islamic affairs, and that he would ask the government to prepare a non-halal logo to stick on her forehead.

This caused the DAP MP to issue a legal letter over his remarks, seeking RM25 million in damages.

“When the police were investigating me, they showed me a news report published by a local news portal and my original statement from Facebook. The police asked me by referring to each paragraph in the statement. I’ll be honest.

“My original statement is actually in Mandarin and I instructed my employee who is a Malay who speaks and writes fluently in Mandarin to translate it into Malay.

“However, because my employee was rushing to go abroad to carry out some duties, this statement was translated using a variant of the ChatGPT translation app because it is faster.

“However, certain translated words diverged from the original meaning and we could have been more careful with the words used.”

The word ‘memalukan’

Kok said during the translation process, she was receiving acupuncture treatment.

“Since the treatment took two hours, I didn’t have time to go through it word by word. I just checked it at a glance. After all, I put my trust in my workers because I have been serving for a long time.

“What I meant was that if the government enforces halal certification for restaurant operators, it will not only trigger a negative reaction in the country but may even affect its reputation at the international level.

“Not ‘embarrass’ the country. The word ‘embarrass’ was translated by ChatGPT.

“Unfortunately, ChatGPT’s translation statement has been published and quoted by the mass media,” she claimed.

Malaysiakini’s checks on Kok’s original statement in Mandarin, however, found the Bahasa Melayu translation and the use of the word “memalukan” to be accurate.

The translation read as: “Jika pensijilan halal ini diwajibkan, ia bukan sahaja akan mencetuskan reaksi negatif dalam negara, malah mungkin memalukan negara kita di peringkat antarabangsa.”

Kok also said that we live in a world where readers only like to read the headlines, but not the contents of the news.

“I don’t blame the media, but questioning the story is the focus of this investigation.

“I understand, the media usually quotes a certain line of words in their news reporting and all this depends on the editor’s decision.

“There are media that like, dislike or are neutral towards me. The media who don’t like me can portray a picture of me that is not good,” said said.

She added that Utusan Malaysia was used only to make people angry with her.

‘Doesn’t mean I’m guilty’

The veteran lawmaker said that she needs to be more careful so that this controversy does not happen again.

“I need to be more careful. It was my and the co-worker’s fault so I must take responsibility.

“But, it doesn’t mean I’m guilty because I’m only imagining the problems that restaurant operators will face.

“What else can I do now? It has become a case of police investigation and public monitoring. My original statement has been disseminated and if I change it, people will say that I am trying to hide from our careless mistakes,” she added.

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