Influencer from China Eats Nasi Lemak & Thinks It’s “M’sia Bak Zhang”

A Chinese influencer has recently come under fire for eating a nasi lemak and calling it Malaysia’s bak zhang.

While she has since released two apology videos, netizens still aren’t entirely satisfied. Here’s why.

Influencer from China Eats Nasi Lemak; Thinks It’s “Malaysia’s Bak Zhang”

On Sunday (22 December), a video surfaced on Facebook which drew the ire of many Malaysians. The video showed a Chinese influencer trying out a nasi lemak — a dish we all know and love.

In the video, the influencer holds up the packet of nasi lemak, and shares that she had bought a bak zhang in Malaysia.

Well, we don’t know about you, but a packet of nasi lemak doesn’t seem to be on the list of bak zhangs we know of in Singapore, at least:

“This rice dumpling is a little different from the ones I’m familiar with,” she adds.

Abuden… Unless you’ve ever seen a nasi lemak bak zhang, of course a packet of nasi lemak will be “a little different” from the usual bak zhangs.

Speaking of which, why hasn’t anyone done a nasi lemak bak zhang before?

The influencer then proceeds to open the packet of nasi lemak, and appears to be shocked at the packet’s contents — presumably because it looks nothing like a bak zhang.

“There’s even an egg inside … and some chilli sauce!” she says before taking a bite out of the packet of nasi lemak.

While munching on the nasi lemak, she adds that there’s also chicken in the dish. The influencer then shows the packet of nasi lemak to the camera once again, and ends the video by saying: “This is Malaysia’s rice dumpling.”

As you’d expect, netizens weren’t all too happy about the video — what was quite clearly a packet of nasi lemak was said to be a bak zhang multiple times.

That’s like if someone bought a packet of bak chor mee and said it’s Singapore’s spaghetti bolognese. Similar ingredients may have been used but, well, you have to accord some respect to the cuisine and culture of a place.

And that was exactly the problem many had with the influencer’s video. Many thought the influencer was rather ignorant of Malaysia’s food and culture, and they left comments on the influencer’s post to make sure she knew of this.

Influencer Uploads Two Apology Videos

A day later, on Monday (23 December), the influencer posted a video apologising for the initial video she posted.

In the video, she said: “I’m so sorry for causing so much anger over a rice dumpling”.

Yes, you read that right. She continued calling the nasi lemak a rice dumpling in her “apology” video. Unfortunately, that’s not the only time she was going to do that in the “apology” video.

She urged netizens not to get angry over a rice dumpling, then spent the rest of her video muttering “rice dumpling” non-stop, all while shooting playful looks at the camera.

So, of course, netizens still weren’t very satisfied with the apology video lah. If it truly was meant to be an “apology” video, the “apology” seems rather insincere.

As such, on Wednesday (25 December), netizens were “blessed” with a strange Christmas gift — yet another video uploaded by the influencer. In this video, she starts by apologising for angering netizens once again.

She also adds that some netizens have directly messaged her about how some community organisations are looking for her so that they could “teach her a lesson”.

A 15min lesson about how to tell the difference between nasi lemak and bak zhang, perhaps. 

The influencer then shares that she has reflected on her actions once again, and has come to the realisation that nasi lemak is not a bak zhang.

But if you thought that was all, you’re wrong. Even this second “apology” video had a sarcastic touch to it.

She added: “I will now become a loyal fan and enthusiast of nasi lemak. Nasi lemak, please forgive me.”

She then breaks out into a dance while shouting “I love eating nasi lemak“, before finally looking past the camera (presumably at the cameraman) and asking: “Was that serious enough?”

So, what’s your take on this influencer and her “apologies”?