Food and identities: yours, mine, theirs or ours?

Blog post by Siow-Kian Tan, Xiamen University, Malaysia

Food has the incredible ability to bring people together, yet it can also stir up debates over its origins. Dishes like Laksa, Nasi Lemak, Bak Kut Teh (BKT), Hainanese Chicken Rice and other local favourites have been passionately claimed as national dishes by both Malaysians and Singaporeans.
 
This culinary dispute isn’t new. Back to 2009, Malaysia’s then-tourism minister, Ng Yen Yen, sparked controversy and patriotic fervour in both neighbouring countries by suggesting that Malaysian cuisine had been ‘hijacked’ by others. Each side adamantly defends dishes like nasi lemak, BKT and chilli crab as authentic and original, and criticizing the other of appropriating culinary heritage.
 
However, are such disputes meaningful and can a dish genuinely belong to a single nation? In 2023, Channel News Asia’s ‘On The Red Dot’ programme delved into these questions, interviewing chefs, hawkers and heritage experts to uncover the origins and stories behind iconic dishes like chili crab, BKT, nasi lemak and cendol. Hosted by Ming Tan, a chef and culinary consultant, this captivating series explores how dishes evolve and travel across borders.

The ‘loves and hates’ between Malaysians and Singaporeans has deep roots, spanning decades and even centuries. Geographically, Peninsula Malaysia and Singapore Island are strategically located by the Straits of Malacca. The historic cities located at the west coast of Peninsula Malaysia – Melaka and Penang (declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2008), and Singapore have long been vital trading hubs. Culturally, both Malaysia and Singapore are made up of migrant communities, with Malays, Chinese, Indians and others contributing to their rich tapestry.
 
One notable difference between the two nations lies in their demographic makeup: Malaysia boasts a Malay majority (around 70%), while Singapore’s population is predominantly Chinese (over 70%). Malaysian Chinese, comprising approximately 23% of the population, often seek recognition as Malaysian Chinese rather than being seen as Malay or Chinese. They love Malaysia as their homeland, at the same time also wish to inherit the cultural heritage of their ancestors. Nevertheless, the social and political structure sometimes creates tensions among the ethnic and racial groups within Malaysians, as well as outside Malaysia, for instance, in Singapore and Indonesia.
 
In our Identities article, ‘A story of food and place: constructing Chinese identities in a multicultural Malaysian society’, we explore how Malaysian Chinese shape and reshape their identities by mixing and negotiating with other ethnicities and races, both spatially and temporally, in search of meaningful connections in their lives.
 
People create, monitor and develop their identities throughout life. Identities enable people to understand who they are and support their wellbeing, as those who are confident with their identities will be able to find their life purposes and take actions to preserve their heritage.
 
Food represents a person’s identity and can also trigger conflicts, especially in multiracial societies like Malaysia. Food cultures relate to the narratives of human lives and recount ways in which human beings survive. They record the life histories and collective memories of citizens. They are distinguished from official histories that incorporate abundant resources and continuous records. Therefore, they tend to become lost over time, especially after people experience major personal transformations and some details of daily living no longer exist in the same manner.
 
We looked into how food evolves spatially and temporally in creating and recreating the self, socio-cultural and place-related identities of Malaysian Chinese. Malaysian Chinese emphasize their ‘Malaysian’ identity when other nations claim dishes such as laksa, nasi lemak, BKT and cendol as their national dishes. They also emphasize their ‘Chinese’ identity and wish for BKT, an herbal soup consisting of pork rib, to be recognized as a local dish of Malaysia, even though it cannot be consumed by the majority of Malaysians as it is non-halal for Muslims. Perhaps, the wish behind this is not just about the food itself, but the yearning to be recognized as truly ‘Malaysian’.
 
Individuals searching for identities, as identities are closely linked to their wellbeing. Humans and food travel across borders and times, and hence, our identities will not be static. It is meaningless for us to fight for the origins of food, although understanding the stories and meanings behind them is extremely important. Like it or not, we might need to accept the fact that only with internal strength we can confidently share our true stories.

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Image credit: Photo by Amanda Lim on Unsplash

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Read the Identities article:
Tan, Siow-Kian and Tan, Siow-Hooi . (2024). A story of food and place: constructing Chinese identities in a multicultural Malaysian society. Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power. DOI: ​10.1080/1070289X.2024.2335775

Read further in Identities:

​Food, memories, and identities in Hong Kong

Eating bodies, growing selves in a Brazilian favela   OPEN ACCESS

Delicious Delhi: nostalgia, consumption and the old city   OPEN ACCESS