Malaysian Embassy: Nigel Ng's Offensive Statement on Cambodian Cuisine Does Not Reflect Malaysia's View
The photo posted on Ministry of Tourism's Facebook shows comedian Nigel Ng in action.
- By Te Chhaysinh
- August 18, 2023 4:52 PM
PHNOM PENH —The Malaysian Embassy in Phnom Penh has issued a statement to the effect that the offensive comments made by the influencer Nigel Ng Kin-ju were counterproductive and damaged the trust and friendship between Malaysia and Cambodia.
The statement of the embassy, which was posted on Facebook on Aug. 18, read that the Government of Malaysia does not tolerate the comments regarding Cambodia’s cuisine that were made by Ng, who is a Malaysian national known online as Uncle Roger.
“The Government of Malaysia wishes to reiterate that it doesn’t condone any words or actions that were harmful and hurtful to others,” the statement read. “They do not in any way reflect our views.”
Cambodia and Malaysia share unique historical and people-to-people close relations, and both countries enjoy multi-faceted relationships, but Nigel Ng’s comments have affected the relationship between the two countries, the Malaysian embassy statement read.
“Such comments made by Nigel Ng are obstructive and undermine the trust and friendship fostered by both our countries and our peoples,” the statement read.
On July 30, Uncle Roger, posted a video to his eight million YouTube subscribers entitled “Uncle Roger Makes Adobo” referring to the Philippine delicacy.
Around 3.5 minutes after the video started, Uncle Roger briefly referred to Cambodian and Laotian cuisine as inferior versions of Thai food.
“Not all Southeast Asian countries got good food, you know? You don’t want food from Laos and Cambodia,” Uncle Roger said in the video. “Lao food [is] like [a] shit version of Thai food.”
On Aug. 8, Cambodia’s Ministry of Tourism released a statement requesting a public apology and an immediate edit of the video from Nigel Ng, stating that his assessment completely deviated from the reality of the prestige and identity of Khmer food and had seriously affected Cambodian food tourism.
