February 28, 2021
Winson Wong
Where is the best food destination in Southeast Asia? It s a matter of taste - and it s a title Malaysia and Singapore have long coveted. For Singaporeans, nothing quite touches a nerve like Malaysia claiming the city state s unofficial national dish: Hainanese chicken rice.
For decades, the dish invented by Chinese immigrants in Southeast Asia has been claimed by both food-crazed nations, but according to the history books, matters aren t as straightforward as they seem.
The rivalry has been running red hot since the nations split in 1965. The battle over who owns the humble dish reached new heights in 2009 when then Malaysian tourism minister Ng Yen Yen said Hainanese chicken rice was uniquely Malaysian and had been hijacked by Singapore.