Along with Indiscipline, Lepak, Rempit, liberal sex, Obesity has now been identified as a problem plagueing our young. In most instances, I agree that these are problems currently afflicting the young. However I am not quite sure, in many instances, why some souls sound as if these problems never afflicted earlier generations. The truth is that, not only had these problems also afflicted earlier generations, they continue to afflict them even when they were no longer young. The only thing that may be new is the discarding of babies in refuse bins and the like. In earlier days, the parents would have quietly married-off a pregnant girl to the offending boy or a Pak Sanggup, through coercion or bribery or both if need be, even if she was only thirteen. I used the expression 'may be new' because even in those early days some babies may have been discarded through the holes in the floating toilets of the time, floated downstream, get devoured by Bujang Senang or one of his close or distant relatives and nobody would be any the wiser. Then again, even if a body was found, how many reporters were there cycling around the country to pick up the news? And again, how many newspapers were there to carry the news around the country, and how many people were there who could at all read, let lone buy and read newspapers? And forget not that they did not then have television and satalite links that can carry news around the world, even live.
But enough of that. The subject for today is Obesity and here I do agree that it is more a problem today than it had been in previous genertions. However, I do not believe the number of obese school going kids are such that it warrants the banning of the iconic Nasi Lemak from school canteens. Not, unless you are perhaps talking about schools in areas like Damansara. One bungkus of nasi lemak at recess time for sombody who walks or cycles or takes a bus to school is not likely to result in obesity, especially if one plays soccer or rugby or badminton or takraw or such other physically demanding games. I said one bungkus of nasi lemak, not one bungkus of nasi lemak plus this plus that and plus the other and, to top it all, the only soccer or tennis one plays requires one to move no more than one's fingers i.e. video games.
The problem of obesity is more serious amongst our youth who are no longer studying in schools.(We define youth as anybody under 40). But the problem is not confined to them. Indeed it gets worse amongst those who are no longer youthful.You find these fatties in the customs service, in the police, in the various other government departments and ministries, in the banks, in the business houses, in the mini markets, in the super markets, in the hyper markets, in planes, on trains, in cars, on busses, on motorcycles though more infrequently on bicycles.The number of fatties do however decline amongst those above 70. Many fatties don't quite make it there. So any prohibition of culinary items should not be confined to schools.
Nasi Lemak or Roti Canai, with Teh Tarik. These are perhaps the most iconic of Malaysian breakfast items, their popularity cutting across ethnic lines and state boundaries. In the east coast states, the Nasi Dagang may perhaps be as popular and among the Chinese, you would have to include the Bak Kut Teh and the Rice porridge. Then of course there is the variety of noodle, kueh teow and vermicelli based dishes, prepared in a variety of ways reflecting the diversity of culinary traditions in the country. There is also the array of Malay cakes, Chinese cakes, indian cakes. How about the Tosay? Karipap Bai, any one? Forget not the Lontong and the Soto.
These breakfast items have been around for as long as I can remember. They were what Malaysians were eating when I was riding a 50 c.c kapchai to school in the late sixties. They were what Malayans were eating when I was cycling to my primary school in the late fifties and I believe they were what Johoreans, Pahangites, Kelntnese, Straits Settlers etc., were eating when my father and many others like him were walking to school, some of them barefoot in the mid-thirties. They were around way before obesity became a problem, indeed way before many of the ancestors of present-day Malaysians even knew such a word existed, certainly way before we became a distant but very disproportionately significant outpost of the fast-food empire ruled by the McDonalds, the Saunders and those from Kentucky.
The point I am trying to make is simply this. While it is true that nasi lemak is high calorie and is not particularly healthy, why single out this iconic Malaysian dish? We should ban the whole list of food items traditionally served in school canteens, since they are all equally unhealthy. Besides nasi lemak, and perhaps also nasi goreng and nasi dagang, traditional canteen fare had always included some noodle, kueh teow and vermicelli based preparations, together with a variety of Malay cakes. The luckier schools will also have roti canai and maybe some cheap ice cream. Nowadays, you will also find such things as chicken nuggets, hamburghers, sausages and french fries. Pray tell which of these items fit the description of 'healthy'. Most of the prepartions are principally carbohydrates, with fats or sugar, or both fats and sugar, some salt, and little else. Or else they would be based on low quality fatty meat, poultry or bovine, deep-fried in continously recycled cooking oil. So all these traditionally served items should be prohibitted. What purpose would it serve if Ali stops eating nasi lemak, only to eat mee goreng mamak or roti canai or nasi goreng more often?
The prohibition should exceed the school canteens and should extend to all eating places frequented by Malaysians. As highlighted above, the problem is significantly more serious amongst the older age groups. Those above 70 should however be given exemptions. First, the problem can be statistically shown to have declined in seriousness amongst those above 70. (Never mind the causal explantion.) Secondly but more significantly, no matter what they do they are not likely to significantly extend their life spans. So they should be allowed access to these unhealthy but highy tasty food items; let them enjoy what little remins of their respective lives. Their government pensions would have been rendered pathetic through inflation, their EPF's would have been largely exhausted and they would be rapidly becoming burdens to their children and society at large.
Since our operators of school canteens, the people who operate the warongs, and for that matter the average housewife or house husband are not really nutritional experts, who can on their own conjure up alternative menus, (ones comprising items that are healthy, tasty, yet filling,) the government should form a panel of dieticians to draw up a set of approved menus for all eateries. Just a panel will do; we will not need a Royal Commision. I certainly hope that the recommended menu will comprise more than apples and grape fruit juice, susu kambing, sandwiches made from two slices of wholemeal bread with vegetbles and grilled fish fillet (grilled without oil) as filling. No margarine or butter, especiaally the salted variety. No mayonnise either. In the case of items like sandwiches we will need to ensure that a person does not consume more than one serving per half-day period. Would we then need a calorie police unit unit?
In drawing up the new menu, the panel will have to take into account more than merely the calorific value of each serving. Price and affordability, suitability of taste to the Malaysin palette and the ability to fill the stomach and stop the feeling of hunger, are all equally valid considerations. While it is claimed that nasi lemak is too 'heavy' a meal for the mid-morning break and can make one sleepy, a growling stomach can be no less distracting. If any one or these criteria is not fulfilled, the programme will not succeed and we will and up with a different set of problems. For one, school canteens and other eateries may have to close down due to lack of patronge, thus creating unemployment. Those who suddenly find themselves unemployed, both the locals and those from Thailand, Myanmar and of course Indonesia, may have to turn to crime. Some of the women may end up as prostitutes, competing with those from China, Bosnia and Russia, thus driving prices down and increasing accessability. Multiply the number of schools in the country by an average of ten per school. You will derive the number of people who can become unemployed from that source alone and that number is already consierable. Those employed elswhere in the warongs and coffee shops would far outnumber those in the school canteens. So it is imperative that the programme to have an alternative menu succeed. Besides those problems already mentioned, failure may also lead to the creation of another under table market, in addition to those already existing for music, movies and pornography.
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