What the old man did was pretty easy. He claimed to have gone shopping at Pavilion Bukit Jalil and was shocked to find himself teleported to the Middle Kingdom because the mall made him feel as if “I was in China”. Apparently, he was upset, or pretended to be offended, at food outlet with signboards in “Chinese with English translations” and “nothing at all in Malay”.

He must be incredibly jealous of the roaring business at “B.O.D包栈”, which translates to “Bao On Demand”. Mahathir’s own venture into food business went kaput when “The Loaf” closed down its business in 2018 after 12 years of operation. Before his premium bakery went bust, the ex-premier had complained that Malays were lazy and untrustworthy, revealing how a Malay manager was caught red-handed stealing money from the cash register.

Actually, The Loaf was worse as it had zero Malay, Jawi, Arabic, Tamil or Chinese translation. Does that mean racist Mahathir was pro-colonialism even after 60 years of independence from the British Empire? Using his argument, Malaysia must have become part of the United Kingdom due to the absence of the national language from the display boards of The Loaf.

Of course, just like The Loaf’s target customers were high-income Malays, who generally understood English and associated the language with high-class society, hence the lack of Malay translation (“Roti” would sound cheap and low standard), “B.O.D包栈” was similarly targeted at non-Muslims patronising Chinese eateries that serve pork and non-halal food.

Does Mahathir, and all gullible Malays who insist Chinese restaurants like B.O.D must have Malay language signage just for the sake of feeling Malay supremacy, seriously wanted to see the translation of its tagline “Tasty Pork Dumpling – A Waste If You Don’t Try” in bold and huge Malay signage? Who will be held responsible if some Malay-Muslims somehow get stimulated and consumed the forbidden food?