Quinoa vs rice in GE14: The empire strikes back
(FMT) – No, the next general election will not be about quinoa vs rice, Barisan Nasional Strategic Communications (BNSC) deputy director Eric See-To has shot back at Lim Kit Siang.
Rather, he said, it would be about “40 horses vs none, yearly horse-riding in Argentina vs none and beer vs quinoa”, as the verbal battle descends into personal attacks.
“It is disappointing when senior leaders such as Lim Kit Siang, Tun Mahathir (Mohamad) and MPs such as Lim Lip Eng latch on to a comment from our PM Najib (Razak) regarding his personal choice of food to keep fit and stay healthy.”
He was referring to Lim’s comments that what Najib ate was 23 times more expensive than rice, the staple food of Malaysians, and that those who ate quinoa belonged to the “super top” 2% in Malaysia.
Lim himself was commenting on Najib’s remarks yesterday that he watched his diet as he could not exercise as frequently as he wanted, adding: “But I have to control (my eating). For example, I don’t eat rice, but quinoa. My son introduced me to quinoa, a food from Peru.”
See-To said: “Now these people are trying to make quinoa into a major election issue. Are the Pakatan leaders so desperate that an issue like this needs three Pakatan leaders to highlight?”
See-To said they should look in the mirror to see how hypocritical they were.
“Kit Siang now says this election is about quinoa versus rice. Perhaps Kit Siang should ask Harapan PM candidate Tun Mahathir how much it cost to feed his 40 horses every month?”
See-To said Mahathir had revealed to MalaysiaKini two years ago that he reared 40 horses.
He raised the question of how much Mahathir’s “yearly horse-riding vacation to Argentina” cost, claiming Mahathir had revealed his visits on national TV a few years ago.
“I would bet that Tun’s horse-riding hobby would cost many times more in a year compared to a daily diet of quinoa 365 days for the entire year.
“And Kit Siang should also ask his son how much does he spend on beer and whisky per year as Guan Eng has been pictured more than once enjoying a glass or a mug. I am also sure Lim Lip Eng indulges in beer or whisky more than once per year.
“A single pint of beer in the establishments that Guan Eng has been pictured in would surely cost more than the 250-gram packet of Love Earth Organic Quinoa which Lim Lip Eng found to cost RM14.79.”
This alone, he said, was sufficient grounds not to vote for Mahathir, Kit Siang and Guan Eng in GE14, as these leaders did not know the economic hardship faced by the people.
“If ordinary folk can substitute rice with rearing 40 horses, yearly horse-riding trips to Argentina, or with beer and whisky then Malaysia’s income level must be higher than high-income nations. But this is not the case,”
“I urge the people not to support Pakatan as they appear to be oblivious to the increase in prices of goods and cost of living as well as oblivious to the fact that they are such petty hypocrites.
“And to paraphrase Lim Kit Siang: GE14 will be about 40 horses vs none, yearly horse-riding in Argentina vs none and beer/whisky vs quinoa.”
