PROBABLY with mamak joints coming to mind, Malaysians who treat eating as their favourite gastronomical pastime are up in arms against the Consumers Association Penang (CAP) for mooting the abolishment of operating licenses of 24-hour eateries to tide over the negative effects of late-night meals.
Social activist and human rights lawyer Siti Kasim has fired the first salvo by posing the pertinent question of whether the country’s pioneering consumers’ group whose history goes back to 1969 is supposed to look after the rights of consumers or to police how the Malaysian consumers live.
“To ensure the peoples’ health are tip-top? Who are they again? Eating at any time is part of our Malaysian culture! Why do these lot of people like to control how we live our lives huh? 🙄😝”
For context, CAP president Mohideen Abdul Kader has called on the relevant authorities to repeal the 24-hour operating license given to eateries as studies have shown that there are negative effects of late-night meals such as weight gain, sleep disorders and digestive issues.
“Presently Malaysians are in an unhealthy situation as we have the highest prevalence of obesity among adults in Southeast Asia. In the 2019.” justified Mohideen in a Facebook post. “In the 2019 National Health and Morbidity Survey, 50.1% of our adult population were reported to be overweight (30.4%) or obese (19.7%).”
Well-intended as it sounds, majority of Malaysians hurled brickbats at CAP’s proposal, describing it as an “unbelievably dumb suggestion” or a “half-baked idea”.
A few Malaysiakini subscribers sum up the sentiment on the ground level most aptly:
In essence, netizens reminded the consumer advocate group that more thought need to be given and all aspects to be considered holistically “before blindly calling for abolishment of 24-hour eateries”.
This is especially so in Penang which boasts the highest concentration of round-the-clock production factories and industries.
“Where would all those workers go to for their breaks and meals if eateries don’t operate 24/7? It’s a lose-lose situation,” contended a netizen.
As for the health concern, the netizen rightly contended that there is no denial that Malaysians do need to be educated on health, nutrition, diet, illnesses, preventative measures and precautions, healthy lifestyle and regular medical assessments, among others.
But obviously to call for a drastic measure such as repealing the operating licenses of 24-hour eateries surely goes against democratic principles as one netizen rightly concluded. – April 23, 2024
Main image credit: SGMY Travel
