Spore’s & M’sia’s Health Ministers discuss each other’s hawker culture in viral video
March 26, 2022
Singapore’s Health Minister Ong Ye Kung was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for a work trip from Mar 23 to Mar 25, 2022.
He met up with his Malaysian counterpart Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin and gave us a teaser of the good news that both Singapore and Malaysia have been waiting for the past two years: full resumption of air and land travel for vaccinated persons.
A day later, on Mar 24, the PAP government announced that from April 1, 2022, fully vaccinated travellers will be able to enter Singapore and Malaysia via land without the need for quarantine or Covid-19 tests. Driving is also allowed.
Minister Khairy also that said that there will be no quota for all modes of travel and that the land checkpoints will operate 24 hours daily.
Hawker food debate? Not really
In what looked like a celebratory dinner at a restaurant called Cili Kampung between the two neighbours, Minister Khairy posted a video on TikTok, informing his followers about the reopening of borders and introducing Minister Ong.
Minister Ong then took the chance to speak about food while double-hatting as a tourism ambassador. Here’s the transcript of their exchange.
OYK: Thank you, KJ, for hosting me for the past two days. I look forward to April 1 to drive up to JB for our favourite hawker food and for our JB friends to come to Singapore and also taste our food.
KJ: And then we can settle the great debate: Which food is better? Singaporean or Malaysian?
OYK: We are one epidemiological zone and we are also one hawker zone.
KJ: One greasy… Thank you, thank you. Take care guys.
You can watch the video here.
Cover photo credit: Ong Ye Kung Facebook and Khairy Jamaluddin Facebook page