A British journalist who writes about consumer rights issues for The Telegraph has found herself in hot water with netizens of all nationalities after she expressed disgust over a nasi lemak meal on a British Airways flight.
Katie Morley has since apologised for the comments.
Morley tweeted a photo of her food on Wednesday (Jan 15): “In the name of public interest, am sharing this wickedly bad meal British Airways treated me to during a 13hr flight. Behold: chicken curry served with anaemic boiled egg, topped with smelly, slimy anchovies. ANCHOVIES. I quite like plane food usually, and this was a 0/10.”
In the name of public interest, am sharing this wickedly bad meal British Airways treated me to during a 13hr flight. Behold: chicken curry served with anaemic boiled egg, topped with smelly, slimy anchovies. ANCHOVIES. I quite like plane food usually, and this was a 0/10 🤢 pic.twitter.com/ZmgbGa6znV
— Katie Morley (@KatieMorley_) January 15, 2020
She added a green-faced vomit emoji to her tweet about the meal, which many immediately identified as nasi lemak.
Morley quickly found out that Malaysians take their nasi lemak, and the rest of their food, very seriously indeed.
Netizens, both Malaysians and others, were quick to respond to her put-down, all basically saying how good nasi lemak really tastes.
Jakarta-based writer Kate Walton tweeted back a simple: “Yes. This is called nasi lemak. It is delicious,” which got almost 8,000 re-tweets. She later added: “Also those anchovies aren’t slimy. They’re fried.”
Others replied with photos of British food that they, in turn, found similarly unappetising.
A netizen named Andrew Morris wrote: “You will have just offended an entire nation. (It’s usually delicious — certainly beats the scrambled egg served on most long haul flights).”
Another netizen replied that Morley had managed to offend an entire archipelago. Mr Anildeep Singh tweeted: “She pissed an entire archipelago bro. Malaysia and them surrounding countries. But Brits are still in the good books because you gave us Emma Watson, Emilia Clarke and Trent Alexander-Arnold.”
Yet another tried sarcasm. “Ya … bad form for an airline to serve culturally relevant food to people departing any country. It should only ever be boiled, bland British food on @British_Airways Shame on them for being sensitive to world menus and the different foods people eat around the world…” tweeted @MostlyAboutChoc.
The day after her tweet garnered more responses than she most likely expected, the journalist apologised with another: “Many Malaysians have got in touch to say the meal I tweeted about yday is a popular national dish. I’d not come across it before & meant no offence. As many have pointed out, I was clearly served a vpoor version by BA. Sure it can be lovely & hope to try the real thing one day!”
Many Malaysians have got in touch to say the meal I tweeted about yday is a popular national dish. I’d not come across it before & meant no offence. As many have pointed out, I was clearly served a v poor version by BA. Sure it can be lovely & hope to try the real thing one day!
— Katie Morley (@KatieMorley_) January 16, 2020
Many graciously accepted her apology and began to recommend the best places in Malaysia to actually taste the dish. @iqmalhisham wrote: “No worries. If you come to KL, have a go at Village Park in Damansara Utama for their nasi lemak. It is one of the best in KL.”
Some netizens even suggested Malaysian restaurants in London that serve good versions of the dish. @ladymissazira wrote: “There’s a Malaysian restaurant in London called Rasa Sayang that does a decent version of it. Do try! =),” to which @qtpiepusheen replied: “Oh no, babe. Rasa Sayang is decent, but still doesn’t do justice to the classic taste of nasi lemak. I would suggest Cafe Rasa Malaysia @ Westfield Stratford, Restaurant Tukdin, Roti King and Mamak Don. They’d be on top of my list representing Malaysians’ cuisine.” -/TISG
Read also: Hawker Heritage: Chicken Rice and Nasi Lemak