PETALING JAYA: A doctor has been criticised by the Malaysian Muslim Restaurant Owners Association (Presma) as merely seeking “popularity” after he claimed that the only healthy item to consume in an Indian Muslim restaurant is a glass of water.
Presma president Datuk Jawahar Ali Taib Khan said the person being referred to as “Dr Mani” in a TikTok video has no right to criticise Indian Muslim restaurants for serving unhealthy food as he does not have any facts to justify such statements.
“Presma has no choice but to lodge a police report, apart from filing a complaint with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission. His attack was unwarranted.
“However, he might have criticised us because he wants to become more popular as he already has over one million likes and 220,000 followers for his TikTok videos.”
Jawahar Ali said Dr Mani has since removed the video, but the damage has been done.
“Presma is in the dark over this unprovoked criticism of the food served in Indian Muslim restaurants, which have been trying to survive and make ends meet since the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We are still recovering from the limited business we had during the enforcement of the movement control order when more than 2,000 of our members’ restaurants were forced to close down. Presma’s view is that the criticism was done on purpose.”
In the one-minute 30-second video, a woman is heard trying to decide what to eat in an Indian Muslim restaurant before walking out and meeting Dr Mani, who is seen sitting at a table outside the restaurant with a glass of plain water.
When the woman asks him what is good to eat at the restaurant, he replied by raising his glass of water and saying it was the only healthy item in the restaurant.
Dr Mani then said the food served in Indian Muslim restaurants is unhealthy and told the woman that it is best to eat home-cooked food. He also said the best thing to have at such restaurants is plain water. The woman is then heard ordering a glass of water.
Dr Mani is considered a prolific TikTok video maker as he has more than 30 videos on the platform.
Malaysian Medical Association president Dr Muruga Raj Rajathurai said doctors must be responsible and fully accountable when going public with their opinions as they can have a strong influence on the public.
“At the same time, the public too needs to be careful where they obtain information. Social media is awash with misinformation and fake news.
“One can make an appointment to see one’s family doctor as he would be more informed about your health requirements and aware of your health condition.”
Universiti Teknologi Mara Sports Injury and Wellness Clinic, Faculty of Sports Science and Recreation coordinator Prof Dr Mahenderan Appukutty said eating healthy is about the portion size and what time of day the food is consumed, among other factors.
He said the bigger the portion, the higher the calorie intake, thus making the food “unhealthy”.
“Having the right food at the right time is very important. Eating out daily is also not good.
“The more food a person consumes at home, the healthier he will be. To just paint an overall picture of certain types of food being unhealthy is unfair.
“For example, eating at midnight no matter what type of food is consumed is not good as it is unhealthy.
“Drinking a cup of teh tarik a day is fine, but two cups make the drink unhealthy.”
He added that eating a proper portion size of mee goreng is fine but the more ingredients or meat a person adds to it, the more unhealthy it becomes.
Appukutty says eating healthy is about the portion size and what time of day the food is consumed, among other factors. – AMIRUL SYAFIQ/THESUN
