‘Can I eat Daim chocolate', Syed Saddiq takes a jab at MP’s comment over drinking Timah whiskey

KUALA LUMPUR: Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman has poked fun at a PKR MP for saying that drinking the Timah whiskey is like "drinking a Malay woman".

The Muar MP quipped by asking whether he was allowed to eat Daim chocolates or drink Dutch Lady milk.

"So, can I eat Daim chocolate? Can I drink Dutch Lady milk?

"Or am I ‘eating’ Tun Daim (Zainuddin) or ‘drinking’ Dutch women?" asked the former youth and sports minister on Twitter on Thursday (Oct 28).

The suggestion raised eyebrows in the House after Rusnah Aluai (PH-Tangga Batu) said that drinking the Timah whiskey was akin to "drinking Malay women".

"On the brand name Timah, can't it be called 'The Mines', for example, or whatever," said Rusnah.

"It also does not represent a good picture of women as it gives the impression that Timah is a Malay woman such as Kakak Timah, Mak Timah and Mak Cik Timah and whatever.

"It is as though we are drinking Malay women," she said when interjecting debates on Trade Descriptions (Amendment) Act 2021 in Dewan Rakyat on Thursday (Oct 28).

Earlier, Rusnah said that the confusion over the whiskey brand also extended to the illustration used by the manufacturer.

"I want to say that it is truly confusing as the brand includes a photograph of Capt Speedy wearing a kopiah (skullcap).

"Isn't there any other photograph of Capt Speedy in different hats that they can use?" she added.

On Oct 16, the whiskey manufacturer explained on its Facebook page that the name pays tribute to Malaya's long history in tin mining, and the man pictured on the label is Captain Tristram Speedy (1836 – 1911), an English officer in Malaya during the British colonial era.

Several quarters from the Muslim community had voiced opposition against the use of the name for the alcoholic beverage, including lodging police reports.

Syed Saddiq's tweet has garnered more than 3,000 retweets as of noon on Friday (Oct 29), with many Malaysians cracking jokes about "eating" or "drinking" brand names that sound like people’s names.