Dirty but they continue to attract customers
KUALA LUMPUR: It is not an uncommon sight to see rats as large as a kitten scuttling across the floor at local eateries. Neither is it unusual to see Malaysians heartily tucking into their food at hawker stalls despite the stench emanating from the stagnant drain nearby.
Disgusting or not, dirty food outlets continue to attract customers who do not mind queuing up to enjoy the ‘delicacies’ they are famed for.
This writer conducted a random check on several food courts, stalls and restaurants in the Klang Valley recently and was appalled that their patrons did not mind dining there despite the filthy premises.
Rubbish was scattered everywhere and the stallholders dumped their waste oil into the drains, causing the water to become stagnant.
At a food court in Ampang, Selangor, this writer noticed a huge rat scampering on the floor but the customers continued to eat unperturbed. And, each time the rat came close to a table, the patrons sitting there raised their feet to allow it to pass and then continued to enjoy their meal.
Why have these people become so impervious to the filth around them? Don’t they feel nauseated?
According to a senior lecturer at Universiti Putra Malaysia’s Faculty of Human Ecology (Food and Consumer Health) Dr Shamsul Azahari Zainal Badari, Malaysian consumers were more likely to pay heed to their taste buds rather than the cleanliness of the premises they were patronising.
“They (not all consumers though) don’t seem to be bothered about the cleanliness as long as the food served to them is appetising,” he told Bernama.
Last month, Kuala Lumpur City Hall revoked the operating licence of Raj’s Banana Leaf restaurant in Bangsar after a 30-second video showing its employees washing plates in a dirty roadside puddle circulated on social media in May.
Kuala Lumpur mayor Tan Sri Mohd Amin Nordin had said that DBKL made the decision to shut down the restaurant permanently to “send a strong message to all eateries” in Kuala Lumpur.
The public, meanwhile, continues to patronise eateries whose hygiene standards are highly suspect. The diners are happy as long as the food served to them is delicious and reasonably priced and does not cause them food poisoning.
“Despite knowing that some restaurant operators only keep their dining areas clean while their kitchens and toilets are in filthy condition, people continue to eat at their restaurants.
“In fact, there are some customers who ‘viral’ certain restaurants that supposedly serve tasty food,” said Shamsul Azahari, adding that some of the food establishments that gain fame on social media were situated beside drains but were still able to enjoy brisk business.
He said the lackadaisical attitude of the public towards cleanliness encouraged food operators to neglect hygiene as they were confident of attracting customers despite their premises’ unsanitary conditions.
The main burden of ensuring cleanliness at public dining premises should not rest entirely on city councils and local authorities.
The authorities are doing their part by regularly carrying out checks on eateries and food safety, and issuing compounds to errant operators and even revoking their operating licences.
The onus is on the public to be more cleanliness conscious and boycott filthy restaurants, pointed out Shamsul Azahari.
“They should not be indifferent to cleanliness and should use their consumer power to only eat at restaurants graded as clean by the local authority.
“The issue of food safety shouldn’t be treated lightly because our health, whether in the short term or long term, is closely intertwined with what we eat every day,” he added. .
Press reports have quoted Health Services director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah as saying that a total of 289,919 food premises were inspected to date from 2016 throughout the country, out of which 5,587 premises or two per cent were ordered to close down under Section 11 of the Food Act 1983.
During the same period, a total of 40,288 compounds were issued to food operators who failed to comply with the Food Hygiene Regulations 2009. - Bernama