Malaysia denies censoring BBC report on prime minister's water spinach speech

Malaysia’s internet regulator on Thursday denied accusations that it was blocking access to a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) report about netizens in the Muslim-majority nation lampooning the country’s prime minister.

Najib Razak’s administration faces public discontent over hikes in government-controlled fuel and power prices.

The prime minister responded to the criticism in a weekend speech in which he highlighted a drop in the price of water spinach, a common dish in Malaysian cuisine known locally as “kangkung”.

Malaysians soon began mocking the aristocratic Najib – who recently came under fire for travelling with his wife on luxurious private jets at the taxpayer’s expense – as being out of touch with common citizens.

Critics posted thousands of tweets and a Facebook page simply titled “Kangkung” that pokes fun at Najib has garnered 18,000 likes, while local media said “Keep Calm and Eat Kangkung” t-shirts have gone on sale.

The BBC picked up the story in a report on its website on Tuesday, but many Malaysian web-users began to complain that they could not access it about 24 hours later, sparking accusations it was being blocked by the authorities in Kuala Lumpur.

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) told reporters it had not blocked the page, but said various Malaysian service providers could have acted of their own accord.