Malaysian prime minister bites back at ‘local rice’ comment, saying his quinoa diet is cheaper than former PM’s horse feed
After being called ‘out of touch’ for saying he prefers Quinoa over rice, Najib Razak brings up former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad’ horse-rearing
By Jessica Lin
An unassuming traditional South American grain has found itself in the spotlight this week.
Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa), a wheat-free protein grain, became the subject of heated discussion on the Internet after Prime Minister Najib Razak reportedly said he preferred it over rice.
Social media users were quickly angered by his comment, calling him out of touch with the people, given the high price of quinoa in the country where rice is a staple.
And when former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad jumped on the bandwagon by tweeting that he only ate local rice, Najib bit back, highlighting that the 92-year-old’s penchant for rearing horses.
“Even my quinoa diet can become an issue. I also normally eat nasi lemak and nasi kunyit etc,” Sin Chew Daily quoted the Prime Minister as saying.