The Penang official who initially suggested that Malaysia should make a joint bid with Singapore for UNESCO recognition of hawker culture, has now performed a complete 180.

According to the Malay Mail, Penang's Tourism Development and Heritage Committee chairman Yeoh Soon Hin told reporters on May 9 that Singapore's hawker culture was "not so authentic".

His reasoning? Every hawker stall is under the government's control.

A sole nomination instead

Yeoh also said that Malaysia could try for a sole nomination to list their hawker culture on UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, instead of submitting a joint nomination with Singapore as he had initially suggested.

He explained that his initial proposal was on the basis that a joint nomination was "encouraged by UNESCO".

"From my perspective, we should submit a nomination for Malaysia’s hawker culture to include other states such as Ipoh, Melaka and Kuala Lumpur, not only Penang," he said.

Kuala Lumpur is not a state, but happens to be a Federal Territory.

Yeoh added that ultimately the decision would lie with the National Heritage Department, as "this is their jurisdiction and only they can submit the nomination to UNESCO".

Scared of losing out

These remarks follow previous comments made during Penang's state legislative assembly a week ago, on May 2.

According to the Malay Mail, during the assembly, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) lawmaker Lee Khai Loon from Penang argued that the state had to be more aggressive in its application of UNESCO recognition.

Otherwise, they risked losing out to Singapore, who had already submitted their application.

The remarks interrupted Yeoh's speech, who said Penang had sent a letter to Malaysia’s National Heritage Department to propose a joint nomination with Singapore under the title, “Hawker Culture in Singapore and Malaysia”.

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