Grab offers to solve Malaysia-Singapore food fight with copter

KUALA LUMPUR, Mar 29, 2019, MalayMail. Food delivery service GrabFood waded into the row between Malaysia and Singapore over the ownership of hawker cuisine by teasing the launch of its GrabFoodCopter service soon, reported the MalayMail.

The company that operates in both countries said the service will be available from April 1.

It announced the “GrabFoodCopter” service in a video on its Facebook page today that poked fun at the contentious disagreement over which country “owned” what hawker dishes.

“Are you a Malaysian who loves Singaporean food but you’re just too embarrassed to tell your friends about it? Have we got the solution for you,” the video narrator said amid scenes of workers turning down packed lunches in an office.

It presented the coming “GrabFoodCopter” as a service that would let Malaysians order Singaporean dishes, with the delivery executed via what it alluded to be a helicopter with sounds that the aircraft would make.

It claimed the service would allow Malaysians access to Singaporean versions of items such as nasi lemak, chicken rice and Hokkien mee.

The video ends with a “GrabFoodCopter” logo and emphasised that it will be available on April 1.

Last year, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced his country’s intention to be listed with the Unesco Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Singapore later revealed it was also applying for hawker dishes common in both countries to be recognised as among the republic’s heritage.

The island-state’s attempt drew mockery from Malaysians who derided Singapore’s versions of the dishes as pale imitations of the same items available in Malaysia.