PETALING JAYA: In a clap back at Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's chopsticks comment, Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong posted pictures of himself eating with his hand, chopsticks as well as a fork and knife.

       The Transport Minister's Facebook post also contained the caption “What’s the problem? Kita #Keluarga Malaysia”.

       Various groups and Malaysians, in general, had also criticised Dr Mahathir over his chopsticks reference.

       During the launch of his new book, Capturing Hope: The Struggle Continues for a New Malaysia on Sunday (Dec 12), Dr Mahathir had commented on the continued use of chopsticks by the Chinese community here.

       He had said: “The Chinese eat with chopsticks, they don’t eat with their hands. They have not adopted the Malaysian way of eating food.

       “They retained the chopsticks, which is an identity from China, not Malaysia, and many other things,” he said.

       Earlier, former ambassador Datuk Noor Farida Mohd Ariffin said it was “totally unacceptable” for the former prime minister to criticise the Chinese community for using chopsticks to eat.

       MCA secretary-general Datuk Chong Sin Woon said the outdated worldview and narrow thinking expressed by Dr Mahathir cannot be allowed to undermine Malaysia’s race relations.

       Party vice-president Datuk Tan Teik Cheng also criticised Dr Mahathir’s remarks, saying the Langkawi MP’s narrow and racist values “have no place in Malaysia’s multicultural society.”

       Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia president Tan Sri Goh Tian Chuan noted that the Chinese have long integrated into Malaysian society.

       “Malaysia is where we were raised and will die. As the second-largest ethnic group in Malaysia, being Malaysian Chinese is our only identity,” he said.

       Moderation advocate Mohamed Tawfik Ismail pointed out that the use of chopsticks, which was uniquely oriental, did not make anyone alien within a culture, “just as using forks and spoons did not make a laksa Johor eater a European.”