Food (and water) has always been a sensitive topic between Singapore and Malaysia (perhaps even the whole of Southeast Asia):

And Tom Pepinsky isn't here to make it better.

On May 5, the US-based professor (who has a "special interest" in Southeast Asia) tweeted a list of Southeast Asian cuisines.

Ranked.

Southeast Asian national cuisines, ranked***

1. Vietnamese
2. Lao
3. Singaporean/Malaysian
4. Thai
5. Burmese
6. Indonesian
7. Cambodian
8. Timorese
9. Philippine

— Tom Pepinsky (@TomPepinsky) May 4, 2019

Vietnamese and Lao cuisine topped the list, followed by Singapore and Malaysia at a tie.

He then follows up with a disclaimer:

*** list is objectively correct, but ignores regional and ethnic sub-cuisines

— Tom Pepinsky (@TomPepinsky) May 4, 2019

Displeasure all around

Needless to say, it did not go down well.

For one, people are questioning Pepinsky's credibility in ranking SEA cuisines:

https://twitter.com/imNeumark/status/1125079639171293184

Hmmm... A white person judging which SE Asian cuisine is the “best”? Great. I guess it’s true that History repeats itself. 😒

— やりまん (@AG_from_GA) May 5, 2019

Someone even brought Pepinsky's hairline into it:

https://twitter.com/TENTAZACK/status/1125419921612034049

Snarky comments were thrown at Pepinsky in general:

when your cuisine is just burgers and fries😜

— hi (@xiuminifiedd) May 6, 2019

Aw cmon, Vietnam does not deserve to be punished like that

— Jason Ten (@JasonThinh) May 6, 2019

Another user even told him about the "rivalry" between Singapore and Malaysia:

Agree! And putting Malaysian/Singaporean food together will rile up both sides

— Krista Goon (@krista_redbox) May 5, 2019

Taste cannot be "objective"

Others pointed out that one man's taste cannot be "objective":

Objectively... correct... opinions...

— seiruhhhh babels ✨ (@lakwatsarah) May 5, 2019

https://twitter.com/catrachitochiki/status/1125190378213257217

One user was rather polite, and simply asked for changes to be made:

https://twitter.com/manusyadrew/status/1124778899827773441

And one user just summed up Pepinsky's entire tweet:

Wow you just decided to make enemies of the whole of ASEAN

— Yathavan (@Yath_C) May 5, 2019

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Top image via Tom Pepinsky