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How much will you pay for a serving of nasi lemak -- fragrant coconut infused rice served with a selection of side dishes -- in Malaysia?

Beef nasi lemak for RM5

For some consumers in Penang, Malaysia, RM5, or roughly S$1.56, is too much to fork out for a packet of daging (beef) nasi lemak prepared by a hawker.

Not even if it comes with egg, cucumber, fried peanuts and ikan bilis (anchovies) and sambal chilli, which is what Malaysian hawker, Atok, serves at his nasi lemak stall.

After catching wind of the complaints made behind his back lamenting that his nasi lemak was just too expensive, a frustrated Atok took to his TikTok (@toklee_granpader) on Sep. 26 and made a lengthy 5-minute video to justify his prices.

Came with more meat

Using the two packets of beef nasi lemak that were placed side by side in the video, Atok juxtaposed his nasi lemak, which was on the right, with the one on the left, which was from another stall and cost RM3 (roughly S$0.94).

He noted that the ingredients in both packets are the same, namely, half a hard boiled egg, a thick slice of cucumber, fried peanuts and ikan bilis and sambal chilli.

However, the key difference between both packets of rice was the amount of meat given, as Atok pointed out rather, while exasperated.

He used a ladle to flatten and spread out the meat that were in both packets, and subsequently, counted that there were five pieces of beef in the other stall's nasi lemak.

While the vexed hawker did not count the number of beef pieces in his nasi lemak, he remarked that his food evidently has significantly more meat, a point that he emphasises repeatedly.

He reasoned that his nasi lemak was priced RM2 more because it came with a bigger portion of meat, adding that customers can also choose to go lighter on the meat portion and it would similarly cost them RM3.

A RM5 nasi lemak will come with more meat.

Implored customers to be empathetic

The cost of meat is also not cheap, Atok bemoaned.

Tired of all the complaints about the price of his food, the hawker said he was just trying to feed himself and make ends meet.

Despite his personal difficulties, Atok is still keen to help others and said in a separate TikTok that anyone poor, and/ or disadvantaged can go to to his stall and help themselves to the food for free.

He implored those who found his nasi lemak pricey to see things from his perspective, and pleaded those with complaints to hold back their criticism as it would run his business into the ground.

After his video made its rounds on TikTok and racked up over 200,000 views, Atok received an outpouring of support from individuals online, most of whom remarked that the hawker had priced his nasi lemak extremely affordably.

Some commented that a serving of rice alone can cost RM3, so a nasi lemak like Atok's – with meat and priced at RM5 – is hard to come by.

You can watch Atok's TikTok below:

@toklee_granpader dah letih nk hadap semua ni. tolong atok share hal ni. #cyzbca #fypage #viraltiktok ♬ original sound - toklee_granpader

Nasi lemak in Singapore

Top image screenshot from @ toklee_granpader/TikTok