6 names that caused an uproar in Malaysia

Earlier this week, the organizer of a Songkran Festival in Perak was (water)pressured into changing the event’s name to Sahom Water Festival. If you’re wondering why, it’s cuz the PAS Youth chapter in Kampar protested and said that:

• Songkran has elements of Buddhism which are at odds with Islam
• The announcement of the event made the locals angry and restless
• Kampar doesn’t have a big population of Siamese people

Setting aside the fact that Chinese people make up the majority of Kampar’s population, this isn’t the first time that names have caused issues due to what we can best describe as sensitivities being sensitivited. Remember when A&W had to change the names of their Root Beer and Coney Dog? Yeah.

Even though a rose called by any other name may smell just as sweet, some names in Malaysia were instead a thorny issue, such as…

1. Texas Chicken’s changed their original name wayyyyyyy before  coming to Malaysia

Hailing from San Antonio, Texas, the fried chicken joint was actually founded under the name Church’s Chicken way back in 1952 by George W. Church.

Even though it has nothing to do with religion, the corporation knew using the name ‘Church’s’ would prove tricky in some regions of the world, and chose to adopt the name Texas Chicken in places like Belarus, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, New Zealand, and of course, Malaysia.

Perhaps because of this early transition and experience in other countries, Texas Chicken’s entry into Malaysia went down smoother than a glass of Southern Sweet Tea… except for one incident in 2013 when a customer questioned why they got ‘food from a church brand’ when their dipping sauce had the Church’s branding instead of Texas Chicken’s.

While there was minimal drama in the news, it turned out that the customer was making a genuine inquiry and even apologized and asserted that he was still a fan of Texas Chicken.

2. The ice cream that just wanted to give Malaysians a Golden Gaytime

While most people take the word ‘gay’ to mean a watch that will get you fined RM20k and jailed for 3 years nowadays, ‘gay’ has been used much longer to mean joyful, carefree, or full of mirth. In fact, the 18th century definition of a ‘gay man’ was a man who did the ah-ah-ah with a lot of women and before that in the 12th to 16th century, gay meant happy, excited, merry, carefree or bright.

That latter definition was probably the inspiration behind the Golden Gaytime ice cream, a frozen treat that’s massively popular in Australia. Persatuan Pengguna Islam Malaysia (PPIM) activist Nadzim Johan apparently had no idea, cuz he demanded an explanation for the use of the word ‘gay’ in the ice cream’s name in 2021.

It was also reported that netizens at the time speculated that this was an attempt by Walls’ to push the LGBTQ agenda in Malaysia… despite the fact that Golden Gaytime has been around since 1959, and the word gay was really only used by the general public to mean ‘homosexual’ in the 1960s.

Well, this writer hasn’t seen the ice cream here since then, and has been significantly less gay as a result. The reverse is true for Australia where Golden Gaytime was first introduced – Walls’ seemingly embraced the name by preserving the tagline from the 1980s, ‘It’s hard to have a Gaytime on your own’ alongside ads that featured men who would end up in risqué positions whilst trying to get a Gaytime.

3. Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers got busted for dr*gs

Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers (MMPR) were BIG in the 90s. They were everywhere – there were MMPR toys, video games, board games, clothes, you name it. It was a phenomenon.

RTM was, cuz in December 1995, our national public broadcaster announced that they refused to air any MMPR episodes until ‘Morphin’ was removed from its title. The reason? Supposedly, the word sounded too similar to the dr*g morphine, and they didn’t want kids to be influenced into jabbing their arms with needles.

Even Najib, who was the Minister of Education at the time was surprised at the ban:

“The Power Rangers is off the air? He’s (Najib’s son) going to be dissapointed” – Najib, when told of the MMPR ban

Eventually, the show aired without the offending word, and the characters went on to fight rubber aliens as the Mighty Power Rangers… which still makes sense, we suppose.

4. Hellboy was denied entrance to Heaven… and Malaysia

Hellboy (2004) is a movie about a demonic beast-turned-superhero who goes around the world saving people from paranormal stuff with his team. Apart from the standard violence and cursing, Hellboy didn’t kena potong in a big way, except… for the title – Hellboy was renamed Super Sapiens for the local audience.

It’s kinda weird and ironic, cuz Hellboy features a demon with a conscience, and there doesn’t seem to be many online discussions regarding the matter. What’s weirder was the banning of the 2003 Daredevil movie by our censorship board, citing the reason of not wanting youngster to hero-worship someone with a devil-sounding name even though there’s nothing demonic about the Marvel character, unlike Hellboy Super Sapiens who does sort of look like a demon.

5. Bon Odori almost had its name changed in 2022

In a world where countries are waging war against one another, it warms the cockles of this writer’s cold, dead heart to see countries that get along with each other, like Malaysia and Japan. See, the Bon Odori Festival, which originated in Japan, has been held here since 1977. It’s a celebration of Japanese culture, and also a mark of the close ties between the two nations.

Datuk Idris Ahmad, our previous Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) probably didn’t know that when he advised Muslims to stay away from last year’s Bon Odori on 6 June 2022.

“A study conducted by the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (JAKIM) found that the festival does have religious elements, so we advise Muslims not to participate in it,” – Idris Ahmad to the media at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Selangor Islamic Education Foundation’s (Yapis) Education Complex Project

A coupla days after that, the Sultan of Selangor reprimanded Idris, and ordered the Selangor Islamic Department (Jais) not to forbid Muslims to attend the festival. The Sultan instead suggested Jais and Shah Alam city hall officers to attend the event to get a better idea of what goes on during Bon Odori, and to ascertain that it did not tarnish the faith of Muslims.

On 10 June 2022, Perlis mufti Asri Zainul Abidin came up with a genius idea – why not change the festival’s name to avoid confusing Malaysians? This suggestion was received enthusiastically by local netize- oh, no, no, our mistake. The mufti was verbally flogged by local netizens, as you might expect.

And as far as we can tell, the Bon Odori Festival retained its name, much to the relief of weebs nationwide.

6. Timah Whiskey was accused of having a religious name

If you’re not much of a drinker, you might not have heard of Timah, a whiskey that’s distilled right here in Malaysia. While not as ubiquitous as Jack Daniels or as prestigious as the Suntory Yamazaki, Timah has won several international awards, but in 2021, it very nearly had its identity stripped.

You see, some groups in Malaysia, including PAS, took umbrage at the use of the name Timah, which they said alluded to the name of Prophet Muhammad’s daughter, Fatimah. They also said that the fine chap on Timah’s packaging was wearing a kopiah, and having what looked like a Muslim man on the packaging of an alcoholic beverage is a no-no.

Unbeknownst to the critics, however, was that both the name Timah and the man on the label had nothing to do with Islam at all. As explained by the whiskey’s manufacturer, Timah is a reference to tin mining in colonial Malaya, and the man is Captain Tristam Speedy, a well-known English explorer during the Victorian era.

Our government was chill once they heard that and Timah got to keep its name, but PAS doubled down on their position without saying why:

“On this issue, PAS’s stance on alcohol is clear. We do not agree to whatever name is used, whether it is Timah, Dolah or Wahab. No one from the party leadership supports the Timah whiskey issue. Our stance is clear,” – Idris Ahmad, PAS vice president at the time, as quoted by Sinar Harian

Considering everything, Timah made it out of the ring relatively unscathed – in fact, this writer heard that the liquor went up in price in the midst of the controversy cuz it was getting bought up by local whiskey afficionados.

That’s pretty much it for the list and if we missed other name changes, or if you guys are interested in other sorts of censorship that happened in Malaysia, let us know in the comments. Sekian.