A government agency under the Prime Minister’s Department landed itself in hot water online recently after seemingly mistaking Chinese New Year (CNY) with the Mid-Autumn Festival in its Facebook post.
The government agency in question, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) took to its official Facebook page to post about the average prices of ingredients for popular delicacies during CNY. Given that the department tracks the average prices of goods in the Malaysian market throughout the year, DOSM regularly shares posts akin to this during festive seasons in our country.
For illustration purposes
However, the government agency created a faux pas with this CNY-themed post as they shared the average prices of the ingredients in making mooncakes, a bakery product traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival!
Not only that, the post even claimed that mooncakes are usually eaten during CNY.
The Facebook post caption reads,
“Mooncakes are usually available during the CNY festive season. For those celebrating CNY and mooncake lovers, do share how you enjoy the delicacy in the comments section. Attached below are the average prices of the ingredients used in making mooncakes for the upcoming CNY celebration.”
Malaysians call out DOSM’s case of mistaken identity
Naturally, the post received backlash from Malaysians, who pointed out how mooncakes are traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the 8th Chinese lunar month. In fact, mooncakes are so synonymous with the Mid-Autumn Festival that it’s also called the mooncake festival.
Following many commenters pointing out the mistake and ridiculing the post in the comments, DOSM has since deleted the post from its Facebook page.
However, as with everything else online, there’s always someone who managed to keep the ‘receipt’, with a screenshot of the post being shared by a Redditor on the r/Malaysia subreddit on the social site.
The post was caused by misinformation from the National Department for Culture and Arts
A closer look at the now-deleted poster shared by DOSM, it seems that the cause of the misinformation is actually the National Department for Culture and Arts (JKKN).
At the near bottom of the poster, DOSM revealed that the information on how mooncakes are eaten during CNY was obtained from a webpage from JKKN here.
The webpage, which details mooncakes as one of Malaysia’s traditional foods, JKKN claimed that “mooncakes are usually available during the Mid-Autumn Festival or CNY”, exactly like what DOSM shared in the deleted Facebook post.
Well, let’s hope that JKKN updates the webpage soon with the correct information and on DOSM’s part, let’s hope that the department practices due diligence first before releasing any statements in the future.
So, what do you guys think of the whole thing? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!
Also read: M’sian Youtuber Says He’ll Celebrate CNY in Only Underwear if Stephen Chow Reposts His Story
