Whatever you think of the name ‘Timah’, there can be no doubt the whiskey brand has received tons of free publicity in the last fortnight.
Ever since the Consumer Association of Penang’s (CAP) education officer, N.V. Subbarow, brought up the issue over the name on Oct 17, politicians have jumped on the bandwagon.
Although the name is in honour of the country’s tin mining history, and not that of a Malay female, that has not stopped ‘Timah’ being mentioned daily in the newspapers, online portals, and the Dewan Rakyat.
There have also been countless unsavoury jokes and the usual memes and cartoons.
Biresh Vrajlal, a public relations practitioner, had this hilarious comment: “I think the future of PR is buying politicians! The brand is enjoying plenty of free publicity.”
Since the controversy broke, many friends have bought several bottles of the whiskey, and one, Michael, said: “I have seen the bottles before, but never bothered to buy one.
“But after reading so much about it, I bought one and was pleasantly surprised. I will get more to add to my collection.”
The debate beats any activation campaign any brand could have thought of and has earned ‘Timah’ a new legion of fans.
But it may come to an end as Winepark Corporation (M) Sdn Bhd said it was considering changing the brand’s name.
Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi said the company had asked for a week to discuss with shareholders and their board of directors about changing their name and image.
Hopefully, it comes up with a better moniker.
Another name that is courting controversy is KFC’s Burger P. Ramlee. It is a tribute to the great legendary Tan Sri P. Ramlee and his favourite dish – nasi kandar.
But there is no nasi or kandar in the burger. To be fair, KFC did say it has kuah kari kandar.
A former colleague, M. Zulkifli A Jalil, said he noticed KFC had been using P. Ramlee’s song titles – Getaran Zinger and Keju Sekejap, for example – in some of its promotions.
Hopefully, P. Ramlee’s family is getting some royalties.
RECOVERY STREAK ENDS
After 39 days of more recoveries than new Covid-19 cases, the streak ended on Tuesday when there were 5,726 new infections against 5,607 patients who were declared coronavirus-free.
The last time there were more new cases than recoveries, was Sept 16.
Overall, in the last seven days, we had new 40,587 cases, while 50,706 patients recovered. That brought the total number of infections to 2,460,809 and recoveries to 2,361,919.
There were also 520 fatalities, taking the total to 28,832.
Worldwide, there are 246.7 million cases and just over five million fatalities.
HOWZAT!
I finally got around to watching Star Wars Vision, an anime anthology series on the Disney+ Hotstar application.
It had several good episodes, but a couple were awful.
Although I have had the app since June, I have hardly watched it apart from the Loki series and the movie Cruella, which is a must-watch.
Imagine my surprise when I found out Disney+ also has the T20 Cricket World Cup.
Now, that is a bonus.
DOG OWNERS CAN RELATE
Like most days, I get my jokes from WhatsApp.
VALERIE BERTINELLI’S HOMEMADE PRETZEL BUNS
I watched this episode earlier this week. Guess what I will be having this weekend?
PET OWNERS KNOW THIS IS TRUE
Another WhatsApp message.
BIRTHDAY WISH
Recently, a friend told me her son’s birthday wish was for them to drive around the city so he could “see some people”.
I pity the young ones as many do not know the joy of going to school, mingling and playing with people their age, or going out meeting friends.
Belated birthday greetings, little one.
SULIRAM, SURIRAM
Depending on whom you ask, this folk song could be of Indonesian, or Malaysian origin. To be safe, I shall say it originates from the Malay Archipelago.
We know it as Suriram, and I found a lovely rendition by the equally stunning Dayang Nurfaizah Awang Dowty.
But I have opted for a black and white video of the legendary Harry Belafonte. The 94-year-old, born in Harlem, New York, United States, was dubbed King of Calypso for popularising Trinidadian Caribbean music.
Here he is ‘Live’ at the BBC in 1959, singing Suliram (or as we know it, Suriram).
Until next week, stay safe.