Sushi chain's roll sparks backlash

This article is more than 12 months old

Aug 07, 2017 06:00 am

Local sushi chain Maki-San launched a special chicken char siew sushi roll for Singapore's 52nd birthday, calling it the Maki Kita.

The name is a play on the lyrics of Singapore's National Anthem, in which the first two words are "Mari kita".

In a Facebook post on Friday afternoon, the chain explained that the name aimed to reflect "the cheeky and playful side" of the company, and means "our sushi".

Unfortunately for them, "kita" refers to "us" or "me" in Malay, while "maki" means to curse or insult, which essentially means Maki Kita translates to "curse us".

The sushi chain, whose outlets are halal-certified, acknowledged the kerfuffle and announced in another Facebook post that night that it was changing the name to Harmony Maki.

In response to "insights" from customers, it decided to change the name "to be more sensitive to the culture of our Malay consumers". - THE STRAITS TIMES