24 February 2012

Mi Goreng

This is a huge advertising sign by a busy road junction in Brunei. On the left, it says: 'Indofood Fried Noodles, the No 1 Pleasure in Brunei' Although the link between advertising and reality is usually rather tenuous, this advertisement seems to be quite accurate. Instant noodles indeed seem to be pretty much the greatest pleasure of many people in Brunei. Lots of people have instant noodles at 10:00 in the morning as well as in the afternoon, in addition to a full breakfast, lunch and dinner.

At a time when the incidence of obesity is exceptionally high in Brunei, especially among office workers, and when the occurrence of diabetes is also so widespread that it is regarded as almost an epidemic, I find it deeply depressing that eating junk food like this continues to be so popular. It beats me why the government doesn't do more to discourage it, like putting a tax on instant noodles or something like that, especially when the fight against obesity is supposed to be important.